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Editorial: "Eight is Enough" May Be Too Much
June 20th, 2002

Editorial: Cedar Key Plantation: Albatross or Opportunity
June 16th, 2002

Editorial: Hello Cedar Key Plantation, Goodbye Clam Beds
June 14th, 2002

Editorial: All`s Quiet on the Water Front
June 8th, 2002

Editorial: A Cop in Trouble
June 6th, 2002

Editorial: Community Redevelopment Wish Lists
June 3rd, 2002

Editorial: Heath Davis and the Power of Politics
May 19th, 2002

Editorial: Do We Need Another Hero?
May 16th, 2002

Editorial: Support Groups
May 8th, 2002

Editorial: Clarification of Speak Out
May 7th, 2002

Editorial: Introducing Our Editor
April 22nd, 2002


Speaking About Speak Out

Speaking About Speak Out

Editorial

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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Cedar Key News

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