For all the oppressed white males out there....

I once hired a white male sports writer away from a smaller paper in the state. He was good at what he did. Knew the turf. Was an expert at a smaller paper. I went after him. He never applied. I had to talk him into it.

Once hired a female sports writer because she came from a fancy school and was willing to relocate and intern in hopes of getting a full time job. She never applied.

 

DyePack:  Are you a copy editor, and are you British?

Sorry, something about you is bothering me and perhaps could be cleared up if you answer those two questions.

 

Ace

Did you go after him because of his race? Obviously if you chased him down, he must have been better than the other candidates you had, in some way.

Let's not confuse the issues here.

 

Just because someone is "qualified" doesn't mean that they are the best you can get and that you should stop looking. I've been involved in hiring quite a few female and minority writers -- many of whom have been great.

I have also fought battles to hire white male writers.

 

Thank you. We're 20 pages into this thread, and that needed to be said.

And no, I am not British.

 

I'm not sure what the issues are anymore. I am just trying to point out that hiring the best people and hiring minorities are necessarily exclusive.

 

OK, Ace, I think you know the point I was making, I'm not going to continue to re-phrase it.

 

DyePack:  Are you an editor?  I'm not asking you to be any more specific.

 

OK. Race had nothing to do with that hire.

Sometimes it figures in the mix in some fashion.

 

Some would say yes.

 

Well, is the word "editor" in your job title?

 

Yes.