Ever since the attack on the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper in Paris, journalists around the world have been debating the difference between freedom of speech and simply offending a certain group of people. The attack as well as the subsequent response by Charlie Hebdo has led to a wide review of what newspapers should do in order to maintain free speech while also not being offensive. As far as The Bradford is concerned, I believe that free speech is paramount to our success as a publication. One of our main goals is to portray the voice of the students as best we can and free speech has a distinct connection to that. As a student newspaper, we should not have to worry about authority figures such as teachers cracking down on us unless we publish something that is blatantly offensive. Although Charlie Hebdo’s decision to publish a cover depicting Muhammad in the days following an attack on their newsroom could be viewed as offensive and certainly controversial, this decision should be protected by their right of free speech. The publication has built their reputation on satirical images and articles and this should not change just because they sometimes anger a group of people.
(Peter Santo ’16, Sports Editor)