In a one-sentence blurb given to a local online blog, Chairman of the Richmond County Board of Commissioners Kenneth Robinette decided to point a finger at his local newspaper.
Robinette, a long-time power broker in the county and a county commissioner for 23 years, stated that, among other things, “negative” coverage from multiple media outlets were to blame for Danny Wimmer Presents’ Epicenter Festival moving next year’s show to Charlotte Motor Speedway. Robinette, according to the blog, went on to individually name The Richmond County Daily Journal as a reason for the county being out potentially tens of thousands of visitors and untold thousands of sales tax dollars this spring because of our reporting during and following the festival.
So let’s look at the facts. Epicenter, a weekend-long rock and heavy metal concert was a boon to the local economy. It filled area hotels throughout a three-county area, added sales and lodging taxes to the region and introduced Richmond, Scotland and Moore counties to visitors who may never have been here prior.
But, right off the bat, major traffic jams due to inadequate ingress and egress left thousands frustrated, plus poor weather Saturday evening which forced the cancellation of the festival’s Saturday evening performances, which included crowd-favorite Tool. Still, through all the traffic, on foot and on wheels, The Daily Journal’s reporting showed many had a great time at the event once inside.
After the money had been made from the inaugural weekend, The Daily Journal reported the following week that Epicenter promoters were warned by the State Highway Patrol as early as January that such traffic issues would be a concern if the event went ahead with only one entrance and one exit. This prediction came true and attendees reported up to four hour wait times to get in, with some on social media claiming wait times as long as six hours.
While local elected officials and area businesses considered the concert a success, Danny Hayes, CEO of Danny Wimmer Presents, as the blog mentioned in the same article, said in a Facebook Live months ago that the concert lost more than $3 million and questioned whether they would ever return.
And now it’s gone. At no time did any festival official or promoter note anything about “negative” local press in their reasoning for moving and, in fact, went out of their way to work with Daily Journal reporters who quoted local attendees and event planners throughout the weekend.
All of which leaves us wondering why a local official, who undoubtedly followed the negotiations closely, wants to blame the loss of the festival on the local newspaper who only reported the facts as presented to it by both concert goers, concert officials and law enforcement.
Now, this is not Robinette’s first swipe at Richmond County’s largest source of local information — nor is he the only one who takes them. But all too often this commissioner has demanded only “good” news be reported, as if the challenges facing this county should be swept under the rug instead of dealt with in public and solved with input from residents.
So Mr. Robinette, our answer to you is that there is no such thing as “good” news or “bad” news. There is only news, and it’s the responsibility of this newspaper, if not local bloggers, to cover this county — warts and all.
Only through public discourse, conversation and the sharing of ideas can Richmond County grow and prosper. The moves that shape this county, whether out in the open or behind closed doors, need to have the light shown upon them in order to for this community to better know where it stands.
While Mr. Robinette’s words hardly carry the weight of federal law, they are part of an unhealthy culture that sees new, objective information as a barrier to growth rather than as an essential part of it. The First Amendment exists to allow the press to facilitate this growth through the free flow of vital information. This newspaper, despite attempts to muffle our voice, takes that responsibility seriously.
— The Daily Journal, Rockingham