Enjoy a video rant of me talking about this below!
Well, well, well. It seems like The Anniston Star got caught with a hand in the cookie jar, or got caught with a hand on the paddle. Back in the 1970’s, editor and now former chairman H. Brandt Ayers spanked two women with a paddle. And the crazy thing about this, a physician told Mr. Ayers that it was okay to spank women on their behinds because it would improve their mental and physical health. I mean, which doctor was this? I don’t think any doctor from any time period, would say it was okay to smack women on their behinds.
Anyways, one of the women spanked with a paddle was a former reporter at her home. Another woman, who was a former reporter, was spanked at the newspaper office. Ayers actually said she was being a bad girl about an editorial she wrote and was spanked with a metal ruler. All of this was kept under the rug for years. But, when another reporter from another website found out about this while covering the Senate campaign last November, it created some panic at the Star’s offices. One reporter wanted to find out more about the story, and do some research and actual journalism. But, the current people who run the Star said to not report the story and to ignore it.
After that was said, that reporter quit. And that reporter named Eddie Burkhalter now works at a plumbing supply company as a clerk. Going from a well-known journalist to some clerk job, what a horrible turn of events.
https://twitter.com/Burkhalter_Star/status/948535162110971909
https://twitter.com/Burkhalter_Star/status/948361643322421249
Now we need to talk about The Anniston Star, which needs a major overall. In Calhoun County, two-thirds of people are conservative. And the Anniston Star continues to trash politicians who are on the right, and doesn’t give a crap about some things in the community. I have walked for miles, because I’m too poor to own a car, to cover events here and Anniston and Oxford. I have covered plenty of community events that the Anniston Star has never talked about. Along with their editorials, and those bumper sticker photos, many in Calhoun County hate The Anniston Star. In fact, many call the newspaper The Red Star. That is one fitting name.
I have never understood why The Anniston Star continues to run these bashful editorials, photos, and articles, when they continue to lose subscribers, get bashed on social media, and lose advertisers. I would think the goal of this and any newspaper is to cover more community events, gain subscribers, gain more advertisers, and maybe not to have that paywall on their website either. By the way, I do not pay a subscription to The Anniston Star, and I get around their hard paywall just fine. I know this newspaper was not happy when I published an article showing you how to get around their newspaper paywalls.
So Anniston Star, with this major news, and with H. Brandt Ayers finally resigning, which happened today. What are you going to do to regain trust in Anniston, Oxford, Jacksonville, and Calhoun County? Hey, I know! Let me raise my hand and smile!
For starters, quit all editorials. Never publish an editorial ever again! The editorials the staff at the Star writes, often makes many people here in Calhoun County not happy. Because the editorials often bash politicians that many in Calhoun County support. That is a horrible business model! By ending all editorials, and only concentrating on news and sports, you can regain the trust from people here in Calhoun County that you’re not going to be a hateful, disgusting, newspaper. And those bumper sticker photos you put on social media, that often bash certain politicians as well, must end too!
Speaking of social media, which I have more influence myself versus the Star here in Calhoun County, how about more videos? You barely do any videos, and in today’s world, media must do more videos, because that’s what people like to watch. How about updating your Instagram feed more often? How about new videos on YouTube, how about getting on SnapChat? I can go on and on, people want more videos and photos to see and watch. With everyone having a smartphone, people often watch videos and see photos on a constant basis. The Star needs to get more active on social media with more photos and videos.
Currently, the newspapers under Consolidated Publishing, are getting beaten into the ground. In Talladega County, The Daily Home is getting beaten by a startup called Sylacauga News. Stories people living in Talladega care about, more community coverage, and no paywall. That website is beating the pants off The Daily Home.
I have heard of plenty other rotten things from The Anniston Star by just talking to people in the community. The Star is like the little TV 24 in Oxford, who pushed me out the door after creating their social media for no pay. Boy, media in Calhoun County is a laughing-stock embarrassment currently. Anniston Star, you are refusing to change, plain and simple. This is conservative Alabama, not liberal New York. The little guys like Geek Alabama and Calhoun County Insight will be unable to keep up if The Anniston Star went under. The newspaper can quit the hateful editorials, drop the paywall, do more social media, do more community coverage, and more pictures and video, and it would come back.
@ua_jcm In light of the recent admission by the Chairman of @annistonstar and his unwillingness to step down from his position, we hope you will publicly disassociate and place your graduate level interns elsewhere. #integritymatters
— Oxford Alabama News (@OxfordAlabama) January 4, 2018
Both The Anniston Star and TV 24 needs major improvements. The Star pushed out a talented reporter to play hush-hush on the story. How crazy and stupid was that!
Categories: Local Scenes Stuff, News Talk Stuff
