As it tends to do around Opening Day and as Spring approaches, our social media is receiving an uptick in attention, with two posts specifically driving engagement and conversation — though not all positive.
I used to keep a lot closer track of our Facebook insights week to week, but these days, my philosophy is to just let it do its thing and not worry too much about it. The last two weeks, however, have been interesting to watch.
Near 10,000 followers, our average views per post hovers around 3,000 to 5,000, but we have 14 total posts above 10,000 in the last 28 days.
The most-viewed content is something most local people would probably pass over. On Opening Day, I took a video of Gov. Mike Kehoe shooting the gun to start catch-andkeep trout fishing season. After the shot, I turned the camera around and slowly panned the river to the bridge by the CCC Lodge.
I split the video in two, posting a reel of Kehoe’s shot and another of anglers reeling in the first trout of the year. Kehoe’s had 1,112 views, no doubt overshadowed by the 10-second reel of the fishermen, which as of Tuesday had 459,429 views, 99% of whom are non-followers.
I have always maintained you can never truly predict what content people will gravitate to more, and here lies the proof. Our second-most viewed reel is at around 25,000, so to come so close to half a million is a bit mind-boggling.
Yet, going viral has its drawbacks. The reel has more than 400 comments, the majority of which show the darker side of the web. However it happened, the Opening Day video seemingly became popular among salmon fishermen up north.
“Combat fishing” is what many kept calling it, regaling viewers with tales of similar attendance at other fishing areas where the person next to you might cut your line or steal your catch, or worse.
Other comments were just downright opposite of Momma’s rule about saying something nice. “Bunch of idiots and drunks,” one person elegantly opined. “A great place for an air strike,” another said.
Yikes.
Reading through the mess when it was just at 300 comments was so wild and vile I didn’t even make it all the way through. What compels people to say things so nasty about a place they have never been and people they don’t know truly baffles me.
That feeling hit me again a few days later, though it wasn’t outsiders bringing the negativity this time.
Last week, I ran a column by our sales executive and reporter, Sheila Harris, titled “A sinking ship.” To say it garnered some local reaction is an understatement. Opinion pieces don’t typically perform as well as news or sports articles. Maybe it’s their subjective nature, or lack of interest in the subject.
Sheila’s piece, however, has more than 10,000 views, 91% of which are followers. In summary, the column addresses hubris and humility as it relates to President Donald Trump’s words and actions in his first 100 days as our 47th commander-in-chief.
The 280 comments were sharply divided. Many defended Harris and newspaper publications’ right to free speech. “Unfortunately, we have many people who refuse to see things through any other perspective than their own,” one commenter said. “I love reading others’ perspectives,” another said. “Agree or disagree, thank you for sharing this point of view.”
In contrast, one person, who happens to also run a local crime watch page and frequently posts our crime stories in it, said the post was “terribly biased.” “I will no longer follow this page if this is the kind of trash you choose to spew. How embarrassing.” Minutes after posting the comment, the person blocked our page.
Some commenters accused Harris of suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” while others called her a “cat lady” and a “Karen.”
The most egregious comment, however, went a step further. “At least you posted a picture of the writer,” it said, “to confirm to the reader that she looks as stupid as she sounds.”
Yikes, again.
I work to keep our opinion page as locally centered as possible. We rarely touch on national politics or issues, and if we do, it’s usually me doing it — and I take great care and effort to craft such pieces with regard to our overwhelmingly Republican audience.
When Harris presented me with her piece to run, I told her it was not a topic on which we’d typically opine. I ran it for one simple reason: who am I to gatekeep her opinion or stifle her free speech?
Newspapers, this one included, run all kinds of opinions. It is part of our charge as the fourth estate to do so — presenting a variety of ideas and viewpoints not to say one is right or the other is wrong, but to foster engaging conversations among the populace and hopefully increase understanding between people with opposing viewpoints.
Not agreeing with an opinion does not make it invalid, and that goes both ways.
This week, I had space to run one of Dakota Pettigrew’s columns from his “American Insights” series, a piece that ends by describing America as “the shining city on a hill after all” — quite opposite “a sinking ship.”
I’d be quite shocked if it gets even close to the amount of attention Harris’ piece did, but I’ve been surprised before.
No matter the reaction, I hope those who read it — or any of our opinion pieces — take it or leave it. And, as Momma says, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”
Kyle Troutman has served as editor of the Cassville Democrat since 2014 and owner/publisher since 2023. He was named William E. James/Missouri Outstanding Young Journalist for daily newspapers in 2017, and he is a two-time ISWNE Golden Dozen award winner. He may be reached at 417-847-2610 or ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com.
