Each paper took a different tack on the issues regarding the freedmen. The Valley Virginian was clearly the most accepting of the Freedmen, repeatedly publishing articles urging the white population to accept the new situation, and to cooperate with the freedmen. One possible reason for this attitude is that this newspaper only started in 1865, and perhaps this is why it does not demonstrate the racism attitudes that were endemic in the other two papers. The editor of the Valley Virginian issued a statement which was published in the Staunton Spectator on February 5, 1865. In it he wrote, "Having no regrets or apologies for our past course, we can only promise in the future to do our duty, and we hope by energy and devotion to business, to merit the generous patronage already bestowed on our paper."

The Staunton Spectator seemed to be the largest and most established paper. it took a middle of the road approach: including clearly racist material, but not going as far as the Vindicator, whose racism is very apparent.