Regarding Reno Gazette-Journal Publisher Ted Power's just-announced move to chief of the Design Studio at The Des Moines Register, Anonymous@7:52 p.m. writes:
I'm happy for Ted and more respectful than ever of his new boss, Executive Editor Rick Green.
It's apparent that Rick walked onto the battlefield, lifted a wounded soldier from the ground and carried him to safety. So it is that a dedicated warrior gets to fight on.
My bet is that Ted will respond with first-class work, soon putting his embarrassing mistake behind him.
Gannett will likely benefit from this re-allocation of talent. It's a touch of class from a company sorely in need of an image upgrade. It's a tiny step toward creating a supportive company culture that is both demanding as hell and understanding of human frailities. Even among those in its top ranks.
Big picture, strategic thinking, I say.
It's apparent that Rick walked onto the battlefield, lifted a wounded soldier from the ground and carried him to safety. So it is that a dedicated warrior gets to fight on.
My bet is that Ted will respond with first-class work, soon putting his embarrassing mistake behind him.
Gannett will likely benefit from this re-allocation of talent. It's a touch of class from a company sorely in need of an image upgrade. It's a tiny step toward creating a supportive company culture that is both demanding as hell and understanding of human frailities. Even among those in its top ranks.
Big picture, strategic thinking, I say.
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.
This is to the people of Des Moines and journalists.
ReplyDeleteRick Green was executive editor of The Desert Sun in Palm Springs. His wife worked for the city of Desert Hot Springs, a "suburb" of Palm Springs.
Rick Green's wife worked directly under Rick Daniels, city manager of Desert Hot Springs.
Rick Green did not exclude himself from the comings and goings of Desert Hot Springs. I'm not even going to say that Mr. Daniels received preferential treatment. What I am saying is Rick Green did not recuse himself, which to me unforgivable and lacks what we all have strived to uphold. Where is the integrity? Tell me, please, where is it.
Any journalist from Podunk U knows this is a serious breach of public trust.
I'm no blogger spewing B.S. The facts are facts. What is worse? Rick Green getting "promoted" to The Des Moines Register, or Gannett having its head buried in the sand.
You, education journalists, and regular people, make the call. If it was a good "chain," the guy would be fired on the spot. Oh, Knight Ridder is gone.
And by the way, when is the next corporate back-slapping party in a swanky hotel in Palm Springs where we can golf and slurp down some coldies?
I'm not a working journalist but you asked for input.
ReplyDeleteObviously, this was a bad decision. Women are pretty much only good for one thing in the workforce, and for this guy to send his wife out to work 'under' a suburb's city manager, well, it's obvious the editor was out to get some payback.
Oh wait, you're implying that the suburb might get favorable coverage. Well that makes sense. An editor should risk a high paying gig making life nice for the folks keeping his wife busy for $35k.
C'mon, really? An editor's wife has to stay home in her housecoat because quite literally, her husband's job may touch any possible employer in their city? And if she has a job, the editor has to avoid that employer like the plague?
Even if it were true... even if all the forces the Desert Sun could muster to make this suburb look good were brought to bear - so what?
The EE can't use that power - he has to play straight just because the bosses above him and the staff under him know the situation and he would get called on it. Even anonymously, every one of our organizations has a blogger in the community who points out our real and imagined hypocrisies.
The public trust ain't what it used to be. We used to tell them we were a local paper too, but now you order your paper from Louisville, you pay the bill in Springfield, your ad is built in Bangalore, your nation page is from McLean. The editor's wife's occupation isn't real high up on the reader's giveashit list.
Look, if the spouse was the city manager, different story. If the spouse was the managing editor, different story. But at some point people can have lives, even journalists (and god bless them, their spouses) - and if the publisher, staff and readership in Palm Springs didn't run him out of town because of the situation, then there probably wasn't any legitimate concerns there.
A........folks have any of you ever been to Desert Hot Springs? Folks it should be called Desert No Place. It is such a mo place that Al Capone used to go there to hide from the Feds. Believe me if The Desert Sun writes three stories a year about Desert Hot Springs, that would be a lot. It's obvious the poster is a hater. Peace and love baby!
ReplyDeleteI worked in a cube next to Rick Green for years. I met his children and wife and heard a lot of his phone calls. Rick is nothing short of a stand-up personality. He isn't perfect but he is good at being human.
ReplyDeleteIf you criticize Rick, maybe you should look at your own house for what needs to be clean up. The Greens are no worse and no better than yourself.
Nevertheless, 6:47 p.m., this would appear to be a conflict if The Desert Sun covered the government of Desert Hot Springs, which I imagine it did. And 5:58 a.m.: Knight Ridder weren't so pure. The Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune, in the final years that chained owned it, was blatantly corrupt in a city that is one of the most corrupt small cities in the United States. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about.
ReplyDeleteNow that Rick Green is out as editor of The Desert Sun "TDS" in Palm Springs, new position is taken by editor on the boondoggle Wellness and World Music Festival.
ReplyDeleteBackground: City of Desert Hot Springs "DHS" gave a $250,000 deposit to a promoter to put on a music festival. TDS gave a thumbs up to the festival. Green's wife as employee of City of DHS and Green as editor of supposed news watch dog of city govt. Wife smack in middle of whole thing read this at page 3 , promoter had weekly contact w/ editor's wife: http://207.232.89.104/sirepub/cache/0/tuonzt45qwk5wri2f3cc5puw/449401182011125828673.PDF. fn1 Fest never took place. DHS out $250,000 so far.
Now TDS new editor now states "...plans for a Wellness & World Music Festival, The Desert Sun gave the idea a thumbs up....We didn't check the fine print, though. Apparently, neither did the city....(TDS) special report last week found evidence that (promoter) appears to be, ... a charlatan" source: http://www.mydesert.com/article/20110123/OPINION01/101220358/1047/Take-deep-breath-DHS
fn1 I found this pdf file as it was posted in a comment on the TDS website by "openmindedpalmsprings" http://www.mydesert.com/comments/article/20110118/NEWS01/101180310/New-contract-Daniels-approved-by-DHS-City-Council
I have lived in the city of Desert Hot Springs for the last decade and paid attention to what went on. Let's set the record straight. This article does a good job of explaining this difficult situation. http://www.vote29.com/newmyblog/wp-admin/post.php?post=34877&action=edit
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