An old letter from a Beacon Journal fan

Bill O’Connor found the following item on “Poynter Forums: Letters sent to Jim Romenesko” It is an old letter (posted on August 23, 2006) but it is a good one. Don’t know why some of us did not notice it earlier.

From JEFF BORDEN: I thought I'd become inured to massive cutbacks in the newsrooms of America, but word the new owners of the Akron Beacon Journal plan to eliminate one-quarter of the newsroom jobs hurts.

The Beacon Journal was my newspaper when growing up in Medina, Ohio. The plain-spoken eloquence of publisher John S. Knight, the passionate and provocative leadership of editor Ben Maidenburg, the hilarious columns by Mickey Porter, the acerbic television reviews of Dick Shippy. . .it was a newspaper with real snap and pop. It's not an exaggeration to say it led me to love the newspaper business and fueled my desire to pursue a career in journalism.

Given its relatively meager resources and its location in a smaller city coping with a post-industrial economy, the Beacon has maintained a surprisingly high level of quality over the years. Now, that commitment to excellence seems likely to vanish with the elimination of so many jobs.

I'm angry at Knight Ridder for capitulating to calls for a sale and even angrier at McClatchy, for washing its hands of papers in more troublesome markets after acquiring KR. But the anger isn't felt as deeply as the sadness and disappointment that John S. Knight's legacy has indeed been sacrificed on the "altar of the countinghouse."