Bob CollinsA situation in Somalia today certainly leads us to appreciate the First Amendment even more than we obviously do.
Proclaiming that music is un-Islamic, insurgents in Somalia have warned radio stations to stop playing music. The government of Somalia — there’s a phrase that’s as strange to write as it is to read — has told any radio stations that comply that they will be shut down.
What’s a radio station to do? The New York Times has the answer:
“We have replaced the music of the early morning program with the sound of the rooster, replaced the news music with the sound of the firing bullet and the music of the night program with the sound of running horses,” said Osman Abdullahi Gure, the director of Radio Shabelle radio and television, one of the most influential stations in Mogadishu.
The previous director of Radio Shabelle was gunned down last year.
Elsewhere on Planet Media:
At a high school in Seattle Spokane, the principal has confiscated every copy of the school newspaper after a column in which students were asked, “”If you could be famous for anything, what would you be famous for?” Some of the answers included, “Dropping a nuke on the Middle East.” “Being JFK’s assassin.” “Leader of the KKK.” “Killing the president with a trident.”
Meanwhile, in Virginia, police A raided the offices of James Madison University’s student newspaper Friday, confiscating hundreds of photos of an off-campus riot last weekend, according to the Roanoke Times.
The police and the county attorney intend to use the seized photographs to find those who broke the law at the riot.
“The community was really upset about what happened,” the editor of the paper said. “I understand that they want to find all these people. But this is between what’s right and what’s wrong.”
