Daytona readers speak up at ‘Coffee with The News-Journal’

By Clayton Park, The Daytona Beach News-Journal
Original article HERE

The beachside Steve’s Famous Diner was the site of the inaugural “Coffee with The News-Journal” event Tuesday morning, where readers were invited to express what was on their minds.

And boy, they sure had a lot to share.

Nearly 100 people turned out to converse with News-Journal Editor Pat Rice, Reporter Eileen Zaffiro-Kean and Business Editor Clayton Park. The event was scheduled from 7:30-to-9 a.m., but continued until almost 10.

Topics discussed in the wide-ranging forum included complaints over increases in News-Journal subscription rates and the impact of earlier deadlines on the newspaper’s print sports section. But readers also praised the newspaper for keeping them informed and investigating important issues such as beachside blight.

And, they raised concerns about city government decisions. They took issue with a lack of information coming out of Daytona Beach City Hall and complained that locals were being charged amenity fees for purchases made at One Daytona and Tanger Outlets mall when the developers of those projects benefited from infrastructure improvements such as new roads paid for by local taxpayer dollars.

“I count on The News-Journal,” said one reader. “There’s no other way we can get (the news.)”

There were constructive criticisms of The News-Journal as well. Daytona Beach Shores resident George Rimler voiced his frustration at the interjection of what he viewed as a reporter’s personal opinion in a national Associated Press wire story on a cemetery for slaves in Virginia. The story stated that President Donald Trump made “racist” remarks on Twitter, something Rimler said was a matter of opinion, not fact. Rice agreed that different people interpret Trump’s tweets in different ways.

“There shouldn’t be editorials in the news,” he said.

The views expressed also revealed a diversity in political leanings and interests.

When one man complained that the daily business page in The News-Journal had too much news about local businesses and not enough about the stock and bond markets and personal finance, Jenny Nazak, a “sustainability educator” and artist who lives in Daytona Beach, responded, “Invest in Main Street. Invest in Daytona Beach.”