Jim Jenkins, newspaperman, takes buyout

It's been awhile now, and he didn't want a fuss. But the Sacramento Bee should acknowledge in print Jim Jenkins' recent departure from the newspaper. Since the Bee hasn't, I am.

Jim was the sports editor at both the Bee and the now-defunct Sacramento Union. Combined, he worked at the two newspapers for nearly 50 years.

He hired me at the Bee (1978) and he got mad at me from time to time at the Bee during my eight years there. He taught me how to be a reporter. Tight ledes, and "tight and bright" game stories were his style. He'd cover an event on deadline and come back to paper and put out the section. He could "slice and dice" with the best of 'em.

He called me the "freak sports" editor because I like cycling, running and participatory sports. But he put me on the 49ers' and Golden State Warriors' beats on occasion and took me along to dozen or so boxing title fights to do siders or notebooks or chase quotes.

If I did good, he'd say something like, "Nice job, Jimmy. What have you done, lately?"

High praise. I miss it.

James Raia
www.byjamesraia.com

 

As a former Bee employee myself, I can attest that JJ (as we called him on the desk) is a great dude. Big loss of institutional knowledge for The Bee, especially when it comes to boxing.

 

The Union ISN'T defunct. I actually wrote for it for about 6 months just after the re-launch. In its original form, yes, it is gone, but it is still a publication.

 

For a second there, I thought this was about Jim Jenks, the former Philadelphia Inquirer SE.

My bad.

 

Ah, yes, The Sacramento Union is back. Free weekly. Distributed poorly. Has little impact. But Glenn Dickey, the long-time SF Chron pro, writes for it, as does Bruce McGowan, a long-time Bay Area radio voice. It's OK. But gee, it would be great if the Bee actually had competition to keep the rank and file on its collective toes.