One Wisconsin Now addresses Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce\'s ad exposing the identity of child sexual assault victims | Views

One Wisconsin Now has sent the following letter to the board of directors of the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce demanding it pull down the television advertisement running on television stations across the state of Wisconsin that exposes the identity of the victims of child sexual assault.

Members of the Board of Directors of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce:

I write to you to implore you to remove the shameful, unethical advertisement you are currently spending $1 million to run on Wisconsin’s television stations, cable providers and radio stations.

Take the advertisement down and beg the victims and their family for their forgiveness.

Anything less is heartless and cruel.

As you know, the family of the child victims has pleaded with you to take down this advertisement, saying it is causing the family even more pain as result of your irresponsible actions.

This advertisement you have broadcast across Wisconsin exposes the identity of victims of childhood sexual assault. In your statement released to the media, you claim that information regarding the case is “publicly available.” Having gone to the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access Program, I can tell you the details you use in your unconscionable advertisement are not on this website. I would strongly challenge your definition of “publicly available.”

Your statement defending your actions also claims the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had reported information identical to your advertisement. Nothing could be further from the truth. To the contrary, none of the newspaper’s stories, written both at the time of the case and recently, identify the relationship between the victims and the perpetrator. That is a standard practice of all responsible news outlets to shield the identity of the victims.

Admittedly, I am incredulous that the television and radio stations being paid by you to run this advertisement have jettisoned this practice to serve your disgraceful advertising needs. As the organization behind creating and paying for this compassionless advertisement, however, you are most responsible and most able to stop the re-victimization of the child victims.

There are 52 companies on the board of directors of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce. If exposing the identities of the victims of childhood sexual assault is the depths to which you will sink in order to win a political campaign, it will be critically important that activists like One Wisconsin Now join with other organizations and members of the public from across this state to alert your members, their customers, the public and the media of your participation in this evil.

If shame is beyond your capacity, then perhaps efforts to expose your sleaze will show the victims on whom you have inflicted additional pain that there are those in Wisconsin who will stand with them against this wrong.

Attached is a list of the businesses represented on your board of directors, according to your website.

List of businesses represented on the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce Board of Directors:

Alliant Energy Corporation, Madison

Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc., Arcadia

Associated Banc-Corp, Green Bay

Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP, Madison

Beaver Dam Area Chamber of Commerce, Beaver Dam

Belmark Inc., De Pere

Bliss Communications, Inc., Janesville

BMO Harris Bank, Brookfield

C.G. Bretting Manufacturing Company, Inc., Ashland

Campbell Wrapper Corporation, De Pere