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* I wondered how my new editor at the Sun-Times was gonna react when candidate endorsement season arrived.
Cheryl Reed thought she had been given total control over the editorial page. I suspected that her independence would not extend to endorsements. And now she’s gone…
Cheryl Reed, the editorial page editor, has quit, and quite spectacularly.
* From Ms. Reed’s memo…
“I am deeply troubled that the editorial board members were not allowed to address concerns raised about the Obama [February 1] and McCain [February 3] editorials, even though the endorsements were turned in more than two days before they were published. Instead, wholesale rewrites were done by people who aren’t even on the board, including one person who is no longer employed by the paper.”
* I used to joke with Steve Huntley, the former editorial page editor, that his alcohol intake must’ve increased drastically during endorsement season. The big boys would make him write some difficult pieces, to say the least. Rod Blagojevich, Todd Stroger, and on and on and on. It couldn’t have been easy.
Reed was a relative newcomer to Illinois, so she wasn’t around to see the endorsements from the 2002 primary, which caused a furor when every hack in town got the paper’s nod.
* In Reed’s case however, it doesn’t appear that the endorsements themselves were directed from on-high, as was done before. Reed quit because the editorials were ordered rewritten by the top echelon.
More from Reed’s memo…
Not only does [the rewrite] undermine my position but it devalues and patronizes the editorial board writers who wrote the original endorsements: an African-American, a Latino and two white women. (As you know, both endorsements were rewritten by white men.)
* Reed was very big on bringing diversity to the editorial page. For instance, my twice-monthly (three times in months with five Friday’s) column was cut back to once a month to, I was informed, make room for an African-American woman and a Latina. I never felt so white or so male, even though I try more than many to write about black and Latino politics as much as I can.
But, I got over it. Them’s the breaks. It’s their paper, they can do what they want with it, I figured. They don’t tell me what to put in the Capitol Fax, I don’t tell them how to run their shop. Even, Steven.
* Mike Miner writes that Reed hasn’t been happy for a while. I knew she was upset, but didn’t know she had threatened to quit…
A couple of weeks ago I heard that she’d turned in her resignation — she couldn’t have been a happy camper after layoffs cost her about half her staff.
She was talked into staying, and then the endorsements were rewritten and she quit. There was more going on there - shifting sands of internal politics left over from the previous rulers, but that’s for someone else to write about. I try to stay out of that.
* The irony is, Reed left just as the paper appears to be going on the auction block…
Sun-Times Media Group. Inc. said late Monday that directors are weighing a number of “strategic alternatives,” including a possible sale of the struggling Chicago publishing concern.
The board’s decision to “explore strategic next steps” is “the right thing to do the ensure the future of the Sun-Times Media Group publications and Web sites and to generate the highest value for our shareholders,” said Cyrus Freidheim, the holding company’s Chief Executive Officer. […]
Sun-Times Media’s announcement came after the market’s close Monday. Based on the company’s share price of $1.38, Sun-Times Media has a market capitalization of $111 million.
Anybody wanna go in with me?
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Feb 5, 08 @ 9:07 am
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editorial board writers who wrote the original endorsements: an African-American, a Latino and two white women. (As you know, both endorsements were rewritten by white men.)
So, the rewrites ADDED diversity, and yet that was a BAD thing?
I never felt so white or so male
Want me to see if I can find a copy of the HR memo “Diversity vs the White Male” that my firm put out once?
Comment by Pat collins Tuesday, Feb 5, 08 @ 9:11 am
Like I said, Pat, I got over it.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Feb 5, 08 @ 9:12 am
I got five on it, Rich. Five dollars, not five million. That should buy me a paragraph of snark somewhere deep in the paper, right?
Comment by Bill S. Preston, Esq. Tuesday, Feb 5, 08 @ 9:17 am
Pat… Quoting Johnny Dangerously..Once, Your firm put out that memo, once!
Rich, why not remove Mary Mitchel’s colum for a Latina or Indo-American sinc eall of her columns are the same? Spare the Rich!
I’ve got my usual .02 to go in on the bidding
Comment by Wumpus Tuesday, Feb 5, 08 @ 9:19 am
In all due seriousness, doesn’t the Trib do the same thing? You’d read all sorts of stories and columns, yet come election day, there’d be endorsements that didnt quite match the tone of the editorials the year before.
I can see it’s no fun as an editor to be overruled, but it seems to be not an isolated case.
Comment by Pat collins Tuesday, Feb 5, 08 @ 9:20 am
$111 million (or more) for the STMG? My gut says that’s overvalued. Considering your flagship lost institutional memory in staff cuts and is under direct competition in a declining advertising market (which will only shrink if we are indeed in or headed into a recession), I have to wonder who would think this is a good buy? A private owner might find it appealing if they were willing to invest in the company and only expect long-term returns. Hopefully this will be what the STMG gets, but I wouldn’t be surprised if another media company snatches them up.
Let the speculation of who will/would buy the Sun-Times. Let’s throw out this name: GateHouse. Yea or nay?
Comment by Kiyoshi Martinez Tuesday, Feb 5, 08 @ 9:26 am
I’ll chip in $100 if it means I can become a sportswriter.
Comment by Fire Ron Guenther Tuesday, Feb 5, 08 @ 9:30 am
You should get with Yusef Jackson. lol!
Comment by Levois Tuesday, Feb 5, 08 @ 9:32 am
I would think Gatehouse has gone a little too far into debt to consider buying a paper that’s already suffered draconian staff cuts and attrition (their favored means of getting papers to turn a profit), but that hasn’t stopped them from buying other papers before.
Comment by Bookworm Tuesday, Feb 5, 08 @ 9:37 am
Levois, as I recall, Yusef offered well over $400 million and was turned down. Oops.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Feb 5, 08 @ 9:52 am
I think I can find $1.38 in the couch cushions… Maybe another $1.38 rolling around the family bus.
Does that get me half a headline?
Comment by Rob_N Tuesday, Feb 5, 08 @ 9:53 am
As a Latino, I’m offended that the quota system has given us the “Latina” at the Sun-Times. Has anyone read her stuff. Its pathetic and insulting, not only to fellow Latinos, but to journalism in general. Latinos have standards too and Teresa Puente does live up to them.
Comment by El Politico Tuesday, Feb 5, 08 @ 9:54 am
In my more naive days I used to consider newspaper endorsements because I bought into the logic that these were educated men and women who were more familiar with the candidates and issues than I was. Since they were also intertwined with the community, their judgment had value in my making my final choices.
I now know that the forces, which make those selections, are far less altruistic. Cheryl Reed was part of the process before and has been reminded that her opinions are her own, not that of the paper she worked for. Not sure of the dynamics here, but shouldn’t the readers know who is making the endorsements?
In fact, I now believe that since the pubic does not really know who is making those selections or why those selections are being made, the newspapers need to get out of the business of making endorsements entirely. There are too many opportunities to make ‘mischief’ by withholding information on stories, candidates or steering the public toward a desired opinion. A simple summary of the candidates and positions is all that should be done.
I am speaking as one who has successfully run for local office, both with and without the endorsements of the local media, so no personal sour grapes here.
Comment by plutocrat03 Tuesday, Feb 5, 08 @ 9:57 am
Quitters never win.
Her actions says a lot, doesn’t it? Does it say that she was only interested in her own opinion? That she had decided that there should be no counter-opinion regarding her views on diversity. Her action says that she believed that her interpretation was the correct way to view it. She was too self-righteous to allow any evolution of thought regarding her views. Time be damned - she was ready, and how dare anyone stand in her way? Is that how we are left to interpret her action?
So she got on her high horse and instead of having mobs of enlightened masses follow her into that progressive new world, she discovered that they were waffling and had second thoughts. So she charged over a cliff - by herself. She didn’t seem to quite understand her role in the bigger picture, did she?
Now the paper doesn’t have her around. So much for the ideas she represented - she did them a disservice. Who will pick up the slack? Most likely it will be someone that knows how to make progress happen, and respects reality. Perhaps they won’t threaten to quit when they feel mishandled. They will probably have more patience. But they could even be another quitter, and the job will move on to another person entirely. Who knows? But she made a little point with her actions about it, didn’t she?
Evolution of ideas doesn’t just pour down non-stop, sometimes it pools until the forces within it can no longer be contained. Then it will flow again until it meets new resistance. History is full of starts and stops because people are not machines. Everything meets resistance if it really means something. You don’t quit.
You see, its not about US. When we have a great idea, WE don’t become the idea. We have to be humble enough to realize that we are only a container which carries these ideas to other people. No one benefits when you discover resistance and you turn away in failure. Actions like this are only self-serving. Strive to be enlightened enough to be patient with others even when they mock you. Pass your great idea to others open to it and share.
When you don’t respect traditions, you also fail to change them. Listen, learn - then lead.
Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Feb 5, 08 @ 10:04 am
Weak-kneed and unsuited for hand-to-hand combat, apparently. Or maybe she got out while the getting is good. The Sun-Times is in trouble. Good thing Mr. Miller has a side gig.
Comment by chiatty Tuesday, Feb 5, 08 @ 10:10 am
I’ll save my money, the Sun-Times is worthless anyway.
Comment by Randy Tuesday, Feb 5, 08 @ 10:31 am
Well, I really don’t usually say this, but, well said, VM.
Comment by Jon Shibley Fan Tuesday, Feb 5, 08 @ 10:34 am
VanillaMan - you deserve a Pulitzer for that tirade.
Comment by JohnnyUSA Tuesday, Feb 5, 08 @ 10:36 am
I’ll take a piece, but only if you expand your column to 5 days a week. I haven’t bought a Sun-Times since they cut you back. That was about the same time they cut the number of words in the paper in half. Now it is mostly pictures and ads. Not enough ads though, apparently.
Seeya Reed, you loser.
Comment by Bill Tuesday, Feb 5, 08 @ 10:49 am
VM,
Could you possibly try to be a little less pompous and arrogant?…and you write about being humble???
Comment by Bill Tuesday, Feb 5, 08 @ 10:51 am
Cheryl Reed made dramatic and welcome changes to
the editorial pages of the Sun Times. There was
a sudden increase in the number of women’s opinions
seen on the pages. The equality was apparent and
long overdue.
The Obama endorsement was not a surprise, but the
editor of the page should not be undermined. Good
for her for quitting them. It’s their loss.
But, someone should step up and buy the paper
before Jack Ryan does. He would probably
put Elliot Harris in charge of the editorial
page.
Comment by amy Tuesday, Feb 5, 08 @ 10:57 am
VM, I believe I will save your post to reread often. Thanks to Bill I am no longer undecided. He seems to represent everything that is bad about politics.
Comment by undecided Tuesday, Feb 5, 08 @ 11:05 am
undecided,
If I start bawling will you change your vote?
Comment by Bill Tuesday, Feb 5, 08 @ 1:34 pm
The Sun Times is dying. Its columnists are all cut from the same cloth, it has the worst sports section of all the areas papers(not to mention the universally acclaimed worst sports columnist). Is it any surprise that circulation is falling? On the public transportation that I ride , no one reads it. The new owner will have to make dramatic changes to save the paper in this climate.
Comment by mk Tuesday, Feb 5, 08 @ 5:44 pm