Here's an editor who didn't fold

These past few weeks American newspaper editors who eagerly published photos of Abu Ghraib and called Piss Christ art have told us it's not about their safety or the safety of their journalist friends. It about "not offending" and "religious sensitivity." Sure.

But not all editors have fallen below the fold. Some have acted with judgement and courage; and spoken honestly to their readers.

One such editor is The Rocky Mountain News' John Temple. Here's part of what he said to readers yesterday:

I was encouraged by the positive response to our decision to print in our Commentary section last Saturday a collection of cartoons offensive to Catholics, Jews, Baptists and, yes, Muslims. You can still find the package of columns and cartoons at RockyMountainNews.com.

I thought you might be interested in seeing what readers said, given that the Rocky Mountain News is one of the few American newspapers to expose its readers to any of the Danish cartoons of Muhammad that are blamed for rioting across the Muslim world.

"Thank you," was the consistent message.

"Thank you for taking a stand for freedom of the press when so many of our U.S. newspapers caved in," an e-mail from Breckenridge told me. "My respect for you and the Rocky Mountain News is renewed."

"Congratulations on being an equal opportunity offender," another e-mail said. "Well done and well said. The Danish cartoon reveals media double standards, bias and political correctness run amok (all of which continue to be denied, save for you and a few others)."
...

I received only a handful, literally, of complaints, and three of them were form letters late in the week.
...

On our Web site, we asked a poll question: "Should the Rocky Mountain News have published any of the Danish Muhammad cartoons?" Now, admittedly, this was an unscientific poll, but 96 percent of the respondents said, "Yes."
...

This whole experience of publishing these cartoons has been enough for me to want to wear a Danish flag pin in solidarity with that country and to regret - at least during this test of journalism's commitment to free speech - my membership in the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

I can't think of anything to add to what Temple said except "Thank you."

You can read Temple's column here.

I'm sending Temple a link to this post.

If you wish to email him, his address is: editor@rockymountainnews.com

It's always important to commend the good ones.

Hat tip: Instapundit