Down-sized columnist on the state of newspapers

some less so than others.

 

The problem is, places like Gannett and their ilk get away with the shit they pull because they have gotten away with it for years.

Believe me, I would love to see a massive organized protest against cuts to newspapers where shitloads of readers complain about the latest round of cuts or about getting rid of a popular columnist. I would love to see a paper's subscriber base revolt by threatening to cancel subscriptions en masse if the paper doesn't reverse its cuts.

However, I'm a realist. That ain't happening. And even if it did, some of the corporations who run papers nowadays are dumb enough to do the equivalent of the phone company telling large numbers of people to try using two Dixie cups with a string. And if the predicted cancelled subscriptions happen, they'd probably look to cut further rather than, you know, actually pay us living wages to do our fucking jobs and care about the product they put out.

 

The guy has been in the business for 42 years and he works in San Angelo. I think it's great that he was allowed to speak his mind in a reasonable way.

To the kid who said that column was "self-serving" ... dedicate your entire career to this shit, get canned at the end of said career and get back with us then. Prick.

 

Let's not underestimate the sheer entertainment value of watching someone or something cannibalize itself. The Donners threw quite a party!

 

Not really, but I don't want to call your source a liar. It certainly could be true, and that certainly could be the reason -- or a large part of the reason.

Without outing myself, however, I can tell you that he wasn't very good in the editor's chair. Didn't really seem to have the wherewithal for it. Even though that's an opinion, I know it for a fact, if you get my meaning. (I also don't really mean this to be a slam; some people are cut out for such a gig and some are not. I would probably fall into the "not" category as well).

One other thing I should have mentioned earlier: Even after being re-assigned to editor emeritus status, Flippin was very active in the community as a "face of the paper" -- attending rotary club events, glad-handing with dignitaries, representing the paper at various functions. This helps explain why it was probably newsworthy for him to explain why he wouldn't be writing his column -- or doing any of the above -- anymore.

Again, we're talking a town of maybe 90,000 people here. People know this cat.

 

Fair enough. We got off track, anyhow.
I don't have a problem with the column or the written tact.

 

That's what the suits are counting on.
Back to my car-making analogy.
It's like taking the radio out of a new car to make it cheaper, figuring you'll sell more. Instead, buyers will look in, see no radio, and look elsewhere to purchase their cars.
You keep chopping away at coverage and budget and staff, you're making the product worse and hoping it'll be just as well received. Where has that worked? Anywhere? Anywhere?????

 

Mr. Flippen writes a great "farewell" column on the state of America's newspaper industry. Please take note of three particular passages:

1, How do CEOs earn fat bonuses? In part, by putting loyal and talented employees such as me on the street.

2, Does anyone notice - or care? Good journalism requires shoe leather, gumption, pure hearts and an honest day's pay.

3, I believe the lives and health of Americans are being sacrificed in the interest of corporate greed.

Flippen's situation also shows what an employer thinks of a dedicated, longtime worker (42 years) -- NOTHING.

 

I'm with you, KL. We can debate whether Flippen's readers gave a hoot, but there have been far bigger wastes of space offered up as columns -- I'll be there were a few hundred out there today -- that don't make points nearly as important.

Those of us who are in this business are not unbiased, and a lot of us react from a state of denial. This is bad and getting worse, and the suits have presided over the ruination of a vital community-focused industry. To the point now that neither consumers nor owners are willing to pay for first-class journalism. Or, it's becoming apparent, even second- or third-class.

 

This column never would have been published at bigger Scripps properties such as Denver and Memphis. Gotta give the paper a little credit for running it, even as they're showing him the door.

And show me a high ranking editor who genuinely cares about the journalism more than the profit margins, and I'll show you bones in a museum.