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Murphy – As if a global pandemic and polarizing political campaigns weren’t enough, the Cherokee Scout’s internet system failed in the wee hours of Friday morning.
The incident shut off all of the local newspaper’s email addresses. The Scout uses servers operated by parent company Community Newspapers Inc. in Athens, Ga.
“As soon as we learned our servers failed due to a breach,” CNI President Dink NeSmith said, “we launched an immediate investigation. A team of experts is working feverishly to have new servers operational.”
CNI’s two dozen newspapers in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina rely heavily on the servers to transmit emails and other important information over the internet.
“We know the disruption is a major inconvenience for our readers, advertisers and associates,” Scout Publisher David Brown said. “We apologize for the disruption and are doing everything possible to resolve this situation as quickly as possible. In the meantime, we are developing work-around options to keep the lines of communication open.”
Please call 828-837-5122 if there’s a chance you sent something that might have been missed or were expecting something in return from the Scout. The office at 89 Sycamore St. in downtown Murphy is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Use the editor’s alternative email address, dbrown1113@msn.com, as needed.
As soon as more information is learned, the newspaper will provide an update in print and on our website. Fortunately, Brown said the technological issues will not affect the Scout’s publication schedule.