Solidarity
In the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attack Harry Albright argues that nothing and nobody should be beyond scrutiny and criticism
In my career as a journalist, I have riled people. At The Elmira Independent in Canada and at the Friend I have published and written things at which people have taken umbrage. Especially when you are engaged in satire, people can take offence.
Of course, it is right that those who subject others to scrutiny should be open to scrutiny and criticism themselves. But I knew that when I published a satirical piece about Quakers in Britain (Ruritania Yearly Meeting) or wrote a criticism of a local councillor in Wellesley Township in Ontario (complete with satirical cartoon), I felt relatively safe that the response would be a sharp letter to the editor or a good glaring at (and maybe a few sharp words) in a council meeting.
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