Ping!
E & P's spin here:
Mass Exit at Santa Barbara Paper Causes Wild Scene
By E&P Staff
Published: July 06, 2006 8:45 PM ET
NEW YORK In a wild finish to a simmering "church-state" conflict, five top editors and a columnist have resigned from the Santa Barbara (Calif.) News-Press.
Editor Jerry Roberts, an industry veteran, was escorted from the building before noon, "as several staff members cried and others hurled epithets" at Travis K. Armstrong, the interim publisher who helps run the News-Press for billionaire owner Wendy McCaw, the Los Angeles Times reported.
On Wednesday, Managing Editor George Foulsham resigned, joined on Thursday by Roberts and three other editors, as well as longtime columnist Barney Brantingham.
"Journalists at the paper had greeted McCaw's purchase six years ago with relief, saying they welcomed the ascension of a local owner -- one known as an environmentalist and philanthropist," the Times' James Rainey related.
"But reporters, editors and some of Santa Barbara's most prominent citizens said Thursday that McCaw's tenure should give pause to many journalists around the country who have been pining for private owners to save them from publicly owned chains, which have been beset by budget reductions, layoffs and other woes."
Rainey quoted Santa Barbara Mayor Marty Blum: "When the newspaper was up for sale, we were wishing for a local owner. Now we have one, and all I can say is: 'Be careful what you wish for."'
McCaw, a strong environmentalist and animal rights backer, bought the 150-year-old paper from The New York Times Co. in 2000.
Editors who resigned this week accused her of improper meddling in editorial. "What we have as a paper to sell to people is our credibility," Don Murphy, who was the paper's deputy managing editor, told the Associated Press. "On one hand you have someone writing editorials and on the other hand editing news stories. There is an inherent conflict."
McCaw or her associates, the L.A. Times explained, "killed a story about a top editor's sentencing for drunken driving; reprimanded a reporter and three editors for publishing the address of actor Rob Lowe as part of a story about the star's attempt to build his 'dream house'; and issued a memo ordering journalists not to talk to outsiders about the newspaper's internal business.
"The ascension of a McCaw loyalist into the publisher's office late last week was the final straw for the journalists, they said in interviews Thursday."
Sam Singer, a spokesman for McCaw, said the resignations were due to differences of opinion about the paper's direction, the AP reported. "She wants stronger and more local news coverage," Singer said. "They had different interests and chose to resign."
Roberts is a former managing editor and political editor of The Chronicle. In addition to Roberts and Murphy, managing editor George Foulsham, metro editor Jane Hulse, business editor Michael Todd and columnist Barney Brantingham resigned.
"I loved the job, I loved the paper and had no intention of leaving," said Murphy, who spent 19 years at the News-Press. "I just felt I had to leave."
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Other takes:
The LAObserved blog:
http://www.laobserved.com
The Santa Barbara Independent:
http://www.independent.com
E&P Staff