A tribute to departing Chronicle staff

The thing that strikes me is the loss of experience in the newsroom and on beats.

Sixteen years covering a hockey team, ever since it was founded?

Yeah, talk with Ross. He'll be writing for one of the Internet sites soon and you can take your money and time to their advertisers.

A guy like Mattoon, who is hailed as being a rock in the newsroom, the "epitome of the constant, quiet hero."

Someone like Pullen, who started out in a small role and obviously grew into what appeared to be an important part of their publication?

Where will the paper get that kind of experience? It can't, and the product will suffer for it.

Good reporting and journalism is a combination of writing skills, networking, listening to sources and being able to tap into past experiences to produce good work.

It helps with what readers find in the paper every morning or on the Web. It helps in the newsroom with people who can say, "We tried this in the past" or "We haven't tried that yet, maybe we can do a good job with it." It provides a measure of stability, credibility, professionalism and a standard for younger writers.

Losing a person who can do those things and bring years of background, from hockey to city hall to medical issues, is invaluable.

Keep toeing that bottom line, newspaper ... er, sorry ... "content" managers.