There is a narrow line between provocation and insult. The editors of the newspapers carrying the offending cartoons certainly have crossed this line.

We don't see ourselves in competition with newspapers. We are not going to replace newspapers' professional editors and reporters. We are providing very local news that the community generates -- the Little League games, the traffic light down the street that needs to be replaced.

We get worked up over trivia, while pushing the real problems facing us under the carpet. Firstly, most people forget that the stricture against depicting Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in an illustration applies only to Muslims. Secondly, the offending (and offensive) cartoons first appeared in September without provoking a reaction except for some mild protests.

The editor of the newspaper and the government of Denmark have apologized. Why not accept these expressions of regret and move on? What is to be gained by the continuing violence and hysteria?

We have editors who spend a part of each day reading magazines and newspapers, looking for evidence of how words are being more commonly used. We're looking for words that show up in the contexts that the average adult might encounter.

Whether it is the [Federal Communications Commission] cracking down on indecent content or the ability of editors to publish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad -- we should all know a little more.