Rich Jackson was interviewed about his firing from the Palladium-Item for an article in Editor & Publisher, which brings the local personnel issue into the national spotlight of media matters. We've mentioned Jackson's departure from the Pal-Item here previously, but this is the first public comment we know of from either party involved in the matter.
In the article, Jackson cites his (now inaccessible) MySpace.com profile page, and the Pal-Item management's interpretation of some of its content as inappropriate, as the primary factor in his dismissal. Jackson also noted that he thinks the Pal-Item was pressured by civic leaders to dismiss him after his role in the paper's investigation into the Economic Development Corporation of Wayne County. According to Jackson, the paper's publisher, Pat Doyle, indicated that the dismissal was for performance reasons.
Read the full article at the E&P website, and stay tuned to this week's episode of the Richmond News Review for more coverage and commentary.
Great catch on the article. Thanks for the coverage!
Comment by MGM — Wednesday August 2, 2006 @ 11:55 pmhuh. my gut tells me this whole thing might have more to do with how quickly support can sour when successful innovation turns its eye to limping sacred cows. in other words, our little paper was getting kudos for its efforts to deepen itself and focus on scooping some news. but when that investigative reporting turned toward the EDC it was no longer welcome, and regardless of kudos, someone decided some changes needed to be made.
furthermore, i find this whole "you be the editor" shtick offensive. if the pal-item was supposed to find more '"real life, real news" stories', as quoted in the article mentioned above, how do the options of "Storm names", "Boomers and their RVs", "Super mom cartoon strip", or "New fragrance in men's cologne", none of which have anything to do with Richmond / Wayne County, have anything to do with real life or real news?
Comment by derric — Thursday August 3, 2006 @ 4:06 pmIt's an old Richmond story: the powers-that-be object to investigations into
Comment by J — Friday August 4, 2006 @ 1:18 pmthe way that business is conducted and somehow find a way to shut down those
who would reveal some truths. It's threatening, I suppose, to have the dirty
laundry aired. But threatening to what? And whose interest? Hmmm...
I guess from now on the hard hitting news will have to come from Radio Station
K96
Chris thanks for the link on the PI forums
Comment by Nick Wilson — Sunday August 6, 2006 @ 4:38 pm[...] 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. [...]
Pingback by Kemplog » Blog Archive » Rich Jackson as Pal-Item Editor, RIP — Saturday August 26, 2006 @ 7:43 amThis is typical of a corporation trying to blame somebody else for their mismanaged affairs and failures. When you have power, and money, you have corruption and deceit. And the little man is tossed in quick sand with his hands tied behind his back
Comment by s — Wednesday January 3, 2007 @ 1:26 pm