Back in February of 2021 OCSN saw a large explosion of new followers and fans of our website and pages. This resulted in many confused readers unsure how they landed here; or what this service was all about. Now as we enter August 2021- it is time to re-post our basic Q&A for the thousands of new fans who discovered us! Let’s give a warm OCSN welcome to all the new fans out there in computerland!
Q. What exactly is this website/ Facebook Page?
A. Ocean County Scanner News is a legit, licensed, and registered News/Media Organization LLC based out Toms River. Our full mailing address is temporarily unavailable.
Q. I don’t understand the purpose of this news page?
A. Neither do we, but OCSN routinely delivers news that everyone else covers- but first. We mainly base our stories of actual transmissions and dispatch calls on police scanner radios- which can result in incomplete and/or missing details. The upside to all this is we get to hear news events as they occur; and we can alert our audience to any danger.
Q. How many people actually follow this awful page?
A. Surprisingly many. Our website maintains a monthly reach of over 2 million people across all our brands.
As of this writing, over 50,000 people each like and follow Ocean County Scanner News on Facebook. Our Instagram page boasts over 8,000 followers. Our website maintains a monthly reach of over 2 million people around the world.
Q. Your comment section is often an example of the lowest common denominator of public opinion.
A. We hear frequent complaints with our user comments, mainly on Facebook. OCSN does not maintain the full-time staff to police or moderate comments- so we do not actively delete comments. Recently Facebook has begun automatically hiding and/or deleting user comments, which our staff tries to actively unhide. Should something be spam, offensive, racist, anti-Semitic, or just a violation of Facebook Community Standards- users are encouraged to report the individual comment. Doing so does NOT harm OCSN- but can bring quicker attention to certain comments. We generally believe in free speech and allow adults to speak themselves- and hopefully defend the crap they spew.
**PLEASE REPORT ALL COMMENTS TO FACEBOOK/INSTAGRAM DIRECTLY- NOT TO OCSN!**
Q. Who takes all your pictures? Some of them seem to be invasions of privacy.
A. Our photos come from in-house, or user-submitted material via our anonymous tip line and/or email. By default, OCSN shares user-submitted material anonymously and assumes all the liability of said images. Users may request specific photo credit for any media by simply emailing us.
Pictures and/or videos taken from a public place (street or sidewalk) can be used publicly as people in a public environment have zero expectations of privacy. OCSN does not alter, take down, or blur faces on any of our images- unless mandated to do so by a legit court order. We do try to blur faces when privacy is pertinent to the investigation; however, we don’t care if you are in one of our images.
Q. Why isn’t there a “Full Story” when I click the link off Facebook?
A. OCSN tries to write as much detail as we have with an original story. Most of our details or facts are unknown at time of dispatch, but we post enough to make a general awareness story. The WordPress software we use automatically posts our stories to our website and pastes the “Click Here for Full Story” preamble regardless of article length.
Q. This page isn’t very professional- I am not used to news delivered like this?
A. Thank you, OCSN maintains our own version of professionalism- which is quite successful. We never claim to be the most prestigious or proper news outlet in Ocean County- Our job is to deliver news as factual and as comical as we can.
Q. When did you losers start doing this website?
A. OCSN began operations in July 2013; and transitioned to a broader Ocean County wide news source by 2018 prompted by unprecedented growth.
Q. I appreciate the news and understand how valuable the information is, but can you explain the stock images to me?
A. OCSN maintains an elaborate library of 40,000+ owned photos and videos we either took ourselves or maintain a license to use. Other outlets use Google Maps, Google street view, or a blurry photo taken from inside a moving vehicle in the rain; OCSN avoids that level of unprofessionalism and laziness as often as we can. The use of stock images in news media is nothing new- we just take pride in sharing images that enhance whatever story we are posting. When a story features an image taken of the actual incident- OCSN will usually try to make it known readers are seeing an authentic scene photo. Many times, stock photos are vaguely relevant; or contain an implied hidden message.
Q. Who runs this page? Is it one guy in mom’s basement, attic- or what?
A. OCSN currently operates with a small core staff of dedicated volunteers and hundreds of “everyday reporters” which send us material. We are looking to grow and are NOW HIRING ALL POSITIONS!
Q. How can I contact OCSN with questions or news tips?
A. OCSN maintains a 24-hour tip line for fans to send text, pictures, or video anonymously to us for use on our website and social media pages. You can text (304) 506-6276 (OCSN) anytime with anything you want us to see or do a story on. You can email OCSN at: [email protected] for anything on the business side of things.
Q. Who can I complain to about the crap on this page?
A. To be short- nobody. OCSN maintains an API (Application Programming Interface) via Facebook which automatically posts our material to our website, Facebook, and sometimes Instagram. Clicking report post, or report OCSN does nothing but wear out your fingers and/or mouse. We aren’t going anywhere just because you don’t agree with us.
Q. Is there room for me to join the OCSN team?
A. YES! We are looking to grow and expand. If you are looking to join the team, please email us and we can explain what we need- and what you will get in return. Email [email protected] for more details and information.
Q. Can I or my business license one of your OCSN Stock Images to use?
A. Coming soon we will have a link on our website to license and download many of our photos and media for you to use however you wish. If you use ANY of our media, we ask you credit Ocean County Scanner News explicitly.
Q. I see many types of scanner or other various news pages around Facebook- which ones are owned by OCSN?
A. Ocean County Scanner News, LLC owns and operates our website (www.ocsn.news), Facebook pages for OCSN & Monmouth County Scanner News, Instagram page for OCSN, and Ocean County Community News page on Facebook. All other “Exit-based” scanner pages, community pages, or corruption pages are NOT affiliated with OCSN in ANY way.
*We will post additional Questions and Answers later as they come in. If YOU have a question for OCSN or OCSN staff- please post in comments and we will answer in a second Q&A session.
**LIVE SCANNER FEEDS ARE STILL OUT OF SERVICE- WE ARE REBUILDING THE ENTIRE SYSTEM**
*Perhaps the MOST important and frequent complaint can be solved here:
Q. Your comment section is often an example of the lowest common denominator of public opinion.
A. We hear frequent complaints with our user comments, mainly on Facebook. OCSN does not maintain the full-time staff to police or moderate comments- so we do not actively delete comments. Recently Facebook has begun automatically hiding and/or deleting user comments, which our staff tries to actively unhide if within guidelines. Should something be spam, offensive, racist, anti-Semitic, or just a violation of Facebook Community Standards- users are encouraged to report the individual comment. Doing so does NOT harm OCSN- but can bring quicker attention to certain comments. We generally believe in free speech and allow adults to speak themselves- and hopefully defend the crap they spew.
*Perhaps the MOST important and frequent complaint can be solved here:
Q. Your comment section is often an example of the lowest common denominator of public opinion.
A. We hear frequent complaints with our user comments, mainly on Facebook. OCSN does not maintain the full-time staff to police or moderate comments- so we do not actively delete comments. Recently Facebook has begun automatically hiding and/or deleting user comments, which our staff tries to actively unhide if within guidelines. Should something be spam, offensive, racist, anti-Semitic, or just a violation of Facebook Community Standards- users are encouraged to report the individual comment. Doing so does NOT harm OCSN- but can bring quicker attention to certain comments. We generally believe in free speech and allow adults to speak themselves- and hopefully defend the crap they spew.
*Perhaps the MOST important and frequent complaint can be solved here:
Q. Your comment section is often an example of the lowest common denominator of public opinion.
A. We hear frequent complaints with our user comments, mainly on Facebook. OCSN does not maintain the full-time staff to police or moderate comments- so we do not actively delete comments. Recently Facebook has begun automatically hiding and/or deleting user comments, which our staff tries to actively unhide if within guidelines. Should something be spam, offensive, racist, anti-Semitic, or just a violation of Facebook Community Standards- users are encouraged to report the individual comment. Doing so does NOT harm OCSN- but can bring quicker attention to certain comments. We generally believe in free speech and allow adults to speak themselves- and hopefully defend the crap they spew.