Headline Surfer graphic / At left is a snapshot snippet from the Daytona Beach print newspaper's latest editorial editorial that serves two purposes: Continue criticism of newly-elected County Chair Jason Davis and to yet again make a reference to Headline Surfer's lawful marketing contract with the Southeast Volusia Advertising Authority.
DAYTONA BEACH -- The Daytona Beach News-Journal just doesn't get it: The print daily thinks it's entitled to monopolizing the advertising.
What it needs to realizer is it's not the only game in town, even with Headline Surfer's move earlier this month from New Smyrna Beach to Lake Mary.
Admittedly, we are a small operation, basically a journalist assisted by his wife and a few community bloggers. But make no mistake about it: The News-Journal is threatened by us and it should be. We've proven time and again, that our one lone journalist can out-muscle scores of the News-Journal's reporters and they know it. Hence, the continued focus on advertising.
Let's be real about this: We beat the News-Journal at its own game. By scoring a $10,000 marketing contract with the Southeast Volusia Advertising Authority last month, the News-Journal looked quite weak -- ripe for the taking.
Let's be real about this: We beat the News-Journal at its own game. By scoring a $10,000 marketing contract with the Southeast Volusia Advertising Authority last month, the News-Journal looked quite weak -- ripe for the taking.
We didn't need County Chair Jason Davis to do our bidding for us. That was Davis' decision alone to sit in on a show-and-tell demonstration Headline Surfer had with then-interim SVAA Director Renee Tallevast.
But that didn't stop the News-Journal from using its resources to try and beat up on us -- to paint us in a negative light with gross errors that remain uncorrected to this date. But that's the risk they continue to take as we continue to weigh our legal options.
Even in the Sunday edition of the News-Journal, the editorial board continues bringing up Headline Surfer's meeting that Davis decided to sit in on. This comes after a half dozen previous stories.
Notice the News-Journal never makes mention of its behind-the-scenes sweetheart deal with then-County Chair Frank Bruno for exclusive rights to host home shows at the Ocean Center. Eventually, that will come to the surface. Davis has been in office for a little more than nine months. Because he has shown an interest in what online media is doing, the News-Journal takes it as a personal affront.
Witness what the former metro said in its editorial: "Also, Davis made the odd decision to sit in on a meeting where a local website publisher was seeking a marketing deal with the Southeast Volusia Advertising Authority. The County Council appoints the members of the authority's board and also approves its budget."
And the News-Journal's point?
First of all, there was no board members present for the meeting. But that didn't stop the SVAA's board chair, Palmer Wilson, from being removed by the council after a series of personal attack stories by the News-Journal on our contract that was signed by Tallevast.
When Wilson confronted County Council member Joshua Wagner for leading the move to have him removed, Wagner did a quick about-face and stated publicly that neither County Chair Davis nor Wilson nor Headline Surfer did anything wrong.
Yet, the News-Journal continues to make an issue of Headline Surfer's contract. Of course, the News-Journal doesn't see fit these days days to mention the 24/7 internet newspaper or its publisher by name.
And why would the News-Journal do that?
Could it be that News-Journal Editor Pat Rice knows he doesn't have a single reporter on staff that can report the news like Henry Frederick? The answer is clear: He doesn't!
Even to this day, this reporter still have more journalism industry awards than anyone Rice has at his disposal.
Imagine how much stronger the News-Journal coverage would be if this internet editor/publisher were the editor as opposed to the chamber-friendly glad-handing Rice?
Daytona Beach News-Journal Editor Pat Rice gladhands with then-State Rep. Dorothy Hukill before a Tiger Bay debate in her successful 2012 win over outgoing County Chair Frank Bruno in the dist. 8 State Senate race.
But then again, that wouldn't fit in with the News-Journal's pro-chamber business model as espoused by Halifax Media Publisher Michael Redding and his collection of former New York Times newspapers the industry giant was all too willing to shed itself of as the print media business is dying.
Luckily for Redding, there are staples of advertising revenue the newspaper can generate from the taxpayers through county and municipal governments, state colleges, taxpayer-funded indigent care hospitals like Halifax Health and Bert Fish.
The News-Journal was so desperate to attack us after the marketing agreement with the SVAA was secured, it gave a forum to New Smyrna Beach Mayor Adam Barringer to attack us in one of the earlier stories, without mentioning, of course, that Barringer, also head of the Volusia Council of Governments, is the subject of multiple charges being investigated by the Florida Commission on Ethics.
And judging by the hype in the News-Journal, one would have thought there would be blood-letting at the next SVAA meeting. But not one word was spoken against the contract. And why would there have been? It was a lawful contract.
And yet, the News-Journal has failed to report that it tried to solicit the SVAA, but only after our contract was secured. And the News-Journal came up empty.
Like Palmer Wilson so eloquently told Josh Wagner, Headline Surfer's video collection alone is worth the money. The News-Journal couldn't offer the same kind of marketing coverage because it hasn't covered the greater New Smyrna Beach community like we have over the last five years.
Lest anyone forget, it was the News-Journal that abandoned New Smyrna Beach in June 2008, closing its Canal Street bureau, along with its other bureaus in DeLand, Orange City, Palm Coast and Tallahassee. Two months earlier, the 24/7 internet newspaper was launched in New Smyrna Beach as a home-based business called NSBNews.net. Last year, we secured the trademark for "Headline Surfer" and went with our newer HeadlineSurfer.com.
Yes, we left New Smyrna Beach earlier this month because we lost advertising thanks to the meddling of the Southeast Volusia Chamber of Commerce and Barringer and his friends. But we're better off for the long run because we;re in a new city where we can afford to live. That doesn't mean we've gone away.
Barringer knows that firsthand and so does the News-Journal. We can only go up.
But as typical of print media, The News-Journal of today is a watered-down, press-release driven advertising shopper that doesn't have what it takes to cover the real; stories that matter like violent crime and the divisiveness that continues to exist in Daytona Beach both politically, economically and racially.
The News-Journal and its reporters, and certainly its editor, would be hard-pressed to actually write stories by hitting the pavement. They can continue to pay the Daytona Area Chamber of Commerce $50,000 annually to get a head start on advertising over small operations like us, but quite frankly, we're better off keeping our five hundred bucks in our own pocket and not having to sell our soul.
Ultimately, advertisers will see that what they're getting for their dollars invested is not like it was 10 years ago. The 100,000 circulation metro daily in Daytona is nothing more than a clone of the Leesburg daily that Redding left behind.
Instead, the News-Journal promotes Barringer and his VCOG colleagues and is all too ready to provide the editorial page guest column slots to blowhard politicians who do nothing but speak out of both sides of their mouths.
The biggest story in Daytona Beach without a doubt is the ever-increasing violent crime and the poor leadership demonstrated by Police Chief Michael Chitwood. But the News-Journal won't touch him.
That's why this little website walked into Daytona Beach in April 2012, and published the story of the year that won Headline Surfer not one, but two Florida Press Club awards on the News-Journal's own turf: Daytona police chief promotes patrol supervisor who taunted female cop for more than a year (link: http://headlinesurfer.com/content/409155-daytona-police-chief-promotes-patrol-supervisor-who-taunted-female-cop-more-year).
What the News-Journal needs to learn the hard way is not to pick fights with someone smaller armed with a slingshot -- in this case, a MacBook Air laptop. It's light, but packs a big punch, especially with the headlines in the online search engines and news directories.
Headline Surfer graphic / This snapshot of David vs. Goiliath comes from kingjamesbibleonline.org. The News-Journal with its political insider connections represents Goliath to our David.
In the news media business, the News-Journal is our "Goliath." And we are going to show them we are its "David" in this fight. We don't need a multi-million printing press to do the news. Any place that has a wi-fi connection will do just fine.
This reporter has been on virtually every street corner at one time or another on the tough streets of Daytona. Perhaps if Pat Rice got our of the newsroom once in a while he'd understand how it is that we actually we walk the walk.
Once the public learns the extent of the advertising and marketing connections between the News-Journal and the myriad publicly-supported tax entities, then the real fight begins.
It's our contention that the News-Journal is getting upwards of a million dollars a year, maybe more, off the taxpayers, through political insiders. It's an ugly secret that needs to come into the Sunshine.
That will be our ultimate payback to the News-Journal for its cheap-shot reporting. And the public will be better informed as a result.
Our pillow may be in Lake Mary, but our feet are planted firmly in Daytona Beach. For every action, there is a reaction: We're still walking Pat and we're coming for you and your political buddies. And there's not a damn thing you can do to stop us.