The Board of County Commissioners in Citrus County, Florida opposed the renewal of the regional public library’s digital subscription to the New York Times. Why? “Fake news,” said the board’s second vice chairman Scott Carnahan. ““I agree with President Trump. I will not be voting for this. I don’t want The New York Times in this county.” From Reuters:
Carnahan was joined by Commissioners Ronald Kitchen, who balked at the annual cost of about $2,700, and Jimmie Smith, who wondered, “why the heck would we spend money on something like that?”
Reading the room, First Vice Chairman Brian Coleman withdrew the motion he made to approve the funding request…
The (Citrus County) Chronicle, noting that the decision would affect some 70,000 library card holders, reported that its readers “reacted strongly” to the commissioners’ decision, with “most but not all” critical of it.
The county already pays about $3,000 a year to supply its four regional libraries with the print edition of The Times, Library Services Director Eric Head told the newspaper.
Graphic above borrowed from this fantastic t-shirt.