I was disappointed to see that William Morris, the CEO of Morris Communications, which ownsthe Juneau Empire, chose to interject the Morris corporation’s presidential preference as the endorsement of the Juneau Empire.
Granted, as the owner of the Georgia-based company he is free to print what he wishes in any of the papers he owns. However, the Juneau Empire has a strong track record as a community newspaper that is engaged with Juneau residents, businesses and non-profits. Our community is quite diverse and our citizenry’s political priorities reflect that diversity. The Empire’s writers, editors and publisher understand the community because they interact with community members, events and issues daily.
The Empire recruited a local Juneau citizen committee to advise the paper on its editorials. With respect for the prerogatives of ownership, in the future I would prefer to see Morris Communications’ owners express themselves in their home community of Augusta, Georgia and allow the Juneau Empire to write all of its editorials here in our home community of Juneau, Alaska.
John Sisk
Juneau