Sense of Decency

By DENNIS HARROD

Ken Lindblom is hoping no one throws a brick through his window. He has no reason to think anybody will, but when you’re a small-town newspaper editor, people sometimes take exception to strong opinions. And when you run stories with headlines such as “The Trump Dictatorship Has Begun,” tempers might flare. 

Since taking over the Hi, Neighbor a couple of years ago, Lindblom has taken the free weekly publication in a new direction, generally leftward. Or more specifically, anti-Trump ward.

“Some people are disappointed,” he says of the change in approach. “But most comments I get are positive.”

“I get an occasional email and get called a mentally ill liberal, which I think to them is redundant.” The issue of redundancy brings out the editor in him. “Maybe I should edit the letter and send it back with corrections .…”

Many of the letter writers don’t want their views published. “I always ask them: ‘Is this for publication?’ and they say ‘No, it’s just for you.’”

He does occasionally get letters to the editor for publication and he publishes them. “We get one or two letters that are pro-Trump, but most of them aren’t. I guess that’s because of who the readership has become.”

The Trump Dictatorship column did not generate any immediate response. “So I don’t know if people aren’t reading it or what. I got a few thank-yous from people who agree, so we’ll see.” This is where he notes that he hopes not to get a brick through the window.

He did lose a couple of advertisers a year or two ago. “I published a couple of articles about LGBTQ issues; one was on health care and one was on bullying, and I had a couple of advertisers pull out; they didn’t want to see that in the paper. So, OK, well, good luck to you. You’re welcome back any time.”

Other recent articles written by Lindblom have dealt with the Supreme Court’s consideration of whether elementary-school student should be able to opt out of instruction that includes LGBTQ+ themes, and whether empathy is a weakness or a strength. The latter was written in response to Elon Musk’s assertion that “the fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy.”

He says his goal was never to have a political paper. “It’s supposed to be a feel-good, pro-business, community-building paper. But right now, I can’t be silent.”

“I know a lot of people, frankly a lot of family, and they’re supporting Trump but they can’t give a reasonable explanation of why they buy into with these oddly outsized social arguments, you know, like transgender people are somehow threatening all of us, which is ludicrous, and others really seem to believe that he would be a financial genius and take this country from being really strong to being even stronger. They certainly think of themselves as good ethical people, but the hatred has been tapped and it’s like … cognitive dissonance.”

In a Feb. 10, 2025 article titled “Revolution or Coup, the Trump Administration Moves Forward,” Lindblom noted that he had talked to many Trump supporters before the election but found it difficult to get specific answers on what people wanted and/or expected. He said he only got general answers about bringing prices down or controlling immigration. He asked how we can evaluate the Trump presidency if no one has specific expectations. He wrote that he took over the Hi, Neighbor “because I wanted to start conversations about Madison County. Most of you who voted in 2024 did so for President Trump. What do you think so far? What changes have you experienced? Let us know.”

Before buying the Hi, Neighbor, he taught, first in public schools and then in college. He met his wife in a Shakespeare class at SUNY Albany. “The class was on the comedies, and you know how all the comedies end? They all end with a marriage, so we were forced into it. Luckily, it worked.”

He did his doctorate at Syracuse University while his wife taught at Utica College so they both knew and loved Central New York and wanted to be able to spend summers here. They found a place on the water in Erieville and, although “it took everything we had,” they were able to buy it and get away from Long Island when they weren’t teaching.

Then, in the spring of 2022, while he was on sabbatical and his wife was on leave, he saw the announcement that Hi, Neighbor was for sale. “I texted my wife a picture of the article and I said this seems perfect because I’ve been an editor of journals, I worked on my college paper, I was advisor to the high school newspaper where I taught, so I had that background.”

She told him to go ahead.

He hadn’t yet retired from teaching, but he contacted the owner of the paper, Brent Selleck, who had been running it since the early 1960s. “I told him my background and he said: ‘Well, you’re going to take over the paper.’” Lindblom shakes his head. “He just informed me that this was happening.”

Lindblom wasn’t ready to commit, but after a two-hour conversation, and going on a delivery run with Selleck, he was ready. “He was right: it was a really good fit.”

Selleck was a great mentor, Lindblom says. Lindblom helped on the paper during Selleck’s final weeks, and then Selleck helped Lindblom through his first few weeks.  “It seemed amazing. Everything he said that first day was exactly how it was; he was completely right about everything.” 

The first year was hard because Lindblom was still teaching full time on Long Island. 

“But all I had to do was keep it alive,” he says, which he did for that year until he retired from teaching. He found people to handle the delivery of the paper and was able to do work remotely. “We never missed an issue.”

He’s written not only on politics, but other issues of personal interest such as attending rock concerts as he ages, a recent auction hosted by the CNY Aquarium Society (he calls his fish tank his “device” and watches it instead of staring at a computer screen), and exploring his “Viking roots” while eating chicken wings in local restaurants.

His optimism shows through everything he writes in spite of his concerns with the current state of affairs. 

“The Founding Fathers,” he says, “set up a pretty good working model of democracy; certainly we’re finding flaws in it, but this can strengthen democracy over time. I still believe in the power of logical argument.”

He says his doctorate in rhetoric and composition strengthens his belief in the power of logical argument. “I think we need to be better at understanding the emotional and psychological elements of persuasion, but I still think it can work…that’s what I do and that’s the only way I can behave in this kind of culture.”

“I’m not going to become a raging lunatic,” he adds. “Although it would be easier and more fun probably.”

Dennis Harrod is a co-founder of Sense of Decency and a good neighbor.