We can't afford to lose...

Freedom is precious. Freedom to speak our mind—publicly—is much of what our country was built on. Freedom is en­joyed by a majority of the world today, but it’s being challenged with irrational bigotry by people whose only answer to what they don’t like is violence against the innocent. It’s terrorism at its worst. Whether it’s breaching personal data, stealing government secrets, avoiding the truth in public statements or indis­criminately killing people for making satirical comments about others, soci­ety is at war with itself today. We’re on the verge of being out of control. And for those of us who value freedom, it’s a scary and volatile situation.

The Charlie Hebdo incident has all of us who put stock in the written word and free­dom of expression feeling uneasy. Many of the major media around the world were very careful about how they reported on the diabolical act in Paris. It’s difficult to tem­per your responses when you’re trained to present the facts. Unfortunately, that’s what the terrorists want, and by attacking first, they have the upper hand, despite the defiance that ensues.

A French colleague of mine who has come to America to study and teach com­munications brings this down to a very personal level. She said, “What was most shocking to me was the fact that we hadn’t had terrorist attacks such as this one (in Paris) for many, many years... (We) usu­ally get bombings. I’m probably biased, but when it comes to shootings and attacks on freedom, the U.S. usually comes to mind first. This one felt more targeted and personal and that’s probably why French people reacted this way—putting ‘Je Suis Charlie’(the slogan adopted by supporters of freedom of speech) on their Facebook profiles, on T-shirts and such.

“Freedom to speak your mind is what countries like the U.S. and France repre­sent, so it’s hurtful when this is being at­tacked and yields uneasiness in other me­dia outlets, shaping their reporting. With terrorism being rampant all over the world, it seems that nowhere is ‘safe,’ nowhere can truly be free without risking attacks... that, to me, is the saddest part,” from her point-of-view.

Our whole world has changed since 9/11 and, importantly for me, it’s changed dramati­cally the way we communicate. With the ter­rorists using YouTube to promote their atroci­ties, the rest of us can barely comprehend what we’re seeing. Every public-facing business I know is now looking more closely than ever at what they say, to whom and how. Words, indeed, can be more powerful than the sword, IF the timing is right AND the offense is not too great. We now know that this can be taken to severe extremes.

Across the pond, an English associate of mine, educated at Cambridge and ex­perienced in corporate communications throughout Europe, takes a more global view of this dilemma. He told me, “These freedoms... have evolved in the ‘West’ over generations through the often painful, if principled, development of democracy. They didn’t appear at a moment of epiph­any. Democracy, and the related freedoms we enjoy and value, aren’t things we can impose on others or expect others to accept and adjust to overnight. Our attempts to do so in recent times, in the Middle East and elsewhere, whatever our motivations and purposes at the time, have served mainly to fertilize the soil in which many of today’s intolerant extremists have grown strong.

“Because they’re relatively new, and also fragile, these freedoms still are find­ing their feet and their limitations. For ex­ample, perhaps the ability to cause great, as well as gratuitous, insult to others is not a freedom a civilized society should regard as an inalienable right. This is not in any way to justify or excuse the reaction to the blasphemy we’ve witnessed from Islamic extremists and others (such as those on ei­ther side of the religious divide in Northern Ireland). But it’s a serious question.

“The West has stumbled into creat­ing more problems that it has solved in many parts of the world through igno­rance and arrogance, albeit let us hope, with the best of intentions. Let us also hope we’ve learned something useful along the way, in addition to acquiring a dangerous fatigue that has left us weaker and more vulnerable... and not only to the ambitions of Islamic fundamental­ism. We probably still need to carry a big stick and defend the freedoms we enjoy, but we surely need to tread more carefully and not simply want to teach the rest of the world what’s best for it,” he surmised.

What to do? Hide our heads in the sand? Stand out in the open and beat on our chests? Take everyone and everything to task in what we say? It’s hard to know, but first, we must remember that we’re in a war with terrorism, not Islam or any other specific ideology. These evil people have adopted certain religious principles to somehow justify their extreme causes.

More than ever, what we say and how we say it must be vetted very thoroughly. Before we speak, we have to consider all sides of the issue and what kind of a re­sponse could result. Still, we can’t shirk our responsibility to communicate effectively.

Opinions must be clearly stated and we should never stray from the facts of the situation (Brian Williams). Freedom of the press and expression continue to be among civilization’s most valuable rights. As com­municators, providing protection for these freedoms is essential. Doing our job profes­sionally, responsibly and ethically is what we learned from our teachers and mentors. Not straying from that commitment may be hard, but it must be done. These freedoms will cease to exist if we don’t defend them. It’s a part of this war we can’t lose.