Raleigh News & Observer Distributes Controversial Video on Islam to All Subscribers

On September 12, 2008, the Raleigh News & Observer distributed the controversial video "Obsession" as a paid insert to all its home-delivery subscribers. In an article published the same day the video was distributed, the N&O revealed that the Clarion Fund, which refuses to disclose its board of directors or donors, is funding the video distribution in more than 70 newspapers across the United States. The video has been distributed in swing states in advance of the November 2008 elections. Click here to see the locations and names of papers that distributed the video.

The distribution of the video has spawned controversy in the Triangle and in other communities where it has been distributed. In an October 3 AP article, N&O editor Ted Vaden reports that the video distribution generated "definitely the most feedback that I've gotten to an ad . . . It's among the heaviest reaction I've gotten to anything. The great majority of the reaction was negative." UNC professor Carl Ernst was among the first to react, denouncing the film as "racist and religious bigotry." Duke professor Jen'nan Ghazal Read wrote an op-ed piece placing the video distribution in the broader context of the role of American Muslims in the upcoming US elections. 

UNC professor Omid Safi has investigated the Clarion Fund, the organization behind the distribution of the "Obsession" video and its links to politicians and Christian and Jewish Zionist organizations. He has also published a piece on Beliefnet characterizing the video distribution as "terrorizing the American politic." Listen to Omid Safi's interview about the "Obsession" DVD, which aired October 9, 2008.