Page 4 of Wednesday’s Badger Herald featured an advertisement from Facts and Logic About the Middle East, an organization that runs inflammatory ads that are often repugnant attacks on Arab Muslims. Wednesday’s ad featured false charges that all Arab Muslims are anti-Semitic.
The Herald does not publish ads that are legally libelous or incite readers to do physical harm. We do publish ads that violate our own beliefs, keeping in line with our support of freedom of speech. This does not derive from the same type of freedom of speech we practice in the news, arts, sports and opinion content we publish, when we hold ourselves to a much higher standard of what constitutes an appropriate and responsible message. When an ad mimics an article, our policy is to label it as a paid advertisement so these differing standards are obvious. This was the case with the FLAME ad.
The Herald does not endorse the FLAME ad, but its publication stands. If you have feedback you would like to direct to the Herald, please contact me at [email protected] or (608) 257-4712 x101. Letters to the editor can be sent to our opinion editors at [email protected].
If you would like to contact FLAME directly, their number is (415) 356-7801.
Sincerely,
Signe Brewster
