Rich Jackson as Pal-Item Editor, RIP
Catching up on my reading, I want to note that the recently departed editor of the Pal-Item, Rich Jackson, is speaking out about his termination from the position. Doug Masson pointed me to an article in Editor and Publisher, a newspaper industry rag. Having been tuned out for the past week, I also missed Chris Hardie’s coverage of the article on his Richmond News Review site at the beginning of the month.
Mr. Jackson speculates that his firing on July 17th related to his MySpace personal page on which he posted "humor writing." The page is gone now (or at least private), but I caught it when it was up. Jackson’s claim is that his content was tame, but when I viewed it that was not my take. At the time (June 1st) I wrote to a friend:
But I guess I’m a little turned off by that kind of thing. When I think about the Editor of the Paper, even a small town paper like the PI, I don’t want to think about some middle-aged balding guy "dry humping" his couch. It sort of takes away too much of the veneer of professionalism for my tastes.
I can’t help but think he is aware that most folks online could track him down, and it is only a matter of time before someone on the forum outs his myspace blog for a personal attack. Maybe that’s is what he is waiting for, sort of a cry for help.
His comment about single moms and handing candy out to kids would probably cost him his job, if someone made an issue out of it.
Strange indeed.
Also interesting in Mr. Jackson’s self post-mortem is his claim that his firing may have had to do with the Pal-Item’s controversial coverage of the EDC fiasco. Jackson feels that the paper’s focus angered powerful local business interests and that they may have pressured the publisher to oust him. No proof is offered, so Mr. Jackson’s parting gift to the community is a nice dose of fuel for the local conspiracy theory mill:
"I think the combination of that and someone disliking the content on my Myspace.com profile caused enough fear," he said.
One of those who complained about the coverage, Jackson contends, is Renee Oldham, executive director of Main Street Richmond, a local non-profit group that promotes business. Jackson said she approached the publisher and hinted that she would try to have him removed.
"That is absolutely ludicrous," Oldham told E&P. She declined to comment on the paper’s coverage of the EDC.
Jackson said he has not taken any action against the paper or made any moves to try to get this job back. "I hope to just move on," he said.
August 11th, 2006 22:23
Hope you had a nice vacation.
I never read Rich Jackson’s blog, but speaking out to Editor & Publisher and even naming Renee Oldham as possibly responsible for his firing seems unprofessional. He says he is ready to move on, but all the pointing fingers at others suggests otherwise.