Seattle Times seeking Kraken/NHL reporter

Seattle Times almost never fires a new reporter, especially a woman on a major beat. How many other papers also cover women's hockey outside of the Olympics? I ask honestly as I do not know.

 

LOL

Seattle Times seeking temporary sports desk editor

 

That has nothing to do with hiring a new reporter for a new beat. PM me if you want details on the posting last year for temporary desk editor.

 

I usually don't write on here, but there has been a lot of speculation about why I did not sign the petition to reinstate Marisa Ingemi and wanted to clear that up. I was not told why she was fired. I received a phone call minutes after stepping out of an interview with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in New York telling me she'd been let go and that I'd need to extend my East Coast road trip to cover the Boston portion Marisa was supposed to do and then a Long Island game that initially got snowed out.

I'd never been part of a situation like that before where a beat writer is let go halfway through the season. I attempted to find out more from multiple higher ups immediately after being relayed the news and asked whether there was any chance of reinstatement. I was told there was not. No one would discuss the reasoning with me. No one asked my opinion before the move was made. The suggestion that I had the power to get her fired or didn't want her on the beat is inaccurate. The absolute last thing I needed was to have my beat partner dropped in the middle of the season, guaranteeing seven days of weekly work the next several months. I devoted a lot of energy to making Marisa feel welcomed in Seattle, comfortable in her role, and wanted nothing more than for her to succeed. This outcome is personally devastating and as the senior writer on the hockey beat, who interviewed Marisa and actively encouraged our paper to hire her, I take this result as somewhat of a personal failing on my part.

The reason I did not sign the position demanding her reinstatement is because I have no idea why she got fired. So, as a journalist, I would need to know more about the situation before putting my name to something like that, which I knew would inevitably be leaked to the public once she was not reinstated. Had it been a petition merely demanding answers, that would have been a different story. Also, I worried that carrying out this petition and broadening this story into the public sphere would provide a platform for unfounded speculation about her firing -- including from prior online opponents of hers that might try to take credit for it and further damage her reputation.

I communicated this reasoning both to Marisa and to the union ahead of time. My lack of signing was never and should not be interpreted as a vote to have her fired.

But I have great respect for those women and men running the Seattle Times and our sports section and know they were fully aware of the backlash they would receive for this. Yet they did it anyway, at the worst possible time for our paper in terms of logistics and coverage. I would need to know more than I do before ever signing something that demanded an apology to their entire newsroom for actions they took.

As to why I've been absent, I am on a pre-arranged vacation finishing off a book project during a portion of the schedule Marisa was supposed to be covering. I will end it early and fly to Calgary to join the team there. I won't be commenting further on the situation simply because I don't know anything more and any insights by me would be pure speculation and unfair to all. This is a private matter between Marisa and the Seattle Times and if she wishes to comment further that is her business to do, not mine.

 

Thanks for the post Geoff.
Lots of people on here throwing out nonsense
and speculation when they know absolutely nothing.

 

We’re asking questions.
Journalists ask questions.

Look the Times is not gonna release her personnel file, we know that.

But the timing is odd, as you noted above, and people are scratching their heads.

If the reason for the firing is her writing, well, that’s been discussed here in this thread. You can go about 50 different ways with that. It also seems pretty flimsy, given some of the raw copy I’ve seen in my day.

 

Of course journalists ask questions.
The problem I have is that some think she was fired because she was a woman.
Some think she was fired because Geoff had pull or wanted her fired.
Some think it was a budget cut. Why then is it advertised?

I think she's straight out lying to tweet that she was fired without warning just out of the blue.

That simply doesn't happen under Times management.

I wish Marisa the best. I'm sure she will find a job quickly.

 

I don’t personally know any of the people involved in this situation.

But I’m pretty sure the Seattle Times has a performance review both the employer and employee sign off on around 90 days after the employee’s start date. Must not have been any problems then if the employee is so surprised by her firing.

And yes, I realize a lot could have happened in the next three months.

 

How’s that for faded turf, Jeff Pearlman?

 

The long gap in the writer's tweets, the Defector story, the petition signed by many journalists, some of whom couldn't possibly have known a super-busy sportswriter anywhere near as well as the beat writer who didn't sign it...yeah. It's odd.