By Steve Hunley

To my mind, one of the things that makes a community worthwhile is having a sense of community.  That is something we try to do here at The Focus, as our focus is almost entirely local in scope and nature.  The Focus has a reporter at every meeting of the Knox County Commission, the Knoxville City Council, the county’s Pension Board, and on down the line.  Our articles aren’t written in the thirty second sound bites of local television.  Things have changed and are continuing to change.  I never thought I’d live to see the day when friends of mine don’t even watch cable television any longer.  I have friends in my age bracket who only watch streaming TV.  Newspapers, especially dailies, are now largely the creatures of conglomerates and big corporations, which rehash canned news that is obsolete by the time it reaches the printed page in an age where news runs on cable television twenty-four hours per day, seven days a week.

The Focus tries to offer up the best of what’s going on in Knox County, Knoxville and Nashville, as state government certainly does affect our daily quality of life.

One of the local radio stations here, 92.3FM on your dial, is trying to do the same thing: emphasizing what’s going on locally.  The early morning program is dedicated to local happenings and events, stressing what’s happening in our local governments.  The radio personalities are dynamic and offer up an interesting commentary.  The callers and those posting on social media offer their own opinions and having a dialogue about issues is very important in a free society.

One reason City of Knoxville officials haven’t been able to sneak through the terrible “Recode” changes is because entities like The Focus and 92.3 have tried to shine a light on it.

One reason the Left wants to control social media is to stifle all conversation, dialogue and stamp out opposition.  It’s the same tactic used by authoritarians everywhere throughout history, whether the regime was communistic or fascist in belief.  The Left wants to keep the center and the right of center from being heard.

In a free society, everyone must have a voice and everyone must be heard.  Here at The Focus, we will continue to speak out and The Focus will always be on the lookout for those things that affect you, your family and our community.