Revolving Door at the Local Rag
The citizens of this Town suffered for many years under the idiocy of Local Rag (aka Yellowwich Time) editor Joe "I Control the News and Don't You Forget It" Pisani. Finally, the Hearst people realized what a turkey they had on their hands, and fired him. A large collective sigh of relief was heard to go up from the right-thinking inhabitants of Greenwich.
In June a new editor, David Warner, arrived on the scene. And suddenly, before your scribe could blink, let alone meet the man, he is gone.
What's going on at the Local Rag? The proffered excuse, that he'd rather live someplace else, was used here in Town by various Superintendants of Schools when it became obvious that their presence was no longer desired by the community. (So far Betty Sternberg hasn't taken the hint, but then, since she's "earning" more than $1,000 per "working" day, why should she?) And just as it didn't ring quite true in the case of the S's of S's, it's not ringing quite true to your scribe's ear in the matter of ex-editor Warner.
Perhaps we should call this the "Greenwich Excuse", dear reader. If it's time for you to go, suddenly that long-distance commute that was "no problem" when you took the job becomes the reason you finally throw in the towel.
But ex-editor Warner has set a new land-speed record for using the "Greenwich excuse". In his case, he borrowed a line from the late W. C. Fields, saying "I'd rather be in Philadelphia." In Fields' case, of course, the line was ironic, having been his own suggestion for the epitaph on his gravestone. But in ex-editor Warner's case, it apparently isn't.
Did he jump or was he pushed? The question is inevitable, of course. Maybe he saw what a mess he'd inherited from turkey Joe, and decided to bail. Maybe he realized that the handwriting is on the wall, and that the publication days of the Local Rag will likely come to an end ere long. Or maybe he simply disagrees with Mr. Fields about the attractiveness of being in Philadelphia - hey, it's a free country, after all, and everyone is entitled to their own opinions.
Or, maybe it was also the fact that a shopping and dining cameo on Greenwich Avenue by none other than tabloid queen Britney Spears became front-page news in the Local Rag that caused ex-editor Warner to throw in the towel. "This is journalism?" he may have thought to himself. "Who's next, Paris Hilton?" Perhaps we can hardly blame the poor man for handing in his resignation a day or so later.
And so the saga of Yellowwich Time continues to amuse the citizenry of Greenwich. Since no one takes the rag seriously, its chief function these days is pretty much geared to its entertainment value. No wonder the Hearst Corporation will probably be closing it down before much longer.
In June a new editor, David Warner, arrived on the scene. And suddenly, before your scribe could blink, let alone meet the man, he is gone.
What's going on at the Local Rag? The proffered excuse, that he'd rather live someplace else, was used here in Town by various Superintendants of Schools when it became obvious that their presence was no longer desired by the community. (So far Betty Sternberg hasn't taken the hint, but then, since she's "earning" more than $1,000 per "working" day, why should she?) And just as it didn't ring quite true in the case of the S's of S's, it's not ringing quite true to your scribe's ear in the matter of ex-editor Warner.
Perhaps we should call this the "Greenwich Excuse", dear reader. If it's time for you to go, suddenly that long-distance commute that was "no problem" when you took the job becomes the reason you finally throw in the towel.
But ex-editor Warner has set a new land-speed record for using the "Greenwich excuse". In his case, he borrowed a line from the late W. C. Fields, saying "I'd rather be in Philadelphia." In Fields' case, of course, the line was ironic, having been his own suggestion for the epitaph on his gravestone. But in ex-editor Warner's case, it apparently isn't.
Did he jump or was he pushed? The question is inevitable, of course. Maybe he saw what a mess he'd inherited from turkey Joe, and decided to bail. Maybe he realized that the handwriting is on the wall, and that the publication days of the Local Rag will likely come to an end ere long. Or maybe he simply disagrees with Mr. Fields about the attractiveness of being in Philadelphia - hey, it's a free country, after all, and everyone is entitled to their own opinions.
Or, maybe it was also the fact that a shopping and dining cameo on Greenwich Avenue by none other than tabloid queen Britney Spears became front-page news in the Local Rag that caused ex-editor Warner to throw in the towel. "This is journalism?" he may have thought to himself. "Who's next, Paris Hilton?" Perhaps we can hardly blame the poor man for handing in his resignation a day or so later.
And so the saga of Yellowwich Time continues to amuse the citizenry of Greenwich. Since no one takes the rag seriously, its chief function these days is pretty much geared to its entertainment value. No wonder the Hearst Corporation will probably be closing it down before much longer.
posted by Bill Clark | 10/04/2008 11:45:00 AM
2 Comments:
I doubt that it was horror at the lack of journalistic integrity that drove him back to Phillie. After all, this is the paper that fired Jewish columnist Sarah Littman for calling out congressional candidate Lee Whitnum for her anti-Semitism, and which published an editorial stating that Whitnum had run "an admirable campaign." So if that slime didn't drive him out weeks ago, it's doubtful that any amount of journalistic sleaze from Greenwich Time could have caused him to jump ship. Oh, yeah, it's also the newspaper that under Warner's leadership refused to print a single word about Stamford mayor Dan Malloy's press conference at which he called Whitnum an anti-Semite.
Nope, he was probably pushed out in a cost-cutting move.
Why hasn't Greenwich Post written about the shenanigans going on at Greenwich Time? Shouldn't this be considered "news" by its rival here? Seems to me that turmoil there is excellent fodder for an in-depth article by the Post.
Ah, Tom, you raise good points as usual. If ex-editor Warner was the sleazball who fired Sarah, then he clearly deserved to go to the W. C. Fields version of Philadelphia, which is only one step above the flames of Hell.
And I knew nothing of the Malloy press conference - well, since it wasn't reported in Greenwich, why am I not surprised?
OK, your comments make it pretty clear that ex-editor Warner did more damage than good during his brief tenture. Good riddance, I now say.
As for the Post, its journalistic standards are even lower than the local rag's, and its pitiful reporting staff little more than a bad joke. Moreover, it's becoming known as the ex-pats' club for fired Yellowwich Time employees, which means that a) the quality of the writing is lower than ever, and b) that there's no one even remotely capable of writing the "in-depth" article you suggest. So don't hold your breath....
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