Worst Person Honors

Lean Dean's face has been on dart boards since Bush I was president, but Zell is on a remarkable run to challenge him for worst person honors. Does Citizen Zell have what it takes to overtake the most despised newspaper man ever?

 

You may wish to retitle the poll "Worst Person Other Than Bob Jelenic."

 

Zell hasn't even begun yet, at least compared to what he is going to do.

 

Time will tell if Zell can transfer the success of his business acumen to newspapers, but he has for years been a significant philanthropist in support of Jewish charitable organizations and the state of Israel.

 

Dean, only because he's been at this long enough to know that whittling away at the product does not make it better.

Zell is the Dan Snyder of journalism...

 

And Hamas spends 90 percent of its operating budget on hospitals and schools... Look Zell's not a terrorist, but every shmuck with means does some good. Even Singleton's got some scholarships funds, but that doesn't make him less evil.
Intent of this poll is to measure how they treat people in our industry, not their altruistic tendencies with money extracted from newsroom cuts.

 

Not even close. Animosity towards Zell is growing, but a relatively new phenomenon. The off-the-charts Singleton hate-factor has percolated for decades. Prediction: Singleton wins this poll 80-20.

 

I voted Zell. Singleton is what he is and forever shall be. He established the floor, so to speak, in this business, and was a known quantity.

Zell comes into an industry in crisis looking to exploit, to bleed, to parcel off and to re-invent a valuable public trust without regard to anything but his bottom line. To me, it is the difference between a hyena that hunts its own food and a buzzard that swoops down on whatever's left of the carcasses. I respect the former just a little more. On the great scale of disrespect, of course.

With enough Zells coming into this industry, Singleton could have ended up looking good. If he didn't routinely outdo himself.