Editorials and Editorial Cartoons

Editorials written by Dean Ridings and Rob Tornoe's cartoons are available to members of America's Newspapers at no cost for reprint. If you have questions, please contact Cindy Durham at cdurham@newspapers.org.

Editorial: What Google's monopoly ruling means
Not that many years ago, the best way you could find out about businesses in town would be through your local newspaper. Your local newspaper is still a great source of advertising information, but if you’re looking for something chances are you're going to start by "Googling it." Have you ever wondered why that's become our go-to move? Well, a recent court ruling has shed some light on this, and it's not a pretty picture.

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Editorial: Congress must follow New York's lead
The state of New York, led by a powerful coalition of local publishers, has just approved game-changing legislation in the fight to preserve local news outlets and community journalism. By including a $90 million payroll tax credit for hiring and retaining local journalists in the state's 2025 budget, New York has become the nation's first to take such a major step to protecting this vital industry. This is a commitment to local journalism that the U.S. Congress should urgently build upon.

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Public Notices: Keeping Citizens informed
Let your state legislators know that you value being able to access notices in your newspaper and that they are worth the investment. There is a cost to keeping citizens informed, but the costs of not doing so are much higher!

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The need to compete fairly has never been greater

Google’s monopoly isn’t a game for newspapers

By Dean Ridings, CEO, America's Newspapers
By Dean Ridings, CEO, America's Newspapers

Almost everyone uses Google in some way or another. It has become part of our lives, and Google has used this to its advantage. Google games the marketplace through search algorithms to its financial gain. The result is an uneven and often unfair playing field for small and local businesses. At a time when local businesses are struggling to overcome the impacts of COVID, the need to be able to compete fairly has never been greater.

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New class action lawsuit claims Google virtually controls every part of digital advertising chain

In addition to the three antitrust lawsuits brought against Google by the Justice Department and state attorneys general, several private publishers also filed suits against Google in December over its advertising and search practices.

John Bussian, a First Amendment lawyer who also handles predatory pricing problems for the newspaper industry, says these latest suits hold special relevance to publishers of America's Newspapers members.  Bussian also serves as a member of the America's Newspapers Legal Affairs and Lobbying Committee.

"Two of the new suits  filed by private publishers, seeking damages over and above the relief sought by the U.S. Department of Justice and the attorneys general in several states, bear close watching," Bussian said.  "One in particular claims Google virtually controls every part of the digital advertising chain, and that publisher is ready to prove how that makes it impossible to compete."
Sweepstakes Today is one of the companies that is a party to one of those new class action lawsuits.  Through its lawsuit, Sweepstakes Today said it is seeking to "remedy harm to digital publishers that make available and sell space on their website (or applications) to advertisers."

The suit says: "That harm is the direct result of Google’s efforts to expand its occupation and control of the online advertising market to the detriment of publishers, with which it competes to sell ad space. While it is most often thought of as a search engine, through aggressive expansion Google now owns at least 75 different consumer-facing products, many of which are used to serve digital ads. It is, by all accounts, a significant competitor for the sale of digital ad space. One product alone (YouTube) accounts for 20% of all display advertisements sold through the digital ad tech stack."

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violence in the nation's capitol

Newspapers from across the country speak out against scenes of violence in the nation’s Capitol

Pro-Trump rioters broke Associated Press television equipment on Wednesday outside the Capitol.(Photo: Jose Luis Magana / The Associated Press)

America's Newspapers invites members to share their editorials on this topic with us, as well.  Send links to your editorials to cdurham@newspapers.org.

A Truly Ominous Sight — Selma Times-Journal, Selma, Alabama
The presence of the Confederate battle flag during Wednesday’s siege at the Capitol was perhaps the most disturbing sight of the whole charade, as it represents the first time ever that the flag has entered that building and a chilling motive behind these rioters’ actions.

This is the Cost — Selma Times-Journal, Selma, Alabama
The real reason for Wednesday’s melee is this country’s aversion to truth and the slow death of facts – we have become a people truly incapable of accepting reality when it no longer suits our worldviews.

Attack on Washington Unpatriotic — The Paris News, Paris, Texas
Jan. 6, 2021, will be a date remembered in U.S. history for all the wrong reasons. Rather than being noted for yet another successful exercise of American government, Wednesday will be remembered as a day of insurrection by a rebellious mob hellbent on preventing the American government from doing its constitutionally mandated work.

Editorial: Trump's violent mob  — CNHI
What happened in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday was anarchy. It was sedition. It was as close to a coup d'etat as we have ever seen in this nation. Make no mistake. President Donald Trump was responsible.

'Enough is Enough' (A Publisher's Opinion) — Mike Blinder, E&P Magazine
Today, I am urging the entire media industry to join in with Mr. Biden and Mr. Graham by saying, “Enough is enough.” Because those three words should not just be directed at our president, but include the megaphones we give all newsmakers.

Covering Pro-Trump Mobs: The Media Became a Target — The New York Times
“Murder the media” was scratched into a door of the Capitol. Violent protesters smashed equipment and punched a photographer.

Our View:  A National Embarrassment — Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire, Wisconsin
There can be no sympathy given to those who took it upon themselves to smash through barricades and run riot through the halls of the Capitol. Those who did so must be punished to the full extent of the law.

We See Where Cynicism Leads; Let's Show Instead the True Face of America — Daily Herald, Chicago, Illinois
If there is anything to be remembered from Wednesday's ghastly display in Washington — and it is something inspiring, indeed — it is that the Congress that this field of miscreants sought to disrupt regrouped on the very day of the disruption and got back to its business.

Help USA TODAY Identify Rioters Who Stormed the US Capitol
USA TODAY is working to identify those who stormed into the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday as lawmakers met to count electoral votes in the presidential race.

Invoke the 25th Amendment: Donald Trump Forfeited his Moral Authority to Stay in Office — USA TODAY
By egging on a deadly insurrection and hailing the rioters, the president's continuance in office poses unacceptable risks to America.

Opinion: A Trump Mob Stormed the Capitol. Now What, America? — Los Angeles Times
What we have seen over the past day has not been some benignly excessive display of the passion of politics. It was an attack orchestrated by the president on us as a people, as an electorate and as a nation. It was an attack on our history. It was an attack on our democracy.

Opinion: Sedition is a White Man's Luxury — Houston Chronicle
The rioting and violence at the Capitol on Wednesday only further proves that the country is divided, and that there are two different Americas we are living in. Rioters violently stormed the Capitol, and police did absolutely nothing to stop it ... If the roles were reversed, and Black Lives Matter protestors even attempted to do something of the magnitude that occurred at the Capitol on Wednesday, it would be a massacre. You can't witnessed what happened Wednesday and not see that white privilege is real.

Opinion/Editorial: Rebellion in our Capitol — The Daily Progress, Charlottesville, Virginia
There is no way to avoid the obvious. Donald Trump has incited this violence. Even a so-called stand-down statement by the president was nothing but a veiled effort to continue stoking disaffection. We condemn this. It is wrong. It is unpatriotic. It is unlawful. This is rebellion.

Colorado Democrats Should Nudge Congress to the Center — The Denver Gazette
Georgia voters ratified the Democratic Party’s embrace of socialism Tuesday by electing two of the farthest-left American politicians to receive the nomination of a mainstream party. When this happens in a traditionally red state in the deep South, consider socialism a mainstream movement. We hope Colorado’s Democrats will put a stop to it.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

As the CEO of an association representing the newspaper industry, I’m very grateful to the daily and weekly newspapers across this country who put it all on the line every day of the year, and to the readers who support their vital work. 

I’m proud of the work these newspapers do, and I hope you will join me in expressing your appreciation to them. 

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There is no cost to member newspapers to run the editorial cartoon or the editorial. Not a member yet? Learn about membership here.

Newspapers are the source you can trust

Most local newspapers provide detailed election coverage, and almost always more than the other local media sources. If you are looking for information on state and local races, newspapers are almost always the only media source that covers the majority of the races.

As we approach what many believe to be one of the most important elections of recent years, seek out accurate information from a source you can trust. For me, the newspaper still gets my vote.

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There is no cost to member newspapers to run the editorial cartoon or the editorial. Not a member yet? Learn about membership here.

Local journalism is a bipartisan cause
In a presidential election year and in the midst of the dual crises of the coronavirus pandemic and widespread economic misery, the divisions among Americans can seem to easily overwhelm the bonds that unite us.

That’s why it’s so heartening to see in recent weeks that Americans of all persuasions, and their political leaders on both sides of the aisle, are coalescing around a cause for a community pillar with a history of helping this nation navigate past buffeting winds of turmoil: Saving local journalism.

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Communities without newspapers
What does a community lose when it loses its newspapers?

The most obvious is the community’s access to news about itself: The workings of its town hall; information about taxes and property values; the operation of schools for its children; the achievements, or the criminal activities, of local residents; the scores of local ball teams; schedules and reviews of movies, concerts, restaurants and books; and the offerings of local small businesses.

But the less obvious losses when a newspaper disappears may be the most devastating to a community.

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Local Journalism Sustainability Act

Editor's Note: America’s Newspapers supports passage of the Local Journalism Sustainability Act, which was introduced July 16.  It is critically important that newspapers across the country get involved and take action to encourage their Congressional representatives to support this legislation. Members are encouraged to publish this opinion piece and the accompanying editorial cartoon — or write their own editorial — to educate the public about this important issue.

Congress has the opportunity to pass a relief measure that protects your access to trustworthy local news, helps grow local businesses through ads placed in local news media — and rewards you for subscribing to a newspaper like this one. Your support is needed for this legislation!
Independence Day
On this Independence Day, it’s worth reflecting on the lessons the Founders have for us as we assess the role and the practices of the news media today. Most importantly, the press and the government may often have an adversarial relationship, but the government must not attempt to delegitimize the press and its work because they are essential to a free society.

Editor's Note: America’s Newspapers and its members have a vested interest in helping the general public understand the essential role of a free press. Members are encouraged to publish this opinion piece and the accompanying editorial cartoon — or write their own editorial — to educate the public about this important issue.

Fake News

Editor's Note: America’s Newspapers and its members have a vested interest in helping the general public learn how to discern facts from falsehoods. Members are encouraged to publish this opinion piece and the accompanying editorial cartoon — or write their own editorial — to educate the public about this important issue.

There is nothing wrong with the news media providing opinions, and it often plays an important role in explaining what the facts may mean. The problem comes when the audience doesn’t discern the difference between news and opinion.
Assaults on Journalists
In the past, journalists in the USA have been able to safely perform their work, as domestic acts of violence against them were a rare occurrence. However, during the recent protests we’ve seen journalists attacked on Main Streets across America. While some of these assaults can be accounted as inevitable injuries during the fog of civil unrest, many more appeared to be plainly purposeful attacks by police on reporters and photographers openly and lawfully doing their jobs.

Editor's Note: America’s Newspapers’ advocacy efforts include protecting the ability of newspapers to keep Americans informed with truthful, objective reporting. Members are encouraged to publish this opinion piece and editorial cartoon or write their own to educate the public about this important issue.

Digital Equity
It’s long past time for Google and Facebook to do what newspapers and their subscribers do: Pay for the local news that benefits them so richly.

Congress needs to support local news providers

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While local newspapers continue to field reporters and bring news and advice from public health authorities in print and online — at considerable cost — their revenues have all but disappeared as the businesses that were their most important advertisers were shuttered. That’s why America’s Newspapers and other organizations representing local news providers are asking Congress to take urgent action to ensure you don’t lose your vital sources of timely and trustworthy information.