Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Update on Chapters

They sent me the note again and I thought about it some more so here is the whole thing.


"Start of my response":

Somehow I got this note again today from you. Makes me suspect it is a form letter, which was not so clear to me when I first received it.
I responded more tersely to the first note, simply affirming your right to make your decision and affiriming mine to decide to do no further business with you, earlier, but as you have now sent me this response twice, I have thought some more, and feel it makes sense to say some more.
"Let us be clear and state that we fully support freedom of the press and freedom of expression"
You provide no particular evidence to support that view at all. But I guess you know that. Of course it is easy to say and many have been saying it of late, also showing no evidence of really believeing it. Basically you have decided to do your bit to keep the Western Standard from distributing news it has decided, after its own weighty decisions, to report on.
Within that context, we believe that as a business operating in the private sector, we must also be free to make decisions on what we will carry.
I agree with you 100%. You do have that freedom. I would never think of challenging that notion.
In order for such rights to be exercised and upheld, there must be at the core of our society, a mutual respect for others’ beliefs and opinions, even if they are conflicting at times.
Hmm I am less sure what that means. But I do know what it means in this context. It means that when sorting this conflict out, you will choose to please the side that 'ignites extreme' demonstrations and threatens violence, rather than those of us who refrain from such behaviour, and prefer to proceed through argument and discussion, which you have chosen to suppress, or at least not to help distribute. Your notion of respect looks more to me like fear and caving in to intimidation.
We can all disagree honestly on this, I suppose, but I am shocked by this response. And have no further wish to buy from Chapters/Indigo and its affiliates.
I hope others will boycott you too.
A
----- Original Message -----
From: Sorya Gaulin
To: alan.adamson@rogers.com
Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2006 10:33 AM
Subject: Your comment re: The Western Standard

Thank you for your recent email that was forwarded to my attention. We appreciate the opportunity you have given us to respond to your concerns regarding the sale of the Western Standard magazine.

In light of the decision of this magazine to publish content which has been known to ignite extreme demonstrations and violence, Indigo Books & Music Inc. has chosen not to carry the upcoming issue of this publication. This particular issue of the magazine is still available through subscription and for sale at some other retailers in the country. The decision applies only to this upcoming issue and we will continue to carry future editions of the Western Standard.

I understand you might not agree with our decision but we have weighed the issues and feel our position is the right one for this company. Most news organizations in Canada and many other retailers have come to a similar conclusion on this issue.

Let us be clear and state that we fully support freedom of the press and freedom of expression. The exercise of these freedoms in our country is a right that we too cherish. Within that context, we believe that as a business operating in the private sector, we must also be free to make decisions on what we will carry. In order for such rights to be exercised and upheld, there must be at the core of our society, a mutual respect for others’ beliefs and opinions, even if they are conflicting at times. And so we appreciate and respect your position and thank you for sharing your views with us.


Regards,

Sorya Ingrid Gaulin
V.P. Public Relations & Corporate Giving
!ndigo Books & Music Inc.
468 King Street West, Suite 500
Toronto (Ontario) M5V 1L8
T: 416.646.8965
Mobile: 647.283.4854
email: sgaulin@indigo.ca

"End of my Response"

posted by Alan Adamson @ 5:45 PM

1 Comments:

At 4:38 PM, Blogger Alan Adamson said...

I think you have put it the best of all my commentors! I certainly hope this topic can go away.

 

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