On Sunday, the sixteenth anniversary of this website quietly passed.

There was no fanfare. 

I made no posts about it on the rrspin Facebook page, I wasn't inundated with best wishes, I received no state House or Senate resolutions.

The anniversary just passed.

Sixteen years ago I was at a crossroads, having been dismissed from my job at the local paper at a time when the creative department walked off their jobs for absurd demands from advertising that involved them going beyond their required jobs with no extra compensation.

I didn’t blame them.

As the situation became increasingly tense, I knew I could no longer work there.

Always in the back of my mind was the internet.

It seems I’ve told this story countless times — remembering the time some friends and I were exploring an America Online chatroom in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, expressing our condolences and just reading the comments that were coming in.

That was power. That was connectivity.

It never left my mind.

“I’m leaving at the end of June,” I told my boss in 2009. “I can’t work here anymore.”

“What are you going to do?” he asked.

It probably wasn’t the best answer. In fact, it was pretty cocky.

“I’m going to start a website and compete against you,” I replied.

“I don’t want to see you get lost out there,” came his retort.

“I’m not going to get lost out there.”

Based on discreet conversations I had previously, I knew sources would follow me.

I trusted the power of the internet and knew the newspaper industry was stubborn about it. 

Fast forward

The past 16 years have been interesting to say the least.

I’ve seen the fake news media grow — folks like Alex Jones in particular who even though he most likely knows he’s lying continues to broadcast lies.

I have seen the continued divide between us and them — red versus blue, GOP versus Dems — and a man at the helm in Washington who revels in the chaos.

Locally, I’ve seen folks flock to a Facebook page which doesn’t practice the same ethical standards as true journalists, who pays for information and videos — something we can’t do — and whose content is essentially the constant posting of what is heard on the scanner.

This page is part of the problem — doing things we as seasoned journalists can’t do — blending opinion in their posts and even running the names of juveniles who aren’t charged as adults. 

Yet, real journalists are often vilified in the face of sites like this for not having it first or not having it all.

My unofficial motto remains — I’d rather be second and right than first and wrong.

The last 16 years have not been kind in the face of this us versus them mindset.

We only try to rise above it.

The NCPA and other awards

I am not a member and have no immediate plans to join the North Carolina Press Association for the simple fact their lobby keeps websites like mine from running certain government legal notices because of an outdated “newspaper of general circulation” law.

I am fortunate that Halifax County will send me these notices under our County Page agreement with the stipulation that I run them at the same time the local newspaper is supposed to run them. The city of Roanoke Rapids, under our City Page agreement, will do the same thing.

The newspaper of general circulation clause is archaic to say the least because most of these papers come out only two to three times a week now.

Don’t get me wrong, I feel for the plight of community newspapers as I cut my teeth on them, and it was never my intention to start a war by starting this website. The truth, I simply didn’t want to go to another paper, making what could have been a lateral move, especially with the situation many of them face. 

That’s why I don’t submit material for the NCPA editorial contest because I’m not a member for the reasons stated above.

I also don’t accept local awards and earlier this year I declined receiving one from what I would consider to be a very visible and powerful organization in the county.

While I was humbled at the offer, my reasoning for declining was that I didn’t want to create a rift between my website and the other local media outlets and I didn’t want the organization willing to give me the award being accused of favoritism.

The future

Sixteen years have passed since I started this website.

It has been frightening, especially in the early stages, having the lights cut off, worrying if I could put food on the table, and gas in the car.

I am thankful for the advertisers who have seen fit to put their names on this website.

I am thankful to the Computer Guy & Company for designing a professional website and not one that a person so callously said 16 years ago looks like something a child designed.

While the subscription plan hasn’t gone as I expected and I haven’t been able to bring on an extra staff member, I feel confident in the direction this website is heading.

There will be some modifications to the subscription plan in the fall and essentially it will be a call for people who believe in this website, who respect community journalism, and who appreciate the efforts I’ve made over the last 16 years to make a donation.

Like everyone, I am getting older. Since my health scare in 2019, I am trying to take better care of myself and am continuing to receive good reports from my doctor.

I want to thank everyone for their support of this website over the past 16 years and perhaps 16 years from now I’ll write another one of these columns — Lance Martin