Chris Sweeney
Last month, The Boston Globe’s editorial board delivered a 366-word piece
calling on the U.S. government to officially recognize the Armenian
Genocide. The article, published in print on April 24, notes that 100
years ago to the day, “Armenian intellectuals and public figures were
detained and summarily executed in Constantinople—the beginning of the
systematic purge of the Armenian population at the hands of the Ottoman
government. By 1917, 1.5 million Armenians were murdered.”
Yet just a few pages over from the Globe’s evocative editorial sat a full-page advertisement for FactCheckArmenia.com,
a controversial website that claims there never was an Armenian
Genocide. The website accuses a “well-funded Armenian diaspora” of
pushing propaganda aimed at implicating Turkey in a genocide of the
Armenian people. “There was no massacre or bloodshed on April 24, 1915,”
the website states, standing in stark contrast to the Globe’s argument.
The advertisement in the Globe was one component of a national marketing campaign for FactCheckArmenia, which includes at least one billboard in Boston
that is nearly identical to the print ad. A key difference is that the
billboard notes that it was “Proudly paid for by the Turkic Platform,
Istanbul.” No such funding attribution appears on the newspaper ad.
In response to inquires from Boston to Outfront Media, the
company that owns several of the billboards in question, spokeswoman
Carly Zipp said the FactCheckArmenia ads would be pulled this week from
all cities they are presently running in. According to the Turkic
Platform’s website, they have billboards in Boston, New York, New Jersey, and Dallas, though it’s unclear if Outfront owns all of them.
“We have decided to take them down early,” Zipp told Boston, adding that the billboards have drawn numerous complaints.
As for the Globe, the damage appears to be done. But is it a
great hypocrisy to run a full-page promotion for a genocide denial
website the same day the Editorial Board is calling for a national
policy shift on the very issue? Or is it the ultimate proof of just how
separate church and state are at John Henry’s newspaper?
The Globe wasn’t the only outlet facing this dilemma. The New York Times rejected an ad promoting a similar Armenian Genocide denial website called Let History Decide.
“We only accept ads that adhere to our advertising acceptability
standards,” Linda Zebian, director of corporate communications for The New York Times, wrote in an email to Boston.
The Times‘ policy makes specific reference to the Armenian
Genocide. Zebian shared a portion of the paper’s advertising policy that
reads: “We do not accept advertising that denies great human tragedies.
Events such as the World Trade Center bombings, or the Holocaust, or
slavery in the United States, or the Armenian Genocide or Irish Famine
cannot be denied or trivialized in an advertisement.”
A member of the Globe‘s advertising department who is
involved with sales did not respond to requests for comment about
whether the ad was reviewed before publication. The Globe did not immediately respond to additional inquiries. An advertising manual that is linked to from the Globe’s 2014 rate card
states: “The Boston Globe Newspaper may decline to accept advertising
that is misleading, inaccurate or fraudulent; that makes unfair
competitive claims; or that fails to comply with its standards of
decency or dignity.”
For those that pay close attention to the information wars around the
Armenian Genocide, the billboards and the newspaper ads are cause for
concern, but they are not a surprise.
“Over the past 30 years, but especially over the last 10 to 15 years,
there has been an effort to use tools of scholarship and academia to
manufacture controversy around the Armenian Genocide in the same way
that tobacco companies and other entities have used this strategy to
cast doubt on the dangers of cigarette smoking or global warming or
other scientific phenomena,” says Marc Mamigonian, director of academic
affairs for the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research, a
Belmont-based organization.
FactCheckArmenia and the Turkic Platform did not reply to multiple
requests for comments. Searches of whois.com show that both sites were
registered through a proxy, concealing the creators’ identities.
Mamigonian says that with 2015 marking the centennial of the Armenian
Genocide, he expected an onslaught of advertising and media campaigns
intended to engender doubt over the historic tragedy.
“The tide has shifted, and increasingly the denial of the Armenian
Genocide is recognized as a desperate effort to rewrite the historical
record,” he says. “It’s discouraging that it continues and is going to
continue. It’s certainly discouraging that there are billboards in our
own backyard here in Boston.”
The Globe’s editorial board seems like it couldn’t agree
more. The April op-ed closed with the following sentiment: “Considering
the monstrous threat genocide poses to the values that the United States
holds most dear — a threat that continues into the 21st century — there
is a clear responsibility to step up to the historical moment, call
this crime by its rightful name, and declare it intolerable.”
Whether the Globe‘s business side agrees is another question.
"Boston Magazine," May 14, 2015
Updated Friday, May 15, 2015, 9:10 a.m.:
On Thursday evening, the Globe’s John Gates confirmed that the ad was reviewed and met the paper’s current advertising standards.
“There is a very thick wall between Globe Advertising and the Globe’s
Editorial Board which is by design. This situation happens from time to
time. It isn’t the first time and won’t be the last,” he wrote in an
email.
This is not a church and state issue. The church and state is about separating two 'rights' which are in conflict. In this instance the editorial opinion is based on verified truth while the ad is selling an opinion.
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