Posted on our Stark County, Ohio News and Views... Facebook page.
How many words are you willing to read? How about 72?
I've published Stark County, Ohio News and Views..., in one form or another, for 13 years. Approximately 22% of my adult life!
We've informed, educated and promoted Stark County. Serving as a resource for residents, visitors and businesses.
THANK
YOU to our fans who LIKE the page. I APPRECIATE those of you who
participate, responding to our posts. I am especially GRATEFUL for those
of you who are supportive and helpful.
That's 72; thank you.
It
is my hope that in 2021 it will not be necessary to write posts in
response to fans who are ill-mannered, inconsiderate, disrespectful,
rude, irresponsible, and/or hateful.
To the militant members of
the red hat cult (those of you who are proud to be referred to as
deploreables), the Coronavirus deniers and the unrepentant racists, my
message is clear: YOU ARE NOT WELCOME.
This page exists as a community, not a bastion of divisiveness.
We
don't care about the incendiary talking points you're parroting, the
Conspiracy Theories you want to promote, and/or the hateful rhetoric you
want to spew.
We're not having it. You're not going to influence
my page, you're not going to win supporters among our audience and
you're not going to gain new followers.
People have LIKED and
follow this page because I am passionate about our community. Our
message is positive. I'm the real deal, a genuine article.
I can
tell you, from the experience of 44 years working as a writer, in
marketing and management, that any effort to satisfy, let alone to
please, everyone is guaranteed to fail.
Over the years I've been
the target of attempted character assassination. People have made
unreasonable demands, claiming that I had an obligation to promote their
business or organization for free. I've dealt with people who wanted to
USE me, not UTILIZE our page.
I'm imperfect, have no doubt, I'm
fallable, I make what turn out to be bad decisions and I make mistakes. I
could turn out to be right or wrong on any topic at any given time.The
same as you and everyone you know.
But, I have a strong sense of
what is right or wrong; I know how people should behave; and I
understand the importance of standing for what I believe whether it's
popular or not.
In 1845, Victor Hugo wrote the following: You
have enemies? Why, it is the story of every man who has done a great
deed or created a new idea. It is the cloud which thunders around
everything that shines. Fame must have enemies, as light must have
gnats. Do no bother yourself about it; disdain. Keep your mind serene as
you keep your life clear.
When I launched Stark County, Ohio
News and Views…, on January 5, 2008, there were no community-based blogs
or social media pages promoting any NE Ohio community. We were the
first, a pioneer.
Publishing this page, running it, setting and
enforcing policies, doing what I believe to be right for Stark County,
Ohio News and Views..., for the community and for myself has resulted in
having enemies. I can live with that, having no regret, because the
alternative is being a doormat and have people take advantage of me.
Life is short, time is valuable and I’m not throwing it away arguing with someone about a blog or social media post.
It's
been necessary to write approximately 50 posts in response to the
behavior of fans and random visitors, trolling, over the past 10 months.
In the previous 12 years we posted approximately 10.
A
large majority of our fans do not bother to read these essays, I'm well
aware. But, that does not lessen the importance of writing them.
I
am grateful that a relatively small number of you do read Whether you
agree or not, I appreciate each and every one of you who respond
(respectfully).
And so it goes, as Stark County, Ohio News and Views... sets sail into an unknown future. Hopeful. Dedicated. Determined.
Anthony McCune
Publisher.
Stark County, Ohio News and Views...
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