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| The sea of red "DISAGREE" cards is nearly unanimous at every town hall I hold in District 1 when I ask one simple question: Do you trust and believe what you read in the Pensacola News Journal? |
We had a really good turnout for our Monday evening's Town Hall meeting.
The crowd that came out was interested, motivated, and they were engaged.
So we talked a LOT of issues....Traffic, stormwater, infrastructure, growth management, and lots of other topics. We went through all of the audience comments, and a lot of issues were addressed/explained by staff. Those issues for which we could not provide a cogent explanation were referred to staff who could provide a response.
So it was a great night and I really appreciated everyone's participation.
At the end of the night, I waited at the podium and answered the last of the crowd's questions, 1 on 1, face to face.
And one of the individuals who waited to speak with me taught my son in Elementary School in Beulah nearly 20 years ago. So she had my attention.
"This townhall was great, you did a great job and really connected with the people---but there's one thing you need to fix------stop slamming the media!" she stated. And I told her I appreciated her opinion and understood her concern--but that the media in America is distrusted, nearly universally. And the print media, locally, the PNJ particularly is not trusted at all.
"I worry about our country if we do not support a free press" she continued. "I do too" I responded.
Then I continued "They lie, play favorites, hide facts, and are selective about whom it is they attack, and whom it is that gets a pass. That's why nobody trusts the media today, the mainstream media, and especially the PNJ locally."
"Well, you should speak with them and explain your position" she stated, to which I replied "I've done that--and they are intransigent."
"You should just ignore them then" she concluded.
"I have to keep an eye on them because of what I do--but I do ignore the majority of the garbage they put out." I stated flatly as I thanked her for coming and participating and for all she did for students.
The issue that got her somewhat riled was the portion of my townhall where I rapidly surveyed the audience on their thoughts of the media. Three questions drew almost universal rebuke of the media, and the PNJ in particular. You can see the reaction for yourself at minute 1:44 of this video
2 comments:
All the reasons that we don't trust our elected officials, including this commissioner. You just don't like anyone calling you out, Jeff. Whether it is Andrew Tallship or whatever you call him, the PNJ, the ECW, or any other news.....just ignore the Jeff and do your job.
12:46--nice try--I think I spotted you in the back at my town hall with a snickering grin. Yeah, you were probably the one person who held up a green "Agree" card when I asked if the PNJ is trustworthy. But this isn't about you or me--it's about hundreds of everyday citizens (many of whom are not my fans) that agree with one concept: the main stream media in America today, and locally the PNJ in particular, are compromised, partisan, biased, and untrustworthy. These news organizations are pushed by their sponsors and advertisers and in many respects by their partisan fellow-travellers--primarily from the Democrat party. So althouth you think it's about me and want to make it about me--two hundred individuals raising a red "disagree" card when I say The PNJ can be trusted is not about me at all. It is about them. And you, too.
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