Dateline: Liberal, KS --- Staff walks out of old paper, starts a new paper

Hey, he was the publisher, not the sports editor.

 

"We are rebuilding a completely new team at The Times."

Now that's putting a positive spin on the situation. ;D

 

Haven't we all had this dream at some point? Good for them for seeing it through.

 

I don't know all the details, as I heard it second-hand from someone that used to work there, but the same thing happened at a Ridgetown Ontario weekly in the 1990s.
In the middle of the night something like 9 out of the 11 employees quit and started thier own paper. From what I heard they were planning it for a couple of months.
The old paper wasn't given any help and died after a month or so. The new paper continues today.

 

You must be referring to this guy, who was once the publisher of the Southwest "Daily" Times, but embezzled from the Kansas Press Association, not the S-'D'-T. (Don't you think everyone should have to do air quotes now when they say the lie in the name of the paper??) Also, looks like Jeff didn't do any prison time.


Lawrence Journal-World
Lawrence, Kan.

Sept.. 24, 2006 -- Jeff Burkhead, a former director of the Kansas Press Assn. who pleaded no contest to theft of more than $25,000 from the organization, has been placed on five years probation.

Shawnee County District Court Judge Thomas Conklin originally sentenced Burkhead to 12 months in jail, but on Friday the judge suspended the sentence. Conklin also denied a prosecution request to impose 60 days of jail time, which would have been served on weekends.

Burkhead, a former editor and publisher, resigned from the KPA in September 2003. After an audit, the organization discovered a loss of $112,975 based on personal use of company cash and credit cards.

A lawsuit seeking recovery of money was settled this year by Burkhead. He acknowledged "breach of fiduciary duty" and agreed to pay $56,000 for losses, plus payments he made earlier and a $25,000 insurance settlement.


Also, an excerpt from a Topeka Capital-Journal story ...

Among the purchases made with the money were concert tickets to hear musicians Eric Clapton and John Cougar Mellencamp, play golf in Taos, N.M., buy cigars and liquor, get airline tickets and make purchases from an adult products store, Karrer said.


Now there's a publisher I would follow to a start-up, no questions asked.

 

Nope, Burkhead was the publisher immediately before Earl Watt.

The guy who was convicted of embezzlement from the Southwest Daily Times did his time and returned to Liberal to start the weekly, the Liberal Light.

The Liberal newspaper situation is going to be interesting.

Earl Watt grew up in Liberal. I think he began at the Southwest Daily Times as a paper boy. When I did a four-month stint there a few years ago, he was either the production manager or the head pressman.

I wonder where the city and county government are going to put their legals.

 

Can I have a big HELL YEAH?

I agree 125 percent. Go team go!

I am saying a prayer for these brave souls tonight. Just win baby!

 

The Times, a top award-winning three times a week newspaper in Liberal, KS, has an immediate need for a managing editor, reporters and sports writers. We are rebuilding a completely new team at the Times. Management has the highest commitment to excellence squeezing costs and maxmizing profits over people. This will be the kind of newspaper where you can really make a differencein our investor shares. Experienced preferred, but we will work to train the right peoplemeaning, we're looking for minimum wage rate people. Contact Michael Schuver at mschuver@lminews.com for more information.

 

And as we all know, such decisions can determine newspaper-war winners.

 

Someone in government needs to have some backbone here and tell the corporate cash cows to fuck off.

 

Hey Yawn, you oughta go check out the Mt. Vernon, Ill., job thread.

And yea, I hope the government will go with the guys who jumped ship, take a stand, etc.

 

Description for this $7.50 an hour bargain:
The Register-News in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, seeks qualified candidates spouses of independently wealthy people who already live here and are bored sitting at home wondering "what the hell do I do with this degree?" for the positions of sports reporter and news reporter. We are a community newspaper and economic disgrace in the truest sense of the phrase and are looking for a sports reporter who will provide coverage of all our schools in Jefferson County. We want someone who can provide coverage of sports well beyond the final scores, someone who will help us cover non-traditional sports as well as recreational sports.

For our news staff, we seek someone who is not afraid to bring Ramen noodles to work every day and refer to the publisher as masterwork nights and weekends covering local meetings and events as well as provide feature material.

The Register-News has a lengthy history of helping entry-level reporters move on to larger markets. (Translation: You'd better get the clips in a month and get the hell out.) The newspaper has been aggressive with its online delivery of information and offers reporters the chance to gain valuable experience in this media as well.

Mt. Vernon is located in the heart of hoops-crazy Southern Illinois (don't expect to buy tickets on your salary), 70 miles east of St. Louis and roughly the same distance west of Evansville, Ind. Carbondale is a short drive down I-57, and Champaign is roughly two hours to the north (That's champaign, not champagne, which you won't afford on what we pay).

Send a resume and five clips to: Jeremy Hall, Register-News, 911 Broadway, Mt. Vernon, IL, 62864. Or e-mail jeremy.hall@register-news.com

I'm sorry, but these ads should be blocked from this site.