A recent writer to the letters section mentioned how much of the Salisbury Post’s content is now coming from Associated Press (AP). Since then, I’ve noticed that is not only true, but AP stories too often have a liberal bias that is glaringly obvious. An example is in the Thursday September 24 edition in an article titled “2 officers shot amid Breonna Taylor protests.”

I understand the dilemma faced by small town newspapers having to minimize expenses by relying more on syndicated content. But having eliminated so many positions, including its most valuable — local photographers — the Post needs to make sure it reports the facts in a way that doesn’t attempt to sway sentiment with sensationalism like “protesters … tried to avoid police blockades … frantically looked for places to hide. Police with long guns swarmed the area,” or “… the wide gulf between public opinion on justice for those who kill Black Americans and the laws under which those officers are charged.”

Believing in the importance of a local newspaper to report local news, and giving the Post’s editors the benefit of the doubt that they are doing the best they can, I haven’t complained that I’m paying the same now for a downsized three day a week newspaper as I was for the larger, delivered seven days or that my friends who don’t subscribe can access essentially the same content free of charge online. I do expect however that articles that obviously seek to sway opinion will be relegated to the opinion section where they belong. Perhaps it’s time for the Post to broaden its providers of content so that cancelled subscriptions and declining advertisement revenue don’t become a fatal downward spiral.

— Tim Deal

Salisbury