Departing editor rips bosses in disguised column

[McNuggetsMan]

What about the fact that this "fork you" is rather long, pointless and rambling? He starts to make a point in the last 7-8 graphs but before that it reads like an old man shouting at the rain.

 

[Beef03]

 

[J-School Blue]

Have you actually read what he wrote? It's a bunch of "OMG, Tina was mean to Nikki!" whining, followed by a few complaints that readers will absolutely not give a single shirt about. I don't know a thing about the guy who wrote it, but it reads like it's from a 25 year old who knows everything there is to know about journalism and business.

I'll admit the use of first names put me off. The entire thing was extremely personal. And, yeah, it's a long, rambling "fork you" that will probably black-ball the guy from most employers. It had clearly been festering for a long time, however, and if you're willing to do down in flames like that, more power and such.

 

[jr/shotglass]

Except it's not more power. The person who does something like that thinks it is when he's doing it. It never pays off.

I've said this before. I remember the people I went to school with who said stuff like "I'm not going to take any shirt. Ever."

And some don't. They're also working shirt jobs at 50. And at some point, years ago, they could have improved their lot in life. But they weren't going to take any shirt. Ever.

 

[LongTimeListener]

An honest question to those defending the guy:

Have you actually read what he wrote? It's a bunch of "OMG, Tina was mean to Nikki!" whining, followed by a few complaints that readers will absolutely not give a single shirt about. I don't know a thing about the guy who wrote it, but it reads like it's from a 25 year old who knows everything there is to know about journalism and business.

Getting another job in journalism isn't his problem. Getting another job is his problem. I don't care if I'm hiring for a convenience store -- if I google this dude, he has no shot.

As I have gotten older I have gotten less worked up about the ethics/propriety of these kinds of things and look at them purely for how much they entertain me. And I can see this guy sitting there with his hat backwards, probably dipping, and loving himself for giving the man a taste of his ass. It's the best/worst of the college paper, but in real life!

So yeah, I see your point about the lack of professionalism. I still think it's funny. And the forkwads at the top certainly deserve it for the way they treat people, so there's that.

 

[Mystery Meat II]

An honest question to those defending the guy:

Have you actually read what he wrote? It's a bunch of "OMG, Tina was mean to Nikki!" whining, followed by a few complaints that readers will absolutely not give a single shirt about. I don't know a thing about the guy who wrote it, but it reads like it's from a 25 year old who knows everything there is to know about journalism and business.

Getting another job in journalism isn't his problem. Getting another job is his problem. I don't care if I'm hiring for a convenience store -- if I google this dude, he has no shot.

As I have gotten older I have gotten less worked up about the ethics/propriety of these kinds of things and look at them purely for how much they entertain me. And I can see this guy sitting there with his hat backwards, probably dipping, and loving himself for giving the man a taste of his ass. It's the best/worst of the college paper, but in real life!

So yeah, I see your point about the lack of professionalism. I still think it's funny. And the forkwads at the top certainly deserve it for the way they treat people, so there's that.

Except he doesn't go after the tippy top people. He goes after the production manager and the regional publisher, and he spends as much if not more time bringing up their non-North Dakota offices as anything damning.

Even if he did nothing illegal or actionable, it's not exactly nailing the theses to the cathedral door.

 

[UNCGrad]

Has there ever been a well-written one of these columns? Ever?

Maybe that says it all.

 

[schiezainc]

Fact is, these same people own the company I work for.

Every word of it is true.

Don't get me wrong, he's a douche for the way he wrote this and the way he snuck it in but his words are true, 100 percent.

 

[JimmyHoward33]

Fact is, these same people own the company I work for.

Every word of it is true.

Don't get me wrong, he's a douche for the way he wrote this and the way he snuck it in but his words are true, 100 percent.

It would have had more meaning to the readers if it didn't read like a soap opera. The whole thing sounds like a power struggle between these two women and this guy backed the wrong horse. Less ink spent on Tina vs. Nikki and more ink actually spent on explaining in layman's terms how the coverage is going to suffer would have gone a long way.

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

They're also working shirt jobs at 50. And at some point, years ago, they could have improved their lot in life.

Your friends work for newspapers?

 

[flexmaster33]

...and then Cindy starting making out with Billy, and that's when Julie said "As if!!!"

These columns never go over well...even if there may be some ring of truth included in that mess somewhere.

 

[bigbadeagle]

This place is slipping. I had the over/under on the first Otis Brumby mention at 3 posts.

And I knew the guy who is alleged to have written that column. I asked about it one night when we were covering the same basketball game. He just smiled at me. The late, great Ken Wynn, all ... goodness, he must have been 6-5 ... 6 foot 5 of him.
By the way, legend also has it that issue of the MDJ is nowhere to be found in the bound volumes in the morgue.