This comment comes from Larry Froelich who retired last year from the Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader:
I was just reading about the demise of Channels and it brings to mind what they've done with my job since I've retired. The H-L decided it no longer needed a news editor. Can you imagine?! Well, in today's newspaper environment maybe you can. I like to think that the job wouldn't have been eliminated so long as I were there. But as soon as I retired, they decided to rethink the entire News Desk operation, given a hiring freeze that seems to have ushered in a new Ice Age. Perhaps doing without a news editor (one experienced in handling a nighttime news operation with special emphasis on news judgment and news packaging, especially with regard to major breaking nation/world events) is workable for routine days. But just wait until there's another 9/11 or some similar breaking story. Where's the experience to pull those stories together on the fly? In short order, it won't exist. Actually, I think that like your Channels, the paper is deferring to 24/7 cable and the Internet for such coverage ... and so fewer readers will look to their paper for the detailed, in-depth coverage they used to get. That same downward spiral of expectations that Olesky refers to [in a comment on the post below about Channels.]
Larry Froelich
(859) 227-6376
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2 comments:
What's really sad, Larry, is that the BJ and the News Leader are not exceptions, but part of the stampede toward mediocrity and bottom line-ism. Now I'm just hoping that we can keep what's left of our medical coverage (with our out-of-pocket at $2,000 instead of the previous $300 which was a doubling from that previous $150), and that the $2 co-pay doesn't become a much more expensive deal. And heaven help us all if KR or its new owners decide to dump or severely reduce retirees' pensions.
These guys are so busy scooping up money for yachts that they can't see that the rowboat is leaking for everyone else.
That should be Herald Leader. Sorry, Larry.
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