Resisting the Censor's Impulse

Wednesday, September 26, 2001; Page A24

WHEN JOURNALISTS with the federally owned Voice of America came to their editors last week with a worldwide scoop -- an interview with Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, describing his reactions to President Bush's ultimatum -- higher-ups in the State Department moved quickly to quash it. "We didn't think it was appropriate for the Voice of America to be broadcasting the voice of the Taliban into Afghanistan," State Department spokesman Richard A. Boucher said. This though the article, far from "broadcasting [the mullah's] propaganda," as Mr. Boucher alleged, used quotations from the mullah in a broader piece that also quoted President Bush and opposition figures, offering a useful glimpse into the mind of a far-off enemy.

Following an outcry from VOA journalists and others, who pointed out that credibility, not propaganda, is the real strength of the broadcast service, there was a rethinking, and the VOA yesterday transmitted the piece with minor revisions. But the episode revealed an impulse to squelch facts that is never far beneath the surface in time of war or quasi-war, an impulse that is hardly less noxious when it retreats promptly under challenge. It was on view also last week when ABC satirist Bill Maher said on his show, "Politically Incorrect," that "we have been the cowards lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away -- that's cowardly." Three ABC affiliates, including Washington's WJLA-TV, answered viewer complaints by yanking subsequent episodes from the air. After canceling Thursday's and Friday's shows, WJLA's president, Chris Pike, told The Post that the ban would continue "on a day-to-day basis." "The timing," he explained, "is just very wrong."

The blackout didn't last, and the station says "Politically Incorrect" is back to regular programming. But the time for editors to resist the censoring and self-censoring instinct is before it is acted upon, not after. We hear frequently that the only way to beat the terrorists is to hold on to this nation's freedoms. Those include honoring Americans' right to hear commentary that bothers some and to glimpse the thoughts of enemies.