Greetings! It has come to our attention that a few of our fans didn’t take a liking to the graffiti portable toilet story. We shared the featured image of a porta-John in Seaside Heights spray painted as seen below. The vandalized toilet was published across OCSN platforms in the afternoon, and it soon became apparent not everyone has a sense of humor. This exact photo was featured with the caption of “Seaside Heights: Breaking News- OCSN Uncovers Election Fraud! Perhaps some NJ ballots weren’t counted as voters confused this portable toilet with a polling place?” A simple caption meant to shed light on the entire election in a humorous manner while incorporating the context of the photo. Something comical to try to lighten the mood on a tense and divisive political climate.

Apparently, some of you took insult to this caption and felt as if we were attacking Trump voters or wouldn’t have shared if the toilet referenced Biden votes. None of this is true- this is all a result of people assuming incorrect narratives. OCSN made it and still makes it a habit to avoid endorsing either candidate for the 2020 Presidential Election. Our focus is Ocean County, and we try to cover politics as It would affect our region. Trump parades or Biden stand-outs- we covered them both equally and as fairly with as much information as we were provided. Whether Downtown Toms River saw a Trump or Biden merchandise store open, we would have posted the story the same. Again, OCSN is not a news organization which mindlessly tells its’ readers how to vote- we try to educate.

We have been active since 2013 and have been quite successful over the last 7 years. In recent months Ocean County Scanner News has exploded in growth, which has resulted in a massive influx of new likes and follows. Attracting new users to our public Facebook page and website is all good stuff- but many might not understand how we operate. Partially shame on us for not taking the chance to introduce ourselves to the newcomers, but shame on them for not understanding what we encompass. There are a dozen local news websites and Facebook pages competing for the hyperlocal Ocean County, NJ news market- we try to stand out. Our news agency is staffed by a dozen volunteers- all of varying political affiliations and liberal or conservative outlooks. It is not one person attempting to spread his or her way of viewing politics and society- we try to achieve a balance.

OCSN is not a high-brow news outlet, and it is easy to see how perception is objective because everyone sees things differently. For anyone who read this picture and caption yesterday, and truly perceived it as being us knocking Trump voters, that was not our intentions. While we cannot control how each person views each article, and what their preconceived biases are, we surely can explain our actions. It was never our plan to make anyone feel their votes don’t matter, or even portray a negative perception of Trump supporters. We don’t need to bring ourselves to that level- neither presidential candidate is the best option for America in 2020 if anyone cares to debate. One of the most contested presidential elections in the United States over the last 50 years easily has held everyone’s attention here in 2020. All the talk about voter fraud, and ballot fraud, and polling place access- this photo just is hilarious. If you don’t see the humor in it, nor care to see humor- it is just as easy to keep scrolling.

So after people got to understand our intentions, most people took this joke well. A news website attempting to operate as a business would surely not purposely insult or isolate half of their audience for no reason. Other local news pages clearly align themselves with a political party or agenda- we try to avoid that and aim for neutrality. As this article is being published, the original story had 126 reactions. 99 of you laughed, 17 liked, 6 were angry face, 3 wowed it, and one fan loved it. Understanding that not all the people can be made happy all the time, we always try to impact the least people as possible. Since we don’t do this full-time, and the staff behind the scenes don’t contribute to OCSN to make a living- we do it for fun. Some of you really take life too seriously, or at least take our website more serious than we do.

People with that “cancel culture” and pitchfork mentality just make zero sense when they get triggered. To talk trash and explain how you are writing our news outlet out of your life based off your incorrect perceived biases is humorous. While Ocean County Scanner News very well might not be the news website and Facebook page for everyone, we have our niche. It is sad that we had to take the time to publish a full response to such a seemingly minor and innocent photo opportunity to make people laugh. Learn to laugh- and devote your attention to the things that truly deserve it in your lives. Try not to waste too much time arguing with strangers on the internet. Try to learn to think for yourself- and identify what others are trying to get you to think. We truly hope people can work through a photo of portable toilet with political graffiti adorning the front- inside a jughandle in Seaside Heights.
Happy Thanksgiving to All!