Dearest Readers:
Silly me. I thought the year 2018 was a portion of the Twenty-first Century. Not exactly where non-profit organizations are concerned.
I’ve dealt with non-profits for years, volunteering to write and serve as the editor for many of their publications, including newsletters. To be respectful here, I will not name the non-profits I’ve worked for, but there were many. My newsletters won awards for a military non-profit, for a not-for-profit school, and a few more organizations.
During my years as volunteer editor, never did I get compensated for any of the publications, research and writing, editing. Not even a you did a good job from several ‘good ol’ boy’ organizations.
Every newsletter I created had to be approved by the powers that be, aka the good ol’ boys. This delayed the process, but I didn’t mind. If someone complained to me that their newsletter was late, I referred them to the ‘good ol’ boys.’ After all, they had the final word.
On one occasion, I submitted a newsletter for ‘approval’ only to be told I had to remove the news about a soldier getting killed in Afghanistan. He was a resident of South Carolina, but not a local for the publication. I was told to remove his story. It wasn’t ‘newsworthy…’ And why not, I asked?
The reply I received was “You only need to write about our area, not the State of South Carolina.”
A soldier who lived in South Carolina died fighting for our country, but we should not share the story of his bravery, courage and loss? Isn’t this America?
Silly me. I was under the impression in America we could voice our opinions and tell the story. To say the least, I was flabbergasted!
Censorship!
Humph! Let me rethink ‘censorship:’ Censorship, the suppression of words, images, or ideas that are “offensive,” happens whenever some people succeed in imposing their personal political or moral values on others. Censorship can be carried out by the government as well as private pressure groups.
https://www.aclu.org/other/what-censorship
As a writer, I do not believe in censorship. After dealing with the “good ol’ boys” I chose to resign as the newsletter editor. It simply wasn’t worth wasting my time on a bunch of “good ol’ boys” who wanted everything ‘their way, or the highway.’
I’ve had more opportunities to work with non-profits since that time. So far, all of them approaching me wanted me to work for free since ‘a freelance writer doesn’t get paid.’ How dare them!
What? More ‘good ol’ boys.’ I believe it is sad when so many organizations want everything their way and they refuse to listen to the opinions of a professional writer, or members of their organization.
I must admit, the publications they’ve written and published are always filled with typos, improper grammar, and mostly writing that makes an impression. A BAD impression!
So, here’s to the ‘good ol’ boys.’ It really is sad when they refuse to move into the 21st-century!
Barbie Perkins-Cooper, Author 