Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Another departure


We've gotten word that Craig Howie, copy editor at the Torrance Daily Breeze and former copy chief at the Press-Telegram, will be leaving the company to pursue other opportunities, citing "industry conditions" as his motivation.

Howie becomes the latest MediaNews staffer to depart the company, already plagued by layoffs and attrition.

The loss of so many valuable personnel has become an all-too-common refrain for LANG. We contacted Howie to get a little more information, and he sent us this:

So I just wanna say thanks to all the PT bods past and present and all at the Breeze, both to the ones I'll keep up with and the ones who inevitably will drift away. Newsroom staffers are always great people and sincerely I wish all of you the best. Perhaps one thing that's rarely mentioned when dealing with the whole sad industry situation is battered pride, but all of my colleagues at all times maintained pride in their work, pride in their colleagues and pride in their organization. In better times, their worth will be recognized. I sincerely hope. Till then, see ya.


We'd like to wish Craig success wherever the future takes him. His humor and dedication will surely be missed.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

we had heard repeated concerns by craig, talking about the slop standards by management. he didn't want his fingerprints on an inferior product. he had standards. and it had nothing to do about just surviving, saving one's own hide. he was missed in long beach ... and in torrance by those with journalistic ethics. let it rain on p.s.

Len Cutler said...

Don't make this ugly. The journalists aren't making the business decisions, so let's not blame them or question their ethics. I know they work just as hard as anyone else.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

I, for one, will miss Craig dearly. We had many good and raucous conversations about the joys and pitfalls of modern journalism.

Keep in touch and good luck, mate.

Anonymous said...

the blog administrator is out of control. there have been legit comments posted, and deleting them simply because they were generated from the breezit is unfair. being on the guild payroll does not give you the mandate to dictate the dialogue.

Len Cutler said...

the blog administrator is out of control. there have been legit comments posted, and deleting them simply because they were generated from the breezit is unfair. being on the guild payroll does not give you the mandate to dictate the dialogue.


I deleted those comments, and it had nothing to do with where they came from. Personal attacks will not be tolerated.

Anonymous said...

"being on the guild payroll does not give you the mandate to dictate the dialogue."


isn't this a guild blog?

Anonymous said...

Are the people commenting on this blog mostly journalists or all sniveling, angry, resentful amateurs? Some of the comments here are mean-spirited and just plain juvenile.

Look, according to this blog's tagline, the administrators believe "... open dialogue is crucial to building successful relationships ..." Well maybe it should read "respectful open dialogue ..." because you ain't building "successful relationships" with those people.

Maybe you need to clearly define the ground rules for comments right up front. Seems to me this blog owner – there's a union logo on the page so it must be union-run, right? – needs to be as responsible as other unions' blog administrators and MODERATE THE COMMENTS!

I check in here once in awhile so I can find out what's going on at the P-T. Usually there's good stuff here. But I'm amazed at the nastiness of the commenters.

Len Cutler said...

Are the people commenting on this blog mostly journalists or all sniveling, angry, resentful amateurs? Some of the comments here are mean-spirited and just plain juvenile.

Look, according to this blog's tagline, the administrators believe "... open dialogue is crucial to building successful relationships ..." Well maybe it should read "respectful open dialogue ..." because you ain't building "successful relationships" with those people.

Maybe you need to clearly define the ground rules for comments right up front. Seems to me this blog owner – there's a union logo on the page so it must be union-run, right? – needs to be as responsible as other unions' blog administrators and MODERATE THE COMMENTS!

I check in here once in awhile so I can find out what's going on at the P-T. Usually there's good stuff here. But I'm amazed at the nastiness of the commenters.


There's been an internal discussion on the merits of going back to moderated comments, and I've managed to temporarily delay it - so long as our visitors remain respectful and professional. But the decision is the Guild's, not mine.

We want the dialogue to be as open as possible. But not at the cost of harboring and promoting insults and hostility.

The open comment system is a privilege, not a right. If it's abused, it will be revoked.

Anonymous said...

We'll miss you Craig. Please stay in touch. Beer and Filipino food when you come up for air.

Anonymous said...

Good luck Craig, your talents will be missed.

Anonymous said...

craig: wish you the best. i know you did your best for the p-t and the rest, and yet stayed mellow through all the turmoil. you're highly regarded, and we all enjoyed the accent. joe