New SE in Nashville

I know Larry a little bit. Good dude. Hard worker who knew his way around Tennessee and its sports culture.

Tennessean still has good people there, even after all the Gannett buyouts. The paper, and the sports section, has had some serious ups and downs though.

 

Yes, it's true.
I've accepted the sports editor's job in Nashville.
I will miss my colleagues and all the friends I've made in Southern California during the past nine years.
Unfortunately, the economic climate has not been kind to The Press-Enterprise in recent years, thus many very talented people were let go as our coverage map changed dramatically.
I'm leaving behind a very talented staff. I'll soon join another talented staff.
I'm looking forward to the challenge.
Thanks for the kind words.
--DaveA

 

Congratulations, Dave! You always did a good job with the PE despite what's happened to papers in the last decade or so.

I agree with others on here too: Tennessean's a good read, too small on most days (what Gannett paper isn't) but does a good job trying to cover the area. Hopefully you can whip it into shape!!

 

Good for Dave, but better for newspaper readers in Nashville. He's smart and organized and smart and personable and smart. He has questionable hiring practices and taste in baseball teams, but otherwise a spotless resume.

If there are inherent limitations to working for a Gannett paper, he'll figure out a way around them.

 

There are inherent difficulties to working in Nashville. Namely the entire paper has been gutted from masthead to want ads. Sports hasn't fallen prey to a lot of the silliness news has, but it is still a rebuild.

And God help anyone selling a house in the Inland Empire.

 

Nashville's a great city. It once had a great, or at least good, newspaper. Now it's just a Gannett pamphlet.

 

Not specific to this specific thread specifically, but I always wonder how many of the kudos thrown out are from people who have actually met the person being feted.

 

I've actually worked for Dave doing freelance stuff and I can say that he and his staff were always great to work with. Losing him and Jeff Parenti over the course of a few months isn't a good sign for the PE.

 

Next question: Who takes over in Riverside?

 

Did talk to Dave about a position there once... really good guy. (No, I'm not him. lol) With the rise of the web and the ability to see other people's work more than in the past, I'd say people are familiar with other sports editors and what they've done.

Good question, though.

 

This is a great question. At one point there were three ASEs. Now there are none -- although one was rehired as a writer and desk man -- and no one on the staff has enough administrative experience to step in. That probably means they'll have to look outside for someone to take over. Ordinarily, the fact the sports section no longer covers any events outside its shrinking circulation footprint (which does not include LA, San Diego, Orange County, etc.) and its writers and columnists are prohibited from writing about anything that doesn't have a local connection would make finding a replacement difficult. But with the industry as screwed up as it is now there probably won't be a shortage of decent candidates.

 

I'm not asking about their work. I'm asking about all this "Good for XXX. Really great guy." I mean, we're a wide-ranging group. But there has to be SOME SE out there who hasn't met one of us. Or at least not one of the 20 who posts on this board.