Not Newsworthy

Oh yeah. This is one of those stories that reminds you that liberalism has lost its way (if it ever had it). From the August 22, 2007 Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

The release by the FBI on Monday of photographs of two men who had been spotted in "suspicious" behavior on state ferries comes at a time when authorities are getting increased reports of unusual activity on the nation's largest ferry system.
"Over the last six to eight weeks, there has been an increase in some unusual activity reporting," said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Dave Gomez in Seattle. "What we are seeing are individuals engaging in behavior that citizens deem suspicious."
Asked to specify the behavior, Gomez said: These two men "showed an inordinate interest in the operation of the shipboard systems as opposed to the beautiful scenery passing by." Gomez said he would not be more specific because to do so would alert potential terrorists on how to better mask their intentions.
The Seattle FBI -- which houses both bureau and interagency analytic centers -- has been tracking suspicious activity on ferries for several years. Last year, a Justice Department report named the Washington State Ferry system as the No. 1 target for maritime terrorism, sharing that status with Gulf Coast petroleum tankers.
Behind that dubious distinction was the work of the FBI's field intelligence group and the Washington Joint Analytic Center. Supervisory intelligence analyst Ted Turner of the Seattle FBI office told the Seattle P-I last year that "there was an extremely high likelihood, in a handful of incidents, that there was pre-operation planning" for a terrorist attack on the ferry system.

Some of the Seattle newspapers and media used the photos. But not the Post-Intelligencer!

The P-I elected not to publish the photos, citing civil liberties and privacy concerns, which editors felt outweighed the newsworthiness of the images. "We have no confirmation that these men's behavior was anything but innocuous, and to forever taint them by associating them with terrorism under these circumstances is not consistent with our policy," said David McCumber, P-I managing editor.

The comments from readers are pretty amazing. The leftists (who seem to dominate the Seattle area) are convinced that this is all racism and paranoia and neo-conservatives out to market fear. Amazing. I am beginning to wonder if I just imagined what happened on 9/11.