Oops! Someone parlayed political opinion on DCI Facebook

Last Wednesday evening I received a text stating that someone had published an announcement supporting President Trump on the DCI Facebook site and concluded the notice that the president would be at the Rochester International Airport for a rally with a “Woot! Woot!”
Thursday morning I held a brief staff meeting to explain to them that if anyone had published such a message on DCI’s Facebook, it was unauthorized and inappropriate. (Our editor, Karen Jorgensen, is the only staff member authorized to post to the site.)
We ended the meeting with everyone agreeing that they understood and accepted the policy.
DCI’s owner, Rick Bussler, insisted that we apologize for the unauthorized post.
Therefore, as the publisher of DCI, I apologize to anyone who was offended by the Facebook post.
Here’s the deal: this election, unlike most elections in the past has been contentious and divisive. As a newspaper publisher, with over 40 years of publishing, I have maintained a policy that newspapers should NOT endorse or in any way be aligned with candidates running for office. It is our job to inform. If a comment about a policy or candidate does surface that needs comment, it will appear on page four of the DCI’s opinion page.
As publisher, I maintain that you, the reader, will make your political decision based on your own assessment of the issues, the candidates and information gleaned from the DCI or other news sources.
Now that the election is behind us (pending the final ballot counting that may run on for days, weeks or even months) we must set aside our differences and agree on issues we can and agree to disagree on issues or personalities we find not to our liking.
I respect your right to have an opinion, that’s why we welcome letters to the editor and give space for comments about issues and candidates. Never will we toss opinions that seem contrary to our own personal thinking. The dialogue by you, our readers and residents of Dodge County, is the bedrock of newspaper publishing. You, the readers of the DCI, are always welcome to state in writing your opinion, but don’t be offended if another reader disagrees.
That give and takes is why our Republic has a constitution that includes the first amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of the press.