Two more newspapers have said they will no longer run the anti-Catholic ads sponsored by the Eternal Gospel Church. Both the Idaho Statesman and the Sun in Boca Raton, Florida, have said they are finished with such ads. The ads portray the Catholic Church in a vicious light.
The league registered its first complaint against the Idaho Statesman when the newspaper ran the ad on September 2. We are happy to note that the newspaper had already decided it was not going to run these ads again. President and publisher Margaret E. Buchanan wrote to William Donohue saying, “the Idaho Statesman determined that it would no longer accept this type of paid advertisement.” She added, “There is enough intolerance and prejudice in the world, ads of this type only enflame what already exists.”
Michael B. Kahane is vice president and general counsel of American Media, Inc. This company publishes the Sun (it is also the place where anthrax was found, killing an employee). Kahane wrote to Donohue after the newspaper ran the ad on September 18. He said that when the ad was run, the newspaper had put a disclaimer in it saying the ad did not express the views of the paper. But he hastened to say, “We further wish to inform you that Sun has no plans to accept further advertising from the Eternal Gospel Church.”
In short, the league won.
