Sky News cut off the French journalist Caroline Fourest when she tried to display the latest cover of Charlie Hebdo, claiming it breached their editorial policy. Fourest was making the point that British journalists had let down the profession for refusing to allow their readers to decide if the cover – which features Mohammed – was offensive.
To make her point she tried to hold up the magazine to the camera. Sky News panned out, then changed the camera angle so only the headline and a small amount of Mohammed’s turban could be seen. The presenter then explained the channel had made a decision not to show the cartoons, before apologising to any viewers that might have been offended.
As previously reported on Breitbart London most of the British media has refused to show either this week’s Charlie Hebdo front cover or the earlier ones that led to the attack. However, this is the first case of an outlet taking someone off air for attempting to show it themselves.
A similar situation arose at the Kremlin funded Russia Today news channel when a journalist attempted to criticise Vladimir Putin. As a result contributors regularly take over unrelated interviews to talk about the President’s human rights record.