By HENRY FREDERICK / Headline Surfer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The three-person core of Headline Surfer is divided in endorsing Joe Biden or Donald Trump for President in the 2020 Elections and so the online media outlet has decided to revisit the decision in mid-October.
That core consists of this byline writer, Henry Frederick, publisher of Headline Surfer and the award-winning journalist who launched the site in April 2008.
And the second core member is Sera King, who has been a part of Headline Surfer from the beginning, first as the multimedia editor and in more recent years, the associate publisher. King and Frederick are married and live in Sanford.
Frederick and King, who were married in 2009 in New Smyrna Beach, moved to Seminole County seven years ago. He is a registered NPA and she is a registered Democrat.
And the third core member of Headline Surfer is Darene Vann, who writes her Musings blog, and who also has been with the media outlet since the beginning. She is a registered Democrat in Volusia County and resides in Edgewater.
There's still time to see how things unfold between Biden and Trump leading up to the Nov. 3 general election with mail-in ballots not yet sent out by elections officials and early voting in most states not until the last week of October.
Though there is little doubt many registered voters around the country will vote by mail sooner than later knowing what they know already about the problems with the postal service and the uncertainty as to whether their votes will be counted.
With the coronavirus pandemic still as deadly as it has been in this second wave, going to the polls in person and voting is just not worth the risk of exposure to the contagious disease, especially with far too many refusing to wear masks or maintain social distance.
Headline Surfer endorsed Trump over Hillary Clinton for president in 2016. In that endorsement decision, King was supportive of Clinton while Vann said she didn't like either of them. Both agreed, the final decision should come from the publisher, Frederick and it did with the decision published on Oct. 25, 2016: Headline Surfer, Central Fla's award-winning 24/7 internet news outlet, endorses Donald J. Trump for President.
This time around King and Vann were adamant the endorsement should go to Biden, though they were equally as adamant the endorsement should ultimately be decided by the publisher, Frederick, who has leaned towards the incumbent.
This byline writer and publisher is concerned about whether the president disparaged US military personnel killed or maimed on warfronts during a visit to a military cemetery in France where World War 1 soldiers are buried as reported by the Atlantic last week using anonymous sources within the Trump administration, past and present. Trump claims the Atlantic story is a hoax.
The Atlantic article, posted Thursday evening, can be accessed by those who have not yet read it by clicking the hyperlink here: Trump: Americans Who Died in War Are ‘Losers’ and ‘Suckers’.
Only two daily media outlets in Central Florida issue formal published endorsements - Headline Surfer and the Orlando Sentinel. The Orlando Sentinel on Monday endorsed Joe Biden for president with a blistering rebuke of Trump. In fact, The Sentinel actually issued an initial endorsement in late 2019 for Anyone, but Trump.
The Sentinel, Central Florida's only metro newspaper, is only endorsing candidates in races in Orange and Seminole counties. The other local daily newspaper, the Daytona Beach News-Journal, which covers Volusia and Flagler counties, does not provide candidate endorsements. Only Headline Surfer has Volusia endorsements, in addition to races in Seminole and Orange counties.
In the meantime, Headline Surfer will begin rolling out endorsements on this Labor Day Monday and each day thereafter for more than 65 races at the local, county, state and federal levels in Volusia, Seminole and Orange counties along the I-4 corridor between Daytona Beach and Orlando.
Henry Frederick is publisher of Headline Surfer, the award-winning 24/7 internet news outlet launched 12 years ago that serves greater Daytona Beach, Sanford & Orlando, Florida via HeadlineSurfer.com. Frederick has amassed more than a hundred journalism industry awards in print & online -- more than all other members of the working press combined in Central Florida since the mid-1990s. He earned his Master of Arts in New Media Journalism with academic honors from Full Sail University in 2019. Having witnessed the execution of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Florida's death chamber and other high profile cases, Frederick has appeared on national crime documentary programs on Discovery ID and Reelz for his investigative reporting and cops & courts breaking news stories.