Arnold, CA…We almost never talk about our news outlets in context of the news. The news is the news not the outlet. What happened yesterday to us however we believe is newsworthy. As some of you may know we are attempting to build a small national network of news outlets that cover vacation centric small markets that are similar in demographics to our local counties. Starting yesterday and continuing till early this morning we received “demonetization notices” on several of our sites. In two of the notices it specifically listed Martin Luther King’s Speech as an item that did not have value. If presenting a speech from a historical figure on the national holiday in his honor is deemed as not only seen as “not having value” but deemed worthy of punishing news outlets that do so then news that only rewards “Click Bait” headlines and drives division is here to stay.

We hope that Google made a simple mistake and is not actively trying to suppress timely publication of historical events and speeches in their actual context and entirety.

There are several speeches and addresses that all of us should read on a consistent basis. Some of them we think include. Martin Luther Kings “I Have a Dream” Speech, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, The Declaration of Independence, Washington’s Farewell Address, Several of Winston Churchill’s Speeches, JFK’s Inaugural Address, Reagan’s “Tear Down This Wall” Address, FDR’s “Nothing to Fear” Speech and many more.

We believe news in a historical context matters.

We believe long format news and videos of an entire speech or events matters. It preserves context and helps foster even handed debate and progress on issues.

We believe timely reminders of historical events puts today’s events in context and provides better outcomes for all of us.

If Google punishes CSPAN like or long format news and only rewards Buzzfeed, MSNBC vs Fox or Huffpo vs Breitbart then the future of news in our society is doomed.

We believe that all of us left or right agree on the bulk of the issues and that we are being artificially driven into arbitrary left or right groups that threaten a functioning society.

We also know that as a publisher writing anything calling into question Google’s actions can have disastrous results for that publisher.

We only ask that Google not just reward “Click Bait” controversial news.