Please Don’t Screenshot Our Stories and Share Them on Social Media [An Open Letter from the Editor]

Hey Friends, I Need to Ask a Big Favor

Okay, I'll just lay it out there and be frank. Please stop screenshotting the info in our articles and sharing them on social media. Unfortunately, it’s been happening more and more lately. Here’s why it matters.

First of All, THANK YOU for Being a Friend!

As the managing editor here at Townsquare Media, let me say that I am immensely grateful you think our content is worthy of your time and your social media space! Content is everywhere right now. TV, videos, radio, newspapers, books, and a gazillion creators on social media are all vying for your time and your eyeballs. So please believe me when I say we truly appreciate you reading and sharing what we post.

But... yes, there’s always a "BUT"!

Why Screenshotting Hurts Local Media

Recently, I wrote a story about where you can stream the horror movie filmed at West Baden Hotel. I put a lot of time and energy into that article. I researched the author of the book, looked up facts about the movie, and even watched it so I could review it for you.

When I shared the article on Facebook, there were a lot of people who thought they were doing everyone a favor by taking all that info and sticking it straight in the comments so users didn’t have to click through to read it.

I totally get it. You think you’re helping your friends out and don't realize it's hurting anyone. But the truth is, when you do that, it takes away from the people who created the content and the companies that support it.

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We Work Really Hard on Our Content

At Townsquare Media, we all wear a lot of hats. Every one of our on-air personalities also writes, researches, and creates local stories just for you. We pour time, energy, and heart into every post we publish.

So when someone takes that work and shares it to social media as a screenshot instead of sharing a link to the article housed on our website, it is really frustrating. It might not seem like a big deal, but it takes credit and support away from the person who created it.

It was really hurtful to see people act like having to click through and read my article about West Baden was a burden. And in some cases, they were downright nasty to me for posting the article on our website instead of listing the information directly on Facebook.

Let's Talk About the 'Elephant in the Room'

Now, let's talk about the elephant in the room. Aside from the creativity and work we put in, there's a financial side to this too. Every business in the world has to make money to stay open. Every. Single. One. Townsquare Media is no different. Media companies like ours have two options: rely on subscriptions and paywalls, or keep content free and depend on advertisers.

We choose to keep everything free for you.
Every song on the radio? Free.
Every contest? Free.
Every story we write? Free. And we wrote over 4,000 FREE stories for our local audience this year! Not one person paid a penny to read them!

But, ugg that pesky capitalism! We still have to make some money if we want to keep the lights on. That means we need people to read our content on our site, where those ads appear.

If everyone keeps giving away the milk for free, there’s no money left to buy cow food, and eventually, the cow doesn’t make milk anymore. Are ya picking up what I'm putting down?

Why Supporting Local Media Matters

Townsquare Media, like many local media companies, employs local people. We live right here in the Evansville-Owensboro area. We eat at the same restaurants, our kids go to school with your kids, and we care deeply about this community. If you thought we are a bunch of Scrooge McDuckies swimming through our piles of money in our giant money bins, I can assure you, we are not.

We support small businesses and organizations. We promote local events. We tell local stories about people, places, and things that matter to our hometowns. But without revenue, we can’t keep doing that. And if you think I’m exaggerating, media companies both locally and nationally are cutting back.

Help us keep telling YOUR stories! It's so easy, just resist the urge to let the cat out of the bag. And if you think our content is worthy, share our original posts on social media, give us a thumbs up or heart reaction, and leave a positive comment so the Facebook algorithm will do its thing and keep our community going strong!

We love our community and hope to be a part of it for a long, long time!