It's official (now): Whitlock leaving the KC Star

Well, that really sums up Whitlock lately - his good points are lost in his bluster.

 

It's too bad, because if Whitlock is telling the truth (and I think he is) the Star was trying to manipulate APSE judges and their readers suffered as a result. Which is the clearest example yet that awards and servicing your readers are two different things. And in this case, two opposite things. Fannin had a choice to make, and he chose awards.

That should be the story here, but Whitlock took it WAY too far and shot his rant right in the head.

 

Notice how everyone is trashing Jason for being unprofessional, but not calling him a liar?

It's because what he said was and is true. He was just saying things that people in the know have known for a long time.

Fannin's held in pretty high regard here. While he may not be as awful as Jason says he is -- I certainly don't think so -- he's certainly no saint.

 

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/posts/2873847/

 

Wait, who puts together a newspaper with awards in mind?

 

The first hour or so of Whitlock's "The Explaination" isn't being podcast on the radio's website but the rest is. Can't believe Jason is letting them censor him like that.

 

Whether what Whitlock said is truth, or not, does not change the fact that he said it for all the wrong reasons.

He did not say it because he really cared about righting a wrong, and he did not say it, now, because he cares about the KC public or its right/need to know.

He said it because he felt like it, because he could not stop himself, and also, just because he could, because he does not really need a job, anyway.

And yet, he has one.

 

Didn't listen to any of it and everything I know about The Explanation is from this thread, but here's what I haven't seen: an actual explanation of why Whitlock is no longer working at the Star, and why the matter took weeks to be resolved and was shrouded in mystery. Did he quit in protest of the Star not crediting Yahoo? Did he quit for some other reason?

Or did he not in fact quit but he is just seizing the narrative against an employer that, for legal reasons, can't get into a public pissing match about confidential personnel matters?

 

If I were Jason's current or future boss at FOX, I would never ever trust him with anything personal about me or any other employee. Ever.

 

He said that the refusal to credit Yahoo was the last straw. It was Fannin's call, and he claims that SE Holly Lawton agreed with Whitlock, but asked Whitlock to talk to Fannin about. Whitlock said that's not his job, that's the sports editor's job.

Whitlock said at that point that he was done, and he told his editors that he's taking four weeks of vacation and one week of furlough (based on that, interesting that the Star lied to its readers and said he was on vacation for 3 months).

Apparently Whitlock had talks with Fannin after Holly Lawton submitted her resignation about his vision for the paper, but those talks died pretty fast and that's when Whitlock cut everything off.

That might not answer it clearly, but I am not 100 percent clear on it, either.

 

Are there any bridges left in KC? Whitlock burned 'em all.