Former College Paper Editor Fired for Reprinting Muslim Cartoons May Sue
by Jim Brown
March 22, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The former editor-in-chief of the student newspaper at the University of Illinois says he was unjustly fired for re-publishing controversial cartoons depicting Muhammad. The images originally published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on September 30 of last year have generated widespread outrage and sparked violent riots and destruction of property by Muslims around the world.Acton Gorton, former editor-in-chief of the independent student newspaper The Daily Illini, says he is planning to file a wrongful termination lawsuit against the paper's publisher and the Illini Media Company's board of directors. The media officials claim a review "found that Gorton violated Daily Illini policies about thoughtful discussion of and preparation for the publication of inflammatory material."
However, the collegiate publication's former chief argues that had the controversial material published by the paper been something deemed offensive to Christians, he and former opinion page editor Chuck Prochaska would not have been fired.
"It seems like it's always okay to attack Christians in the media," Gorton complains, "but as soon as we do something that's about Islam, it's suddenly taboo, and you can't do it. It's not allowed, and you have to worry about the consequences -- maybe a Muslim's going to come in and bomb somebody. And that's crazy."
The dismissed editor points out that President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke out vehemently against the cartoons satirizing Mohammed and the violent aspects of Islam. Meanwhile, he contends, around the world Muslim protesters were burning American flags and Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants, yet no one in the mainstream media was fully explaining the news events.
Gorton felt the decision to publish the caricatures of Muhammad was the right call for a newspaper editor to make in light of the international controversy. "The cartoons were the story," he asserts. "Thus, you can't have a story without the cartoons."
But in the aftermath of that decision, the former Daily Illini staffer claims his name and reputation have been dragged through the mud. "The publisher circulated the e-mail [notice of termination], basically defaming me and ruining any opportunities that I would have to work in most newspapers and publications because of the alumni network," he says.
For that reason, Gorton explains, he has sought legal counsel in an effort to pursue redress of what he views as his wrongful termination and defamation by the owner and publisher of The Daily Illini. He notes, "I've got a lawyer, actually, named Junaid Afeef, who's a Muslim civil rights activist out of Chicago, and he's representing me in this case."
Gorton alleges he was never allowed to see a copy of the bylaws under which he was dismissed from his position. His immediate goal in pursuing his legal avenues in this matter, he says, is primarily to clear his name.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
