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Former Editor Of The Onion Says Paris Terror Attack Won't Deter Satirists

(CBS) -- A Chicago area man who was the long-time editor of The Onion does not believe the attack in Paris will have a chilling effect on The Onion staff or on any satirists.

There was an Onion article from 2012 with the headline, "(American TV Channel) Nick Jr. Suspends Production on 'The Almighty Muhammad's Porkalicious Toon Jihad.'"

Scott Dikkers wasn't editor then, but he's a former editor and is still affiliated with The Onion and he remembers that story.

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Dikkers does not believe The Onion will be deterred by the attack on Charlie Hebdo.

"The culture at The Onion is one that's been forged by doing this kind of work for a quarter century now and it's definitely instilled in the crew there that our job is to say what we think.

"And that's not going to be tempered necessarily by external events, as tragic and sad as they are."

Asked if he is worried about his colleagues at The Onion, he says, "I certainly care for them. They have a much more secure building than we had in the early years when people could just walk in off the street - and often did... and get into an argument."

Dikkers says satire "does serve an important function in the world," and he says "the act of violence does not achieve its goal. Satire is not going to stop.

"You can't stop a satirist from writing satire any more than you can stop a painter from painting."

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