Currituck

A letter from the Publisher

April 24, 2010

Dear Friends,

As you know, I published THE INDEPENDENT from January 2002 through May 2009. During that time, I always prided myself in representing the public interest and maintaining open and honest reporting on what was going on in Currituck County. One of the things many of our readers do not know is why we had to stop publishing our community newspaper. I chalk up our closing as the confluence of two factors: 1) a souring economy and 2) a political vendetta executed by Currituck politicians against THE INDEPENDENT.

The effects of a struggling economy are self explanatory: businesses simply cut back on their advertising budgets, which meant less ad revenue for the newspaper. The effects of a political vendetta are less widely understood, and more veiled in their nature.

For 8 years, I published a newspaper which held local politicians responsible for their actions. I published news articles about their deeds and misdeeds, and in 2008 I went so far as to file a lawsuit against the Currituck Board of Commissioner for violation of the NC Open Meetings Law. I filed that lawsuit because we all have the expectation that our government must conduct the public’s business IN PUBLIC – not at unannounced meetings, where there are no records kept of what was discussed or decided.

I prevailed, without even going to court – I had the county dead to rights, and they admitted in our settlement that they had violated both the spirit and the letter of the NC Open Meetings Law on TWO occasions within an 11 month period. This admission of guilt was very embarrassing to then Chairman Barry Nelms and Vice Chairman Gene Gregory.

I have since discovered – after conversation with several management level county staff members – that both Gregory and Nelms enacted an unspoken policy that the County of Currituck would no longer place the legal advertisements and meeting announcements – as required by law – in the local newspaper – THE INDEPENDENT. Instead the County of Currituck spent $23,000 on advertising in The Daily Advance – a newspaper published in Elizabeth City, while spending only $1,800 in THE INDEPENDENT.

After weathering 2008 and the first part of 2009 with declining revenues, I had to make the very difficult decision to cease publishing THE INDEPENDENT. I went on to work on my farm, and eventually took a position as Senior Information Technology Analyst with Hampton University. The vendetta exacted against me and THE INDEPENDENT did not hurt me. I now have a better paying job with benefits and significantly less headache.

Nelms’ and Gregory’s vendetta DID, however, affect you, our readers, and our community. We no longer have a newspaper to report our news; carry our legal advertising; provide affordable advertising to businesses; carry photos of school kids doing good things; carry local classifieds; carry local church news; carry free notices for local non profits and more. Each year, I gave away free advertising to local groups, such as The National Wild Turkey Federation, Ducks Unlimited, the Master Gardeners and others. This is all gone, as well as the investment of our small businesses in a community newspaper.

You may ask yourself – what can I do? In all of my time of publishing THE INDEPENDENT, I always worked to stay neutral and simply present the facts and allow you to make an informed decision. In this letter, I have presented you with the facts, and ask that you cast your votes in the May 4th primary election for the candidates opposing Barry Nelms and Gene Gregory.

Please consider casting your vote in the May Democratic Primary for Michael Cherry and David Palmer. I feel that these men will be fair and non-vindictive and put the welfare of the whole of Currituck County, above their own personal political welfare. Should you have questions or comments regarding this correspondence, please contact me at (252) 267-3332 or via email: publisher@nencnews.com

With Kindest Regards and Greatest Respect,

John H. Snowden, III
Publisher/Editor
THE INDEPENDENT

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