A Misjudgment And Apology

By: Larry Gordon

For the past 26 years, the 5TJT has been highly selective and careful not just about the stories we cover and report on, but the ads we accept and sometimes reject. Last week, I made a mistake in allowing a full-page ad for the sale of cannabis that set off a small furor in our community. And for that I greatly apologize to all of my readers.

Perhaps my agreeing to run the ad was based on the fact that there has been a store here in Cedarhurst selling these products for two years with no protests from the community. According to the information I received, cannabis has certain medicinal purposes such as for managing pain and anxiety. CBD, a compound in cannabis, can also be used to help people sleep better. I concluded, based on this data, that the sale of medicinal cannabis has been generally accepted. I don’t know enough about the product to either recommend it or dissuade anyone from using it.

In the aftermath of the ad appearing in these pages, several people posted online that the 5TJT is advocating drug use. Of course, that is absurd. And if I’m guilty of anything, it’s allowing the ad to run without knowing enough about CBD or cannabis. I dropped the ball, which, over more than a quarter century of publishing, has never happened before.

I appreciate and am grateful for all the readers who reached out to me to say the use of cannabis can potentially lead to greater drug use, so it’s not a good idea to advertise these products in the 5TJT.

However, there were some people who chose to go a different route, by calling for reprisal against the 5TJT, which is an unnecessary and irresponsible position. Thankfully, these people were in the minority and may have based their opinions on their limited research on the subject matter.

Unfortunately, this brought to mind another incident when a simple photograph was taken completely out of context. You may recall our coverage of the riot at the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021. It was a Wednesday and it was late in the afternoon when we received a photo taken by a local Five Towns personality who was onsite, only a few hundred yards away from the Capitol building. The fact is, the story was dominating the news of the day.

So, we ran a front-page picture of a person who made the trip to Washington, DC, and the next thing I know, I was accused of having a hand in overthrowing the U.S. government! Some people in the community were even making spurious allegations that we were advocating for people to break into the Capitol building.

Of course, it would have been better had we not run the photo to begin with. However, regardless of the photo, it was ridiculous to think that a small-town newspaper, based on a photo, was advocating for the overthrowal of the U.S. government. But that is what some people were claiming, as crazy and unbelievable as it sounds.

Among other things, this is a newspaper that reports the news. Of course, we also take editorial positions, and if you want to hold us responsible for our positions, that’s fair and good. We also provide a platform to other writers, which amounts to a large part of our editorial content. So, if there’s a riot in the Capitol after a contentious election and we cover the story with a photo from an independent observer who provided on the spot coverage, how can anyone make the absurd allegation that we were advocating for a coup d’état? Yet people in leadership positions made these absurd allegations and to this day—all these years later—there are still people walking around with the impression that this was our position on the disastrous day that was January 6.

A similar situation happened with the Covid vaccine because we ran a few articles by knowledgeable people and even doctors who took a critical stance regarding the vaccine and believed that it was doing damage to vulnerable people. I’m grateful that as a publisher, I was able to present these different positions on the matter. As you know, opinions were split on the effectiveness of the vaccine and whether it did more harm than good. So, I presented the various opinions on the matter, but was warned by respected people in the community not to present any essay critical of the vaccine.

In the aftermath of the disastrous Fauci hearings in Congress, we now know that Fauci’s motives were dishonest, deceptive, and represented a serious conflict of interest given that he and other NIH scientists made up to hundreds of millions of dollars in third-party royalty payments from pharmaceutical companies during the Covid crisis. Those who spoke out fiercely on our coverage of Fauci and the Covid vaccine are now completely silent.

Over 26 years of publishing, these situations are extremely rare but certainly memorable. At the 5 Towns Jewish Times, our focus is on Jewish community news and to highlight the positive aspects of Jewish life. We are not a gossip tabloid, but that doesn’t mean that on occasion there aren’t controversial issues that need to be aired out and presented to our readers.

With regard to our advertisers, because we run an ad in the paper, it does not mean that we support or endorse the products advertised. If we run an ad for Land Rover of Freeport that does not mean we are encouraging all our readers to drive Land Rovers.

It has come to our attention that there were other problems with the cannabis ad that you may not be aware of. One was that they used the OK kashrus symbol without authorization and certainly without supervision. Once they were notified by the OK not to use their symbol, we were told that they began using the OU symbol without authorization on their products. This has nothing to do with their ad in the 5TJT, but it’s just not a good situation and we will be more careful moving forward.

As editor of the 5TJT, I hope to strengthen and build greater community trust by halting all advertising on CBD products or on any products that don’t reflect our values and standards. I intend to maintain open communication with the community and maintain the highest standards to ensure that our paper reflects our values and commitment to building healthy families and a healthy, Torah-guided community.

And that about covers it. I sometimes make mistakes under the pressure of a weekly deadline. Running the cannabis ad in retrospect was poor judgment. The ad has been discontinued. If you have an issue on anything else in the paper, you can write to me directly at [email protected].

Ultimately, this is a community paper and we respond to the needs and wishes of our community. This is your newspaper, and we welcome your input on the stories and issues you would like us to cover in future articles. We will always remain committed to and guided by the people we serve, who’ve been there for us these past 26 years as our community has grown and prospered. And we hope to be there alongside you as we remain committed to providing you with the best Five Towns news, whether local, national, or international.

We want to make the Five Towns Jewish Times your community newspaper, the only paper you turn to for news, opinion, community events, Torah topics, sports, lifestyle, and travel. Thank you for making us a part of your week—every week. It’s a position my team members and I hold very seriously. 

Read more of Larry Gordon’s articles at 5TJT.com. Follow 5 Towns Jewish Times on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates and live videos. Comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome at 5TJT.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.