PENDER COUNTY — After a political cartoon mimicking a few commissioners appeared in a Pender County newspaper, the board took up the vote for a different media outlet to handle their public notices and legal advertisements.
Pender County commissioners voted 3-2 on April 22 to change publications from the Pender-Topsail Post and Voice to the Wilmington StarNews. It’s a move some think was made in a retaliatory effort.
“Only in a communist country like Russia or China does the government try to destroy media it doesn’t agree with,” Pender resident Kenneth Ramsey said during the public comment section of the meeting.
Proponents argued the move is for modernization and to better reach citizens of Pender County, while others agreed commissioners should switch their business to another paper, due to the cartoon being a “disgrace.”
https://portcitydaily.com/local-news/2025/04/28/some-pender-commissioners-critical-over-pender-post-cartoon-pull-business-from-pub/