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Monday, January 02, 2012

Explaining What We Do And Why We Do It


Every single day I receive numerous phone calls with potential stories. Some are very serious, others seem to be people with important things on their mind but many of those phone calls are people just looking to vent.

Salisbury News has become the "go to" place because we're not afraid to expose stories. Forgive me for repeating myself but in order to complete what I've started in this Post I need to repeat something we expressed in the past.

Take WBOC as an example. In one broadcast, (30 minutes) there is actually 14 minutes of news, the rest is commercials. Of the 14 minutes, how much of it is travels with Charlie? How much of it is Heart and Soul with Lisa Bryant? How much of it is Captain Willie? How much of it is Weather, (over and over again)? How much of it is Sports? Heck, let's even add the last 30 days, how much of it is Bless Our Children?

Where I'm going with this is, there is very little time left to actually tell the news. Much of what they deliver is national news, Delaware and Virginia news and there's very little time left over to bring local information. I thought they were in the news business, not show business.

Salisbury News is growing at an unbelievable pace because we deliver, (at times) more than 100 stories in a day in real time, something the television news can never do. Over the years there have been many people who have come to us after they had gone to the Daily Times and they refused to publish their story. Today, the roles have reversed. In most cases the stories come to us now and the rest of the local media desperately tries to make contact with our original source and their story comes out, (if it ever does) days later.

Where I'm going with this is, love us or hate us, Salisbury News IS getting the traffic none of the local media outlets ever thought we'd achieve. Tens of thousands of people each day are relying on what we provide. Years ago you'd pay a dime, then a quarter and now a dollar for a local newspaper. You PAID for this paper because professional investigative reporters would go out and do what you and I didn't have the time to do. They'd report the news and when all was said and done you'd walk away feeling as if you had been properly educated.

So why did Blogs come along? They came along because the local media was no longer doing investigative reporting. in fact, what you were getting, (and still are) is press releases made up well in advance. Why well in advance, because the Daily Times has a deadline each day and in order to publish the information they had to have it a day before every one else. They have no real time to investigate, so instead, they simply publish what they're being told.

I have complained for years about certain media outlets publishing information they know is a lie but they get away with it because they are quoting someone else. You don't see that on Salisbury News. So why are we successful, because we do the investigative reporting. We spend the time going to meetings. Over years we have gained experience and wisdom and we know what's right and wrong. What do you get from the local MSM, brand new reporters on a regular basis who have NO CLUE what the history is on each subject.

Now go figure, you PAY to buy a newspaper but what you're getting in the end is complete BS. Now mind you, this is going on around the entire Country. Bloggers are exposing what their intent is and little by little people are coming to learn and trust Blogs more than the Main Stream Media because we have no horse in these races. We're NOT selling legal ads, permit ads, help wanted ads and or whatever else local governments are required to advertise in print media. We're in this because we want to educate the public with the truth.

Some Anti Albero Bloggers and media have recently gone on the attack against me on the Earl Campbell story. Well, first of all, they're pissed off because Earl came to me first. They want to call me a liar, yet I never lied in any of his story. Politicians and other MSM outlets want to call us a "gossip blog" in order to attempt to discredit us, yet isn't it funny how ALL of the MSM came out telling the exact same story one week later and now two weeks later?

You can call us whatever you like. You can deny you visit Salisbury News. However, funny how EVERYONE happens to know about the multiple stories we publish daily, yet there's NO TIME for the local MSM to tell those stories, is there. Those in denial are coming here anyway, they just won't admit it. I'm cool with that. However, I see the hits every day. My friend GA Harrison would always tell me, when I see your world rating go down, then I'll be excited for you. A few weeks ago Salisbury News was hovering a little over the 300,000 mark. Heck, we've been around that number for probably two years now. Today, that number has dropped to around the 250,000 mark, (the lower your number the better). In a conversation we had recently he said, you should be really proud of yourself Joe. I guess it means more to him than it does me but one thing I can tell you is, when your number stays the same for two years and then makes such a dramatic drop, people are listening.

As I mentioned in an earlier Post last week, we plan to expand to Ocean City in 2012. Not that there isn't enough going on here in Salisbury, Ocean City is a huge market and quite frankly I strongly believe the OC Today and Dispatch are doing a lot of the same as the Daily Times. It's time Ocean City had an outlet in which the CITIZENS can get involved and make a difference. Its time your voices be heard and IF the local politicians refuse to listen to their constituents, well, its time to vote them out. It's also time to crush the local media like we did with the Daily Times.

We're not going in silent. We're announcing our intent so everyone is well aware of what is about to happen. We do what we do because "We The People" deserve to be heard. We deserve to know the TRUTH about our communities, crime, good deeds, lost animals, politicians, events, fundraisers, you name it.

When we made that announcement and asked if someone might be interested in joining us in Ocean City, we immediately got messages of interest. Without a doubt, we're coming to Ocean City. We are the new source of media. When the local MSM makes statements like "Delmarva's News Leader" or "More News In Less Time" PLEASE! That is a complete lie. You can't be Delmarva's News Leader with only 14 minutes of news, most of which is acting and very little of it is news.

2012 will prove to be our biggest year ever. Support our local advertisers and BUY LOCAL. Keep the money here on the Shore. Thanks for visiting and supporting Salisbury News. It's time to go to work.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

WBOC and other area TV news sources deliver "safe" news and rarely deliver controversial news that they are aware of to the public, such as corruption, many crimes, etc. I have heard that they are controlled by prominent people in the area who want them to keep quiet about bad news and crimes.
There newscasts are a joke and are old-school and only good for giggles. I no longer watch WBOC because the last few broadcasts I watched was about old news I already read about on the Internet. I have more important and productive things to do than spend 30 minutes in front of a TV watching uninformative, boring and old news. Maybe the elders who do not desire using the Internet appreciate their newscasts, but my friends, family and I find their programs very dull and uninformative.

Augie said...

Joe, Without your awesome support of the local community, so much would go unreported. Thank you!

Mind you, I don't always agree with everything you say, but that's the beauty of living in a free society. We do not always have to agree. The MSM outlets are more and more like government mouthpieces every day, and you don't dare speak against them for fear of what might happen to you. Your blog, though, is AWESOMELY INDEPENDENT!

Anonymous said...

While the oppressive dictating good ol' boys who run the town will not be happy about your decision to expand into OC, most people will be welcoming you with open arms and will appreciate you exposing the corruptions and crimes that go unreported in OC. Positive change in this town is long overdue and the lawlessness that has been going on ever since the Bay Bridge was built needs to end-NOW!

Anonymous said...

So Joe, are you actually planning on attending OC council meetings?

That would be a lot better than getting things second-hand.

Andy Berges said...

ANON 1:05 is right and your reporting the TRUTH is what this corrupt town is in desperate need of. Many of my friends and family were naive regarding the illegals activities that were taking place in O.C. until recently.

They were only aware of how relaxing & picturesque O.C. is when they come to visit briefly and were totally unaware of how ugly & corrupt many people behave behind the scenes. I will inform everyone that I know of your plans, including several Internet sources I freelance write for.

Anonymous said...

Joe, is your Ocean City news posts going to appear on this site or a different one?

the wico eye said...

mr albero
i just wanted to say thank you again for all the local news updates as well as the animal finder section.the only reason i lok at the daily times is the obituaries, guess i am getting old. i read news you have posted 4 to 5 days later in the paper too.
keep up the outstanding work!

Anonymous said...

the only thing good about WBOC is how hot lacee is, the morning is very bad, except HER It should be called WBOC weather center, all they do is weather. what happend to 7pm news,weather then sports, every one knew the time for each segement

Anonymous said...

You do put the news out there. It is your need to "crush" the other news outlets that I don't understand. Isn't there room for all of you?

Anonymous said...

If it were'nt for the re- runs from the morning news there would not be a 5 and 6 o'clock news. I thought news was some new or unheard of.All wboc has to offer is re-runs of history.

Tim Chaney said...

Yesterday WBOC spent most of their time covering politics in Iowa, fires in LA and weather, where they are usually wrong.

Not one mention of gun shots and wounded 15 year old.

Yesterday I discovered that WMDT does have a noon news broadcast, but it's way down the channel line, cable channel 3 or 4 and they did cover the shooting.

Anonymous said...

@tim chaney-that's the problem. wboc covers safe national news. it is the same news thats broadcasted on national news broadcasts. why do they withhold important news and crimes in the area that residents in the area need to be aware of!!?