Posted on: Thursday, March 20, 2003

EDITORIAL
Cartoon controversy balancing act at Ka Leo

Editorial cartoonists are inherently controversial. With a few strokes of a pen, they can create caricatures of sensitive issues that instantly amuse or offend.

That said, it is possible for a cartoonist to overstep the boundaries of fairness and decency and incur the wrath of a broad spectrum of readers.

Consider the recent flap at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa, where more than 50 campus members complained that cartoons in the Ka Leo 'O Hawai'i student newspaper promoted anti-Semitism and homophobia and created a hostile environment.

We're not about to judge the appropriateness of the cartoons. But we're willing to bet that the offending caricatures are the result of failed satire rather than blatant bigotry. Satire is most definitely an art that can take years to perfect. College newspapers are filled with budding satirists who learn this lesson the hard way.

And that's exactly what the university is about: A place to learn about the boundaries of free speech. And that's the happy ending to this story.

In a statement in Tuesday's Ka Leo, the paper's editor in chief, Mary Vorsino, acknowledged that because of a lack of clear-cut guidelines, the cartoons were printed without discussion.

Ka Leo is launching a screening procedure for sensitive material and holding public forums "to address the interplay between the First Amendment and a journalist's responsibility to do no harm."