Bark-ing at Belo

Ed Bark, for 26 years the TV critic at the DMN, took the buyout and has started a blog (unclebarky.com). It's worth a visit. As part of his "Why I'm Here" explainer, here's his closing explanation for his departure. It deserves reading and an "attaboy."

"So yes, I took the buyout. And no, I don't have the check yet. None of us will until at least Sept. 29. Some people have told me I'm risking everything, and should say nothing until the check clears. But free speech and truth-telling are non-negotiable. And everything in me says that this is the right and honorable thing to do. Right here, right now.
That said, I'm no martyr. And I bear no animosity toward any of the journalists who have remained at the DMN. Many of them are as determined to remake the newspaper into something special as I am to drive a truck through the void created by the demise of homegrown TV coverage and criticism in a big-time TV market.
That's what this brand new Web site is all about. My son, Sam, and my daughter, Liz, have separate non-TV "bureaus" that I hope you'll check out, too. Hey, it's the least the old man could do. But if TV's your game, then I'm going to try to make a go of it. I'll need lots of help and "hits" to put up more than a token fight. The stamina of 10 Tarzans would help, too. But I feel I've got one more battle cry left in me. Maybe I'm not "dynamic" enough for the new DMN. Those of us who parted ways basically are being portrayed that way in the well-practiced rhetoric of upper management.
In the end, though, I figure it comes down to this. Robert W. Decherd and James M. Moroney III were born to lives of wealth, privilege and entitlement.
I'm the son of working class parents from Racine, WI, both of whom are deceased and neither of whom finished high school.
Dammit, I kind of like my chances.

 

Ed Bark is one of the best TV critics in the nation. Yet Belo management, in its infinite stupidity, saw fit to muzzle him regarding the local TV affiliates in Dallas-Fort Worth. That muzzling occurred right around the time that Belo's ABC affiliate in Dallas started losing personnel and ratings points to its competitors. Suddenly, they determined Ed had a conflict of interest in covering the Belo affiliate.

Coincidence? I think not.

 

Hmmm. Fort Worth, need a TV columnist?