New York, NY, January 18, 2017 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today expressed concern about a newspaper’s decision to print an offensive letter replete with thinly veiled anti-Semitic tropes and conspiracy theories in several Long Island newspapers.

The letter appeared in the December 16 editions of The Island Now, a collection of newspapers owned and published by Blank Slate Media. In a December 30 op-ed in response to readers who were upset by the letter, the publisher acknowledged the letter was offensive but defended their decision. ADL heard about the letter firsthand from concerned members of the Jewish community in Roslyn after appeals to remove the letter from their website were declined.

Evan R. Bernstein, ADL New York Regional Director, and Louis P. Karol, Chair of ADL’s Long Island Advisory Committee, issued the following statement:

We are disturbed by The Island Now’s failure to exercise editorial responsibility in publishing a letter brimming with some of the most well-known and harmful anti-Semitic innuendos and conspiracy theories. This is not about censorship, but rather exercising sound judgment. Media outlets are under no legal or moral obligation to publish material that is false and offensive.

This diatribe of the most insidious conspiracy theories does nothing to educate readers or advance the marketplace of ideas.  To the contrary, it serves only to foster hate and distrust at a time of growing polarization.

We call on The Island Now to demonstrate more responsibility in what they print and take corrective action to ensure that their editorial review process does not permit the use of such dishonest and hate-filled tropes against Jews or any group in the future.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world’s leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.  Follow us on Twitter: @ADL_NY