Since late 1996, many attempts have been made to alert the Elk River Area and its surrounding communities to the truth of what is going on at Solid Rock Church. It's a Cult! The Elk River Star News was informed early on in a series of communications. When it was obvious that no action would be coming forth from the local paper, the decision was made to start running ads to expose the theft of the church and its cult activities. When the ads started, Mr. William Matthews threatened the Elk River Star News with a libel suit. He failed to intimidate Mr. Palmer with similar threats. If the paper continued to run Mr. Palmer's ads, he would sue.
It then became very difficult to alert the local community due to the severe censorship of the paper's attorney. The Elk River Star News' attorney found the following words unacceptable for use in an ad.
UNACCEPTABLE WORDS
Before an acceptable ad was agreed upon, five different revisions were made. However, watering down the truth does not serve any community very well. The paper's attorney said the ad would be acceptable if we could get rid of the words cult, evil and swindle. Now, take a composition test and let me know if you can come up with an ad -- without those words -- that carries the same truth. Can you?
In the end, Mr. Palmer has been left wondering what other evils could be lurking in the community that the paper is censoring, refusing to expose or simply chooses to ignore as "unnewsworthy." What evil lurks in your community? Who stands for the truth in your home town? Does your local paper protect the interests of your family and neighbors? How do you know?
How would you feel if your local paper hid the facts of a cult from you for over two years? Would it bother you if your kids were going there during that time? Your neighbor's kids? Would you really want to know? How soon would you want to know? What are your expectations for your local paper? Do you care?
Its something to think about in 1999. Isn't it?