In a recent letter (“Local community paper should cover community events,” June 25), Rick Ceo criticized this newspaper for covering “left-leaning causes” like the No Kings protest, arguing that it should instead focus on what he considers more deserving topics, such as the Port Jefferson mayoral race.
In fact, the Port Times Record provided excellent coverage of the recent mayoral election, which is how I know that just 1,724 people voted. By contrast, the No Kings protest drew roughly twice that number of participants in Port Jefferson alone. Across Long Island, more than 35,000 people took part in a dozen related demonstrations, joining 4 to 6 million Americans at over 2,000 locations nationwide. Going by numbers alone, the protests were arguably more newsworthy than the election, not less so. Fortunately, this paper had the capacity and judgment to cover both stories well.
Mr. Ceo is, of course, entitled to his opinions. He is free to argue (however unconvincingly) that public health measures like mask mandates and quarantines amounted to tyranny, while anonymous federal agents abducting people for indefinite detention in foreign gulags without due process does not. What he is not entitled to do is urge a community newspaper to suppress coverage of a major local contribution to a national civic movement. That suggestion reflects an illegitimate, anti-democratic impulse—-precisely the kind that makes peaceful, patriotic protests, like those held on June 14, so important.
John Hover
East Setauket
Published July 3, 2025 in the Village Times Herald:
https://tbrnewsmedia.com/letters-to-the-editor-july-3-2025/
in response to letter “Local community paper should cover community events,” June 26:
https://tbrnewsmedia.com/letters-to-the-editor-june-26-2025/
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