Anybody hear anything from Columbia, SC?

Obley will be the new SE in Port Charlotte.
There are apparently two high school writers leaving; Steve Wiseman and Marjorie Riddle (sp?). All three will be gone by the end of September/beginning of October, I'm told.

And apparently the raises have only been frozen at the State until Sept. 09. Some McC papes are saying Jan. 2010.

 

Delivery Failure Report
Your message:
was not delivered to: jmclaurin@thestate.com
because: 550 No such user - psmtp


----
that is not even funny.

 

Pro, Jimmy Mac and Pat O will all be sorely missed. Spear and Jimmy are part of that newspaper's fiber; the pages will never seem the same without them. Pat's always been their best utility man, a writer who can handle everything from high-school pole vaulting to Serena Williams and do a damn good job of it. As for The State -- my goodness, in not-too-recent years they've lost David Newton, Nat Newell, Steve Argeris, Kent Babb, some others I certainly neglected to mention, and now Pat, Bob and Jimmy. That's a serious loss of talent.

Good luck, Pro. Jimmy, hope to see you around the racetrack every now and then. Pat, best of luck in Florida. Enjoyed it, guys.

 

I know this is a tough time in the industry, but The State is going to fill some of those jobs, right? I don't see how they can maintain the standard of excellence they've had without filling some of those positions. It's actually a mid-sized metro newspaper that has seen circulation gains in the last six months, according to the ABC reports.

 

Standard of excellence? Since when does that factor into any newsroom decisions, anymore?

Who cares if an inferior product will drive what few readers are left away faster than they're already leaving? It's all about the bottom line, my friends, and the rest of us be damned.

 

It's amazing how much extra "fat" you can trim once you remove quality from the equation.

 

So, get your news on facebook, eh? No wonder newspapers are dying.

Pat will be missed, obviously, and is a fantastic writer. Unfortunately too many newspapers are forsaking enterprise and features these days, when in fact what newspapers can still give them - beyond just authoritative journalism - is good stories, and good writing. They ain't getting that off rivals and scout.

But newspapers are becoming all about web hits and unique visitors, which to me is giving in, rather than playing to our strength. I'd say we can still do both. But when we're losing writers left and right, we can't.

Thing is, the executives running our biz think that ultimately the buyouts and voluntary departures are cleaning out the deadwood and those who don't have the drive for journalism. But it's having just the opposite effect: The people leaving are the ones smart enough to see the writing on the wall, while young journalists are staying away.

Sad.

 

Haven't you heard, I got out of newspapers? I'm allowed to do that.

To many, it appears the State has circled it's wagons around GoGamecocks. We'll see if it's a good business model.

 

And I'm hearing that possibly two of the gigs will be replaced. Then again, with the way things are going, I'll believe it when I see it.

 

I'd almost think you'd have to fill the prep jobs. Along with stuff in the regular newspaper, they have MidlandsPreps.com and five zoned editions that include a front page of sports once per week. Those things don't get done without ANY staff.

 

Go Gamecocks!