Nov. 2, 2007
This really cracks me up, since I’ve always resisted blogging. (Allow me to pause and thank my wonderful son, Joe, in the Czech Republic, for setting up this maiden site for me.) Bear with me as I – the technically challenged -work out the kinks.
I was trying to reply to millhouse’s question on redding.com’s letter to the editor page. Millhouse wondered why none of the letters to the editor had been published in the paper. I tried to reply, but I kept getting bumped into a loop where my password and user name were rejected. So much for free speech. And imagine, at a newspaper.
What I tried to say to millhouse was this: I highly doubt anything will appear in the newspaper about my firing, or about the scores of others – the photo editor, graphics editor, classifieds manager, librarian, editorial executive secretary and the slew of others who accepted the summer buyout – who’ve joined the RS staffers’ stampede for the RS exits, or about those who might leave in the future. Yes, there were a pair of tiny stories when managing editor Greg Clark and editor Kelly Brewer left the paper, three months apart. One must wonder why two dedicated career journalists, among the best, brightest and most ethical in the country’s newspaper industry, would walk away.
But back to millhouse’s question. With regard to seeing nothing in the paper about my firing, I would guess management’s strategy here is to close their eyes, cover their ears and wait until the splatter-storm of controversy passes. It’s back to that corporate pain threshold. They make a decision, and anticipate a certain amount of “pain”: letters, phone calls, e-mails, even subscription losses). They’ll wait it out. If they stay very still and silent, perhaps people will lose interest and move on to something else.
In the news business it’s called the issue-attention cycle. It’s pretty predictable. One day people are talking about the horror of a bank CEO’s suicide, the next day they’re talking about a courthouse in the Parkview neighborhood, the next day they’re talking about a rumor that Doni Greenberg was fired. (The rumor’s true.)
Meanwhile, management, claiming the inability to speak about personnel issues (read: my firing), will say things like, “Stay tuned for new and lively voices in commentary and food,” and, “Well, you know, there are TWO sides to every story.”
Talk about predictable. Just as predictable is they probably won’t say how many cancellations the paper’s suffered. They probably won’t admit that many letters were sent to Scripps’ execs. They probably won’t publish letters to the editor about my firing or the whittling away of our once precious hometown newspaper, the one I’ve read since I was 9. They probably wish I’d just go away quietly, like the others.
That’s the unfortunate thing when you fire an opinion columnist — someone whose very nature is to express opinions. The opinions continue, even after the job ends. And to borrow a line from a favorite movie, “Throw Mama from the Train”: “A writer always writes, always.”
So I’ll keep writing, just not for the Record Searchlight. That’s OK. There’s more freedom here, anyway. And the stress level is much lower. Maybe my hair will stop falling out and my migraines and hives will go away for good.
First, I’ll take a break and recharge my batteries.
In the meantime, Joseph helped me set up this quick-and-dirty blog site, just until my real one is ready. (I’m thinking it’ll be about food, but maybe toss in some local observations.) I’ll keep you posted somewhere on redding.com, though it may take some creativity. Take care, everyone.
