Lots to say regarding today's NYTimes piece about a man in Southeast Ohio who deliberately ignores all current events news. I'm the editor of the daily newspaper in his area. (1/ of many) nytimes.com/2018/03/10/sty… 
As a journalist and lifelong news junkie, I favor a wealth of information. I seek out details about my community, my country, my government, all these things. I also understand that others have different personalities and priorities. 2/
I'm not offended when people choose not to read my newspaper. I've also learned to accept that people read the paper for different reasons -- some only for comics, some for the classifieds. That is totally fine. 3/
(In fact, my love of newspapers stems from growing up around my grandmother, a lifelong Plain Dealer subscriber. I don't know that I ever once saw her actually read a news story all those years. But she did the word search every day & clipped out Funky Winkerbein.) 4/
This is all to say: I don't care if people are, by nature, disinterested in the news. There are plenty of people in my rural, Appalachian community who are too busy working/raising kids to follow current events. However... 5/
It does rattle me that someone CHOOSES to ignore the news. On purpose. Solely because the world around them is too harsh or the election results too unfavorable. The NYTimes subject isn't anti-news as a philosophy. He admits to doing this because Trump won. 6/
Meanwhile, there are real consequences to Trump's victory. Today, The Athens Messenger reported Trump wants to eliminate a critical energy assistance program that benefits 1,200 residents in Erik Hagerman's own county, as reported by @HeatherDWrites: athensmessenger.com/news/trump-pro… 7/
The CHIP funding debate? We covered that, because the health care access of 900 Athens County kids depended on its funding (athensmessenger.com/news/with-chip…). Trump's tariff on imported solar panels? That affected local businesses. (athensmessenger.com/news/athens-so…) And so on, and so on. 8/
Hagerman's own county is listed as economically distressed (athensmessenger.com/news/arc-athen…) by an organization, the Appalachian Regional Commission, that Trump has repeatedly sought to eliminate (athensmessenger.com/news/trump-s-p…). I can do this all day. 9/
Again, I'm not angry if Hagerman does not want to read The Messenger, or any other news outlet. However: while he enjoys a fun "experiment" of ignoring the world around him, his fellow residents of Glouster, Athens County, Ohio & beyond are living in the real world. 10/
Glouster is a wonderful town, but its residents also face many struggles. The local school district has been ranked the poorest in Ohio. Students are given food to take home on weekends. Drug and opioid abuse is rampant. athensmessenger.com/news/pridepack… 11/
The NYTimes could have spent its trip to our area focusing on those concerns. Instead, the focus is wasted on a man with the privilege to cover his ears to shout "LA LA LA! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
He can ignore the world all he wants, but the world keeps turning. The end. 12/
He can ignore the world all he wants, but the world keeps turning. The end. 12/
