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Editorial: Independence Day July 2nd, 2006
Editorial: Once Again... June 25th, 2006
Editorial: Home Ownership June 24th, 2006
Editorial: Mosquito Control in Cedar Key May 11th, 2006
Editorial: Will Gas Prices Go Up? April 30th, 2006
Editorial: Tree Ordinance Violations April 26th, 2006
Editorial: Why Worry about Global Warming? April 21st, 2006
Editorial: The Purpose of Government? March 23rd, 2006
Editorial: Air Boat Regatta, Guests or Pests? January 29th, 2006
Editorial: The East-West Management Plan December 21st, 2005
Editorial: Water, Water, Water December 13th, 2005
Editorial: Bad News for Print News, Good for Online November 14th, 2005
Editorial: A Bad Tradition November 10th, 2005
Editorial: For the Birds October 17th, 2005
Editorial: If It Killed the River.... October 4th, 2005
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Speaking About Speak Out | Speaking About Speak OutEditorial Cedar Key News has recently received "input" regarding the value and or undesirability of Speak Out. Strangely, some readers have used Speak Out to express their objection to its existence. Another reader cited the fact that several founding fathers of our country published their opinions anonymously in what are now known and revered as the Federalist Papers. More recently, the Freedom Wall in Beijing was used to criticize the Chinese government. The need for anonymity stemmed from fear of reprisal, a justified fear. In the United States an anonymous source called Deep Throat was instrumental in forcing the resignation of President Nixon. (Nixon's Attorney General, John Mitchell, tried to intimidate the publisher of the Washington Post with metaphoric threats of violence.) Not long ago a man who spoke out at a Commission meeting found roofing nails in his driveway and his boat cut adrift. Speak Out provides a place for opinions to be expressed without fear of retaliation. Cedar Key News does not vouch for the truth of anything posted in Speak Out. We do not edit postings in any way, on pain of losing our legal protection. However, our current policy is to have an author's name with each posting. Furthermore, we are considering a mechanism that requires registration to access certain specified sections of our paper. Speak Out may be so specified. Registrants will not be identified as readers or posters. That section will keep unregistered readers from accidentally reading an opinion that is offensive to them. Registered readers must recognize postings for what they are, i.e. opinions. When the Florida Department of Transportation threatened to cut down the trees along State Highway 24 a timely posting on Speak Out brought out a protest that saved the trees. Opinions on such as the Arts Festival, political candidates and the need to enforce state law must be taken for what they are, opinions. Let us hear what the people of Cedar Key think about the need for Speak Out. |
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