Mark Whicker, what were you thinking?

Yeah. He knew what he was doing. But I think those town-bashing columns are stale.

 

They're stale, but the locals love it.

There's also a big difference between going too far with a joke and mocking someone who was kidnapped and raped as an 11-year-old.

I've read this column seven times since this thread started and it gets worse with each reading.

 

So this is going to be lede of his obit?

In time, nobody other than her parents are actually going to remember this girl by name. If anything, that sentence will read, "Whicker, who was heavily criticized for writing a column about a girl that seemingly made light of her ordeal by talking about the sporting events she missed during her captivity ... ," to which most people will say something along the lines of, "Oh yeah, I kind of remember that story."

He'll continually be pelted here, and this could be a long-running joke, but so what? I think in the long run he does what he does best, and that is produce solid material.

 

Interesting: Whicker's apology ran on the sports cover. The editor's apology is nowhere to be found in the paper -- not in sports, not on the editorial page, nowhere as far as I can tell.

 

Well-said by oggieD. I can't believe that this column ran and the columnist still trundles on his merry way. I am disgusted. I thought that paper used to be a decent one. I can't think of one single sportswriter on that staff except for Mark, and now, well, I guess this is what the industry offers. It's a shame.

 

Note to all my friends, relatives, and anyone else who may think I'm a generally good guy and employee:

If I ever write something like that, please log in to SportsJournalists.com and tell everybody I should be fired.

 

I don't think anyone should be fired for what they wrote unless they misled editors, lied about facts, made up quotes or just had a pattern of problems.

 

What does that mean? What an odd statement.

EDIT: to JackS

 

Pretty simple. I think he should be fired despite what some people here who are obviously his pals think.

I mean, sheesh, "left the yard"? And his stupid interview statements afterward?

Yeah, it was bad judgment. Replace him with somebody who has better judgment.

 

I'm not a "pal." I don't think he should be fired. And, for a long time, I've been in a position to make such determinations.
(Now, do I understand your stance? Sure. I understand the "irreparable harm" argument, and it's a legitmate one.)
The Register may be left with no other option, because sometimes we find ourselves in the fire instead of just fanning the flames.
I remember showing up at a new gig for the first day, a bit intimidated. A vet saw me and said, "Aw, don't worry [fish]. You fuck up, only a million people will see it."
These days? Throw 10x or 20x next to it.
I've fucked up plenty.

 

Not a pal, either. All our interactions were for work, and he was neither the most pleasant writer I've dealt with nor the least -- just a highly professional one.

Fire him why? Because some people are pissed off? The column was in poor taste but does no tangible harm to the person in question or to anyone else, unlike if he'd libeled someone.

If the OCR loses 10,000 subscribers because of it, well, it has a decision to make -- cave, or support someone who's been a highly productive employee and a loyal one who's turned down opportunities elsewhere over the years. But just giving people an excuse to bark for a week, probably most of them not subscribers anyway -- no, sorry, no reason for punitive action.

 

I really have not paid attention to who posted what here, so I have no idea who I thought was a pal. I just know there were some people who came off that way. I'm not re-reading the thread to figure out who, although if you're protesting my comment, well then...

Anyway, there are different degrees of screwing up. I don't know what fishwrapper or anyone else has done, but Whicker's screw up is pretty bad. Why would I fire him? Because there are enough qualified people out there who wouldn't write something so stupid and put my paper in a crappy light.

And that's not even to say I would never hire the guy after this (he's no Jayson Blair), but he needs to lose his current gig. Because he's branded forever with his current audience, if not because he also ought to be taught a lesson about sensitivity. His latest comments don't suggest he's learned much.