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You have completely revamped your website and added a new page which features politically-oriented comic strips and cartoons. Items on this page are refreshed on an ongoing, rotating basis through a syndicated feed. Because the updates are staggered, the page is rarely reviewed beyond ensuring that it is up and running.

You're getting ready to head into the newsroom when one of your colleagues calls you at home and tells you to log on to the website. One of the comics on the page is not only sharply critical of the conflict in Iraq but has chosen to do so by questioning the intelligence of a recently killed soldier. This individual had drawn a great deal of attention after his death by choosing to enlist in the service rather than pursuing a multi-million dollar sports contract.

By the time you reach the office your organization has been flooded with angry calls and e-mails. Your web editors have already pulled the strip but the conservative talk radio station in your area continues to lambaste your decision to post the strip and is encouraging its listeners to pull their subscriptions and let you know how they feel about the "cowardly liberals" at your news organization.

Your managing editor calls an immediate meeting. She wants to know what people are thinking. She says, "We've already pulled the strip. Who thinks we need to do more?"

Opinions go in all directions:

• Some folks feel that pulling the strip was all you could do and you need to move on. "There are more important issues going on right now that demand our attention than getting involved in a fight with the radio station."
• Some feel the strip shouldn't have been pulled. "We started the page to get attention and to give the site a new voice and an alternative viewpoint. What's the point of having it if we are going to pull anything that causes controversy?"
• Some feel the Editor needs to write an immediate response and it needs to get posted to the front page of the site.
• "But," someone asks, "If we write about the cartoon and it's still posted to another site aren't we just going to drive more traffic to the strip? If we pulled it because we don't feel it's message is appropriate for our readers, is writing about it really appropriate?"

Keep in mind that the radio station is still fanning the flames (they've posted, on their website, a direct link to the comic on the syndication service's website under a scathing indictment of your organization). What steps do you think should be taken now? What steps should be taken to prevent this in the future? Should the organization publish future strips by this cartoonist?

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