Letters: Liberal or conservative, Jacksonville communities still need daily newspaper

The past decade or so has been difficult for newspapers. There have been mergers and buyouts by hedge funds and private equity players, budget cuts, layoffs and declining print readership. Surveys have shown that many people believe they would not be affected if their local newspaper ceased to exist.

Add to that the loss of many journalists due to changes in occupation, retirement or death (including the recent passing of noted Florida journalist Lucy Morgan) — it seems like dire times for newspapers.

But there’s good news, as this week marks the 83rd celebration of National Newspaper Week, Oct. 1-8. A recent national study conducted by independent research firm Coda Ventures for America’s Newspapers found that nearly 220 million American adults regularly turn to their local newspapers for news and information.

Younger adults may very well believe they wouldn’t be affected if their local newspaper went away, most often citing they get their news from social media. What they fail to realize, however, is that the stories they read on social media are usually generated first by newspaper journalists, especially those that involve time-consuming, resource-intensive investigative journalism.

It takes a dedicated team to ensure our community has access to quality, truthful journalism. Reporters provide us with objective observations based on gathered facts and information that inform us about day-to-day issues and events. While columnists offer their opinions based on gathered facts and information that can result in readers’ disagreement.

But that disagreement often results in much-needed conversations that might otherwise not occur. Editors have an important role to play as well. They decide which stories get written, by whom and when or where the story will be published, among other responsibilities. There are many others working behind the scenes, cogs in the wheel of newspapers, who also deserve recognition.

Here in Jacksonville, newspaper journalists have been responsible for numerous important stories over the past year, including stories on the proposed sale of JEA and subsequent indictments, elections and redistricting, as well as the debate over Confederate monuments. Where would our community be if those stories never saw the light of day in our newspapers?

Dana Brown, Jacksonville

Community action can help Alzheimer’s fight

Right now, more than 1,700 of our neighbors, friends and loved ones are on a waitlist to receive Alzheimer’s services from the state of Florida. Of those, nearly 600 are considered to be at or beyond crisis. We are failing our friends, families and neighbors.

My father passed away from complications of dementia in 2018 and my mother has recently been diagnosed with dementia. There was very little help available for my father, and I hope things will be different when the time comes for my mother. This is a disease that has no cure, which I would not wish on my worst enemy. It is heartbreaking to see a loved one go through this terrible disease.

An estimated 1 in 8 Florida seniors is living with Alzheimer’s. Add in their caregivers and you are looking at thousands impacted just in Jacksonville alone. With such a prevalent disease, our elected officials must take action. Thank you to Rep. Dean Black for your steadfast support. We appreciate all you have done (and will continue to do) to help Floridians living with Alzheimer’s, as well as their caregivers.

One way we can make our voices heard at the community level is through collective action. Please join me at the Walk to End Alzheimer’s Jacksonville on Saturday, Nov. 4, at UNF’s J.B. Coxwell Amphitheater. At 9:30 a.m. we will have a beautiful promise garden ceremony followed by the walk. Register on the Alzheimer’s Association website at alz.org/JacksonvilleWalk.

Patria Jones, Jacksonville

Monroe looks out for taxpayers

Has anyone else noticed that Nate Monroe's recent columns are easier to read without the personal vitriol? I consistently appreciate his dogged research into public matters that need to come to the general public's attention, but not always his suggested remedy.

This columnist is generally doing a public service for the community at large.

In his Sept. 27 column, Monroe exposed the complicity and cronyism of City Council for speedy, extraordinary legislation to benefit the organizations run by Nick Howland and Ju' Coby Pittman.

This time he equally disparaged a Democrat and Republican for good cause, exposing the “go along to get along” mentality for most of the council as a political body. And please ― don't suggest the good works done by their nonprofit organizations outweigh the backroom manner for gaining additional funding beyond what they already receive.

That extraordinary legislation along with the total budget sailed through the council.

Since I am not proficient in legislative matters, is it possible for our new mayor to sign the budget into law while vetoing the special (and questionable) funding for the interest of the two council members? That would demonstrate a bipartisan attempt at managing the needs of the people over insider pandering. But maybe the mayor, being a politician, must occasionally go along to get along, too.

Who will look out for the taxpayers if not Monroe?

Rob Richardson, Jacksonville Beach

Give the governor a break on climate

Two front-page articles on Sept. 20 and Sept. 21 attacking Gov. Ron DeSantis' energy policy need a little more context. His programs on Everglades restoration, red tide and climate adaptation efforts in low-lying areas have been well-documented. His management of hurricanes Ian and Idalia (and recovery from these major disasters) has been admired both within and beyond Florida.

So maybe the environmental activists should lower the temperature.

Florida and the rest of the country are facing serious inflation and much of the blame rests with higher energy costs, whether it’s oil and gas for transportation or fuel for generating power for daily heating and air conditioning. Our world doesn't work without these fuels, and the “promised land” of renewables won’t be a reliable substitute until well into the future.

To insist that this transition be made now ignores reality and our governor is merely stating the obvious. The rush to adopt this new technology will come soon enough and it will undoubtedly be much more expensive. In fact, Duke Energy — an important player in Florida and the Southeast — recently announced an almost 20% increase in electricity rates for its customers in the Carolinas. Get ready for more of the same.

Stuart Griffith, Ponte Vedra Beach

Win or lose, Deion deserves respect

In the Times-Union's supplemental USA Today sports section on Sept. 26, columnist Mike Freeman claims the University of Colorado football team under head coach Deion Sanders is now “Black America’s team.” That’s ironic, since he also called Sanders’ opinion on the lack of two-parent families dumb and ignorant.

Freeman is stunningly predictable and remarkably fatuous. He’s like the Alvy Singer character in “Annie Hall,” who swears the guy he works with is an anti-Semite because he thinks he says, “Jew have lunch yet?” rather than “Did you have lunch yet?”

Freeman misinterprets everything and sees racism everywhere, but particularly where it’s not. That said, Sanders is a fundamentalist Christian and a traditional disciplinarian. He’s also an old-school, demanding football coach and a solid mentor. He’s a lot closer to Bear Bryant than to the cartoonish complaints of a guy like Mike Freeman.

So, if any segment of America finds those things about Sanders laudable, then we’re all better off.

Mike Disch, Neptune Beach

Governor, please come home

Dear Gov. Ron DeSantis: Your campaign for the Republican presidential nomination has floundered since you announced it on a Twitter livestream. You performed subpar in the first two GOP debates. Republicans don’t care for you, with a likability index near the bottom of the scale. America doesn’t care about “wokeness” or that you took on Mickey Mouse or got rid of COVID masks sooner than some other states.

You have a state to run. Please come home to deal with gun violence and climate change encroaching on our beaches and freshwater aquifers, preparing for enormous tropical storms and hurricanes. What about the insurance crisis hitting the pockets of tens of thousands of Florida home and condominium owners?

So, please pack your bags. Jump on the next flight to Tallahassee and handle the people’s business. The Florida residents who did vote for you expect you to do your duty for the citizens of the Sunshine State.

Mike Geisler, Jacksonville

Gun laws need serious rewrite

We continue to hear about the tragic shooting at the Dollar General store several weeks ago. Clearly, there is no place for this sort of thing, and steps need to be taken to curb it from occurring again. We know the shooter purchased his Glock handgun and AR-style rifle legally, but we also know that in 2017 he was involuntarily admitted to a mental health facility under the Baker Act.

How can someone with obvious mental issues legally purchase a firearm, let alone those of this nature? In my mind, the country's gun laws require serious examination, so that purchases of this kind can be prevented from once again happening.

J.W. Wilkens, Ponte Vedra

Missing the bigger picture on crime

In response to the Sept. 25 article about the First Coast Relief Fund raising money to fight hate and social inequity — there is nothing wrong with efforts to end racism.

However, where is the money and effort to end the much larger and more prevalent death toll of Black-on-Black crime in certain Jacksonville neighborhoods? That doesn't seem to get the same amount of attention, despite being a more destructive force in the affected communities.

Michael Maxwell, Jacksonville

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Agree or disagree, stories in daily newspaper get Jacksonville talking