I've been following recently the news from Marion, central Kansas, where --- in an almost unprecedented series of actions --- personnel of the law-and-order infrastructure attempted to silence the community's weekly newspaper.
Computers and cell phones were seized; the publisher's aged mother died in the aftermath, in part the coroner suggested, because of the stress caused by the raid on the home she shared with her publisher son, Eric Meyer.
In the end, The Marion Record's assets were returned as the county attorney exclaimed, "aw shucks, we didn't have the evidence needed to justify all of that," or something similar.
The motivation appears to have been this: To silence and/or intimidate the staff of a community newspaper still doing its traditional job --- shining light into dark places. Some of those dark places appear to have been occupied by those who organized and carried out the raid.
Can you say, First Amendment? "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ...."
Anyhow, I've been appreciating this morning a Washington Post piece photographed and authored by Jeremiah Ariaz and headlined, "See the Kansas weekly that's standing up for press freedom." Follow the link to read it, or find my personal Facebook page, where I've "gifted" it --- just in case you run into a pay wall.
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