OPINION COLUMN
By: Forrest R. Church, Publisher
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
It has been brought to our attention this week by community members via phone calls and office visits that some very inappropriate behavior was conducted on social media by a subcontractor we have utilized within the last year. While not going into too many details, a disgusting personal attack was conducted against a community member who assists with the Williams County Humane Society when their facebook photo was taken from their personal facebook page and inappropriate text added over the top of the picture.
We were unaware of these actions until pointed out by concerned members of the community. We were aware that this subcontractor previously has pushed to start a No Kill Shelter in the county, something local media outlets have provided coverage for and interest has been stated online by residents.
Like anybody that hires subcontracted services, what they do in their personal life has nothing to do with you, your home, your family, your business or your business team members. If you hire a lawn care service, painter, roofer or freelance writer, little is known about their personal actions; most people judge off pricing quotes and quality of services provided. Unless you see inappropriate actions first hand or are notified by others, you cannot screen through their personal beliefs and/or actions.
What our freelance writers do in their personal time and on their personal facebook page has nothing to do with “The Village Reporter” and/or our team members. The main thing we watch with subcontracted writers is to ensure their personal opinions are not reflected within the news coverage they provide. We state clearly that writers need to “leave their opinions at the door” when covering stories and provide unbiased news.
With this stated I would like to make it perfectly clear that we disapprove of these actions, both because it was conducted by a subcontractor we utilized in the past and because we are also additional outraged community members concerned individuals were attacked in this fashion. If our readers or associates believe we support these kinds of attacks or associate this behavior with our newspaper because we hired this subcontractors services, please let me repeat myself, WE DO NOT and offer a sincere apology for having to wait until these online posts were pointed out by others to voice our concerns and to take action.
I know how our team members and I feel about these posts towards a community member we do not know on a personal level, I completely understand how those who know the parties attacked personally would be out of their mind outraged. In most cases we have very little contact with our freelance writers as they work from home (use their own equipment and internet) and email their news stories and photos to us, often there are months in between seeing each other face to face as they are not employees. Obviously monitoring what they do in their personal lives and on social media is impossible.
Comments made by this subcontractor towards individuals and the Williams County Humane Society are uncalled for and disgusting (have I repeated this enough yet to get my point across).
“The Village Reporter” has provided media coverage in the past for individuals pushing for a No Kill Shelter in the county along with also providing the Williams County Humane Society a free weekly spot to feature animals available for adoption (we have literally given thousands of dollars in print space over the years to the Society). We are on board for providing media coverage to assist any/all organizations that attempt to find homes for animals in the Williams and Fulton County areas and will continue to do so in the future. However when personal attacks are made on humans an immediate disconnect will equally take place.
As always if you have any further questions/thoughts/comments please let me know by emailing me at publisher@thevillagereporter.com.