Pittsburgh Tribune-Review editorial cartoonist, Randy Bish, is looking over his shoulder more than usual after the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo magazine. Rob Rogers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is also looking out for his safety. 

“I got chills down my spine thinking about how close to home this was,” said Rogers on the deaths of the cartoonists.

While Bish and Rogers are thousands of miles away and have never subjected to hatred from Islamic groups, they’re considering reviewing and revising their work.

Rogers has been the cartoonist for the Post-Gazette for over 30 years and he’s never seen any attack like this on cartoonist or any magazine.

“It really hits home,” Bish said in a phone interview. “Somebody who is on the other side of the world was killed for doing the same thing.”

The attacks left a startling imprint on cartoonists worldwide when it comes to drawing cartoons depicting religious figures, not knowing if someone will snap and harm them.

However, that will not hinder them from what they love to do.

Even though both work for newspapers that are politically divided, being the Post-Gazette leaning liberal and the Tribune-Review leaning conservative, both Bish and Rogers cherish one thing newspapers are given the right of—freedom of speech.

Bish has done many satirical cartoons on political and religious topics and he said the attacks “brought me to cherish freedom of the press and speech. The best thing to do is cherish it”.

While Bish cherishes freedom of speech, Rogers also has words of his own regarding it. He also has done many satirical cartoons on religion, especially on Catholicism and the Pope.

“I’ve always been a big proponent of freedom of speech and I try to find any chance to draw about it,” Rogers said. “I personally think some do cross a line. I would never draw something like that because it doesn’t fit into the kind of cartoonist I am and the kind of newspaper that I work for.”

Even though Rogers supports freedom of speech, he believes that there is a fine line between freedom of expression and just insulting someone or something.

“Even if we don’t like free speech, we have to embrace it. We can’t qualify for people what constitutes acceptable speech,” Rogers said.

The ACLU, which posted its Jan. 21 article regarding Charlie Hebdo, quotes “to self-censor because of threats of violence is unwise and cowardly.”

Bruce Ledewitz, a first amendment lawyer and professor of Duquesne University’s School of Law, gives a description of the difference between the attitudes of freedom of speech between the U.S and Europe.

“We [United States] have a much more robust tradition of freedom of speech. Hate speech is proscribed in Europe. Hate speech can be criminalized in Europe,” Ledewitz said.

According to Ledewitz, hate speech such as the denial of the Holocaust is illegal can lead to prosecution, but in the United States, the law does not allow any idea to be labeled false. However, over the past years, he feels that society is letting itself go when it comes to freedom of speech.

“We ourselves are going in the opposite direction. We don’t protect freedom of speech as vigorously as we used to,” Ledewitz said.