New beginnings from old ideas

Local news. Those two words transcend time in a way that many people today no longer understand. 

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There’s a generation of young adults that have no clue what ‘local news’ actually means.

In today’s world the larger media outlets, owned by corporations, far from any small towns, have worked desperately to convince the masses that local news means what they want to tell you about a region — but not your neighbor. 

Social media platforms keep anyone from being held liable from slanderous propaganda and gossip and lies that flood our eyes and ears with things that have no sources, no facts, and no recourse for responsibility. 

In Cleveland County, corporate media wants you to believe that local news is anything between Charlotte and Asheville. 

It’s not. 

While it is good to know what is happening in our region, across Western North Carolina, the Piedmont, and the entire state of North Carolina, local news is in fact, and always will be, what is happening in Cleveland County — in our small towns, our county seat, our neighborhood. 

It should be about our people, our local leaders, elected representatives, and our events / festivals and interests that concern our communities. 

Two words that have been manipulated to mean something else is an absolute travesty. 

What little local news we do get hasn’t been enough to feed our need, so we turn to individuals who start their own social media pages to tell the public what is going on, but these social media accounts are mostly gossip, heavily opinionated, and many times misleading with no quotes, no interviews and no sources. 

But keep in mind, while self-proclaimed citizen journalists should be commended for their effort to step up and fill in the gaps that our local news outlet(s) seem to ignore or are unable to cover, these local citizen journalists can’t always accurately cover things as intended, or needed. 

If all the public wants is gossip then news is dead, and the public killed it. And while gossip can be enjoyable and entertaining, it can’t be all that is available, or those in power, those wishing to change things and those whose voices are listened to by the populace go unchecked and there is no accountability. 

It is important to have a central news source for local populations, and while The Shelby Independent is a one person news network, like most other news in our county, it’s better than nothing. 

The Shelby Independent isn’t here to replace any media outlet… it exists to just bring a new perspective to local news, so the people have the opportunity to learn about local issues from a fresh perspective, written by an actual former / ex-corporate journalist and delivered to you through your phone, laptop or desktop from a hometown local writer that cares about the facts and the people of Cleveland County.

The Shelby Independent is like anything else: we’re flawed and might get something wrong, miss things, and offer a perspective that never will everyone agree with or like, but it’s my attempt to bring you local news that you’ve been missing without the corporate media-spin manipulating the story the way they want you to see it. 

Do I have an agenda? Sure I do, I just told you what it is — to put unbiased local journalism back into news — and I don’t expect everyone to like it anymore than they do other “news” outlets in Cleveland County, but it’s a fresh perspective and an alternative presence to give you a chance to get news about our hometown area that you might not get elsewhere. 

This news site is for all of us. 

This site isn’t to look down on you, to lecture you, nor is it meant to think you’re incapable of handling real local news. 

You’re my people, my hometown, my history, my family and my friends… 

And I’m always open to suggestions, submissions and encouragement. 

I look forward to collaborating with other people and news outlets on local stories that affect Cleveland County.

This is our home, let’s work together toward rebuilding a trusted news source for Cleveland County that we all can depend on for honest and entertaining news content. 

The difference is, The Shelby Independent doesn’t gossip in the same manner of what you get on social media. 

We do have an editorial and opinion section, and it might seem gossipy at times, but The Shelby Independent news stories / articles will always try to adhere to journalism standards that have been abandoned by both the mainstream media and citizen journalism social media pages. 

News tips, submissions and suggestions are always welcome.

Reach out, make suggestions, offer to help cover an event by taking photos or writing up a short blurb and I’ll publish it. 

Let’s put the word LOCAL back into local news and give Cleveland County what they’ve been craving for years. A legitimate hometown news site that cares about the community it serves. 

Chuck Thompson 

Publisher / editor / reporter 

The Shelby Independent 

ShelbyIndependent@gmail.com

ShelbyIndependent.com