To be, rather than to seem

By Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column

OPINION – Feelings over facts seems to be the preferred way of doing things in media nowadays, but that's not journalism, although, that is what you see and read in the mainstream media every day and that is called 'propaganda' and 'activism' disguised as journalism, as many of you have learned over the years.

Some seemed to think journalism should be regulated based on what people do and do not like, because it actually does happen every day. But that’s not journalism when this happens.

For anyone that is new to The Shelby Independent, or as I have learned via very thoughtful messages, this column has a large readership across the nation that do not live in Cleveland County. They were either told by a friend that already reads it, or stumbled upon The Sunday Column by accident online, and enjoy reading it every week because they can related no matter where they live - A little background info for those that only read the Sunday Column: I’m not only the columnist for The Sunday Column, but I’m also the Founder and print journalist / reporter for The Shelby Independent.

Keep reading, Florida, New York, South Carolina, Northern Virginia, Ohio and readers from various other states, (including all those from across North Carolina, from Murphy to Manteo) I think you’ll see the overall picture applies everywhere this week, too.  

I’m a journalist, not a propagandist; I believe in informing, not manipulating readers.  The minute I let others try to police who and who not The Shelby Independent is allowed to interview, is the day The Shelby Independent is no better than the media outlets that work as activist media disguised as news by only allowing certain voices and a specific narrative to be heard.

During our most recent primary, I was willing to sit down with anyone running for local office and tell their story and talk about their platform. Not everyone agreed to be interviewed (some never responded and others didn’t contact me themselves, or couldn’t be reached) but many candidates did sit down for an interview. I covered a wide range of perspectives for the public to consider.

This, of course, made some people mad.

How dare I interview someone that a few (or many) people do not like! The audacity of me to play fair and inform the voters of Cleveland County. I should be ashamed of myself.

But I’m not.

I'm not ashamed and I won't apologize because that’s ridiculous and goes against the original, old school, classical intent of journalism.

Any local readers (or others, if you’re reading our local school board news.. I know Raleigh is) – anyone that has been paying attention the past few years, knows that such public figure candidates such as Danny Blanton and Robert Queen are basically on opposite ends of the same political party and have no love for one another, but I interviewed both of them and everyone in between. I interviewed the far-leftist Kate Barr and also Republican U.S. Congressman Tim Moore, both who ran for the 14^th Congressional District as Republicans.

I made several people angry that I interviewed all four mentioned above, along with social / verbal criticism for interviewing Wayne King, who won the county commissioner primary by a wide margin, and also school board candidate (and current board of education member) Ronnie Grigg who took a personal beating from a smear of anonymous emails and texts during primary campaign season.

I interviewed them, plus others - a total of 16 feature interviews - across four different local races, because that’s what journalism is. Whether you like any of them or not. If you read the candidate features labeled “Facing the Voters” you were informed.

It ain’t easy being an actual journalist.

Unfortunately, people try to police who is, and who isn’t, allowed to be heard, seen or read about in the news; it is quite common these days… but journalism is meant to inform the public on a variety of topics, people and things that all make up a bigger picture with differing viewpoints and perspectives.

To narrowly platform only those you like and not to inform yourself, strengthen your dislike, discourse, support or resolve for someone or something without opening your mind to what is being said across the spectrum is a foul of civility, the decay of society and a tottering of the mind. 

The whole purpose of news / journalism / reporting is to learn about what is happening in our community and offer perspectives that you may or may not agree with in order to help you affirm your own beliefs whether those are for, or against, someone or something.

To hear comments such as “How dare you interview this person” or “I thought you knew better” or the classic “Do better” is advice spoken by those that do not wish to take their own advice… because to do actual journalism is to ‘dare.’ To be a journalist is to ‘know’ you’re offering an opportunity for readers to continue to affirm, or to change their mind, or simply support the first amendment by freedom of speech. And just because you or I may not agree at all with someone, or something - to attempt to silence them is to be no better than others that have silenced those which we have seen firsthand across mainstream media and social media platforms over the past decade.

I have witnessed first-hand as a journalist employed by media outlets that lean far-left to be the most intolerant of voices that do not align with their narrative, while continuing to lecture tolerance. Anyone can argue with me all day long, but I have been in those newsrooms, I have worked alongside others that have been in those situations, and I myself have had news stories heavily edited with sentences redacted, names deleted and overall stories spiked because they made “the wrong person” or the “other side” look good; it happens every day. That isn’t journalism, that’s censorship and activism.

Anyone can write whatever they want in an opinion piece, but the news is news, whether we like it or not. The news must be reported as-is and leave the opinions for the opinion section.

It’s also perfectly normal, and encouraged, to express your disdain in the comments of any news story, feature article or opinion piece. Although, to impose your personal rules over what can or cannot be published on a news site, is not how this works. Just because you’re offended doesn’t mean it’s wrong, nor does it mean it’s right; it just means you don’t agree, and yet, I think we all can agree that a free press is needed as much as any citizen’s right of free speech.

And, to ‘do better’ is to cover all sides of an issue, as best as possible, knowing it will enrage some for the betterment of educating ourselves to viewpoints and actions we may disagree with, but at least then we can say we are well-informed even on that which we do not like nor agree.

So, yes, I ‘dare to,’ I ‘know to,’ and I strive to ‘do better’ than those media outlets and other institutions that have censored (and censured) others and other sites, or organizations.

This is what journalism is supposed to be… to not always agree but to be informed, and to hold those accountable that are responsible for others.

I hope you all have a great week.

Read The Sunday Column, every week, only in The Shelby Independent.

Chuck Thompson is a reporter and columnist for The Shelby Independent. 

Copyright 2026 The Shelby Independent.