Whether it's racists, eco-terrorists, or anti-abortionists killing someone in a church I think much of their motivation is media attention. "I'm such a loser that I have nothing going in my life and if I do this, people will know me and revere my name for 'the cause'".

The flip side of not covering such things is the wackos may feel they have to step up the severity to get their desired media attention. "if the news didn't cover my internet buddy's pipebomb, I'll have to use a truckload".

It's a tough spot for media- how can the media help prevent the continuance of the problem? That elusive answer should be the policy.

the Miami Herald link doesn't work.

that certainly won't go away if its ignored. It needs to hauled out into the cold light of day for all to observe. Its everybody's problem. This and other papers have a very important role in accomplishing it.

California and a number of other states have way more "hate groups" than Idaho has, but somehow Idaho's reputation has become tainted as racist. Check out the "hate map" at the Southern Poverty Law Center: http://www.splcenter.org/intel/map/hate.jsp for a detailed breakdown.

Orrrrrr, The Statesman could be an edgy leading journalistic sensation and cover groups like Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. Of course the follow-up story would be Rev. Jeremiah Wright. The tie in story would be the relationship between the two 'leaders'.

Ahhh, think of the potential journalism awards!

On the subject of coverage --- where is the Statesman's coverage of the slaying of the U.S. Soldier in his recruiting office in this country. He was murdered by a black man who said it was done according to the teachings of Islam Too controversial for McClatchy?

This is a very serious issue in our State; the silence of the Idaho Statesmen and our politicians on racism is extremely dangerous. The Statesmen’s use of silence is tells all Idahoans it approves of all forms of racism and they should ignore it and accepted it as a fact of life. You can accept this or engage in honest dialogue, identifying racists and educating all Idahoans about these radical hate groups to help communities eliminate this behavior. Yes, it is a delicate balance of self responsibility by journalists to manage emotions dealing with race issues, but it must be done.

To willfully ignore all forms of racism, enables those racists and maintains the ignorance’s of the racial challenges of living together in a democracy. Racism in Idaho is predominantly white’s who cloak their outright hatred behind flag waving, misinterpretations of the U.S. constitution & extremist faiths providing them with a false sense of justification & legitimacy for there hateful values.

This has nothing to do with "Freedom of speech". These are despicable forms of behavior cultivated by fear and bigotry.

We must not allow racists to seize any moment in time by dictating the terms of public discourse without a rapid response to their racist views against any fellow Idahoan. These times demand more from our citizens, our states major media and political leadership.Racists do not crave media coverage; they crave the control of public discourse as they operate in the shadows. Those who do crave media coverage are our intolerant & discriminatory friends cloaked in there extremist christian movement.

Racism is very serious human behavior that always leads to a form of violence, exercising restraint is a failed policy and an even weaker tactic in combating intolerance. Not responding to the racist’s behavior or actions allows them a superior emotion and confidence that they are untouchable assuming the white community and it leaders will do nothing to stop them because deep down inside the white community approves of their racist’s actions.

Why are law enforcement and elected politicians not enforcing the laws and why is the states largest newspaper ignoring them as oh, that’s just an old white guy mouthing off he’s harmless, really.

What we do know is that the white race is destined not to be the majority race in our lifetime, what happens then Idahoans, when you’re the minority race; will those in the majority treat you as you treated them?

And less information about the sick person who killed him. Instead of giving this guy personal notoriety, make Mr. Johns the fallen hero. Every news story I've seen in the last 24 hours started with a photo of the killer. Instead of focusing on these individuals and their extremist beliefs, focus on their horrible crimes and the victims

"We are all sufferers from history, but the paranoid is a double sufferer, since he is afflicted not only by the real world, with the rest of us, but by his fantasies as well." It seems to me that the media contribute to the paranoia if they do or don't cover certain topics. On the other hand, who is going to provide the information we need to better understand the world. if not the media?

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Supporting nothing everywhere all day and very well.

Thank you for hollering.