More DMN updates

The number taking the DMN buyouts is at 111. Still no specific names other than what has been reported earlier.

This is lifted from publisher Jim “I Am Not A Moron” Maroney’s e-mail to the survivors at DMN list. Comments in parentheses added by this poster for comic (?) relief.

“We say farewell because these talented men and women will do just that. They will fare well (rim shot, please; this, worker bees, is the kind of clever writing to which we should aspire) as they continue to make important contributions (although, not important enough to rate continued employment at the DMN) in their chosen endeavors (would you like to supersize that?). I hope most of them will continue to pursue journalism (and if they do, we hope they don’t do so at our Fort Worth competitor). Communities across the country need dedicated journalists (who will work for minimum wage and no benefits) and our country’s democracy depends on them. We say thank you because the same men and women have made important and lasting contributions (just check the archives, not future issues) to The Dallas Morning News and the journalism we publish (even though we’re publishing more local fires and car wrecks and less staff-written stories outside of Dallas County). Over the years, they have helped describe and shape the place we call home. I am grateful for the difference they have made (particularly when it comes to my annual bonsues).

 

Man does that ring hollow.

 

A DMNer whose last day is tomorrow emailed me the DMN "obituary" that appeared on a local website. Gerry Fraley, I learned, is one of those leaving sports. Yes, to say this is the death of the DMN is an exaggeration, but it may not be an exaggeration to say this is the death of the great DMN sports section.

 

Final count in sports I'm told is 15 or 16. One person is wavering but still likely to leave. A couple new names have surfaced in sports: Greg Riddle, a copy editor, and Matt Jacob, a high school writer who is leaving the biz.

 

It really is sad what's happened to the DMN in recent years. This is the kind of thing they should be discussing in journalism classes for decades. Assuming anyone is still studying journalism decades from now.

 

Here's another: John Banks, sports editor of the DMN website, gone to ESPN.com as NFL editor...

 

Greg Riddle writes high schools, I think out of Plano. Didn't know he was a copy editor.

 

does this qualify as the worst news we've received yet as it relates to the future of the biz, considering what the DMN used to be?

 

That's certainly a big-ass chunk of glacier coming off the polar ice cap.

 

Some of these are surely duplicated, but here are a few names I've seen jumping this rapidly sinking ship...

Ken Stephens, Kevin Blackistone, Cathy Harasta, Gerry Fraley Pam Maples (an AME, I think?), David Thorn (deputy chief?), Dennis Hall (ASE) and William Snyder (photo director, I think).

 

Maples landed as the new ME in St. Louis.

 

Ladies and germs,

While I, too, mourn for two of my friends on the DMN sports desk, let's not forget why the newspaper is in the position that it is ... it lied and cooked the books.
It's not a death knell to journalism, but a forced downsizing due to corporate crapola.