Bad news for columnists at the Strib, according to long-time lefty shill Brian Lambert:
Thursday afternoon at the Star Tribune saw the paper’s four metro columnists, Doug Grow, Nick Coleman, Katherine Kersten and Cheryl “CJ” Johnson called in to separate meetings with editors Nancy Barnes and Scott Gillespie and told, in so many words, that the paper was looking to scale back the number of columnists and would any of them care to raise their hands and volunteer for reassignment to the paper’s suddenly thin — and getting thinner — ranks of street-level reporters?
Nick Coleman and Doug Grow as beat reporters?
Be still my heart.
There were, as far as I can tell, no immediate takers. Later it was learned that quasi-metro columnist, James Lileks, was also given the same message.
I can see James as a thirties’ kind of reporter, with the pork-pie hat sitting behind a pebbled-glass door, smoking a Panter with his feet up on a steel desk next to the old Underwood.
But I’m guessing he can’t…
This sort of scale-back/down-sizing/gutting has been anticipated ever since the new owners, Avista Capital Partners took over and after the round of voluntary buy-outs that clipped 24 positions from the payroll two months ago. Widespread assumption in the Strib newsroom is that fewer columnists will soon be matched with fewer theater critics, fewer film critics and perhaps — all though this is very hard to imagine — fewer sports reporters. (Veteran NBA reporter, Steve Aschburner, has already left the paper.)
Which, of course, has to hurt Lambert, who I suspect is slavering to return to the Broadcast beat that the PiPress ejected him from.
Meanwhile, newly-arrived publisher, Par Ridder, the target of a much-publicized lawsuit accusing him essentially of industrial espionage, remains secure in his position.
Yeah, that whole “he’s brand new in the gig and hasn’t been proven guilty of anything yet” bit’ll get you every time.
UPDATE: Of course it’s worse than we thought. Lileks’ column is apparently on the chopping block.
Send a note to the Reader Rep.
UPDATE II: Via trackback, Britblogger Tim Worstall explains things to a European audience that need none with Yanks:
But any European observer, indeed any US manager who has dealt with union shops, would recognise what is going on here.
Take a well respected, well known and (for all I know, well paid) employee and assign him to duties manifestly ill suited to his talents at a time when you’re looking to cut costs and create redundancies.
Then hope they resign in disgust so that you don’t have to pay the “dismissal pay provision”.
Lileks: “As it happens, they’ve killed my column, and assigned me to write straight local news stories.”
Sounds like it’s a bit worse than you implied. It’s a shame in that he’s the only thing I ever read in that paper.
Geez, and the scar from where that white picket fence was jabbing him in the forearm finally was going away.
Has anyone else noticed the changes to the Saint Paul paper? Lots of larger color graphics above the banner. Today the front page was William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. It’s almost as though they are aiming for the entertainment crowd more so then hard core news.
Lileks was on Hewitt’s show last week giving his forlmula for saving the newspapers. It relied heavily on local content.
Like Nerdbert, pretty much the only thing I read in the Strib was Lilek’s Quick/Backfence. Well, that, and Nick Coleman, but only so I could tear that goof’s mental dingleberries apart on my ThunderJournal.
Seriously, taking the Quirk column down strikes me as an incredibly stupid move. “Oh, hey, we have something of quality that’s INTENTIONALLY FUNNY? Axe it.”
Kermit, I heard that and couldn’t help but agree sooo much with everything he said. For example:
Remove the unsigned editiorials. Does anyone even read these? I don’t care about the political opinions of the newspaper staff. Even though I’m a newspaper junkie, I haven’t purchased a Mpls paper in 3 years and the editorial page is the reason. Ever since they ran the cartoon in 2004 portraying Vietnam veterans as toothless, drunk, uneducated dumbf*cks. Just can’t bring myself to throw away 50 cents on that.
Make the B section the A section. Totally agree. My “A” section goes right into the recycling bin. I prefer not to get my national/international news from the east coast wire services (NYT, Wash Post, AP, etc)
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Well an upside might be honest reporting about the DFL for a change, unless his masters muzzle him.
Well, it’s a stupid idea, and my guess is that it’s intended to make him quit without having to pay unemployment/severance/whatever.
On the other hand, as a 2nd Amendment activist, it would be very interesting to see Lileks’ reporting take on gun/crime issues. That said, since he’s unlikely to be able to choose his own assignments, the micromanagement at the Strib will probably keep him well away from that beat.
“Well, it’s a stupid idea, and my guess is that it’s intended to make him quit without having to pay unemployment/severance/whatever. ”
Ahhh, I have seen that done many times by companies I’ve worked for. It’s a common tactic to get rid of a long time employee who you don’t have a good reason to just fire.
“Well, it’s a stupid idea, and my guess is that it’s intended to make him quit without having to pay unemployment/severance/whatever.”
Still, he’s arguably the best talent they have on staff; you don’t just demote one of your paper’s biggest draws in the hopes they’ll leave. Bringing in fresh college grads and interns may save money in the short run, but their writing is usually borderline atrocious. I can’t imagine it will take all that long for readers to notice that.
With Lileks, they have their own Dave Barry on staff. . . and they want him out? It strikes me as about they dumbest move they can make.
joelr said: “On the other hand, as a 2nd Amendment activist, it would be very interesting to see Lileks’ reporting take on gun/crime issues.”
It would also be very interesting to see if he takes hostages.
AC, Lileks is a diminuative columnist who has never declared a position on 2nd Ammendment rights. I believe joelr was referring to himself.
The mental image of James Lileks brandishing a 9mm and ordering people to lay on the floor is rather amusing however.
Kermit, LOL! It would be like that scene in “The Three Amigos” when Martin Short’s character tries to pick up that huge revolver!
Lileks is more a Colt Cobra .38 Special kind of guy, methinks, with a detective hat to round out the look.
I’m not surprised that angryclown missed the point. Lileks is very definitely not a 2A activist — as even angryclown should be able to figure out, in order to be an activist, you’ve got to be, well, active at some point on the issue, and whatever his positions on 2A/RKBA/self-defense may be, he’s yet to make them public. (I don’t want to suggest that I know what his private positions are, either, as I don’t; I’ve met the guy once, and we talked for two or three minutes. Nice, smart guy — but I already knew that from his writing.)
Berg goes national on Hewitt. Bravo!
Maybe the affected columnists can get Lori Swanson to investigate the union’s failure to protect them.
you don’t just demote one of your paper’s biggest draws in the hopes they’ll leave.
I’m sure King Sid is safe. He would be the very last person they’d touch.
Lileks formula for local papers makes sense. I can get the AP wire news headlines from radio, television, or internet, or even from the marquee at the MPR building. I can get the DFL party talking points there, too.
I used to look to the papers for insightful news on local topics – school boards and city councils, Ice Palaces and city-wide garage sales. And good writers like Soucheray and Lileks.
And for comics: Calvin and Hobbes, of course.
IF the Strib dumps Lileks, they’ll be no different from, nor better than, any other local media outlet.
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