As a newspaper, the Chronicle must present the news factually without bias. It is only on the Opinion pages should the paper deviate from news into opinion. The December 31, front-page story “DeSantis Proposes Historic Levels of Education Funding” violated that dictum and moved from news to a right-center opinion, and it did so subtlety.
After reading the article, I wondered why I felt it had a right-wing bias. Then, as I re-read the article, I saw the section on California and wondered why that would impact DeSantis’ education budget, particularly the section comparing Florida to California on masking, vaccines, and parental rights. Again, the article had numerous loaded words important to the right-wing of the Republican party but had nothing to do with the budget. The article noted that DeSantis called a special session about masks and vaccine mandates, was suing the Federal government, and advocated a “freedom agenda.” Again, nothing to do with his education budget.
Generally, the Chronicle’s news articles come from unbiased sources like the AP or News Service Florida. However, this article came from The Center Square, a conservative, right-centered biased news service. The Franklin News Foundation owns the Center Square, and it is also right-wing. I then looked up the author, Bethany Blankley, and found she also has a center-right bias. She has written for Fox (Conservative TV). Washington Times (Conservative newspaper) and Townhall (conservative website).
Instead of challenging our community to view the world differently, the Chronicle is playing to a conservative Citrus County. Instead of printing the news, it is printing opinion and passing it off as news. Instead of printing conservative views on the Opinion page, we now have to review the news with jaundiced eyes, wondering if it is news or just part of the echo chamber.
I hope this article is a one-timer and the Chronicle returns to a community newspaper that we can all trust.
As an Addendum: Ms. Blankley's comparison of California and Florida may have been accurate in 2020, but the 2021 numbers show California slightly ahead of Florida and the northeast well ahead of both of them. She should have said that. Also, she should have told us that all the money DeSantis is spending is coming from the Federal government, money none of our Republican members of Congress voted for.s a newspaper, the Chronicle must present the news factually without bias. It is only on the Opinion pages should the paper deviates from news into opinion. The December 31, front-page story “DeSantis Proposes Historic Levels of Education Funding” violated that dictum and moved from news to a right-center opinion, and it did wing of the Republican party but had nothing to do with the budget. The article noted that DeSantis called a special session about masks and vaccine mandates, was suing the Federal government, and advocated a “freedom agenda.” Again, nothing to do with his education budget.
Generally, the Chronicle’s news articles come from unbiased sources like the AP or News Service Florida. However, this article came from The Center Square, a conservative, right-centered biased news service. The Franklin News Foundation owns the Center Square, and it is also right-wing. I then looked up the author, Bethany Blankley, and found she also has a center-right bias. She has written for Fox (Conservation TV). Washington Times (Conservative newspaper) and Townhall (conservative website).
Instead of challenging our community to view the world differently, the Chronicle is playing to a conservative Citrus County. Instead of printing the news, it is printing opinion and passing it off as news. Instead of printing conservative views on the Opinion page, we now have to review the news with jaundice eyes, wondering if it is news or just part of the echo chamber.
I hope this article is a one-timer and the Chronicle returns to a community newspaper that we can all trust.
As an Addendum: Ms. Blankley's comparison of California and Florida may have been accurate in 2020, but the 2021 numbers show California slightly ahead of Florida and the northeast well ahead of both of them. She should have said that. Also, she should have told us that all the money DeSantis is spending is coming from the Federal government, money none of our Republican members of Congress voted for.
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