Fresh Loaf

1. AJC buyout list official — 74 to leave (In addition to the dozens of veteran reporters who jumped ship, news of Pulitzer-winner Cynthia Tucker’s move to D.C. and food writer John Kessler’s brief departure from food-writing made it a very productive week for us pageview-hoarding wretches at Fresh Loaf.)

2. Atlanta Tea Party with Sean Hannity to feature ’shit sandwiches’ (It’s estimated that 10,000 people attended. Imagine the response had Hannity been offering roast beef!)

3. Bottoms up at Frolicon (That’s a lot of booty.)

4. Anti-tax protestors urged to, um, ride MARTA (Irony sandwich, anyone?)

5. CNN’s Anderson Cooper on why Republicans can’t find their voice (A  recap of last week wouldn’t have been complete without at least one teabagging reference. Phew.)

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Jon Kessler

Today was the day the AJC’s writers and editors found out what their new jobs will be — sort of. I’m still trying to get a copy of the reorg list, but I’ve heard that many longtime journalists don’t understand what some of it means. I’m told the list includes no cops reporters, but common sense dictates that someone’s gotta cover crime. Will it fall to general-assignment reporters? I’ve yet to talk to anyone who knows.

There are several people with the title “breaking news reporter.” Again, what does that mean? And I’m told the county government reporters seem to have had the local school boards added to their beats — but then there are other reporters who will be covering K-8 education. On the face of it, that division of labor would seem to make no sense.

The reorg also seems to have divided reporters into two groups: daily and Sunday. James Salzer, for instance, is listed as “Sunday state government reporter.” Does that mean if the governor says something stupid on a Tuesday, someone else writes about it?

Perhaps we’ll have answers to all of these questions and more Thursday, when reporters are scheduled to meet with editors about their new duties.

It’s no surprise that the new assignments have taken some employees aback. John Kessler, the one-time restaurant critic and longtime food writer, posted this notice on his Facebook page:

John Kessler is no longer a food writer at the AJC. Zowie.

Instead, the always entertaining Kessler is now a “Sunday profile writer.” Let’s hope he enjoys it.

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