Monday, November 21, 2005
In the Eye of a Blinq
Dan Rubin, who writes a blog called Blinq at The Philadelphia Inquirer, saluted his departing colleagues and mentioned the KR Alumni effort:
It was part funeral, part seance. Ghosts roamed the floor - former colleagues Gene Foreman, Butch Ward, Clark DeLeon, Lil Swanson - all looking surprisingly vibrant. A goodbye song, to the tune of "We didn't start the fire," mentioned four friends who had died on the job. And then there was the letter.
Scores of old co-workers - many of them justly famous - circulated a statement this week that gathered their voices in protest. They want to nominate a slate of Knight Ridder directors that would fight for the right values next year as the company faces a move by institutional shareholders to force a sale or greater profitability. There were many in the newsroom encouraged by their former colleagues' solidarity.
Apparently they hadn't read the reply from the corporate spokesman, Polk Laffoon IV. "Well-intentioned gesture by good and honorable people," he said. Meaning, nice try.
It was part funeral, part seance. Ghosts roamed the floor - former colleagues Gene Foreman, Butch Ward, Clark DeLeon, Lil Swanson - all looking surprisingly vibrant. A goodbye song, to the tune of "We didn't start the fire," mentioned four friends who had died on the job. And then there was the letter.
Scores of old co-workers - many of them justly famous - circulated a statement this week that gathered their voices in protest. They want to nominate a slate of Knight Ridder directors that would fight for the right values next year as the company faces a move by institutional shareholders to force a sale or greater profitability. There were many in the newsroom encouraged by their former colleagues' solidarity.
Apparently they hadn't read the reply from the corporate spokesman, Polk Laffoon IV. "Well-intentioned gesture by good and honorable people," he said. Meaning, nice try.
