In the last two issues, The Northerner ran an ad for a business called Resistance Records. The ad was cut-and-dry. It listed all of the types of music it sells and listed its URL at the bottom. But after this past weekend, we found the intent behind the ad was not so cut-and-dry.
Via an inquiry from Channel 12 News, who got the tip from a concerned reader, we found that Resistance Records is a business that promotes white supremacy.
After investigating the validity of this right after I got the call, I made the decision to immediately halt all business with Resistance Records. While it is not illegal to run ads of this nature, we at The Northerner see it as an ethical issue.’ We do not wish to be in business with groups or organizations that promote any form of racism, sexism, ageism, or any other form of discrimination. While issues of this nature are dependent on who runs The Northerner each semester, it was my decision that the paper, for this semester, will not advertise with this business or other businesses like it.
That being said, I don’t want it to seem like I am making excuses. The fact of the matter is we screwed up. We should have researched our client better before getting in to business with them.
I also want to take this opportunity to personally apologize to our readers for running this ad. We received numerous complaints about the ad, and to those who were offended – I apologize. Please know that we did not intend to offend anyone, and will pay closer attention to the ads we run in the future.
If you still want to voice your opinion on this matter, feel free to submit a letter to the editor on our Web site, or drop by our office to talk with me about it.