Recently, a very unhappy reader wrote a letter of complaint to the Home News Tribune in East Brunswick, N.J. The subject: Jay Jefferson Cooke, whose column appears three times a week.
"Am I the only one in the Home News area," Neil R. Smith wondered, "who is fed up with Jay Jefferson Cooke? Creative feature writing should be just that, not the (HEY BABY) shout outs to his (Peeps) we don’t know or really care about. For him to think that as a writer he needs to school us in the Ebonics of the Hood, give me a break. This is Jersey. If he is so in love with Philly (the greatest place in the world baby) how about sending him packing there and bring back some quality writers. But then again, you won't. I'll not be bothered by that, as I won’t read another edition.”
Yesterday, Cooke published the letter in his column, addressing Smith's concerns under the headline: "A dearest reader gets his 15 minutes of fame."
He wasn't exactly sympathetic.
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| Cooke |
Yesterday, Cooke published the letter in his column, addressing Smith's concerns under the headline: "A dearest reader gets his 15 minutes of fame."
He wasn't exactly sympathetic.
Jay Cooke does not use ebonics. He is highly educated and well written. Some of his columns are a little off beat and we get tired of his
ReplyDeleteuse of nicknames, etc., but his column is (should be) the least of our worries in NJ.
Before I posted this, I read five other recent Cooke columns I found on the newspaper's website.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of the content of Cooke's other columns (and yes, I read them too), it's poor editorial policy to let a writer attack anyone via his or her column.
ReplyDeleteAs for Cooke's writing, "twee" and "precious" come to mind. He mentions that he's 47, but his tone reminds me of a high schooler's "Dear Diary" entry.
Jay Jefferson Cooke is pompous, arrogant and conceited, yes, but his column is, nonetheless, entertaining. I guess you have to know him to love him (not saying that I do). Just like anything else, if you don't like it, then don't read it.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who has been in the business long enough to be close to 50 -- especially a columnist -- should have developed thicker skin by now.
ReplyDeleteIn the days of responsible journalism, Cooke's goose would have been cooked long before it ever got to this point. His disrespect for readers defies belief. Is this the "new" journalism?
ReplyDelete10:27 again
ReplyDeleteOh, and Cherry Hill has a couple almost as bad!
What is most important there JJC is that you lost a reader, a loyal subscriber. I know him. He canceled after decades long loyalty. Is one subscriber that big a deal? No. But how many others just don't care about JJC or THNT, the diminished coverage of Middlesex County, and the lack of representation of Central Jersey for points not even in this state! When confronted you pretend like only your opinion matters and that your dear readers do not.
ReplyDeleteJJC is a symptom of a far greater problem. Irrelevance.
Now go write a column about how you aren't irrelevant and still include a reference to Philadelphia for a newspaper that has nothing to do with that city.
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ReplyDeleteOn a personal level, had I read such an obvious "F*CK YOU" from any public person to any private person, I'd never bother to read past his byline again.
ReplyDeleteIllusion or not, fair or not, fame means you put yourself up for potshots from the little people. Whether you're a blog publisher or that Brent Fahrve guy, you take it with grace because thousands of people can identify with the little guy and barely anyone will identify with you. The expectation from the public is that you will be the bigger man, and whining should be beneath you.
To issue a letter response (that you acknowledge won't be read) is self-serving, infantile and spits in the face of other people who may not be as vocal in describing their dismay, but are just as capable of canceling their subscriptions.
This sort of crap is what people are supposed to get out of their system while working on their college weekly or their first 11,000 circ paper.
That an editor nearing 50 does not have the comportment to address reader concerns in a more suitable manner demonstrates a lack of leadership and decorum that is better suited to the papers with adult service classifieds in the back.
People like opinionated, forceful, interesting personalities. But nobody likes a jerk.
Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-z-z-z-z-z-z
ReplyDeleteDearest Cooke’s public spanking of an average reader by name should have never been allowed.
ReplyDeleteAt a minimum, Cooke should deliver a newspaper to Smith with an apology…remember, poor delivery prompted his note. Preferably, the copy Cooke brings would include a public apology in his column for his arrogance and ignorance. A sidebar by the publisher stating Home News values all customers’ views, especially those with delivery concerns would be published too.
And for as intelligent Cooke obviously prides himself to be, he didn’t do himself any further favors by writing; “I do not talk or write in Ebonics” only to admit that he doesn’t know what it is, then asking someone to tell him. Well Cooke, Google it and Oakland Schools.
WTF mates? They really allowed this? Hm. Wow. Way to alienate readers. That aside, did they fire the person responsible for checking grammar? Sentences that start with and? Lovely.
ReplyDeleteJJC's immediate supervisor, the general manager, should be held accountable for this uncalled for retaliation by the columnist. Of course, that is not going to happen. No wonder the C-N is now a sub-20,000 circulation daily.
ReplyDeleteThis thread prompted me to go check out Mr. Cooke's last few columns. He should have kept quiet on the critical letter and continued to be a lousy writer in middle-joysey, obscurity. Now his colleagues around the country know he's ass AND he can't write.
ReplyDeleteIs he a GCI lifer? Where else has he worked?
ReplyDeleteWhy is he humiliating his readers _ or at least trying to, IMO. He needs them to get a paycheck. Must be thin-skinned to take a letter from a reader so personally.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lost opportunity. Why didn't Cooke take the reader out for lunch (or coffee, if expenses are an issue), talk with him, explain his job to him, discuss the changes facing newspapers? He could have heard how newspaper readers are reacting to those changes. He'd have gotten a much better column out if the issue. And most importantly, future readers of his paper would not be reluctant to comment to their newspaper because they don't want to be slapped around. Sad. -- Bob in L.A.
ReplyDeleteJay's talent is not as a columnist. His talents are being wasted. He is arrogant, and he doesn't care what people think of him, but he knows the business. I don't know why all the fuss about this column - he has had some far worse. We are tired of Tee Hee Hee, and Black the cat and now someone he refers to as Bruisey. I think this one is being called out because it is going to be an opportunity for the company to take some people in charge down for allowing it in. As far as losing customers, the HNT is losing more than that one and it is for reasons like paper not being delivered on time, poor customer service, etc.
ReplyDeleteThe ever pompus and self righteous PG should be held to the fire for this one...
9:31, I concur about PG but I doubt it will happen. The need for local columnists who don't focus locally needs to be assessed, in the contexr of diminishing newsholes and newsroom staff. The paper's readers would lose nothing of value if JJC's column were eliminating, other than head-scratching at his self-serving references. Gannett NJ's leadership should use this opportunity for some long overdue, and positive, change.
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ReplyDelete10:33 Here and as I wrote previously I know Mr. Smith personally - Hey Cooke! You called Mr. Smith a liar should he ever read a copy of the THNT, especially should he go looking for his opinion in print. Well sir I can tell you Mr. Smith did not find out through your newspaper that his opinion was ever published. He found out about it through me and THIS BLOG!
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ReplyDelete5:09 apparently you are trying to get something stirred up here - Mr. Smith got his fifteen minutes of fame - now will he go after someone in circulation and customer service as well? I wonder if you are someone who was let go by the company. You certainly sound as if you have an axe to grind. Don't you have more to do than tattle tale????
ReplyDeleteI am not a fan of Jay Cooke's - in fact I have complained about his columns often. However, the whole tone of Smith's letter is disturbing - the reference to ebonics and the hood - clearly racial undertones. Smith was angry about his delivery and he had to vent somewhere. But just as Jay Cooke was man enough to call Smith out in his column, Smith should have been man enough to send the letter directly to Jay Cooke. I have emailed Cooke several times about his column and he always replies. It is extremely sad when NJ has had the floods to deal with, people losing all of their belongings and misplaced, this column of Cooke's is getting all of the attention.
ReplyDeleteJay Cooke is a very useful person to have in a newsroom, and I have no doubt his talents have been wasted over the years. But as a columnist he is nothing more than a pompous ass and a bully. This is hardly the first time he has used a column to call out a reader, and it won't be the last. He has numerous axes to grind -- some legitimate, some not, most not appropriate to use as column fodder -- but he knows he's untouchable. And his boss is useless. The "PG" noted above is Paul Grzella, a very hard-working guy for someone in his position but also someone up to his eyebrows in conflicts of interest and ethical lapses and often downright absurd judgement when it comes to allocation of resources. No wonder the CN was the biggest loser in a business of losers from 2000-2010. I was there for every one of those years (even when "there" moved!) and can tell you it is truly a ship of fools. Deserved all of the staggering circulation losses, and some of the actual work force deserved so much better. What a clown show, and shoving into the Home News Tribune only made the clown show grow exponentially. That place sucked almost as much -- almost. And when the empty suits in Neptune are calling what few shots they are allowed to call, it only gets worse.
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