Welcome to the First Coast Tea Party
Response to be sent to TU today
The following will be sent to the TU today. The list of those who signed off on our blog about the Tiny Union will be sent along with it. Thank you for your support of this project. Here's the letter to the TU:
To: Mr. Mike Marino, Region Editor, The Florida Times Union
There has been a major discussion going on via our community website. The conversation has focused on the Times Union’s turn from a paper of excellent journalism to one of liberal bias.
There is a lot of frustration about the only newspaper in town which at one time represented all its readers and not just a handful of special friends of the editors or owners of the paper.
One of our members wrote you asking about the article with the headline “Marquee” or “Passionate” GOP supporters giving their support over to Alvin Brown. She asked if you would also publish the list of Passionate Tea Party Supporters of Mike Hogan.
Our member forwarded your response:
Perhaps I can explain. It is not surprising that Mike Hogan is supported by tea party members. One would expect tea party members to support the Republican candidate for mayor with the same fervor as they have Republican candidates state- and nationwide. Therefore this would not, by definition, be news. It is by contrast historically significant that major Republican donors are supporting the Democratic candidate for mayor. By the same definition, this is news. Conversely, if there were major Democratic donors who were supporting the Republican candidate, that would also be news and we would write that story.
Also, please note the article in today’s Metro section about the $100,000 in cash and services donated to the Hogan campaign from the state and local Republican parties.
Thank you for your interest in the Times-Union. Mike Marino
Mr. Marino, we think you missed the point. The headline noting “Marquee” or “Passionate” indicated these people were extra special people. We could not understand what that meant so we did our own investigation and found out that many of those “marquee” supporters do NOT give to the local GOP. We were stunned and then wondered “What makes them a “marquee” supporter?”
In your response you noted that it is “normal” for tea party members to support Republicans. Please remember that Governor Rick Scott was NOT a GOP contender even though he was a Republican. We fought hard for him against the GOP and also against the TU. Did you also not read our press release from March where we endorsed two Democrats for city council? We did so because these two people voted NO to raising our taxes. You can find those endorsements on our website at: www.fctpcommunity.org. Your answer indicates even more bias towards the people of the tea party. Has your team researched those who are supporting Mike Hogan and discovered some of them are Democrats? Do you only consider it news worthy if they give a lot of money? Would it not be a news story if a Democrat gave his/her support to a Republican without the hand off of a large check? Did you know there are Democrats and Independents who are also a part of the tea party movement?
Mr. Marino, your readers are leaving. They are leaving because the TU has consistently violated the following statements from the Society of Professional Journalists code of ethic:
- Examine your own cultural values and avoid imposing those values on others.
- Act Independently: Journalists should be free of obligation to any interest other than the public’s right to know.
- Be Accountable: Journalists are accountable to their readers, listeners, viewers and each other.
Journalism in North Florida has died and it happened right before our eyes. You have made business decisions to save money by pulling articles from AP instead of doing your own research; you reduced the size of the paper; and you laid off staff. It was necessary for you to do this because readership was down causing revenues to drop.
Had you listened to those who subscribed to your paper, it would not have been necessary for you to make these decisions. The TU would be thriving if the bias had not been shown. It was and therefore the TU is what it is…another struggling newspaper trying to hold itself together.
You had an awesome responsibility afforded you by the First Amendment. Unfortunately, the TU and hundreds of other news sources across America have blown it. You can’t blame the internet for your demise. In all businesses, if you give people a great product, they will buy it.
We would have bought it Mr. Marino. We would have looked forward to walking outside in the wee hours of the morning and bending down to pick up the news of the day. We would have held it close as we walked inside and poured a cup of strong coffee. The unfolding of the newspaper as the coffee steamed from our cup was a great way to start our day. Reading the news with both sides of the story displayed in print was great fodder for work discussions throughout the day. Those days are gone for now.
But, we do know this…Wherever a gap appears in the business world – someone will fill it.
We anxiously await the filling of the gap.
Views: 106
Comment
-
Comment by J. Crosby on May 4, 2011 at 9:21am
-
Great job, Billie, as usual! Please continue doing what you do best, keeping us all more informed and taking the stand, publicly, that you do.
-
Comment by Joanna B McDermott on May 4, 2011 at 9:09am
-
We quit taking it 3 years ago......one of the most biased papers I have ever seen. Great letter and sending it to the owners as well is an awesome idea!
-
Comment by Lew Walker on May 4, 2011 at 8:55am
-
Also, Sports Section is pitiful!
I have been informed quicker and more completely using online sources and not missed the TU in over two years.
-
Comment by William I Gulliford on May 4, 2011 at 8:54am
-
From a discussion with a young TU reporter many years ago after a commission meeting when I was a mayor, I am convinced that the vast majority of reporters are not socialists, they are actually communists. It is very difficult for them to keep out their personal bias and function as independent reporters. It was a great idea to include the journalistic code in the letter that many of them don't follow.
-
Comment by Ted Johnson on May 4, 2011 at 8:53am
-
Billy, outstanding comments to a real problem all over the U.S. May I make a suggestion and say please send it to the CEO and board members of the parent company. This Mike Marino will go tit for tat with you all day long, and nothing will be accomplished. We have the same problem here in Pensacola, and getting worst. This is a conservative area for the most part, but you wouldn't know that by reading the editoral page. I believe, the Pensacola News Journal is trying it's best to change that. They have some of the most biased people I have seen working there. We stopped getting the paper (they have to mail it to us since we live in the "country") years ago. I don't want it at all, but my wife wants the coupons in the Sunday edition so we get it on the way to church.
Note: My wife and I lived 15 years in Jacksonville, while in the Navy, and loved every minute of it. We had to leave because my detailer wouldn't let me finish out my career there. Jim and Mary Collier are very dear friends of ours, and are active in your fctp.org.
Well, keep up the good fight, and know that you have friends here in the panhandle.
Ted & Laurel Johnson
-
-
On Monday, I cancelled my subscription after many decades of subscribing to the T.U. It USED to be a newspaper - it has become nothing more than a tool for the democratic machine. Great letter, Billie. It is a shame Mr. Marino can't read between the lines. The only thing I will miss will be the Sunday coupons...
-
Comment by J.R. on May 4, 2011 at 8:43am
-
Excellent! Strange, though, the Times Union protected their interest in trying to get a bailout from the Obama administration, by choosing not to print the BIG NEWS that Obama-affiliated national/international labor unions and Obama's Organizing for America (aka A.C.O.R.N.) have many hired boots on the ground in Jacksonville fighting for Democrat candidates, in order to swing a local government election in the State of Florida---and that is the biggest donation of all in the entire local election. If you were to put a money value on it, it would be astronomical.
This outside interference in our local election races is designed to place a Democrat who shares their political philosophy in the Mayor's chair, as they lay the groundwork for Obama in Nov., 2012. Taking Jacksonville, gives them a major footprint in northeast Florida and they need it to help them win Florida's electoral votes. The Times Union's failure to report on this subject demonstrates their selective bias in favor of unqualified and inexperienced Alvin Brown.
To be honest in characterizing what they print and why they print it, the Times Union might just as well have as a permanent banner headline on the front page of their yellow journalism excuse for a news provider: "We pick winners and losers, and the losers we pick are the Republicans." Then, they should change the name of their paper to The Union Socialist News, for that is what they, in fact, print.
-
-
Last week, I met a young man at a hardware store in Mandarin selling trial subscriptions to the Times Union. He was doing a good job and I listened to his pitch. I told him it is not his fault, but that I might be interested in the paper if they reported the news quit trying to influence elections. Please do not buy this paper if they continue to be biased. Look at the Internet Public Library, http://www.ipl.org/ , you can look at the Times Union and many other papers for free. Also, see the comments after articles. There are a lot of negative comments about Governor Scott. Feel free to put in a word of support for our great Governor. Thanks.
-
Comment by Ronald I. Robertson on May 4, 2011 at 8:16am
-
Billie, as is your custom, you have brought another great truth into focus. For too many years certain individuals and business interests have pretended to be conservative to capture the dollars and the votes of the great masses unaware of their true colors. These people don't care whether they do it through the Republican or Democrat party, or what ideological position they claim to espouse, they are only cynically protecting their own interests. We have many politicians and business people in positions of power today with this twisted outlook and it is why our system has become so corrupt.
-
-
Times Union will not come down from their ivory tower to address this issue. If it is not said by them, it really can't be news. Usual runaround time. Great job Billie.
National Debt Clock
The First CoastTea Party is a non-profit organization. We have no deep-pocketed special interest funding our efforts.
You may contact us at:
First Coast Tea Party
1205 Salt Creek Island Dr
Ponte Vedra, FL 32082
904-392-7475
Helpful Links
Blog Posts
RYAN NICHOLS - Hardened Criminal?? Seriously??
If you're not already aware. This is what's going on in DC while dangerous criminals are allowed back out on the streets. It's horrifying that this is happening to our citizens and veterans for protesting the hijacking of our election process. This is still happening! They are STILL being tortured and treated like full on terrorists.
You may not be aware of the typical things they're forced to go through...…
ContinuePosted by Babs Jordan on August 14, 2022 at 8:44am
© 2024 Created by LeadershipCouncil.
Powered by
You need to be a member of First Coast Tea Party to add comments!
Join First Coast Tea Party