OBJECTIVE JOURNALISM?
The following article was submitted by a supporter due to concerns about the relationship between County government and the local “Newspaper” becoming too intimate. Questions arise relating to Brian Gleason’s personality and his ability to be objective.
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KISSIN’ CUZZINS
I was in a scheduled meeting a few months ago with another citizen and the Sun Editorial Board, including Chris Porter, Executive Editor. The meeting started without Editorial Page Editor Brian Gleason. After a few minutes of introductions and small talk, Gleason entered with an air of annoyance. Without making eye contact with anyone and busying himself looking at his cell phone, he sat down. I had never met him before, so when he entered I stood up to introduce myself. Still looking at his phone, he ignored me. I started to sit back down but quickly decided I would wait until he noticed I was standing to say, “We’ve never met.” I am Susan Hutt,” and offered my hand. He begrudgingly rose from his seat to shake hands.
As the meeting resumed, Sun editors were told that many readers believe that the Sun omits major stories and that in other stories relating to local government, the Sun omits relevant details in order to paint the government in a more positive light.
Two of the stories discussed were: (1) the Sun’s failure to report a series of e-mails between County Administrator Ray Sandrock and Jon Iglehart, South District Director of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Those emails showed Sandrock attempting to persuade Iglehart to say there was a Consent Order requiring sewers in Spring Lake when Iglehart knew there was no Consent Order; and (2) a story in which the Sun led the readers to believe that the reason for sudden beach closures was because of high fecal coliform counts due to failing septic systems in the East West Spring Lake area, not from Charlotte County Utilities replacing old sewer infrastructure around Sunshine Lake and Sunrise Waterway as well as the rupturing of CCU main sewer lines into the Fordham and Sunrise Waterways, which are right next to the Port Charlotte Beach Complex.
After hearing several more examples of information not reported by the Sun, Gleason stood abruptly and angrily grumbled, “I don’t have to listen to this,” then stomped out the door.
This Brian Gleason, the Editorial Page Editor of the Sun, is the same Brian Gleason who was recently hired by Charlotte County Government as Communications Manager. This position has remained unfilled for years. This is also the same Brian Gleason who “facilitated” last year’s meetings of the 1% sales tax committee.
The Sun and the county government have always seemed cozy with their symbiotic relationship. I have often wondered if this has something to do with the $280,000 the Sun has received the last few years from the County Government in payment for public notices.
Now that Mr. Gleason is a county employee it looks like the Sun and the County have sealed their relationship in incestuous matrimony. Let’s see how long Mr. Gleason can remember to be on his best behavior and control his temper as a representative of Charlotte County. He shouldn’t have a problem painting a positive picture of every aspect of Charlotte County’s government operations since that has been his standard practice during his 26-year career with the Sun.
The hard part now falls on the readers of the Sun to decide if what is being reported by the paper is in fact the truth or if information in the article has been intentionally left out so as to give the reader a biased perspective on what is being reported. With the documented history between the Sun and Charlotte County Government and now with the county hiring directly from the Sun, this task has been much more difficult for the reader. Due diligence is more important now than ever before.
