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Laid-off Gannett sports editor raps company in final column

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by gannettblog, Feb 4, 2011.

  1. gannettblog

    gannettblog New Member

    Frank DeLeo, who is among dozens of staffers who lost jobs this week at three of Gannett's N.J. dailies, writes in the Daily Record of Parsippany: "We're all victims of corporate greed."

    Amazing this got into print. His column doesn't appear to be on the newspaper's website. I've posted the text on Gannett Blog here:

    http://tinyurl.com/4f5wkk8
     
  2. gannettblog

    gannettblog New Member

    Whoops: His last name is spelled DiLeo.
     
  3. Versatile

    Versatile Active Member

    Wow. This is awful. "I am wonderful. Gannett doesn't know what they're missing. They fired me because they don't care about you, readers. Oh, and other people lost their jobs."

    It's also very poorly written and a career ender. I don't know why anyone in any field would hire someone this unprofessional. And the whole time, not one good point, which is absurd because it's so easy to make good points about why Gannett sucks.
     
  4. Cousin Jeffrey

    Cousin Jeffrey Active Member

    It should have started 12 paragraphs in, with this graf:

    Many great people worked their last day at the Daily Record on Friday. Nearly half the staff has been let go from an already thin crew. Folks that have been for over 30 years had to reapply for their positions and drive to Neptune, some of us had to do it four times in a span of two weeks, to be asked the exact same questions as the previous trip.
     
  5. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    I'm sure he feels great about having stuck it to the man now. I wonder how he will feel in six months to two years, and beyond.
     
  6. mpcincal

    mpcincal Well-Known Member

    I understand his frustration, and a part of me is thrilled to see a guy lash out at corporate like that in print, but, yes, it did seem a little self-serving.

    The one commenter on the Gannett blog nailed it when he/she said he should have framed it on how it would affect the quality of the product for the readers. Otherwise, they really don't want to hear it.
     
  7. Shaggy

    Shaggy Guest

    A career ender? Only if he's lucky.
     
  8. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    I don't care if you're leaving a paper under the best of terms or the worst of terms, don't ever write a farewell column.
     
  9. terrier

    terrier Well-Known Member

    A lot of people (like myself) didn't rip their employer on the way out after getting turked.
    Two years later, I can tell you this: Handling it in a professional manner didn't do a helluva lot for my career. I'm sure many others feel the same.
     
  10. Versatile

    Versatile Active Member

    There should be an exception rule for columnists who have been at a paper for more than 20 years.
     
  11. HandsomeHarley

    HandsomeHarley Well-Known Member

    more than 30 years, dammit. over is a preposition!

    Carry on.
     
  12. Stitch

    Stitch Active Member

    I'm sure everyone in town wants to know how great you think covering the basketball team's sub-region run was. Or how special it was to see the track team capture a state team title, which no one cares about.

    That's why farewell columns are silly. It's just butt kissing instead of making people think.
     
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