Friday, March 03, 2006

No freedom of speech

I am dismayed by Elizabeth Prata's defense of the homophobic letter-writer under the guise of "freedom of speech."
Printing that letter is like shouting "fire" in a crowded theater. Or like printing the cartoon depictions of the prophet Mohammed.
But what really astounds me is that Prata herself does not allow free speech!!!! No, that is not a typo. Time and again, Prata has written emails to people who have sent her articles or letters to the editor, telling them they must either submit the articles or letters to her exclusively, or she will not continue to print submitted articles or letters.
The net effect is to stifle the freedom of these writers to speak to another newspaper.
Freedom of speech? Or freedom to run roughshod over the constitution? You decide.
Nathan Tsukroff