Our time in Ely is coming to an end

Properly Subversive/Sherman R. Frederick

All good things come to an end and so today my partner and I at Battle Born Media announce that we are putting this newspaper up for sale. 

We will, of course, continue publishing the newspaper as we seek a buyer worthy of carrying on the newspapers in White Pine and Eureka counties.

I came to Ely in 1979 as the “relief” editor for Joe Merica. My wife and I spent two weeks in Ely working for then publisher George Carnes. We loved every minute of it and in the ensuing years brought our family back to vacation here. 

Tim Dahlberg (now retired AP sports columnist) and I bought the newspaper in 2010. But, we’re older now, and believe we need to find a “fresh horse” to carry on in Ely.

Community newspapers are important. Treasures, really. Please make inquiries to me via email at [email protected] or by phone at 702-525-2440. 

DILBERT IS DEAD?

Well, that was quick.

Nationally syndicated cartoonist Scott Adams, creator of the popular newspaper cartoon “Dilbert” was dropped enmasse by newspapers last week, including the Las Vegas Sun and its container newspaper, the Las Vegas Review-Journal.)

The cultural sin that brought on his cancellation came in a podcast in which Adams commented on a Rasmussen survey that found 47% of Black people disagree or won’t say that it’s “OK to be white.”

He then said that shows Black people are a “hate group” and there is “no fixing” current racial tensions. “Based on the current way things are going, the best advice I would give to White people is to get the hell away from Black people.”

Of course, there would be a blowback. While he called his comments misunderstood hyperbole, his defense wasn’t good enough to survive in today’s climate of outrage. In a span of two weeks, Dilbert went from appearing in 2,000 newspapers to next to zero. His syndicator, Andrews McMeel Universal, stopped representing him. And, his book publisher canceled future deals. 

We do, indeed, live in dangerous times.

The Dilbert comic strip wasn’t canceled because of anything contained in the strip itself. It was canceled because newspaper publishers, the prissy pretenders they tend to be these days, didn’t like what Dilbert’s creator said in a podcast. Historically, actions like that make for a dangerous society, especially for comedians, artists, scientists and anyone who dares think about stuff that might exist on the other side of the hedge. 

America’s favorite polymath, Elon Musk, touched on this when he lamented the public execution of Adams, calling Dilbert “legit and funny.” 

But, the point isn’t whether you like Dilbert or agree with Adams extracurricular views (few will, I suspect), but how big is modern America’s idea of free speech. 

Is there truly free speech without the freedom to offend? Dave Chappell or Salmond Rushdie, anyone? 

In the last century when I ran the Las Vegas Review-Journal (in spectacular fashion, I might add), we had an editorial writer by the name of Rafael Tammariello who often lamented that if the First Amendment and a handful of other Constitutional rights ever came up to a vote today, they would fail. 

In 2023, I think he’d be right. 

The best course of navigation in these choppy waters is to steer clear of anyone who seeks to restrain speech. They may look like sheep, but there’s a wolf in there somewhere. 

ONE MORE THING

– The feeling the pastor gets when he looks out over the early service and sees everyone sitting where they always sit: Deja pew.

– Accordion to a recent study, 7 out of 10 people don’t notice when a word in a sentence is replaced by a musical instrument.

– My Dad was a conjoined twin. I guess that makes his brother my uncle on my father’s side. Now that they’re surgically separated, I guess he’s my uncle-once removed.

Thanks for reading a Battle Born Media newspaper. We still highly recommend that readers avoid soreheads, take time to laugh a little, and always question authority. 

“Properly Subversive” is commentary written by Sherman R. Frederick, a Nevada Hall of Fame journalist and co-founder of Battle Born Media, a news organization dedicated to the preservation of community newspapers. You can reach him by email at shermfrederick@ gmail. com.