Editor, The Beacon:
While a bit self-serving, Eli Witek’s recent column in The Beacon makes a very valid point about the value of local journalism. I spent the first 20 years of my working career as a journalist, 10 of those years as a writer/editor for The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
During my employ at the “Little Miracle on 6th Street,” as the late great columnist John Carter called it, The News-Journal was a full-service, seven-day publication of record with late-night deadlines and early-morning home delivery. There also was an afternoon publication – the Daytona Beach Evening News.
Privately owned by the Davidson family, the News-Journal Corporation was invested in the betterment of Volusia County. Its left-leaning editorial position was adored and abhorred, depending on one’s political views. But the ownership dared to take a stand, even if at times unpopular.
It saddens me to see how out-of-state corporate ownership has cut The News-Journal to the bone. It’s a mere shadow of its old self. Late-breaking news is gone; home delivery is midmorning; and community editorial positioning of any view is absent. Imagine. It takes two days for the newspaper to print the winner of the Daytona 500!
Way back then, The News-Journal was counterbalanced by fierce competition with the Orlando Sentinel, DeLand Sun News, the New Smyrna Beach Observer, and even the Jacksonville Times-Union. And, of course, the television stations in the Daytona Beach-Orlando market. Reporters were kept on their toes, lest they get scooped by a competitor. Subscribers had a choice of where to get their news. And that was a very good thing for the reader and the community.
Today, the news media is under attack by our current president, who labels any journalism not to his liking as “fake news.” Unfortunately, a great many people have bought into this false notion. A free and open press is, in my belief, the bedrock of our democracy.
It’s the role of journalists to watchdog our politicians, not the other way around, as our current president believes. While social media has its dangers in spreading false and dangerous information, I’m not sure the world would be better without it.
As Eli Witek opines, a thriving and vibrant community needs locally produced journalism with editors who know the difference between DeLand and Deltona, and can be held accountable when an egregious error is committed. Who to call at The News-Journal? Ghostbusters, I guess.
Dave Byron
DeLand
