Why we don’t respond to Facebook posts

On average, our small staff publishes more than 50 stories an issue. On top of that, we have reoccurring sections such as letters to the editor, obituaries, What’s Happening and entertainment, all of which require additional staff time. And on top of that, it takes time to plan out which stories appear in the A and B sections and what photos or elements will accompany each one.

That’s before we go to press. Press days — Mondays — are all-day affairs. As pages are completed, we give stories one last proofread. We monitor breaking news and last-minute obituary submissions. And after pages are sent to Salem, where they’re printed before being trucked back to us Tuesday morning, we load all those stories and sections individually to our website and schedule when they will appear on Facebook.

And then the process begins again, with interviews to schedule, facts to check, stories to write and calls to return. People also come into the offices in Hood River or The Dalles to pay bills, renew subscriptions or ask questions.

Email is time-consuming. Staff receives hundreds of messages every day. I monitor four inboxes — my own, obituaries, letters and news — and just added a fifth — Alana Lackner’s, as she recently left to pursue other opportunities.

Now that Alana is gone, we are down to two full-time reporters (me and Noah Noteboom), three part-time reporters (Kelsie Cowart, Flora Gibson and Laurel Brown) and few freelancers, including some very part-time help, in an attempt to fill in the gaps, as well as those who help staff cover school sports throughout the area. Thanks to technology, people expect us to always be available — to answer that call, respond to that email, welcome them to the door regardless of the day or hour.

To be frank, if we had a choice, we wouldn’t be on Facebook at all. Social media can be a cesspool of misinformation, but unfortunately, that’s where people get their news. As a legitimate source, our staff feels an obligation to share fact-checked, vetted news people can trust. It’s even more important when we experience events like inclement weather or forest fires.

We do monitor Facebook comments throughout the week. Foul and obscene language will get the poster blocked from our page. Sometimes, people use the platform to vent, or knock others down or perpetuate the very misinformation we’re trying to correct — those comments will be deleted. Mostly, the comments police themselves.

But none of us has the time to sit on Facebook all day and respond to all comments on all posts. That would be a fulltime job. And we already work overtime.