After blogging about Comedy Central’s decision to censor South Park, I wrote a letter to the network to voice my concerns. The following is my letter followed by Comedy Central’s response.<\/p>\n
“I find it deeply disturbing that the one network that I was convinced was above censorship, the network that allows Carlos Mencia to rant and rag on anyone regardless of race or creed, the network that runs movies and shows COMPLETELY<\/em> uncensored after hours, has been the first to cowardly bow to the wishes of radical Islam.<\/p>\n What if radical gun owners were to threaten violence because you made fun of Charlton Heston? Would you be willing to fight for the First Amendment? What if radical Christians threatened violence for disgraceful images of Jesus, or God? Would you be willing to fight for the First Amendment? The answer is yes, you would fight for your’s, and everyone else’s for that matter, right to say what you want when you want it. You have not succeeded in preventing violence due to retaliation.<\/p>\n You have only succeeded in destroying Comedy Central’s reputation as the network that IS<\/em> willing to push buttons. I can only hope that you right your error and re-air the recetnly censored episode of South Park free of any censorship of the images of Muhommad. This and only this will show the people of the world that the Freedom of Speech is more important than a certain group’s radical agenda. Thank You.”<\/p>\n <\/font>Comedy Central’s Response:<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>“Dear Viewer,<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>Thank you for your correspondence regarding the “South Park” episodes<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>entitled “Cartoon Wars.” We appreciate your concerns about censorship<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>and the destructive influence of outside groups on the media,<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>entertainment industry and particularly Comedy Central. <\/font>right to poke fun at any and all people, groups, organizations and<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>religions and we will continue to defend that right. Our goal is to<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>make people laugh and perhaps, if we’re lucky, even make them think in<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>the process. <\/font>our decision not to air an image of Muhammad. Our decision was made not<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>to mute the voices of Trey and Matt or because we value one religion<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>over any other. This decision was based solely on concern for public<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>safety in light of recent world events.<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>With the power of freedom of speech and expression also comes the<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>obligation to use that power in a responsible way. Much as we wish it<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>weren’t the case, times have changed and, as witnessed by the intense<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>and deadly reaction to the publication of the Danish cartoons, decisions<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>cannot be made in a vacuum without considering what impact they may have<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>on innocent individuals around the globe.<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>It was with this in mind we decided not to air the image of Muhammad, a<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>decision similar to that made by virtually every single media outlet<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>across the country earlier this year when they each determined that it<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>was not prudent or in the interest of safety to reproduce the<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>controversial Danish cartoons. Injuries occurred and lives were lost in<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>the riots set off by the original publication of these cartoons. The<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>American media made a decision then, as we did now, not to put the<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>safety and well being of the public at risk, here or abroad.<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>As a viewer of “South Park,” you know that over the course of ten<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>seasons and almost 150 episodes the series has addressed all types of<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>sensitive, hot-button issues, religious and political, and has done so<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>with Comedy Central’s full support in every instance, including this<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>one. “Cartoon Wars” contained a very important message, one that Trey<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>and Matt felt strongly about, as did we at the network, which is why we<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>gave them carte blanche in every facet but one: we would not broadcast a<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>portrayal of Muhammad. <\/font>Comedy Central’s 15-year track record up against any other network out<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>there, you’ll find that we afford our talent the most creative freedom<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>and provide a nurturing atmosphere that challenges them to be bold and<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>daring and places them in a position to constantly break barriers and<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>push the envelope. The result has been some of the most provocative<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>television ever produced.<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>We would like nothing more than to be able to look back at this in a few<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>years and think that perhaps we overreacted. Unfortunately, to have<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>made a different decision and to look back and see that we completely<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>underestimated the damage that resulted was a risk we were not willing<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>to take.<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>Our pledge to you, our loyal viewers, is that Comedy Central will<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>continue to produce and provide the best comedy available and we will<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>continue to push it right to the edge, using and defending the First<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>Amendment in the most responsible way we know how.<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>Sincerely,<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>Comedy Central Viewer Services” <\/font> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After blogging about Comedy Central’s decision to censor South Park, I wrote a letter to the network to voice my concerns. The following is my letter followed by Comedy Central’s response. “I find it deeply disturbing that the one network that I was convinced was above censorship, the network that allows Carlos Mencia to rant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.phyrfight.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.phyrfight.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.phyrfight.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.phyrfight.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.phyrfight.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.phyrfight.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.phyrfight.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.phyrfight.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.phyrfight.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/p>\n
\nTo reiterate, as satirists, we believe that it is our First Amendment<\/font><\/p>\n
\nComedy Central’s belief in the First Amendment has not wavered, despite<\/font><\/p>\n
\nIn that regard, did we censor the show? Yes, we did. But if you hold<\/font><\/p>\n