Editor,
I was astonished and dismayed to see the advertisement that you decided to run in the Feb. 22 issue. It is a cowardly act to hide behind the sentiments of a “paid advertisement” as a platform for free speech.
Cancel culture has no place in our community and certainly shouldn’t be available to the highest bidder. Where would it end? Should we all be concerned that any piece of media we consume or any text we send might be featured six weeks later on a two-page spread? Ads like that are used to silence people, not create dialog and community understanding. They are meant to foment fear among those who might be targeted on either side of an issue.
When I called your advertising department, you stated that your legal team cleared the ad. However, what is legal and what is ethical are not necessarily the same. Legally, you may have covered your bases, but ethically you set the precedent that anyone in our community can pay for the privilege of bullying someone into silence.
In the future, I would ask Current to either evaluate the claims made in cancel culture advertising and write a news story where the content would be subject to fact checking and discussion or keep it in the comments section where it belongs. Because it seems like the only thing cancel culture does not apply to is my subscription of Current. Believe me, I’ve tried.
Chantel Weigel, Carmel
