Columnist and editorial writer Paul O’Connor was one of the three Winston-Salem Journal employees let go last week in the continuing effort to reduce costs. Editorial page editor Linda Brinson delivers a hearfelt bye-bye:
So, if Paul is so great, why was he fired Tuesday? These are undeniably difficult times for newspapers as they try to figure out how to remain profitable while revenues drop, more readers find their news online and the economy is struggling. Our news staff has been cut repeatedly over the last few years; even though our editorial staff was comparatively small to begin with, our turn came last week.
Paul’s departure will hit the rest of our department hard. He was not just “an editorial writer in Raleigh”; more to the point, he was one of only two editorial writers on the staff. That leaves us with one, and, when he’s on vacation, no one whose job description is editorial writer. There will be some adjustments as we figure out how to use our resources to serve the readers as best we can.
I’ll assume the “he” is John Railey, who oh-so-skillfully compares Jefferson Davis to —-gee, I wonder who—–
In his new book about the capture and imprisonment of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Pursuit (Kensington Publishing Corp.), Clint Johnson of Ashe County skillfully paints a world not that different from our own. It’s a world where a leader’s blind belief in his unrighteous cause aggravates his downfall, and confusion and posturing swirl about him.
If that’s the case, the Journal’s editorials should really be a lot of fun now.
