Susan Goldberg’s memo on departing PD m.e.

Cleveland Plain Dealer editor Susan Goldberg's memo to staff garnered by Jim Romenesko.of Poynter Online:

Folks:

I'm sorry to announce that Tom O'Hara has decided to leave The Plain Dealer. His last day will be Sept. 13.

Tom and I have not worked together long, but it's easy to see that his impact on the paper as its managing editor has been immeasurable, and all to the good.

Simply put, Tom is an outstanding newspaper professional. He's got all the right moves: A great story sense, an urgency that spans the range from tomorrow's paper to the online future of our business -- and one of the most finely tuned bullshit detectors around. I've never met anyone who so regularly and colorfully brings to life the adage: "If your mother says she loves you, check it out."

And then, of course, there is Tom's famous "neighbor" -- the mythical stand-in for all of our readers, who stubbornly, and occasionally truculently, wants to know why he or she should care about some story being ardently pitched for the front page. "Would my neighbor read that?" Tom asks -- and, with that simple question, reminds us who we are here to serve.

Doug Clifton hired Tom to the Plain Dealer in 2000, from the Palm Beach Post. But the two had worked together long before, in the late 1970s and 1980s, at the Miami Herald. I asked Doug to share some thoughts about Tom.

"Most of the people who know Tom -- and whose journalism values I respect -- speak with a kind of awe about his straight shooting. 'You always knew exactly what he thought and where you stood,' is what you hear over and over," Doug said.

He added, "I like to think a good indication of an editor's quality is the quality of the journalists who look up to him or her -- and that of those who don't. Tom should be proud of both lists because some of brightest and dimmest love and loath him in the right proportions."

Before coming to the Plain Dealer, Tom worked at five Florida newspapers: The Herald, Palm Beach Post, The Daytona Beach News Journal, The Orlando Sentinel and The Gainesville Sun, where he started his career as a sports reporter in 1972.

In January, Tom will join Kent State in its Professional in Residence program. He'll be teaching courses in ethics and open government.

In sum, Tom is one of the best in our business, and our loss will be his students' -- and the future of our profession's -- gain. We wish Tom, Pam and their family only the very best.

Susan.