Update (5:20 p.m.): The Tennessean reports that three advertising staff members "had the opportunity to review the ad in its entirety" but failed to do so. Quoting Kathy Jack-Romero, the president of local sales for Gannett, the paper reports that a sales executive flagged the ad for review, but the sales manager "agreed to proceed with the ad without fully reviewing the content."
That sales manager has been fired. The paper also reports that the $14,000 value of the ad was refunded to the Arkansas-based group that purchased it, and that Gannett is donating $14,000 to the American Muslim Advisory Council. Gannett is also giving the council $50,000 in advertising credit, which will be used for multiple Islamic organizations, the daily reports.
Original post: The Tennessean says it is investigating how a full-page ad featuring an Islamophobic prophecy about an impending nuclear attack on Nashville ran in its Sunday edition.
The question of how it ended up in the paper doesn't seem likely to require much investigation — especially not by the paper's leadership, who are quite familiar with how ads end up in the paper. "Investigation" here likely means, "Give us a moment to decide what the hell we're going to do about this."
The ad went viral Sunday after local writer Alex Martin Smith tweeted a photo of it in the print edition. Underneath a photo of President Donald Trump and Pope Francis, the ad consisted of a long letter addressed to "citizen of Nashville."
"We are under conviction not only to tell you but to provide evidence that on July 18, 2020, Islam is going to detonate a nuclear device in Nashville, Tennessee."
What followed was an explanation claiming to draw on biblical prophecy, various kingdoms (of which they say the United States is the sixth) and the notion that "Biblical prophecy specifies that Donald Trump is the final president of the United States."
What follows is more rambling, anti-Islamic rhetoric and a link to the group's website. Tennessee Lookout reported Sunday that the group behind the ad is called The Ministry of Future for America and based in Arkansas. Another end-times ad from the group ran on June 17, but did not mention Islam, The Tennessean reported.
Sabina Mohyuddin, executive director of the Nashville-based American Muslim Advisory Council, tells the Scene she learned of the ad as it was being shared online Sunday.
“It was just shocking, unbelievable that it was actually in The Tennessean," Mohyuddin says. "I know community members were very much — not just in shock but angry and hurt and also fearful. Because this was a date given about something happening because of Muslims in Nashville. So, it was like a huge target was put on our back yesterday. Sometimes it ebbs and flows — we always know our community is under threat from right-wing groups and Islamophobes. But this put a big target on our backs. A lot of people were talking about, you know, how do we make sure our places of worship are secure?”
Numerous Tennessean reporters — some of whom are on company-mandated furloughs — denounced the ad on Twitter throughout the day Sunday, noting the separation between the newsroom and the advertising side of the operation, but insisting that the paper get to the bottom of what happened.
The Tennessean's editor addressed the ad in a statement released by the paper.
“Clearly there was a breakdown in the normal processes, which call for careful scrutiny of our advertising content,” said Michael A. Anastasi. “The ad is horrific and is utterly indefensible in all circumstances. It is wrong, period, and should have never been published. It has hurt members of our community and our own employees and that saddens me beyond belief. It is inconsistent with everything The Tennessean as an institution stands and has stood for and with the journalism we have produced.”
Ryan Kedzierski, vice president of sales for Middle Tennessee, said the paper "will be utilizing the advertising dollars that went toward the full-page ad placements and donating those funds to the American Muslim Advisory Council.”
“I talked to some of the editors, and they were very sorry for what had happened, but once it was out there how do you undo it?" Mohyuddin says. "It can’t be undone. Whoever read it, read it. People who are apt to believe this kind of so-called prophecy, they’re gonna believe it.”
As many from The Tennessean's newsroom were rightly pointing out on Sunday, the editorial staff is not involved in advertising. This debacle was not their fault. But the paper's opinions section has repeatedly attracted scrutiny and criticism (including from the Scene) for publishing anti-Islamic rhetoric, among other beyond-the-pale views.
In 2015, following the terrorist attack on the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo, the paper ran an opinion piece by former Vanderbilt professor and twice-failed mayoral candidate Carol Swain arguing that the attacks proved "critics were right about Islam." She went on to write that the religion "poses an absolute danger to us and our children unless it is monitored better than it has been under the Obama administration." The paper also ran a piece by Swain in 2016 in which she wondered aloud whether the killings of current and former Vandy students in terror attacks might be connected to the university's rules governing Christian student groups.
