Editorial Archive

As the 2024 presidential election looms, the FBI has decided to classify supporters of former President Donald Trump as potential “domestic extremists,” a Newsweek investigation has found.

Americans have more media options than ever. We are inundated with stories, memes, videos and promotions 24 hours a day.
Most of us are on social media, which is built to provide an endless feed of content to keep us glued to our screens. And unfortunately, misinformation is prevalent and much of that content isn’t fact-checked, verified or professionally produced.

Spring is normally a time for new beginnings, but Autumn 2023 is shaping up to be a critical time in the City of Milton’s history.
If all goes as expected, Scott Collins will start his tenure as city manager on Oct. 2, replacing Randy Jorgenson, who retired Sept. 5.

The Santa Rosa County Commission is expected to approve the revised Land Development Code at a special meeting Monday.
With that in mind, we’d like to share some observations about one of the recurring themes of the last few months’ debates: the alternative subdivision provision.

The newspaper industry has been changing, or as we like to call it, evolving. Some newspapers have survived, and many haven’t. So how does a newspaper survive – thrive even? We have some idea of what it takes. We have experienced growth even in the past year.

Maintaining democracy depends to a great degree on citizens understanding how it works. Unfortunately, too many in Santa Rosa County don’t. Some people believe the First Amendment protects their “right” to speak on any topic they want, for as long as they want, as often as they want, with that “right” extended to rebutting any reply to their original rant.

Working in a newsroom, specifically our newsroom, every day we hear 911 dispatchers handing out emergency calls to our fire departments and ambulances. Some are less emergent than others. Not every day is filled with fires or disasters, but every single day you will hear a call for an overdose. Some days more than one. It is a near guarantee.

In a rare event, law enforcement raided a local newsroom in Marion, Kansas, carrying out equipment, computers, cell phones and files. They also raided the publisher’s and the owner’s home. Apparently, the newspaper received a tip about a local restaurant owner’s drunk driving conviction. The paper chose not to publish any of the information.

We ran this editorial in our March 17, 2022, issue shortly after purchasing the Santa Rosa Press Gazette, and it is a message that needs to be told again. With all the city and county messes happening in Santa Rosa County, you can be assured we will be there for the good and the bad.

If you think a “Housewives of (insert county name here)” show is entertaining, you haven’t been to a Santa Rosa County board of commissioners meeting or a Milton City Council meeting lately. In fact, we think TV producers are missing a huge opportunity here in our county. It wouldn’t be difficult to make a series out of the theatrics; they would just have to pal around with Commissioner James Calkins for all the drama they could ever want.