Stuart Warner, Mary Vanac, Bob Paynter and Terry Oblander are gone from the Plain Dealer after leaving the Beacon Journal and making the switch to our northern neighbor. But there are plenty of BJ expatriates left at the PD.
Regina Brett
Mark Dawidziak
Reggie Fields (Columbus bureau chief)
John Funk
Sheryl Harris
John Horton
Tim Leonard
Butch Maier
Roger Mezger
Terry Pluto
Don Rosenberg
Debra Adams Simmon
Mary Lou Sneyd
Debbie Van Tassel
Brian Windhorst
And Desiree Hicks left the BJ Washington bureau for the PD's Washington Bureau. But Gloria Irwin isn't sure if she's still with the PD.
That's 16. Twenty if you count the four that also left the PD.
The BJ became a farm team for the PD. When I first came to the Beacon the salary scale for the BJ actually was higher than the one for the PD.
Everything evolves. Not always for the best.
Stuart Warner came up with the most startling and saddest statistic:
Former BJ people have written, edited or supervised efforts that have won more than 70 national awards at the PD in the past decade.
My thanks to Stuart, Gloria, Mark Dawidziak and Ken Krause for providing names for this list.
Anyone else missing from the list?
John Backderf posts that he was one who went from the PD to the BJ. Derf was at the PD from 1986-1989 and in the art department at the Beacon from 1990-2000. Artists Rick Steinhauser (still at the BJ) and Terence Oliver did the same a few years after Derf switched. Derf, Chuck Ayers, Dennis Balogh and Art Krummel had the fabulous exhibits of their art work under the umbrella title of Four Guys in May at the Upstairs Gallery, 20 N. High St, in the Mocha Maiden and Musica building in downtown Akron.
The most famous PD to BJ switch, I think, was Terry Pluto, at a time when the BJ, as Bill O'Connor points out, was considered the more prestigious paper. Terry, of course, switched back amid an avalanche of PD promos bragging about the return of its prodigal son.
Don't forget Butch Maier!
ReplyDeleteYou're also forgetting the Lake County reporter, whose name escapes me. I believe there's a former BJ copy editor at the PD as well. And of course Mary Vanac is among the BJ veterans who have now left the PD.
ReplyDeleteGloria Irwin
John Horton was the name that escaped me. And it's Geauga County that he covers.
ReplyDeleteGloria Irwin
Cliff Pinckard in sports was one of the last guys I hired before I left the bj; there's also a sports layout person (or was) red-head guy name Tim. And the former BJ people have written, edited or supervised efforts that have won more than 70 national awards there in the past decade ...
ReplyDeletestuart warner
Reporter Desiree Hicks left the BJ Washington bureau for the PD (perhaps when the bureau closed, don't remember). Not sure she is still at the PD ...
ReplyDeleteGloria
Tim Leonard is the guy Stuart was thinking of on the PD sports desk. Also at the PD are Reggie Fields (Columbus Bureau chief) and Mary Lou Sneyd (Sunday Opinion section editor). - Ken Krause
ReplyDeleteWhen I came to the Beacon, in the 7o's, not only was the BJ comparable in pay to the PD, the Beacon Journal was considered, throughout journalism, as the superior paper.
ReplyDeleteAfter the recent pay cuts at the PD, I'm thinking the ABJ pays more -- at least for now.
ReplyDeleteWhat what it's worth, I'm one of the few who went from the PD to the ABJ!
ReplyDeleteI was in the art dept at the PD from 1986-1989 and in the art dept at the Beacon from 1990-2000. Artists Rick Steinhauser (still at the ABJ) and Terence Oliver did the same a few years after my switch. I'm not aware of anyone else who moved from Cleveland to Akron.