Last weekend, family members of the man who killed his wife before committing suicide in Dearborn called the home of one of our reporters, making death threats and harassing his family. The threats were crimes in both the legal and ethical senses. Responding to words with threats is cowardly and uncivilized. We will not tolerate it. We will not yield or compromise our coverage of sensitive issues.

At the same time our reporter was being harassed by lunatics within the community, our publisher, Osama Siblani, was facing an orchestrated attack on social media by Islamophobic bigots coming to the defense of Pamela Geller.

Attacks and threats will not change the way we conduct our business in pursuit of the truth. 

We are open to criticism, but we will not reason with incitement. 

Like all other publications and institutions, we can commit mistakes and will run corrections. If community members believe we published something wrong, they should communicate with us directly. Our contact information is listed in our newspaper and on the internet. You can bring the matter to our attention. You can write a letter to the editor or take your grievances to social media. We are willing to have a dialogue about anything. But the moment anybody threatens us, only law enforcement agencies will be between us.

The murder-suicide that took place in Dearborn is a tragedy. We reported the facts of the crime like any newspaper would. But we coupled an editorial message with our reporting on the crime because we are not a mainstream outlet; we are a community newspaper. Our opinion was clear— domestic violence should be reported and condemned. It is an opinion that the overwhelming majority of the community would share. However, a loud and dangerous group of people want all such issues swept under the rug.

It was the criminal act of murder that traumatized the family, not the fact that we reported on it.

We heard the argument that we should stay out of the private business of families and individuals, and we agree. But when a man shoots his wife and himself, it is not a private matter; it is something that concerns and reflects on all of us. When our women suffer at home, it is a sign of our social failure as a whole. 

Threats and attacks will not change us. We received threats in the past and they failed to scare us or make us yield. We will continue to tell the community’s stories, celebrate its successes and point out its shortcomings.