Should a student newspaper have the right to print offensive cartoons? If student journalists choose to exercise that right, are they be prepared to face the consequences? In the case described below, are the consequences just?
Inside Higher Ed :: Muslim Cartoon Controversies at Harvard and Illinois
As violence continues in the Middle East over the publication in Denmark of cartoons showing images of Muhammad and mocking the Muslim prophet, two more American college newspapers have published the cartoons and the editors who went first were suspended from their positions.
I can imagine editors of college newspapers publishing the cartoons simply to draw lots of attention to their publications... But at the same time, I can also imagine them publishing the cartoons as a sort of declaration of rights, or to support an editorial statement about the controversy.
The latter seems to be the case for the Harvard paper, according to the linked article.
To be honest, considering that the cartoons are rather easily accessible via the web, I don't see how publishing them now is much of a problem, especially not in an editorial.