KSK Blogger Fired by WaPo

[Hot and Rickety]

Michael Tunison, who I think wrote for the Post's Metro staff, apparently was fired after outing himself as one of the Kissing Suzy Kolber crew (he's Christmas Ape).

http://kissingsuzykolber.uproxx.com/2008/04/update-ape-got-dooced.html

FishbowlDC probably didn't help his cause by spreading the word:

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/news_notes/postie_likes_to_post_solo_drunk_shots_82459.asp

Fishbowl also is reporting that he's been let go.

 

[Chi City 81]

I knew when he outed himself over on KSK a few days ago that it wouldn't end well. Still, that sucks.

 

[Mighty_Wingman]

A number of SportsJournalists.commers love to bash bloggers, as if "blogging" was a monolith and all bloggers think, act and write the same way. And yet here's a trained professional journalist who managed -- at least for a while -- to write for one of the nation's best newspapers AND one of the Internet's raunchiest sports blogs.

Turns the "mom's basement" cliche on its ear a bit, no?

 

[VJ]

So it turns out he's just horribly stupid instead of unqualified. Gotcha.

 

[Soccer15211]

I'm just waiting for Tom Petty to stop by and say the reason KSK is so successful is BECAUSE one of the writers is a "trained journalist."

Not entirely sure what he's "unqualified" for, but...um...he kind of worked for one of the largest newspapers in the country. He has also stated that he will be making the same (if not more) salary now that they sold their blog. So yeah, not having to deal with all you assholes every day and getting stuck as the real-life Veronica Corningstone...sucks horribly.

 

[Small Town Guy]

I'm just waiting for Tom Petty to stop by and say the reason KSK is so successful is BECAUSE one of the writers is a "trained journalist."

Not entirely sure what he's "unqualified" for, but...um...he kind of worked for one of the largest newspapers in the country. He has also stated that he will be making the same (if not more) salary now that they sold their blog. So yeah, not having to deal with all you assholes every day and getting stuck as the real-life Veronica Corningstone...sucks horribly.

VJ said he was stupid, not unqualified.

 

[Soccer15211]

Small Town....I apparently can't read today. Got to stop drinking.

 

[Double Down]

It's sort of unclear to me how the Post was able to just up and fire him. It's a guild paper. Presumably he was in the guild. Seems like it would be fairly easy to grieve, unless he was violating the terms of his employment by writing for an outside source without getting approval. Even still, I'm not sure the Post could fire him that easily, especially if their reason was that he "appeared to be drunk in a picture on the internet."

 

[jgmacg]

It's sort of unclear to me how the Post was able to just up and fire him. It's a guild paper. Presumably he was in the guild. Seems like it would be fairly easy to grieve, unless he was violating the terms of his employment by writing for an outside source without getting approval. Even still, I'm not sure the Post could fire him that easily, especially if their reason was that he "appeared to be drunk in a picture on the internet."

In the same way that every fortune cookie is funnier when you add the phrase "in bed", the Guild approves all firings accurately accompanied by the clause "with a furry."

So "appeared to be drunk in a picture on the internet with a furry" meets all Guild standards for termination.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

I'm guessing the WaPo's reasoning was he was doing outside work without the paper's knowledge or consent.

Sucks for Tunison, but I'm guessing he knew it was likely to happen once he outed himself.

 

[Double Down]

I'm hearing now that he quit instead of going through the long process of being fired.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

You don't get escorted out by security when you quit of your own choosing.

 

[Double Down]

You don't get escorted out by security when you quit of your own choosing.

You'd be surprised. If the Post says, "We're going to **** you in every immaginable way possible as long as you try to stay employed here, and eventually we'll fire you, or you can walk away now" and you say, fine, I'm done, then you're still going to shuffled out by security. I've personally seen people walk into a top editor's office, tell him they were quitting for something better, and by the time they get back to their desk (100 yards) they're locked out of the system and have to gather their things because security is coming. It all comes down to how much you **** off the employer.

Anyone else call b.s. on the claim that he earned as much blogging this year as he did at the Post? Post staffers, per their Guild contract, earn between $70,000 and $80,000, and that's on the low end. If KSK sold the site up front for $300,000 up front this year and split the kitty five ways, then I believe that. But right now, I seriously do not believe they have enough ads on their website to EACH be pulling in $75,000. And if Christmas Ape was earning that much, then Drew deserves to be making double that.

 

[Cousin Jeffrey]

You know we're in a new media age when you can write this sentence, and I understand, and perhaps agree (I like Ape's racist Hines Ward impression) with it:

"And if Christmas Ape was earning that much, then Drew deserves to be making double that."

 

[Chi City 81]

KSK is saying he didn't quit.

http://kissingsuzykolber.uproxx.com/2008/04/michael_tunison_has_a_bigger_dong_than_you.html

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

You don't get escorted out by security when you quit of your own choosing.

Happened twice at my first paper, actually.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

You don't get escorted out by security when you quit of your own choosing.

Happened twice at my first paper, actually.

Then I defer to y'all. But I never have seen it.

 

[beardpuller]

Which one of those guys does the Jerry Jones-Wade Phillips thing?
That's usually really good. A lot of the rest of it is unreadable.
But good luck to this guy. And you have to wonder if the Post isn't being shortsighted ... they have a guy who has been able to create a sizable audience online, and instead of finding a way to make that work for THEM, they want him out of there?

 

[Mighty_Wingman]

Well, in fairness, the KSK guys have built their audience online with **** jokes, softcore porn and racist humor. It's all very well executed, of course, and I for one am a regular reader. But it's hard to imagine it working for the Washington Post.

 

[OnTheRiver]

Well, in fairness, the KSK guys have built their audience online with **** jokes, softcore porn and racist humor. It's all very well executed, of course, and I for one am a regular reader. But it's hard to imagine it working for the Washington Post.

Well, in fairness, newspapers have tried everything else online. Why not give it a shot?