Jay Mariotti resigns

Oh, you did that? I thought that was copy-and-pasted from a Web site or something. My bad then.

Carry on.

 

The media columnist from the Chicago Reader (who has written a ton on Mariotti) checked in with Cooke, who had just told the union they had to cut $580,000 from the newsroom. Now they probably won't have to...

http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/news-bites/2008/08/27/jay-mariotti-leaves-sun-times-and-hell-have-compan/


Jay Mariotti tells the editor in chief of the Sun-Times, Michael Cooke, Tuesday evening that he's quitting. As of immediately. But on Wednesday he shows up back at the paper to tape his ESPN show, Around the Horn, in what Cooke calls "the nice little TV studio we built for him."

"It's for the last time," Cooke tells me.

But why didn't you throw him out? I wondered.

"This may escape Jay, but it's the question of dignity," says Cooke.

Cooke doesn't want to get into the details, but he notes that Mariotti, in his 17-year career at the Sun-Times, threatened to quit many times before. The paper always found a way to change his mind, and Cooke supposes it might have been able to find a way once again." He gave us an opportunity to pull the trigger, which we’ve never done in the past," says Cooke. "This time we pulled the trigger."

 

Couch is hardly a newcomer. And you can't have the scores before anyone else, unless you're predicting them.
Methinks ed-in-chief Cooke needs a copy editor.

 

No, I was talking about the dash in my reply, which I added merely to annoy you.

 

The Sun-Times has always lagged behind the Trib in updating its Web site. I often don't check the Sun-Times until the next morning, because it's usually after midnight that a lot of its stories are updated.

 

I'm guessing he will not be replaced.

If they do, I think they need someone who can bring more peace to the newsroom...

I think Mark Madden is available.

 

this is from the link cousin jeffrey provided:

i get that you're a tabloid and love controversy, but really, stfu, and take the high road. the guy gave you 17 years. 17 years filled with bullshit, perhaps, but he did bust his ass.

 

May be true. All I know is the Sun-Times has been by far the better section for about a decade now.

Even with Mariotti gone, the S-T still has two columnists better than anyone the Tribune has.

 

You two would get along splendidly. You have the birks ... Cooke loves the shoes ...

 

I have to agree with that. Mariotti may not have been liked, but he was well-read. The people who hated him the most were the ones who read him the most.

Love the guy or hate the guy, he gave the Sun-Times a huge presence.

As much as the quote made me laugh, the editor would have been smart to shut his mouth.