There’s bias—and then there’s what the Charlotte Sun just published.
In what should have been a straightforward piece informing voters about local candidates, the Daily Sun instead delivered something that reads far more like a curated promotion than objective reporting. The article devoted extensive, favorable coverage to Kim Amontree—laying out her platform, her messaging, and her narrative in detail—while offering only the briefest mentions of Michael Melton, John Fleming, and Stephen R. Deutsch.
That alone raises eyebrows. But it gets worse.
Buried within the article was a thinly veiled jab at sitting Commissioner Chris Constance—a reference to controversy without even naming him directly. It was subtle enough to provide cover, yet obvious enough that any informed reader knew exactly who was being targeted. This is not transparency. This is narrative shaping.
And here’s where the situation becomes even more troubling.
Public campaign finance records show that Commissioner Constance has supported Amontree’s campaign financially. Yet now, the same candidate highlighted so favorably in this article is calling for an investigation tied to the very controversy the paper alludes to. Voters are left to reconcile this apparent contradiction on their own—because the Daily Sun certainly isn’t asking the question.
Why not?
Why no scrutiny? Why no follow-up? Why no equal treatment of all candidates? When one candidate is given a platform, another is subtly criticized, and the rest are effectively sidelined, it stops looking like journalism and starts looking like orchestration.
The role of a local newspaper is not to elevate preferred candidates, shield them from tough questions, or quietly frame their opponents or associates in a negative light. Its role is to inform the public fully and fairly.
The Daily Sun didn’t just miss that mark—it bulldozed right past it.
At a time when trust in media is already fragile, this kind of selective coverage only reinforces the perception that some outlets are less interested in truth and more interested in outcomes.
If this is the standard of local journalism, then voters in Charlotte County should be asking a very simple question:
Who exactly is the Daily Sun working for?