Herald to cut about 175 positions

Those who are still there have nothing to apologize for whatsoever, but like MileHigh said, when you hear of this happening to someone you know well, it hits home a little harder.

 

This is a bit off-topic, and I know Michelle was upset, and had a right to defend herself and her family -- from the blog commenter, not Mizzou -- but I thought that line of hers was a cheap shot, too.

I always do, whenever somebody brings up the fact that we post anonymously.

Very few of us use made-up handles so that we can flame away at people, anonymously, on here.

We do it because we'd like to be free to discuss the many very pertinent and important topics -- things that interest us keenly and that are regularly broached on here -- in a way that allows us to, hopefully, do so without reprise as far as our livelihoods are concerned.

I know that I try never to write anything that I wouldn't be willing to say to somebody, either in person, or if people knew who I was, and I'm willing to bet that a lot of others on here hold themselves to the same policy.

But even if we didn't, the fact remains that, many of the issues we address with so much thought, care and passion around here, never would be if we all used our real names. That much is obvious from the fact that people who use their real names seldom enter into our discussions.

As far as I'm concerned, that's too bad. Because, with newspapers seemingly on their deathbeds, maybe more people in power, and our readers, would pay more attention to us if such posters did join in. After all, our business, especially these days, does seem to be all about name recognition.

Not everyone on here has reached as high a level of prominence and relative safety in the business as you have been fortunate to do, Michelle.

But, that's why we, oftentimes, can't afford to post under our own names. Be thankful that you feel you can, but don't put down those of us who don't -- not without knowing us, or all the reasons why we might not do it.

 

I agree that at most papers it is a vacation beat. Golf writers are nearly extinct as is, but it's one thing to just cover golf and it's another to cover that and a major Division I college, especially one that requires a shitload of commuting.

I'm not surprised they got rid of Jeff, but it doesn't make it suck any less.

 

I can't remember anyone who really had anything to lose who has posted here with their own name.

 

Great guy.

 

Definitely one of the good guys. Hell of a writer too.

 

I don't know what that means. Everybody has something to lose.

 

Mizzou: Clarification accepted. I thought those were your words. Realize now it was on Daily Pulp.
And don't mean to beat a dead horse here, but I do think everyone should be very careful about spreading posts from other blogs when we don't know them to be true. In this case, there were many inaccuracies in that post, and by putting it on here, you are giving the venom a wider audience. Your exact words were "This is an interesting post...''
Why was that interesting? It was venom. It was mean. Uncalled for. It reduced me to Mrs. Dave Barry, and lord knows I have worked long and hard on my own merit to get where I am. And, above all, the post was inaccurate. Dave hasn't drawn a salary from the Herald in more than three years.
Just a reminder to all of us that we should be more cautious and more human, even in these tough times.
I feel horrible for every single journalist nationwide who is losing a job. I have loved this profession for 22 years because of the people in it, because we didn't choose our profession because of the paycheck, but rather because it was our passion. It depresses me to no end what's happening. Here's hoping somebody figures out a way to save our industry before it's too late. I teach a sportswriting class at UM and I shudder every week when I have to tell the 16 students what is going on out here.
My best wishes for everyone. We're all in this together.
Michelle

 

As I read through the thread, I was trying to formulate in my mind this exact post.
It has bothered me for a few weeks that the the guy Kellams in Chicago leveled a blast at me as an anonymous poster when his Web site misspelled a prominent player's name in a headline and it stayed there for 11 hours. Now Michelle strikes back at an anonymous poster, although this one obviously was a mistake of confusion.
Don't kill the messengers, gang.

 

Can we kill the inaccurate rumor mongers?

 

Not among the people who have posted under their real names.... whether it be because of their lofty lot in the industry, or the content of the post he or she put up here.

 

So the people in the lofty lots don't have anything to lose? I'd say they have a further fall.