No endorsement

To the editor:

Newspapers have always played a significant part in American politics. Before the Internet and television it was how most voters got election results. Many of us have seen what is probably the most famous newspaper political headline published erroneously by the New York Times in the 1948 Presidential election proclaiming “Dewey defeats Truman” held up by a triumphant Harry Truman, who actually defeated Dewey in 1948.

Now here we are in 2010, the era of Internet blogs, web pages and social media. Just about anyone with a computer and modem now has a forum. Facts don’t matter in this environment and most blogs can say anything they wish pushing any agenda, and all of it is done anonymously.

The newspaper business is experiencing a contraction that has seen many papers close down for good. Others are or have scaled back. Like many businesses in the current economy, the newspaper business has had to learn to do more with less. Less staff, less ad revenues, less subscription revenues, etc. The Osceola News-Gazette is no exception.

Up until August 2008, Osceola County had the Osceola News-Gazette and the Orlando Sentinel both reporting on and editorializing about the goings on in Osceola County. In August 2008, the Orlando Sentinel ceased regular reporting and weekly editorials about Osceola County. Now the Osceola News-Gazette is really the only and largest circulation of any newspaper in Osceola County.

With that, the Osceola News-Gazette has done and continues doing a good job with the limited resources available. The biggest gap in the editorial side of their business is candidate interviews and endorsements.

In the recent primary election that just ended, the Osceola News-Gazette did not do any endorsements or candidate interviews. Now we have a November election pending with a School Board seat, two County Commission seats and one city of Kissimmee Commission seat on the ballot. The Osceola News-Gazette needs to interview the candidates and publish endorsements.

By not doing endorsements the News-Gazette is one step closer to being a newsletter instead of a newspaper. The essence of editorials in U.S. newspapers stems from U.S. politics and is directly linked to editorial endorsements of candidates.

The local Realtors association, the home builders association and the teamsters all endorse candidates. Even the newspaper in Orlando took the time to interview candidates for the primary. Our most reliable local newspaper — the Osceola News-Gazette — owes the community and its readers political endorsements in the upcoming November elections if they wish to maintain its credibility and relevance.

Jay Wheeler
Osceola County School Board, district 1