Kaye is out

Well, it's official: Ron Kaye, Managing Editor of the Los Angeles Daily News, is out. Rumors of an imminent departure have been floating around for a few days now, and now those rumors have become fact.

Several journalists under Kaye have already come forward to lament the loss of that rarest of creatures - a MediaNews editor capable of inspiring his staff, rather than simply playing the role of Singleton apologist every time more bad news comes along.

Daily News reporter Kerry Cavanaugh says it best:

"It's devastating to lose Ron. He has been the backbone and personality of the Daily News for so long and he made the newsroom a fun, challenging and kooky place to work. As a manager, he is respectful of his employees, yet pushes us to dig deeper, be more creative and do this job more passionately. That's been an inspiration, especially over the last year as the newsroom budget was cut and cut again. But Ron really showed his true character in February during the layoffs. He met with every person let go. He apologized. He cried for the newsroom. We were told the truth and treated with dignity. And that is what every worker deserves from their boss."

The real tragedy here isn't that MediaNews lost Kaye, it's that precious few of his contemporaries have shown the same strength of leadership.