The Sunday Column – Blessed.

OPINION – I’ll go ahead and tell you now, this will be this last new Sunday Column for the year; next week’s will be a rerun, because like everyone else, I need time off for the holidays, too.

I don’t have a staff of employees to fall back on. For 98.5% of the work, it's only me. Even if it’s a wire news story, or not, or my amazingly talented freelancer Lauren Becatti, who has contributed a few news article to build her portfolio, has quite simply been a big help and I hope she continues on with her journalism endeavors (hopefully we will all get to read a few more news stories from her in 2026; only time will tell). But I need a break – and not sure if most realize what it takes to run even a local news site. Even with a couple of wire stories every week, I still have to copy, edit and place it and add the advertising, do the social media, the website, and sell advertising – Jobs that are usually performed by several people with a full time salary, each... and to be honest, I’m tired.

So, if you see a few days where there’s no new activity as we roll on through the final days of 2025, just know that everything is okay – I just need a break. And still have to find the time to sell enough advertising while simultaneously still getting the news out to the readers, to keep this online news site afloat.   

It’s been a wild ride since the Shelby Independent officially launched on July 1 of this year. It’s hard to believe 2025 is almost behind us.

When The Shelby Independent began, it was comical and frustrating, because nobody knew what it was and here I am trying to get news interviews, build a reader base, stay up late working the night away, getting up early and working the day away just to build this thing so it can move forward. I was (and still am) fighting for legitimacy for a thing that didn't exist the first half of the year, and now... The Shelby Independent's website and Facebook account get more traffic in a month then a couple of other newspapers / sites I used to work for, and that really is a something that I am blessed to be a part of, in my hometown / home county.

I still work from morning to midnight, seven days a week (in some form or another, and if you'd like to advertise / sponsor the site I would be honored to have you as an advertiser) I used to work for large media companies that didn't care for you and you just did it for your career, for your paycheck, but now I work the day and night away for myself, I do it for the people of Cleveland County and I do it for fairness... No more mainstream media agendas, no more taking advantage of me by making me work 80 hours a week for the same 40 hour paycheck – I don’t get paid very much now, in fact The Shelby Independent hasn't reached that point yet where it can just pay for itself, but this has a greater meaning than my last position as an editor. I am happier... older, more tired, more worn out, but happier. I can’t explain it but take my word for it. Maybe it's because I’m home. Maybe it’s because I write for a purpose and not a paycheck, but whatever the reason, too complicated to explain, I am so thankful that 2025 progressed like it did and now The Shelby Independent is a credible news source worth its weight in gold and you're dang right I’m proud of that.

I would hope that, if by some unforeseen circumstance, I dropped dead tomorrow, the Shelby Independent could carry on without me. Some tell me the Shelby Independent doesn’t exist without this reporter, but I don’t believe that. “The Independent Paper” as many of you call it now, is established as its own entity. It really doesn’t matter who is behind the typing, the story-getting, the advertising the phone calls, or news interviews, etc., it exists as its own thing; and I couldn’t be prouder. (I know someone will email me after reading this and lecture me on pride, but this is different). I would hope that some dedicated journalist would pick up the laptop and carry on without missing a beat, and none would be the wiser because The Shelby Independent exists to serve the people of Cleveland County, to inform, to educate, and to entertain. Anyone of you could be The Shelby Independent, if need be, one day.

There’s not a paycheck big enough to pay anyone to do this – you have to care and you have to stand by the belief that the reader deserves the accurate information and then allow them to decide for themselves, without sway – without obstruction of facts, omissions of truth, and clear of any particular agenda. However, if there is an agenda at all, at the Shelby Independent, it is to bring fairness back to the news and keep the opinions in the opinion section and not manipulate the news by editorializing the facts and passing off opinions as imaginary truth.

And as we roll into a new year, if I had one wish, it would be that I wish in 2026 people will turn the TV off, put the tablet down and the phones away and read more books. Put a book in your hand and feel the pages and listen to the sounds as you turn a page. I think we'd all get a long a little better with more books and less "TV."

But, anyway, wow… What a year!

Thank you for being a supporter of The Shelby Independent just by being a reader (or like one person said to me, I don’t support you I just read what you write so I can get information and I appreciate his honesty). But thank you! Thank you for your support, for being a reader, for being a sponsor and an advertiser. Thank you for your news tips, suggestions, encouragement, compliments, and complaints. Every message from you helps to make The Shelby Independent better every day, for the readers, my people – the people of Cleveland County.

So much to look forward to in 2026! I sincerely hope you enjoy reading The Sunday Column, I always enjoy writing it, every week. If you haven't noticed, there's no sponsors on the Sunday Column because the opinion page might not reflect the views and opinions of the advertiser, so it's not about the money folks... what money? I write this for free, every week. It's for YOU. It might not be the best Sunday column you read every week, but it's for your enjoyment. "Sometimes it’s funny and sometimes it’s not, but it is what it is, and it is what we got." *shrug *

I appreciate everyone of you. Thank you for your support! The first original Sunday Column of the new year will be published on Jan 4, 2026.

Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas! Cheers to 2026 being a blessing to you and your loved ones! I hope 2026 will be a blessing for The Shelby Independent, too.

May we all be blessed.

Chuck

12-21-2025