As President Jefferson knew, the forth estate(the press), and free speech are the glue that holds democracy together.
Unfortunately for Mr. Binker and other journalists, reporting the truth often stirs up those people who have a vested interests in keeping the truth hidden.
It's easier to shoot the messenger than deal with issues.
Yes, the photo is clearly intimidation and unfortunate. As history is our guide, there is no low that many will go to in attempting to silence a voice,it's mob mentality.
Carry on Mr. Binker and thanks for posting this JW and demonstrating responsibility in helping journalists expose intimidation at every turn and in every community!
It's obvious you did not read the entire article, nor others appearing on this blog. In fact they mentioned this blog indirectly yesterday. http://mashbang.wordpress.com/2012/07/17/walk-the-line/
I do wonder if publishing private information is always covered under free speech. If you were to get someone's SS# can you publish it and be free and clear? Ok, perhaps that is a little too far. How about their birth date, place of employment, driver's license number, professional certifications, digitized signature, etc. At what point does it become acceptable in society to display information openly and make it searchable in a database? Can we take the pieces of the puzzle, format them electronically and present in any fashion?
This database originally had some street numbers in it, but was quickly redacted by the host to only street names, is that acceptable? Apparently street numbers are not fair game in their eyes, but streets are for some reason. What about streets with only a single house? How did removing the numbers provide protection to those residents?
They even posted: "Concealed weapon permit holders’ personal information has always been part of the public record, including name and street numbers. We understand the potential concerns with posting that specific information and we proactively stripped the 78,000 file database of that information." So it appears they understood the potential for harm. No doubt this admission will be fodder for litigation should someone be harmed.
Lest you think I am not familiar with the first amendment the last time I checked it Congress was instructed no to abridge the freedom of speech or press (and of course religion). When I check NC it says freedom of the speech and press shall not be restrained, but the last part of the NC constitution is key: "every person shall be held responsible for their abuse."
Lastly, my voter registration says Democrat so put away the liberal/conservative labels so we can have an intelligent conversation and discussion.
J.W. Williamson was the founding editor in 1972 of the Appalachian Journal: A Regional Studies Review, which he edited until July of 2000. He has taught college classes in Appalachian history, cultural politics, and literature, and he has lectured widely on the pop-culture history of "Appalachia" in the American consciousness. His books include Interviewing Appalachia, Southern Mountaineers in Silent Films, and Hillbillyland: What the Mountains Did to the Movies and What the Movies Did to the Mountains. He has won the Thomas Wolfe Award given by the Western North Carolina Historical Society, the Laurel Leaves Award given by the Appalachian Consortium, a special Weatherford Award given by Berea College, and the Cratis Williams-James Brown Award given by the Appalachian Studies Association.
The views expressed on WataugaWatch are solely those of J.W. Williamson or individual contributors and are not necessarily shared nor endorsed by the Watauga County Democratic Party nor by any other adults of sound mind in this or any other universe.
3 comments:
As President Jefferson knew, the forth estate(the press), and free speech are the glue that holds democracy together.
Unfortunately for Mr. Binker and other journalists, reporting the truth often stirs up those people who have a vested interests in keeping the truth hidden.
It's easier to shoot the messenger than deal with issues.
Yes, the photo is clearly intimidation and unfortunate. As history is our guide, there is no low that many will go to in attempting to silence a voice,it's mob mentality.
Carry on Mr. Binker and thanks for posting this JW and demonstrating responsibility in helping journalists expose intimidation at every turn and in every community!
It's obvious you did not read the entire article, nor others appearing on this blog. In fact they mentioned this blog indirectly yesterday.
http://mashbang.wordpress.com/2012/07/17/walk-the-line/
I do wonder if publishing private information is always covered under free speech. If you were to get someone's SS# can you publish it and be free and clear? Ok, perhaps that is a little too far. How about their birth date, place of employment, driver's license number, professional certifications, digitized signature, etc. At what point does it become acceptable in society to display information openly and make it searchable in a database? Can we take the pieces of the puzzle, format them electronically and present in any fashion?
This database originally had some street numbers in it, but was quickly redacted by the host to only street names, is that acceptable? Apparently street numbers are not fair game in their eyes, but streets are for some reason. What about streets with only a single house? How did removing the numbers provide protection to those residents?
They even posted:
"Concealed weapon permit holders’ personal information has always been part of the public record, including name and street numbers. We understand the potential concerns with posting that specific information and we proactively stripped the 78,000 file database of that information."
So it appears they understood the potential for harm. No doubt this admission will be fodder for litigation should someone be harmed.
Lest you think I am not familiar with the first amendment the last time I checked it Congress was instructed no to abridge the freedom of speech or press (and of course religion). When I check NC it says freedom of the speech and press shall not be restrained, but the last part of the NC constitution is key: "every person shall be held responsible for their abuse."
Lastly, my voter registration says Democrat so put away the liberal/conservative labels so we can have an intelligent conversation and discussion.
Democrat and Republican have nothing to do with liberal and conservative. Look at the liberal Republican running for President.
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