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Boycott call may have been a 'gift'

In Publisher Feels Bullied (Jan 30), Midnight Sun News stated there is no correlation between advertisers and publication content, which I would agree with, but the companies that Idle No More Yukon are targeting are

In Publisher Feels Bullied (Jan 30), Midnight Sun News stated there is no correlation between advertisers and publication content, which I would agree with, but the companies that Idle No More

Yukon are targeting are listed on their website as sponsors. I implore people to differentiate the difference between advertisers and sponsors.

Boycotting is not an attack on free speech; it is another method of free speech, and peaceful protest and is also part of the freedom of expression. Individual consumers are always free to make whatever purchasing decisions they want, for whatever reasons they wish; that is the essence of a free society and a free market.

You’ll remember last year when two Conservative MPs, Jason Kenney and Rona Ambrose, supported the campaign to boycott a company for its stance on the oilsands: Chiquita Bananas. This was an action that some Midnight Sun News writers gleefully participated in, including Krysta Meekins. We all have a right to boycotts and to free speech.

Yukon News, Whitehorse Star, CBC, APTN, CKRW, NNBY, and CHON FM are all real news sources here in Yukon. They are required to abide by journalistic ethics of fairness, public accountability, objectivity, truthfulness, and accuracy. Yukoners deserve and appreciate this high level of journalistic integrity.

Midnight Sun News claims they are a real news source, but they are not abiding by the journalistic ethics of other media outlets in Yukon nor do the majority of their contributors have an education in journalism or any other related field. It doesn’t seem very “pro-business” when a core group of people are insulted by content and therefore are suggesting a boycott against the publication and its sponsors.

In all honesty, Idle No More may have given Midnight Sun News the greatest gift to date - free exposure. Now they can claim victim status and leverage this scenario to their advantage to gain more support.

The bottom line is that Idle No More will continue meeting ignorance with truth and hate with love. We won’t be idle and we won’t let the real issues at hand become convoluted by misinformation and ignorance. Let’s all be conscientious citizens, critical thinkers and not allow ourselves to fall victim to logical fallacies.

Cherish Clarke

Whitehorse