Pence Simon & Schuster book deal sparks war of words inside company

The employee petition demanding Simon & Schuster cancel former Vice President Mike Pence's two-book deal is a sign of a growing political divide within an industry founded on freedom of speech, observers say.

Simon & Schuster CEO Jonathan Karp stood by the decision in a staff memo to employees.  "As a publisher in this polarized era, we have experienced outrage from both sides of the political divide and from different constituencies and groups. But we come to work each day to publish, not cancel, which is the most extreme decision a publisher can make, and one that runs counter to the very core of our mission to publish a diversity of voices and perspectives," Karp wrote.