Let me begin by asking for forgiveness.
It was only this morning that I finally got to respond directly to all the emails sent me regarding my FB post “On This Date … May 22, 2013”.
Starting about 5:30am, I was able to start responding to your comments of support ( and a few critics ) and know that I could do all of them in one sitting. (Hopefully, I didn’t overlook any.)
That May 22 post noted that it had been one year since I was unjustly fired by KMOV.
The response to that post was overwhelming; often, any one item I post will reach 3,500 to 5,000 … and many times my posts reach 7,500 or more.
But the post of May 22 … reached 21,272.
That was the largest response since my early posts when I began this FB page; in some of those cases, I reached close to 35,000. ( As an added note, before KMOV shut down my KMOV FB page and fired me, my last post reached 85,000 plus.)
What I’m saying is … I truly thank all of you for your long, loyal support and how you get my message out to others and how they do the same.
Since starting this page and with no broadcast outlet to cross plug the page, more than 5,300 of you have “liked” the page.
I am truly honored.
Your support for me has had an effect on KMOV’s Facebook Page … as my supporters left that station and page and moved to other St. Louis stations.
For instance, the KMOV (Channel 4) Facebook has 172,000 likes.
That sounds impressive, but KSDK (Channel 5) has 360,000 likes.
KTVI (Fox 2) is the winner with almost 390,000 likes.
Those “likes” mean … ad dollars … money, and in today’s world, social media is a big part of a broadcast operation platform.
It’s obvious that many of you are to be credited with this scenario.
In reading through some of your comments and posts, I found it funny how you report KMOV is adept at blocking any remarks supporting me on the KMOV Facebook.
In some cases, your posts are blocked immediately; in other cases, your remarks are posted, but quickly removed. In some cases, you break my name up so it doesn’t appear complete and your remarks survive … for a time, or you bury your remarks in some routine comment section and survive, briefly.
I am laughing at these “guerrilla war” tactics some of you have employed.
What isn’t funny is how a broadcast operation that is supposed to stand for “free speech” is sanitizing or totally blocking your comments.
Those who have followed my page from the beginning know that from time to time, I have some critics who surface on my FB … but I have never blocked anyone unless they are using racist or obscene language.
One critic in particular routinely surfaces, and despite some supporters urging me to ban him … I allow him to say what he wants on my page. In fact, I’ve probably help make him famous beyond his own world. That’s okay.
That’s the value of “free speech”.
Something for KMOV to consider.