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Right under what’s arguably the most important news item of the month, if not the summer, the AJC.com home page has given almost-as-prominent treatment to a story about a woman throwing her two lovers out of her apartment.
No, the American newspaper isn’t dead. It’s just really, really confused.
— A year ago, Amy Morton was in Iowa campaigning for John Edwards. On Georgia Women Vote, she recounts her trip and a tender moment with Elizabeth Edwards.
— Speaking of disgraced political types, who gave Ralph Reed a ticket back into the party? ATLmalcontent looks at John McCain’s association with Reed and smells a “sell-out.”
— The Atlanta PD plans to use undercover officers in the ever-continuing quest to get rid of panhandling downtown. At Terminal Station, B King wonders if that is the wisest use of manpower although he agrees something has to be done about the situation.
— Dave gives his Sunday AJC a final read at Rather Than Working and shares the email he sent to Julia Wallace, the paper’s editor. In short, he’s disappointed with the cutbacks and isn’t renewing subscription.
— Over at Reporter-Cub, there’s a break from the usual snarkiness for an essay on how our inner-child helps define us as adults.
— And finally, Ashley at Random Atlanta has discovered just how rough times are: God is selling real estate. Ouch.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution editor Julia Wallace hasn’t talked publicly about three high-level editors who left the paper suddenly on Aug. 1. But she did tell AJC staff members Friday who’ll replace two of the departed editors.
Melissa Turner takes over for Robert Mashburn as senior editor for Sunday’s print edition, and Quindelda McElroy replaces Virginia Lewis as senior coordinator/planning for the digital department. Mashburn, Lewis and top photo editor Chris Stanfield left the paper suddenly on Aug. 1 for undisclosed reasons.
Wallace lumped those two changes together with 10 new assignments connected to the newsroom’s recently announced buyout of 73 staff members. In her memo, which I wrote about Saturday (but got later from business journalism blogger Chris Roush), Wallace and Managing Editor James Mallory say they’ll announce a lot more staff reshuffling today.
Among the other assignments, Public Editor Angela Tuck becomes chief of the Cobb bureau, where almost all the staff members took the buyout. That answers a question from my earlier post, which reported that longtime business editor reporter Matt Kempner would be the paper’s new public editor.
Full text of the memo after the jump.
The first toe of the other shoe dropped Friday at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, when editor Julia Wallace announced a new business editor, a new business columnist and a new public editor, Talking Biz News reports.
In an internal memo, Wallace said Andre Jackson, who joined the AJC staff as an editorial writer earlier this year, will become the new business editor; Thomas Oliver, who’d most recently edited enterprise stories, will write a business column; and business reporter Matt Kempner will become public editor.
This is the leading edge of a staff reshuffling that’s taking place now that 73 staff members have taken a downsizing buyout (not how the concurrent, mysterious departure of three high-level editors plays into the changes). Jackson apparently will do part of editor Kathy Brister, who’d overseen the business desk, and Oliver will attempt to replace the irreplaceable Maria Saporta. Most of these folks leave at the end of the month.
The most surprising part of Wallace’s announcement was the public editor part. (more…)
SPY VS. PIE: The AP reports that Julia Child left a career as a WWII-era spy to become a chef; Child is one of several well-known Americans whose previously secret spy career was revealed this morning, as the personnel files of the pre-CIA Office of Strategic Services were declassified.
SHOOTING: The chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party is dead after a recently fired Target employee mysteriously drove more than 30 miles to Little Rock and shot him.
LANIER: Georgia officials asked SCOTUS this morning to overturn a February appeals-court ruling requiring congressional approval for the state to take more water from Lake Lanier to quench Atlanta’s growing thirst.
STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE: The NYT reports on the resurgent popularity of streetcars in at least 40 U.S. downtowns such as Cincinnati, New Orleans, Houston and Charlotte. Not mentioned: Atlanta’s distant visions for the Beltline and Peachtree Street streetcar.
SACS: The accrediting agency is in Clayton County today, part of its review to determine whether the school system will be the first since 1969 to have its accreditation revoked.
SCRATCH PAPER: Cox Newspapers is selling all but three of its newspapers.
RESCUE 911: The recent death of a Johns Creek woman highlights problems in the Fulton County emergency services, as the 911 operator who sent emergency crews 30 miles in the wrong direction had a long history of such routing mistakes. She also repeatedly was disciplined for sleeping on the job, chronic tardiness and fighting with co-workers, and records show her behavior wasn’t uncommon in the department.
Two of the three high-ranking Atlanta Journal-Constitution editors who suddenly left the paper 10 days ago declined this morning to shed much light on their departures.
“I’m not at liberty to discuss that,” said Chris Stanfield, who until Aug. 1 was the paper’s top photo editor. Stanfield referred to his departure — along with the departures of senior editor for Sunday and planning Robert Mashburn and digital planning editor Virginia Lewis — as a “private matter.”
“I would prefer not to comment on that,” said Mashburn, who like Stanfield was reached via cellphone.
Moments after Editor Julia Wallace’s Aug. 1 announcement that 73 newsroom employees had agreed to take a downsizing buyout, AJC staff members were stunned to learn separately that Mashburn, Stanfield and Lewis had left the paper — apparently involuntarily. At least one of the three was seen being escorted out of the building. (more…)
Today’s bound to be less exciting than last Friday was in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Marietta Street newsroom.
First, editor Julia Wallace announced that 73 newsroom staff members had taken a buyout as part of the paper’s downsizing. Then, newsroom staff members were astounded by viewing bits and pieces of a personnel drama that ended with three high-ranking editors suddenly leaving the paper. (See update here.)
Robert Mashburn, a former sports editor whose most recent title was senior Sunday and planning editor, was seen quickly walking out of the building; according to staff members, he hasn’t been back since. Virginia Lewis, a former features editor who most recently was planning editor for the digital department, and Chris Stanfield, who joined the AJC staff in 2004 as director of photography, also departed the paper.
Each of the three were high-ranking editors, described by one employee as among Wallace’s “annointed ones.” Mashburn’s departure was particularly surprising (more…)
Last week’s editorial buyout offer at the AJC was structured as something of a gamble for reporters: if enough of them took the deal, there’d be no need for layoffs. Otherwise…
As with any game of chance, you sometimes get unexpected outcomes. In this case, it turns out to be the wholesale departure of the Cobb bureau staff, a result that appears to have taken even the paper’s top brass by surprise.
In one fell swoop, the AJC’s Cobb outpost will lose Bureau Chief Sheila Garland; government reporter Tom Opdyke; business reporter David Pendered; cops reporter Yolanda Rodriguez; general assignment reporter Karen Rosen; enterprise reporter Bill Sanders; photographer Andy Sharp; and education reporter Diane Stepp.
As far as we can tell, the only full-timer left in Cobb is enterprise reporter Jeremy Redmon, who wasn’t eligible to take the buyout because he’s been with the paper only three years.
We’re told editor Julia Wallace has sent out a staff memo asking for volunteers for reassignment to the Cobb office.
The exodus may have something to do with the paper’s decision to discontinue the Extras, the Thursday zoned sections containing news and sports geared to their specific communities. But folks in the DeKalb bureau decided to stay, despite the impending demise of the DeKalb Extra, while the Cobbers bailed.
There was once a time when Cobb was the paper’s Tiffany bureau; many of the paper’s top editors and executives lived in Cobb and they made sure the local staff was top-notch. The newsroom was as big as that of the Marietta Daily Journal, but with more resources at its disposal.
The times are definitely a-changin’ …
Here’s the official list of AJC editorial staff members who’ve taken the staff buyout. Sources say Editor Julia Wallace sent the list to the newsroom today.
To all,
Here is a list of the folks who have taken the VSP and wanted their names shared. There are years of great contributions here — stories, postings, headlines, photos, wonderful editing. All will be missed.
Julia
Stan Awtrey, Lisa Axelberg, Tony Barnhart, Byrone Battles, David Beasley, Scott Bernarde, Peter Bilodeau, Kevin Braun, Arthur Brice, Kathy Brister, Lisa Brown, Curtis Bunn, Walter Cumming, Dale Dodson, Rob Douthit, Eileen Drennen, Henry Farber, Nancy Foreman, Sheila Garland, Susan Gast,
Julie Hairston, Renee Hannans, Glenn Hannigan, Ann Hardie, Bill Hendrick, Sarah Hicks, Alma Hill, Michelle Hiskey, Courtney Hoover, Chris Hunt, Bill Husted, Naftal Jahannes, Kris Jensen, Andrea Jones, Elizabeth Lee, Bob Longino, Rebecca McCarthy, Helen McCoy, Amanda Miller, Jill Miller, Adrianne Murchison, Frank Niemeir,
Tom Opdyke, Gerry Overton, Wendy Parker, David Pendered, Buddy Pinkston, Susan Puckett, Stephanie Reid, Yolanda Rodriguez, Karen Rosen, Jacki Rudd, Bill Sanders, Maria Saporta, Andy Sharp, Minla Shields, Diane Stepp, Cameron Tankersley, Paige Taylor, Yemi Toure, Jim Walls, Scott Walton, Beth Warren, Susan Wells, Tom Whitfield, Clint Williams, Matt Winkeljohn, Connie Woods, Rick Zabell
Those are a lot of longtime staff members and familiar bylines. Four of the 73 people who’ve taken buyouts aren’t on Wallace’s list because they didn’t want their names shared.
The one name missing that was mentioned in my earlier post is veteran sports columnist Furman Bisher, who was on lists circulated Friday by staff members. Although newsroom insiders said Bisher may be switching from a staff position to a contractual arrangement, AJC spokeswoman said Mary Dugenske said this in an e-mail: “Furman was not on our list of VSP applicants. He remains a valuable voice for the AJC.” Carefully crafted statement to avoid saying he did take the buyout, or does it just mean he didn’t take it? Dunno. Will update if Mary tells me.
The earlier post provides more details on what the staff members mentioned do at the AJC.
Furman Bisher, the dean of America’s newspaper sports columnists, appears on a stunning list of talent set to leave the AJC staff voluntarily as part of the daily’s downsizing.
Unlike others on the list, Bisher actually may continue to produce work for the paper. There was talk inside the newsroom about him staying on as a contracted columnist rather than an employee.
But colleagues were able to confirm the names of more than two dozen other journalists who’ll be leaving the paper over the next few months — most at the end of August. A handful are relatively young talents; most are newsroom veterans who represent whole blocks of the AJC’s institutional knowledge.
Among them: film reviewer Bob Longino, investigations editor Jim Walls, and a slew of familiar bylines responsible for some of the paper’s best work over the last two or three decades. Opinion column editor David Beasley also appears on lists circulating among newsroom staffers, but colleagues I contacted weren’t sure whether he did take the paper’s buyout offer. (UPDATE: Beasley confirmed this morning that he’s taking the buyout.) (more…)
Why am I not surprised that Sen. Saxby Chambliss’ response last week to a whiste-blower’s testimony about February’s deadly Savannah sugar plant fire was to harangue the whistle-blower?
Not surprised either that Chambliss received a $1,000 campaign contribution from the Imperial Sugar Co., which ran the plant so unsafely that OSHA lobbed an $8.8 million fine at the company. All told, Georgia’s senior senator has received $21,500 from the sugar industry in 2007-8 to fund his re-election campaign.
Thirteen employees died in the fire, which was caused by combustible sugar dust. Graham H. Graham, who was Imperial’s vice president of operations for all of 90 days before the fire, testified that he tried to get Imperial to clean up the plant, but: “I was told that my passion was extreme and I had to temper it.” (more…)
In deference to the obsolete “inverted pyramid” style of news writing that all veteran journalists grew up with, I’ll start with the lede: 73 reporters, editors and other newsroom personnel at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution applied for the paper’s most recent buyout offer and all 73 were accepted.
We’re told the mood is pretty upbeat right now over at the Grey Lady of Marietta Street following a memo this morning from editor Julia Wallace announcing that, because the company’s workforce-reduction target was met, there’s no need for layoffs.
Understandably, the potential of a layoff had been a Sword of Damocles hanging over the newsroom for the past couple of weeks. The paper’s brass had said they wanted to shave the news staff by 58 – and only 58. Would enough people take the buyout?
We’d reported that business desk veteran Bill Hendrick and longtime business columnist Maria Saporta were early takers of the buyout, which offered two weeks of salary and benefits for every year of AJC employment. But it wasn’t until just before noon that AJC rank and file learned the good news that the staff-cutting is over – for now.
In fact, we’ve heard – although not had the opportunity to confirm – that some staffers might have been so worried about the prospect of being laid off that they applied for the buyout even though they didn’t want to leave the paper.
Wallace’s brief memo doesn’t explain why the honchos changed their minds and decided to let an extra 15 people go, but the safe guess is that they figured it would help postpone future trimming of the payroll. For the time being, the AJC will make do with a 335-member newsroom, down from a high point of nearly 500 before last summer’s buyout.
We’ll post more names of departing AJCers as we learn them. Feel free to share what you know.
(An earlier version of this post contained a stupid, brain-fart error of terminology brought to my attention by the first comment. Thanks.)
— Andre Walker at Georgia Politics Unfiltered gives a rather tepid apology for failing to disclose he was working for the campaign of U.S. Rep David Scott, D-Atlanta, even as he was blogging about Scott’s race. Should he have made that disclosure from the beginning? Probably so, says Walker. But “probably” isn’t good enough. Isn’t his blog called Georgia Politics Unfiltered? Taking money under the table from a candidate you’re covering means the news is being filtered. And tainted.
— Uh-oh, he’s doing it again. Amy Morton at Georgia Women Vote says U.S. Senate candidate Vernon Jones has sent out another flier picturing him with Barack Obama. This one also includes photos of former U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun and U.S. Sen. Edward Brooke III, D-Mass., who happens to be the former paramour of Barbara Walters. Obama wasn’t very happy the last time Jones tried to grab on to his coat-tails; this flier probably doesn’t remind voters of that.
— Speaking of the U.S. Senate, Blog For Democracy incumbent Saxby Chambliss received $10,000 in campaign contributions from U.S. Ted Stevens, D-AK, who, oops, is under federal indictment for corruption. Will Chambliss return the money?
— Jason Pye discusses Eric Johnson’s decision to end his tenure as the president pro tem of the state Senate so that he can run for lieutenant governor in 2010.
— At Tondee’s Tavern, Adrian posts predictions for Tuesday’s run-off and sees Jim Martin easily defeating Jones. What? You mean those Obama pics aren’t working?
— With Dunwoody creating a new city from scratch, there’s a move afoot to make it as green as possible. Sustainable Dunwoody says there’s already a shortage of public park space.
— Christa, one of the fine ladies at Pecanne Log, pokes some fun at the AJC for its awkward foray into Facebook.
