At the start of this year there was an online contest at my office. Reporters and editors alike were asked to come up with ideas that would draw more people to our website, http://www.durhamregion.com. We had to submit our ideas to our online manager and if approved, bring the idea to life and see how many 'hits' it got. The idea getting the most hits on our website would win $300.
My idea was the Daily Smile. I asked readers to send in photos of themselves or members of their families that made them smile. Simple. For doing this a random Daily Smile would be selected at the end of the month and that person would get a $50 gift card.
The response to the Daily Smile was tremendous and submissions came flooding in. I won the prize and was asked to continue the project throughout the course of the year. It's only July now but I've got Daily Smiles uploaded to the end of October. It's been a lot of work for the measly $300 I got but I enjoy the interaction with the people who send me their photos. I find myself smiling a lot as I process them and the reactions from the monthly winners is awesome. People love winning prizes.
This week a reader called our newsroom to complain the Daily Smile was nothing more than a forum for pedophiles. I'm happy he didn't call me directly but rather called our news editor who listened to him ramble on about the evils of the world. I wouldn't have been the most objective person to speak to regarding the Daily Smile. The whole intent of the project was to brighten readers' days with something as simple as a silly grin. To accuse me of creating a forum for pedophiles wouldn't have gone over well. I realize you have to have a thick skin to work in media but that would have come close to crossing the line for me.
If you've viewed the Daily Smile you will notice there are a lot of photographs of kids. The majority of the submissions come from proud moms, dads and grandparents. It's not the only place on the Internet you'll find photographs of kids. Check your own Facebook pages. Chances are if you have kids you've posted pictures of them online. Why? Because you love them and you're proud of them.
I understand there are sick individuals in the world who do unthinkable things to children. As far as I'm concerned there's no place for these people in this world. Long gone are the simpler days when kids could be kids and parents didn't have to worry about them getting abducted walking home from school. But let's not fool ourselves, pedophiles have been around since the beginning of time. They didn't just appear around 1995 when the Internet was in its infancy.
The guy who called our newsroom did so out of concern for children. I get that. What he could have done though was phrase his concern a little better and not accuse my Daily Smile of being something it is not.
