To the Editor:

Independent, aggressive and critical media are essential to an informed Republic. But mainstream media are increasingly cozy with the economic and political powers they should be watch dogging. Mergers in the news industry have accelerated, further limiting the spectrum of viewpoints that have access to mass media. With U.S. media outlets overwhelmingly owner by for-profit conglomerates and supported by corporate advertisers, independent journalism is compromised.

The Suwannee Democrat, Suwannee County's main media outlet is owned by one of those mergers, for-profit conglomerates and supported by corporate advertisers. Don't get me wrong, you have to have money and a lot of it to buy the ink and paper to provide the news and this is done through advertisers.

There is an upward trend in the average tendency to endorse a candidate, and in particular an incumbent one, is now being adopted by our own media outlet the Suwannee Democrat. I just imagine they will continue the average ideological slant of endorsements systematically giving more coverage to Democratic topics of civil rights, health care, labor and social welfare.

The Suwannee Democrat has adopted that ideological slant, just look at their Thursday, January 07, 2010 edition. 31 1/2 column inches were spent on "Boyd suits up for 2010." Did you see the incumbent's challenger announcement to run? Probably not, because it was on the fourth page, and if I recall right it was only 4 column inches.

In the same edition, on the front page the Democrat pushes its views -- to endorse candidates, right along side Boyd's half page picture. What the Democrat does not know is that - we know that they have been endorsing already and some of us resent it. Yes they have been endorsing systematically since the new owners (a corporate conglomerate) took over.

I voted for Allen Boyd, I just believe in newspaper standards, like fairness and accuracy in Reporting. Under this standard, taking sides on an issue would be permitted as long as the side taken was accurate and the other side was given a fair chance to respond. Many professionals believe that true objectivity in journalism is not possible and reporters must seek balance in their stories (giving all sides their respective points of view), which fosters fairness.

Is there balance in the Suwannee Democrat? You tell me if it's balanced when they tell us how to vote and what needs to be done to turn this county around. You see, the media really thinks we need to be told who to vote for and tell our Commissioners what to do. Well that's understandable - just look at the thinking of one Commissioner "What's one point on our ISO ratings." (God help us).

Please don't give me idle rhetoric and your point of view on the news page Suwannee Democrat.

I believe we need objective journalism. Journalistic objectivity can refer to fairness, factuality and nonpartisanship, but most often encompasses all of these qualities. Oh well, just be objective in your reading.

Randy Henderson

The Democrat responds:

The Suwannee Democrat is owned by Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc., a Birmingham-based company, but operates with complete editorial independence. We recommend you visit www.cnhi.com/newspapers/ and peruse the Web pages of our sister publications. Each is as varied as the community it serves, and beholden only to its readers.

Now on to Allen Boyd. Like it or not, a visit from a U.S. Congressman is news. Boyd is one of 435 men and women with enormous power over the daily lives of every American. His opinion on healthcare legislation - back when a final vote on that contentious issue appeared imminent - was surely of great interest to our readers, whatever their political leanings.

Note, too, that under questioning from the Democrat, Boyd admitted he might change his original "no" vote on healthcare to an "aye," depending on how the bill was altered during House/Senate conference sessions. Surely this was Page One news to local voters, many of whom strongly oppose both versions of the bill.

As for endorsing local candidates, we made clear from the start that ours wasn't the only voice that mattered. Here's what we had to say, in case you missed it:

"With each endorsement will come a careful explanation of the reasoning behind it. That doesn't mean we expect you to take our word for it, though. Your job is to weigh our opinion against your own insights and observations, then make a choice that reflects your values.

If your opinion matches ours, fine. If not, that's fine too. As always, you will be welcome to share your views, either in a Letter to the Editor, a submission to Rant & Rave, or online in our Facebook forum."

-- From "A new era for the Democrat," Jan. 8, 2010, Page 1A.

As for your final point, Mr. Henderson, you're right about bias in the media. It's always been there and always will be. We don't believe you'll find it in our pages - we make a clear distinction between news and opinion, and label each accordingly.

Nonetheless, we welcome your input. As you note, the free exchange of ideas remains essential to the health of the Republic.