Freedom of speech in action (#332, Topic D)

Every Sunday, the Washington Post has a column by its ombudsman. In last Sunday's (2/11/07) column, she talked about editing supervision over blogs posted on WP's website. In particular, she said she was flooded with complaints against an entry, posted in January, concerning the troops in Iraq. Somehow, the following sentence appeared in that post: " it was an ugly reminder of the price we pay for a mercenary -- oops sorry, volunteer -- force that thinks it is doing the dirty work." Yesterday's WP had a follow-up story on that post; in it, the executive editor of washingtonpost.com was quoted as saying "We certainly apologize for using it [the word mercenary] on the site. ... I know it offended a lot of people, but I don't think it's something he should be fired for." Was he or was he not fired? I am too stupid to tell from reading that follow-up story, though it mentioned that the blogger apologized "for his 'blasphemy'," and that he was ambushed "in a parking lot, called his remarks 'disgraceful,' and said that The Post and NBC News, where [this blogger] works as an analyst, will be 'forever tainted' by the incident." Today's New York Times has an editorial, "The Courage of Others' Convictions," concerning the Dixie Chicks, a trio of female vocalists who won three top awards (album of the year, record of the year, and song of the year) at the Grammy Awards last Sunday. It seems that, back in 2003, the lead singer, in a concert in London, said that she was ashamed that President Bush was from her home state of Texas (she opposed the Iraq war). Since then, according to the editorial, "their music was boycotted and banned by country music stations, their CDs were burned and smashed, and group members' lives were threatened." The editorial continues to say that "The Chicks' offense was ... labeled unpatriotic." The editorial ends with a reference to another incident more than half a century ago: "Lililian Hellman scalded an Academic Awards ceremony in 1977, 25 years after she defied the House Un-American Activities Committee." Today's WP also carries a story that two bloggers on the staff of a presidential candidate on the Democractic side were fired for using languages that infuriated people in power. So much for freedom of speech.