If you're a regular user of CNN Interactive's three Web sites, you'll notice no difference in the pages you're seeing today. But in contrast to many other sites on the Web, the appearance of our pages may stand out. CNN Interactive is not participating in the protest against the Communications Decency Act which has prompted many Web publishers to use black backgrounds on their sites today.
CNN's primary mission as a news organization is to present accurate, unbiased reporting in a timely fashion. All other objectives are secondary to this journalistic principle. While parts of the "Communications Decency Act" may appear to threaten the free exchange of information through electronic means, CNN will not fight a battle to overturn this legislation on its Web pages.
CNN has established its global reputation by being the one broadcaster to give nothing but the facts the way we see them. This has enabled us free access at one time or another to almost every nation on the planet. This has allowed us to talk to oppressed people who had known only government broadcasters, often run by the state solely to protect the state's interest. This has transformed CNN into the confidant of the world -- a place where all views are created equal and where the words and ideas of those people making the news are of far greater importance than of those reporting it.
The Communications Decency Act is not going to go away no matter what color we make our home page. And the story it evokes is not going to go away either. We at CNN Interactive must be free to report this very important story to you, our users, without the fear of a perception of bias. This point can not be stressed strongly enough. By taking a stand, even if it appears only to be a stand supporting the First Amendment, we have compromised our objectivity and neutrality on this story. That cannot happen if we are to remain the Internet's premier news source.
Scott Woelfel
Editor in Chief
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