Huge job cuts at News Corp, hundreds of Australian papers to stop publishing

I am bad at spotting these things, but that’s surely a rug, right?

 

I doubt it. No one spends money on a rug that looks that shitty. Pretty sure it's just a bad haircut.

 

Mark Knoller? Holy crud. Legendary reporter. Every capital building has a reporter like him, keeps track of everything (he tallied Presidential golf outings and vacation days going back three or four Presidents). The reporter other reporters new to the beat or not could ask for a bit of trivia, or stat. I could see the rest of the WH Pool funding him just to stay on.
Never a grandstander - solid, solid pro.

Who’s Counting? At the White House, It’s Mark Knoller | Washingtonian (DC)

 

Unsung hero. He was great in Dire Straits, too.

 

Journalists have been terrorized for so many years now. The best and the brightest kicked out the door without a peep from important suits at how wrong this is. So you suits out there answer me this: Why do you think it's a smart business model to fire the people in your industry who are not only your best writers/TV broadcasters but among the classiest individuals. This is like firing Mike Trout saying, get rid of him we can stick some minor leaguer out there and we'll still have the same attendance and TV deals. Thousands of the BEST in journalism have been thrown out the door the last 10 to 15 years. It is truly disgusting and you suits should feel proud at your role in ruining a great industry. It's just wrong to fire the most accomplished people for one reason: they actually have advanced to the top and now are making too much green. Shame.
The only people who have made a truly good buck in journalism have been the publishers who were born into wealth and/or the suits who have sucked up to important people and climbed to the top because of their willingness to be ruthless to the little guy.

 

I've got to ask ... do you rail about anything else? Or is this a single-subject fixation?

 

If CBS really wanted to save money, it'd lay off totally replaceable morning news hosts, the second weatherperson at their O and Os, etc., all of whom guaranteed make more than Knoller does.

 

No, that's really how that works.

Mark Knoller has always done terrific work and I was saddened to see the news. But let's be honest here: Mark Knoller is not their chief White House correspondent. He's not even second or third. I don't know how old he is but he's well into retirement age. Layoffs are brutal, but the target on Knoller's back couldn't possibly have been any larger. That's a wildly expendable position.

 

I haven't heard Knoller on CBS network radio in years. He's been coasting for that long. His Twitter feed is worse than the stenography of the WH press corps, and attracts a substantial ratio of triumphant FATUS cultists who see him as completely non-threatening if not welcoming. He is also a friend of a former colleague, they attended NYU together. My main concern now is: Who will supply the requisite "wheels up" photo of AF1 on Twitter?

 

Trouble in the homeland for the Murdoch empire
News Corp begins staff purge as restructure takes shape