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Anschutz Group Pulls Ad for Examiner After Protest
Joe Strupp, Editor &
Publisher, 30 January 2005
NEW YORK -- Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz's Clarity Media Group, which
owns the San Francisco Examiner and plans to launch the Washington
Examiner on Tuesday, has pulled an advertisement promoting the two papers
following criticism that the ad demonized Palestinian children, The Denver
Post reported Saturday. The advertisement in the Jan. 24 edition of the
media trade publication MediaWeek, a sister
publication of Editor & Publisher, reportedly showed a girl
playing a violin on one side and a Palestinian girl carrying an assault rifle
on the other, the Post reported. Superimposed over the two pictures
were the words "PTA to PLO."
The ad, which was meant to attract advertisers, went on to say: "No
local newspaper has ever delivered news of this scope." The Electronic
Intifada, a not-for-profit website providing news and information from a
Palestinian perspective, asked its readers to contact Examiner vice
president of advertising Mark Wurzer and San
Francisco Examiner managing editor Jim Pimentel to request that they pull
the ad, according to the Post.
"The implication is clear: the girl with the rifle is supposed to
represent a Palestinian girl and embody what the PLO stands for," the
group said on its website. Clarity reportedly pulled the ad on Thursday, said
Ali AbuNimah, co-founder of Chicago-based Electronic
Intifada. San Francisco Examiner publisher Scott McKibben apologized for the ad.
"It has been brought to our attention that a recent advertisement
published in MediaWeek promoting The
Examiner has caused concern...to readers," the Post quoted McKibben saying. "On behalf of Clarity Media Group and The
Examiner in Washington and San Francisco, we sincerely apologize."
Joe Strupp is a senior editor at Editor &
Publisher.
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