DMN update

Forgive me if this has been posted .... but here are a few names I've heard will be leaving DMN sports by the end of next month:

Ed Knockee, Shawna Seed (copy editor) and Ken Stephens, I've heard, are taking the buyouts. Rumored to be going is columnist Tim Cowlishaw.

Who knows what the ultimate numbers will be, but from the list of names I've seen, it appears as if they are cleaning house in lifestyles and their Washington bureau. There are also an awful lot of metro folks and critics (architecture, TV, movies, entertainment, dining) evidently going, along with their editorial cartoonist. Of course I think their lead cartoonist went in the last culling.

All I can figure they'll get these folks out and bring in half the staff straight out of college, thereby assuming they will retain content at a fraction of the cost. What a mess.

 

Dennis Hall, one of the ASEs, has interviewed for an SE job elsewhere and seems to be the frontrunner, so I'd say he's probably headed out, too.

 

You're right - had heard he was taking the buyout as well, and neglected that one previously.

So far sports has actually done well ... but who knows what will happen when the figure out how many names are left between where they are and where they want to be.

 

Editorial cartoonist? He went the first time around. The only other cartoonist I'm aware of is a freelancer out of Plano (Bubba Flint).

Ed Knocke ... not a surprise. A fulltime rodeo writer seems a luxury. Surprised he made the first cut, actually.

 

A few more names to throw in the DMN lifeboats. Motorsports writer Terry Blount is leaving. Apparently so is soccer writer Steve Davis. Strong rumor is that Kevin Blackistone is leaving, which means the top two columnists, he and Tim Cowlishaw, will be gone. Former Sports Editor Dwayne Bray, who moved to Metro, apparently is also taking the buyout (headed to ESPN?) Two copy desk stars, husband-and-wife Joe and Martha Jansen, are leaving.

FYI, Shawna Seed is an asst. sports editor, not a copy editor. Another asst. editor, Roxanna Pellin, supposedly is on the fence about leaving.

The word from inside is that the Sports Editor in Chief, Bob Yates, is taking the departures as a personal affront.

 

The one and only.

 

More like obvious line of succession than hand-picked. The suits liked him.

 

Where are some of those guys going? Those are some quality names and I'd doubt they're being forced out or leaving unless they had something arranged...

 

Knocke doubled as a layout guy during the week and was there forever.

And Yates is an ass. Hung on and provided continuity not ingenuity. He's Dick Cheney with far less intelligence. The collapse of the department isn't his fault, but it is now his legacy. There are many who would say it couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

 

It wasn't an intern, it was another SE, in the middle of a dinner or brunch.
Wasn't pretty.