Laid-off Gannett sports editor raps company in final column

Proves there are no copy editors left.

 

I had to sign an agreement saying I wouldn't write or say anything negative about the company to receive my meager severance.

 

He just found out what many on here already knew, Gannett eats its young.

 

OK, if you're Woody Paige, Bill Conlin, Bob Ryan or a handful of others, an exception should be made.

 

Yeah, I hear you but those are few a far between. Joe Blow who has written a column for 20-plus years at the Bumfuck Times also deserves an opportunity to say thanks for the memories.

 

Yeah, I wasn't implying that those at smaller papers should be left out.

 

I know. Just messin wit cha!

 

Hmm. Just wrote one about a month ago, upon leaving my shop on excellent terms after more than 26 years there. Didn't get maudlin, or emotional, or kiss anyone's butt. I just recalled some events and people I enjoyed covering/working with, and how much I appreciated the readers putting up with me for that long, in less than 600 words. I was amazed by the tone and amount of feedback I received, much of it from readers I'd never met.

What I discovered was how big a role newspapers still play in a smaller market like mine, and how many people still do read us every day, appreciate us for what we do, and remember the things we wrote about them and/or their children/family/friends.

 

That's right on.

Henceforth:

 

First thought that hit me reading this was: "Man, his journalism career's over."

Next thought was: "Maybe that was the point."

 

There were 100 better ways for him to word this column and still make the point about Gannett's greed, etc. Big fail on his part.

 

I think Joe Posnanski might have had the worst farewell column of all time.

SI hired Poz but then the KC Star still asked him to write from time to time, probably to save their own butt publicly after losing their most beloved writer.

So Poz's farewell column is essentially "I'll miss this place, but I won't miss it much because I'll still be here." And the reader responds, "what the fuck??" I think Poz wrote like 2 more columns for the Star and then he was gone.

Jason Whitlock, meanwhile, wrote his farewell column in the form of a 3-hour radio show. His grenades made an appearance too.

So yeah, farewell columns are bad even for the best in the biz.