Facebook Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Us & Them: To Friend Or Unfriend? That Is The Question

Over the past few years, some people have severed their digital lifeline with friends and family because of political differences. With the click of a single button the social media connection is gone. Click – buh-bye! The decision can mean you’re out of touch and cut off from that person’s life. But two childhood friends from Gallipolis, OH — who vote very differently — have committed to doing just the opposite.

Many Americans are getting good at ignoring friends and relatives who disagree with them. Roughly four in ten registered voters say they don’t have a close friend who supports the opposing party’s candidate, according to a Pew Research study.

Think how often you’re tempted to unfriend someone on social media. However, some lifelong friendships seem to beat those odds and the people in them say it enhances their understanding of the world.

On this Us & Them episode, host Trey Kay hears two childhood friends from Ohio explain how their connection reminds them how much they have in common. They do that, despite agreeing to disagree on some pretty important things along the way. They do it, in the name of their friendship.

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council and the CRC Foundation.

Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond.

Brian Griffin and Us & Them host Trey Kay have been friends since their days at Ohio University back in the early 1980s. These days Griffin is the Executive Secretary-Treasurer for the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council.

*Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Lynn Angell has lived in Gallipolis, OH all of her life. She is a CPA and the owner of Angell Accounting, where she works barefooted as she prepares more than 3,000 tax returns each year. When she’s not crunching numbers, she raises sheep at her farm just outside of town. She also serves on the Gallia County Board of Education and is an executive member of the Republican Central Committee. Angell has known Brian Griffin since their high school days. They don’t see eye-to-eye on politics or the direction of the nation, but they are committed to their friendship and respectfully hearing each other out.

*Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Brian Griffin as senior in Gallia Academy High School’s Class of 1978.

*Credit: Gallia Academy High School Yearbook*

Lynn Smith Angell as senior in Gallia Academy High School’s Class of 1978.

*Credit: Gallia Academy High School Yearbook*

ACLU: Government Officials Should Think Twice Before Blocking On Social Media

ACLU-WV filed a lawsuit against Jefferson County commissioner Steve Stolipher for violating the First Amendment rights of a constituent.

The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia (ACLU-WV) has filed a lawsuit in the Jefferson County Circuit Court against Jefferson County Commissioner Steve Stolipher. In May 2022, Stolipher blocked constituent Christy Stadig, a resident of Harpers Ferry, from his official government Facebook page.

Stadig had responded to a comment on Stoliphers Facebook page asking him about what he had posted. She got a notification that the commissioner had responded to her comment but when she went back to his page, her original comment and his response had been deleted. A few hours later, she realized she had been blocked.

Stadig went to a Jefferson County Republican Executive Committee meeting where she asked Stolpher to unblock her from his Facebook. He responded by laughing at her request.

Aubrey Sparks, the legal director at ACLU-WV, says that blocking a person from an official Facebook page is one of the most common complaints her department gets. She says sometimes there is no malicious intent, just a lack of knowledge.

“Sometimes public servants just legitimately don’t know that this is something they aren’t permitted to do, and so they rather block someone than really engage.” Sparks said. “Blocking is a problem that is incredibly widespread, and we want to make the point that it’s not okay at any level of government…it is a big deal to our client because she was relying on that access to information to learn about her representatives and policies that would affect her as a resident of Jefferson County.”

Del. Kathie Hess Crouse, R-Putnam, has three Facebook pages. Her personal, campaign, and official Delegate page. While she occasionally blocks or deletes from her personal and campaign pages, she does not on her official delegate page. She says she engages with those with similar and opposing views.

“Most of the time I let them vent, I’ll read what they’ve said, if it’s something I need to take into consideration I will, but I let them vent and say whatever they want to say,” Crouse said.

Government official’s social media pages are seen as public forums and blocking a constituent is restricting their freedom of speech. The ACLU-WV has a toolkit to let people know their rights if they have been blocked by a government official.

Jefferson Commissioner’s Photo With Extremist Group Sparks Questions

A Jefferson County commissioner is under scrutiny after a photo of her with alleged members of a hate group circulated on Facebook.

Updated on Wednesday, June 29, 2022 at 5:20 p.m.

A Jefferson County commissioner is under scrutiny after a photo of her with alleged members of a hate group circulated on Facebook.

The post includes a photo of Commissioner Tricia Jackson posing with two men wearing clothing with the Proud Boys logo and using the “okay” hand gesture, which was designated as a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League in 2019.

The Proud Boys are an alt-right hate group that have been linked to events like the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. The group is designated as such by organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Jefferson County NAACP President George Rutherford released a statement yesterday requesting that Jackson make it known publicly whether she supports the Proud Boys and their position on white supremacy.

“The mere fact that she’s supposed to be the representative on the county commission, we just want to make sure we’ve got the right personnel and that they represent our well-being,” Rutherford said.

Jackson said in a statement posted on Facebook that she believes the photo is innocent and does not plan to resign from the commission.

A statement released by Commissioner Jackson on her official Facebook page.

A release sent Wednesday evening by the Jefferson County NAACP to West Virginia Public Broadcasting announces the chapter is officially calling for the resignation of Jackson, saying her statement was not forthcoming enough and is unclear on whether she still supports the Proud Boys.

W.Va. Lawmakers Run Out Of Time On Some Election-Themed Bills

With only three days left in the legislative session, Senate Bill 565 — which in 40 pages updates various provisions of the state’s election law — will not leave the House Judiciary Committee in time to pass the lower chamber.

This legislation would have moved the state’s 10-day early voting period back by four days without altering the amount of time made available to those who want to cast a ballot before Election Day.

It would have shortened the time that clerks have to wait before reaching out to households where registered voters might have moved or died, altered absentee ballot application deadlines and updated the Division of Motor Vehicles’ process for automatically registering voters who obtain a West Virginia driver’s license.

The bill also proposed moving the process for contested election results to the circuit court and creating a misdemeanor for interfering with elections.

The secretary of state’s office has said numerous provisions of this bill were to help county clerks by offering more time to prepare for Election Day. However, advocacy groups and organizations for voters’ rights said during a public hearing Monday that some of these provisions risk making the election process less accessible for West Virginians.

In a statement Wednesday, Secretary of State Mac Warner said the House Judiciary Committee requested more time “beyond the current session” to consider the legislation.

“Taking whatever time is necessary to discuss effective administration of elections instills confidence in our process,” Warner said in a written statement.

House Bill 3307 is another elections-related bill bearing support from Warner’s office that hasn’t left the Senate Judiciary Committee, where it was referred after passing the House last Wednesday. The bill would have authorized Warner’s office to approve informational elections content that a social media platform publishes.

West Virginia Newspaper Company Files Antitrust Suit Against Google, Facebook Over Ad Revenues

A West Virginia news publisher has filed an antitrust suit against Google and Facebook, who together receive roughly half of all digital ad dollars in the U.S. and are facing antitrust charges from federal and state authorities.

The company, HD Media, owns several papers in the state, including the Herald-Dispatch in Huntington and the Charleston Gazette-Mail.

HD Media claims Google has so monopolized the online ad market that “it threatens the extinction of local newspapers across the country.” The suit also alleges that Google and Facebook conspired to further their dominance with a secret agreement, referring to a suit filed by 10 Republican attorneys general in December.

The company does not specify the impact on its business of the behavior of Facebook and Google beyond saying that it has hurt its ability to “effectively monetize its content” because Google is enabled to take an uncompetitive share of the news publisher’s ad revenues. A lawyer for the company declined to speak on the record.

It’s the first antitrust lawsuit against a tech platform focused on news publishing, said David Chavern, head of the news trade group News Media Alliance. He said the group was not involved in the suit.

HD Media filed in federal court in West Virginia and asked for a jury trial. It asked for unspecified damages and that the court stop Google and Facebook from the uncompetitive conduct it is alleging.

The newspaper industry has been on a long decline, with steep job losses and publications getting thinner and even disappearing. Online ad revenues have been unable to offset print-ad losses.

Federal and state antitrust authorities have sued both Google and Facebook in recent months. The Justice Department alleges that Google abuses its dominance in online search and advertising.

Facebook didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. Google referred a reporter to a blog post published in mid-Januaryby its director of economic policy, Adam Cohen, that defends Google’s business against antitrust charges brought by the Texas attorney general in December.

Facebook to Help Expand Broadband Internet Service in West Virginia

Facebook says it’s going to help expand broadband internet in West Virginia.

The social media company announced a plan Monday, March 4, to build a high-capacity fiber optic cable network in the state that internet providers will then be able to access.

“It’s almost like an interstate for the internet,” Kevin Salvadori, Facebook’s director of network investments, said of the cable system.

Work on the roughly 275-mile cable route is scheduled to start this year and is expected to take about 18 to 24 months to finish, according to the company. The idea is for the cable to start in the western part of the state, move through the Kanawha Valley, then turn northwest into the Appalachia region. Salvadori said the company is confident it will be able to install the cable through the state’s mountainous terrain.

West Virginia officials cheered the deal as a way to move the state’s economy forward.

“We absolutely have got something here that will open us up, will be the beginning of something that’s really, really significant,” said Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican.

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican, said the move will give rural parts of the state better internet access.

“Today’s announcement with Facebook is an important step toward ensuring our state has the critical infrastructure to support broadband deployment, and I know it will help so many in our state, especially the rural communities that are unserved,” she said in a statement.

The Federal Communications Commission says 82 percent of West Virginians have access to fixed broadband internet speeds.