After Rejecting, Fair, Objective And Balanced Reporting An Angry News Leader Editor Exits Before Being Booted

Fernandina Beach News Leader Editor, Tracy Dishman, has bolted. She’s miffed that new publisher, Todd Frentz, and the paper’s Athens, Georgia-based ownership want to convert the liberal mess she created into a factual, fair, objective, and balanced newspaper.

The leftist editor announced her Friday, May 30 departure in a letter sent to a near empty newsroom, admitting that her News Leader efforts were thwarted by new management demanding accuracy, fairness and balance in its reporting and editorial content, concepts alien to Ms. Dishman.

It’s been heard on the street that Ms. Dishman hit the bricks before she was shown the door. Her name was already missing from the paper’s Wednesday, June 4 masthead.

In one of her letters announcing her departure an obviously irate Ms. Dishman admitted to editorial differences with management that prompted her resignation writing: “The way the new publishers treated the newsroom staff while I was away, the opinion pieces that have been written without my involvement and yet another correction on the front page were beyond my ethical boundaries.”

In another letter to employees, she said: “As you may be aware, the News-Leader is undergoing changes with new publishers who are taking the publication in a direction that conflicts with the journalistic values, integrity and community focus I’ve championed during my tenure. Given these irreconcilable differences, I have moved forward in my career and am excited about new opportunities that align with both my personal and professional convictions.”

Under Ms. Dishman’s editorial prevue the News Leader became a publication where Amelia Island’s miniscule and raucous population of progressives loudly babbled to each other about a reality that doesn’t exist hereabouts. That was blatantly apparent in the paper’s ”Letters to the Editor” and “Opinion” sections that became echo chambers where liberal readers fed their shared prejudices back to Dishman and her progressive pals at the paper. The blatantly biased news reporting added to the publication’s muddled cacophony of progressive nonsense.

Decades long-term columnists Steve Nicklas and Dickie Andersen fled the paper unable to tolerate Dishman’s amateurish antics and mindless meddling.

Dishman failed not only because she was a lousy editor, but because locals don’t like being condescended to by a media that denies the everyday realities around them. Her exit wasn’t precipitated, as she says, because of her “journalistic values, integrity and ethical boundaries.” Good grief, she proved bi-weekly that she’s spectacularly lacking in all of those categories.

Her failed editorship caused readers to tune out the paper at one of the most critical times in history for the newspaper industry. In the U.S. overall trust in the media has hit a record low of 31 percent. It’s probably lower at the News Leader thanks to Ms. Dishman’s failed editorship. Weeklies such as the News Leader are rapidly folding across the country.

The tone-deaf Dishman and her left-wing cronies can shout that conservatism and its family values are a threat until the cows came home, but locals aren’t buying it. That’s apparent in the paper’s sagging circulation and advertising revenue carnage that Dishman left in her rearview mirror. Of all the papers owned by parent Community Newspapers Inc., the News Leader was bringing up the rear in revenues and circulation. That’s Dishman’s legacy.

A few weeks ago, I wrote that if one of new Publisher Todd Krantz’s assignments is to increase the News Leader’s circulation and advertising base he might want to look at the voter registration numbers for Nassau County. There are 78,926 registered voters in Nassau County, 47,703 Republicans, 13,518 Democrats, 14,985 No Party Affiliation and 1,805 minor parties.

Krantz is quickly making changes and they’re the ones Dishman whined about in her resignation announcement letters. It’s obvious from her lame explanations that this gal can’t read the room, any room.

In addition to Dishman’s disgruntled readers Krantz is pressured by rumors of a new startup print newspaper and the successful print and online Yule, Callahan and Hilliard weeklies already cranking out balanced stories and conservative opinion pieces. He is also contending with the conservative online Citizen Journal, https://www.citizensjournal.net/ .

The online myopic Fernandina Observer is of no consequence and appeals only to folks such as the small crowd of Dishman-like rabid liberal screechers. I wouldn’t be surprised the see Dishman land there, the home of another phony journalist and Black Lives Matter activist, Mike Lednovich. But I hear money there is scarce since there’s little to no ad revenue. Maybe she can team up with local radical gadfly Sheila Cocchi to share in some of George Soros’s funding.

It’ll be interesting to see where the News Leader goes to find its next editor. No matter who it is, it’ll be a step up.

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Speaking Of Journalists: Due to a broken leg, I’ve had time to catch up on neglected reading material. While paging through a stack of magazines on the breakfast bar I grabbed the February “National Review” tribute to the late William F. Buckley Jr, on what would have been his 100^th birthday.

One of the contributors is Amelia Island resident Neal Freeman, a former editor and columnist for “National Review,” the founding producer of “Firing Line,” and the author of the book “Skirmishes.”

Even though I’ve read chunks of Neal’s “WFB’s Place In The American Story” testimonial previously, and heard Neal tell some of the stories in speeches, the piece is still riveting. One of the lines that puts a lump in my throat is Neal describing how his wife, Jane, presented him a Christmas gift of his FBI file. The ingenious Jane sued the feds to successfully obtain a copy.

Neal describes flipping through the file on Christmas morning and coming to a section where an FBI agent is asking Buckley, whose name is redacted, about him:

Agent to Buckley: “How would you describe your relationship to the subject?” Witness: “He’s one of my closest friends.”

WOW! Having a literary giant like Buckley call you a close friend is truly a tribute.

Amelia Island is blessed not only with an abundance of natural beauty, a pleasant year-around climate, and a charming local retail community, but also with an abundance of literary talent ranging from novelists and essayists to journalists and editors, people like Neal Freeman.

Among the other standouts in the island’s array of well-known talent are authors John Grisham and David Baldacci and journalism icon Ed Kosner.

I’m lucky to be able to call Neal Freeman a friend and Ed Kosner an acquaintance. I’ve never met Mr. Grisham or Mr. Baldacci. I’ve never read any of their books either, but they are on my “To Do” list.

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The Years Of Deception: In less than 10 years Americans have been subjected to a Watergate-like array of Democrat-perpetuated felonious hoaxes and lawfare, deceptions and deceit. These include but are not limited to the Russian collusion fairy tale, “Hunter’s Laptop is fake” nonsense, Covid lockdowns and the Covid came from a bat nonsense, the suspension of civil rights, the Biden-family corruption, and now the former president’s mental collapse.

There’s no end to the lies, fraud, and outright fakery this perverted collection of liars, thieves and imposters and their media cohorts, will stoop to.

On top of all their unlawful acts they publicly chant and scream antisemitic anti-Israel profanities of pure hate while demanding the Trump administration stop rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse of tax-payer funds.

Trump won the election last year because the American public didn’t trust or like Joe Biden, were fed up with the woke nonsense and an open border, pretending that truth is hate speech, didn’t agree that boys should be on girls’ sports teams or in their bathrooms, resented rising inflation and because Kamala Harris was a shallow, babbling, arrogant idiot.

These evil Democrat loons are certifiably nuts as well as dangerous. Mark Levin is 100 percent correct in his latest book, “the Democrat Party Hates America”.

How can anyone who has the slightest bit of common sense, decency or morals ever again vote for a person with a “D” next to their name? Hopefully, as the song says: “The Party’s Over.”

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How Stupid Are Democrats? In an attempt to connect with young men Democrats “rolled out” a morbidly obese lesbian who says she’s the solution to their communications problem with these frat fellas.

The Dems new ”heavyweight” fraternity ambassador’s outreach to frat houses at the University of Texas and Texas A&M was rejected. Imagine that!

Biz Pac Review (BPR) reported June 3 that according to a tweet posted by “Bad Hombre,” a self-described “populist” with over 150,000 followers, obese left-wing influencer Olivia Julianna reached out to four fraternities at the University of Texas and Texas A&M University with an offer to speak to their members.

“All four turned her down,” the populist wrote on X. Other social media critics added that nothing she has to say is relevant to young college age men.

What’s next Democrats? Offering a contingent of LGBTQA members to the frat houses to join them for a drag queen-led discussion on morals and family values?

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Arts Market Vs. Bank Kerfuffle Fizzles Out: The alleged brouhaha between the Fernandina 7th Street Beach Arts Market and the downtown Pineland Bank reported by Fernandina Observer wannabe reporter Mike Lednovich, amounts to a whole lot of nothing says market spokesperson Judy Mackie.

Ms. Mackie, who has managed the market almost since its conception 13 years ago, says the bank notified her art crowd they’d have to nullify the “gentleman’s agreement” to use the bank’s parking lot adding that there is no issue between the two. The bank didn’t charge the market rent for all those years.  “There’s no animosity between the two parties,” says Ms. Mackie. She said the arts folks will be searching for a new location and that the regular 7th Street market isn’t impacted by the move.

Despite repeated calls Pineland Bank never responded to inquiries despite saying it would do so.