No regrets

Last week, we passed up what could have been our biggest breaking story ever from our small community in South Texas.
A friend alerted us Monday morning after the nine hostages, including three Aemricans, were taken off the Coast of Nigeria.
After speaking to Macon Hawkins family members and gathering all the details for a story, we honored the family’s wishes and withheld the story. They felt that releasing the details of the situation would only jeopardize any negotiations that were ongoing.
We continued to monitor the story through the week and kept in contact with family members. We contacted the Willbros Group Inc. in Houston.
After three days, the stories in the United States the stories disappeared from the front pages for more important stories. Those that did run still did not mention the names of the hostages. The family had hopes that authorities would be successful in obtaining the hostages' release.
But, on Thursday, the name of Macon Hawkins began to show up on Asian news sites on the Internet. By Friday, we were getting calls, and “big city” reporters were snooping around Wilson County.
We held our story until after the Associated Press released the story to all of America and all of the world at about 4 p.m. EST. There no longer was any reason for us not to publihs our story. Within minutes, we posted it online, still not disclosing all the information we had from family members.
While there are those who will turn their noses up at us for sitting on a story, we can live with that. As our news staff discussed whether or not to release the information, our conclusion was that the only reason we would do it was so that we could be first and “beat the big guys.” We didn’t think that was justification for possibly putting lives at risk.
As we told each other, we will be here long after the big guys have forgotten this story. It is our hometown, and we will have plenty of time to tell our story –- the real story and we will get it right.
So, go ahead. Call us the Podunk Newspaper of South Texas, We think we are in good company.

God Bless America
Elaine Kolodziej
Publisher
Wilson County News
http://wilsoncountynews.com
Floresville, Tx 78114

Another perspective of protestors

Americans protest peacefully as Muslim protests spread outrage
As Britain, France, Spain, Italy, Denmark, and countries all over Europe relinquish their freedom of speech, Americans continue to exercise theirs.
The question might be how long can Americans hold out for their free-speech rights when faced with this expanding global pressure. Let’s examine the issues involved.
After Americans recently protested an NBC drama about a pill-popping priest, “The Book of Daniel” was cancelled. Through the American Family Association and several dozen other conservative organizations, Americans then turned their wrath to an upcoming “Will & Grace” episode that will mock Christ’s crucifixion.
The segment, according to NBC’s press release, was set to air the day before Good Friday, a notable holy day to Christians. Britney Spears was to star as a conservative Christian woman hosting a cooking show called “Cruci-fixins.”
The American Family Association immediately raised objections to the announced episode, saying it “mocks the crucifixion of Christ” and will “further denigrate Christianity” by airing during Holy Week.
Protestors urged network affiliates to refuse to run the episode and to write letters of protest to NBC.
NBC countered that the dispute stemmed — not from the show itself — but from an inaccurate press release that went out without being properly vetted. The information was reported by the Associated Press.
“Some erroneous information was mistakenly included in a press release describing an upcoming episode of ‘Will & Grace’ which in fact has yet to be written,” NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks told Reuters.
All that has been decided, according to NBC as they tried to quiet the controversy, is that Spears will play a central role in an upcoming episode that will likely air sometime in April.
It would seem that the pro-family advocates won again, as the network also had trouble finding commercial sponsors for the show, and several smaller affiliates declined to carry the series, objecting to its portrayal of Christian themes.
This might be viewed as free-speech at its best, but of course, such free-speech issues seldom reflect the Christian conservative viewpoint. Take the case of the National Endowment for the Arts showing exhibits of the crucifix standing in human urine. Protests, however well-intentioned, were not effective in cutting funds to the NEA.
But, compare these American protests to the outrage currently being spewed all over Europe and Middle East. Embassies are being burned, mobs are torching buildings, and neighborhoods ransacked because of cartoons published in a number of European newspapers.
Muslims claim the cartoons are an attack on their faith and culture.
The difference is in how they protest. There were diplomatic protests by governments of Islamic countries that closed embassies. And, there were boycotts, but when these proved ineffective, armed groups made threats against citizens. They are calling for the beheading of the cartoonists. Embassies in Denmark and Norway have been trashed and several have been killed in the riots. Many more have been injured.
The prospect is, indeed, frightening, as the radical Muslims will not back down. And, countries in Europe have begun to back off their free-speech claims.
As Akbar Ahmed, professor of Islamic studies at American University, wrote: “What was once an occasional event — silencing scholars —increasingly has become a way of life in most Muslim countries.  From South Asia to North Africa, an entire generation of Muslim intellectuals is at this moment under threat: Many have already been killed, silenced, or forced into exile.”
We all recall the death threats issued for Salman Rushdie for his book The Satanic Verses.
Where will it stop? Will the Western World acquiesce in the vain hope of preserving peace? Or will the fighting and terrorism spread as a result of a few cartoons?