^Respect and fear are, obviously, very different things.
No one but devout muslims would consider the images obscene. At worst, the vast majority of the population might consider them offensive. Comparing them to a sex tape is a failed analogy on two fronts. First, a sex tape is rarely newsworthy, except as sort of a tabloidesque attempt to generate traffic. Second, if a sex tape WERE newsworthy (e.g. if there was a sex tape of Barack Obama having sex with a foreign leader), the only thing preventing that from being shown would be puritanical attitudes about sex that are ingrained in American culture. It's not a comparable situation.
Frankly I find it very interesting but at the same time difficult to grasp that anyone thinks that the reason that the Hebdo images or the Danish cartoons weren't shown by most publications was anything other than fear of reprisal... especially since the news organizations themselves, where they did comment, said that that WAS the reason. Understandably so. A news outlet has a responsibility to keep its employees safe.
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