Of News, Opinion, and the Facebook Warriors

A Letter From the Editors

Is a protest rally news?
When we posted a story on the recent Fremont rally we included photos of the event as well as comments from those in attendance. We knew that in an area where 7 of every 10 voters cast their ballots for the current administration the protest likely gave them pause and given the number of Trump signs that have remained in sight nearly 6 months beyond the election many may have found it distressing. 
But isn’t it worthy of reporting on?

In recent weeks we have stopped allowing comments on our fb page’s news or public opinion pieces due to the inevitable dumpster fire of vitriolic squabbles hellbent on a futile quest for oneupmanship that never arrives. We do, of course, allow comments on our site but find it interesting that most would prefer to limit their opinions to attempts at cleverness on social media. If you look through the comment section of our Public Pulse section you’ll see some dialogue between people with differing opinions but it never gets to the nastiness that forced our hand in eliminating random fb commentary.

We've been called biased, fake news and prejudicial and while we indeed strive to stay out of advancing the divisiveness we’re all forced to live with these days, there are news items we feel strongly about. We  will not hesitate to call out elected officials when they may choose to evade accountability to their constituents, nor will we shy away from topics that remain contentious. 
Our purpose in existing is to enlighten, engage, and encourage dialogue. To let people know what’s going on in our area and bring the community a variety of viewpoints.

We also welcome opinions via letters to the editor. This entails all opinions, so long as they are deemed appropriate and delivered with a way to contact the writer for verification. It has always been our hope to encourage productive discourse. True dialogue, not the churlish prattle that accompanies most social media reactions. Well thought out commentary is certainly more impactful than the timidity of a laughter emoji slapped onto posts one disagrees with.

We hope to hear from you but if not, that’s ok as well. If we didn't piss people off from time to time we likely wouldn't be doing our job. Despite the likelihood that we have lost a few readers along the way our numbers have continued to grow and that gives us hope that the majority of the community isn’t afraid of hashing out a bit of controversy now and again.
And apparently we’re not shy about delivering it.

Alexis Mercer Editor
Ken DeLaat Publisher