Tennessee Newspaper Apologizes For ‘Horrific’ Ad Claiming ‘Islam’ Will Detonate Bomb In Nashville

A newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee is busy investigating the whereabouts about an advertisement splashed across its front page. The full-page "horrific" advertisement by a religious group proclaimed that "Islam" was going to detonate a nuclear device in the city next month.

The ad, which also mentioned that President Donald Trump "typified many biblical leaders," was published in the Sunday edition of The Tennessean, in “violation of the newspaper’s long-established standards.” As reported, the advertisement was by a religious group known as the "fringe."

As the ad does not comply with the advertising standards of the newspaper, and as advertisements like this are routinely rejected by the newspaper, The Tennessean has launched an investigation to find out how the ad was published, ass shared by Kevin Gentzel, the chief revenue officer at Gannett, which owns the newspaper.

“Two ads ran this week in the Tennessean that clearly violates our advertising standards,” Gentzel wrote. “We strongly condemn the message and apologize to our readers. We are immediately investigating to determine how this could have happened.”

The Tennessean apologized to its readers in a non-bylined article and assured that the ad was not what the newspaper “condone or stands” for.

“Clearly there was a breakdown in the normal processes, which call for careful scrutiny of our advertising content,” said Michael A. Anastasi, vice president and editor of The Tennessean.

“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.”

The advertisement has been pulled from appearing in future editions.

Council on Islamic-American Relations spokesman Ibrahim Hooper has also issued a statement, appreciating that the “Islamophobic” ad has been pulled and the newspaper is trying its best to investigate how it was published in the first place. He also shared that the Tennesseans should “also implement updated policies and staff training to ensure that this type of hate incident does not occur in the future. CAIR is willing to offer that training.”