PAPER TAKES FBI TO TASK, WINS APOLOGY

The marijuana bust by Kentucky State Police and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation last week netted over 1,000 plants at a residence on
Stonehouse Road - we were there. It is worth noting that our reporter
working on the story, Stacey S. Manning, worked hard to bring not only a
story home to the paper, but also pictures that were confiscated by the FBI
at the scene. Rather than accepting the confiscation of film, the staff at
The Kentucky Standard took the FBI to task by calling attorneys at the
Kentucky Press Association to ask the simple question, "Do they have the
right to take our film?" - pictures that were meant for our readers. It
would have been easier for us to just publish the stories with no pictures,
but our readers deserve the entire story. We know that. That's why we took
them to task. We were able to have our film and a video shot by PLG TV-13
returned to us, along with an apology. This type of dedicated journalism
will go a long way toward ensuring this doesn't happen again and sending a
message that even though we are a tri-weekly in a town the size of
Bardstown and a county the size of Nelson County, we know our business and
are as professional as any metro daily. We expect to be treated with the
same consideration and the same respect. It was a valuable lesson learned
for the FBI. We can come under fire and stand our ground for our readers
and for freedom of the press.