Don't let the door hit you on the way out; Globe cuts 15 employees, reportedly including veteran Surbrugg

When you work for a twice-weekly newspaper, you always have the fear that the big regional daily is going to publish a big story before it hits your pages.

When I was at the Lamar Democrat between 1982 and 1990, I worked hard, then kept my fingers crossed that Mike Surbrugg, the Joplin Globe reporter who covered Lamar and Barton County, would not get hold of some major story before our next edition was published.

Unfortunately for me, thanks to Mike's diligent work, the Globe did beat the Democrat from time to time.

During the Edgar Simpson days, when Dow Jones, which owned the Globe at that time, convinced a number of veteran reporters to take buyouts, including Jo Ellis, who I was lucky enough to be able to hire at The Carthage Press. Mike Surbrugg resisted the buyout despite efforts to convince him to take it by making life at the Globe extremely uncomfortable.

For the past few years, Mike has been in semi-retirement, devoting his time at the Globe to the weekly farm section.

He won't be in charge of that section any more. Apparently, the section will either be dropped or filled with wire copy since Mike Surbrugg was reportedly one of 15 employees downsized by Globe management Thursday.

A source close to the situation told The Turner Report that most of the cuts were to part-time employees, who were gathered together in a Globe conference room, given the bad news, told to gather their things quickly, and then were escorted from the building.

Thanks for all of your hard work over the years, Mike, don't let the door hit you on the way out.

This round of cuts is reportedly not going to be the last one. Globe management was able to whittle down a CNHI directive to eliminate 22 positions, but the stay is reportedly only temporary.

Undoubtedly, the economy has hit everyone hard, including CNHI and the Joplin Globe. Bad times, however, are never an excuse for bad manners.

Is it really any wonder that no one holds this newspaper in high regard?

Globe milks final copy out of fired veteran reporter

Joplin Globe readers who turned to the farm page in the Sunday edition saw nothing unusual. It was the same type of farm page that has greeted them week after week, year after year.

Mike Surbrugg bylines were plentiful and Mike's face was pictured with his column. It was enough to give the Globe's readers, particularly those who are interested in agriculture, a sense of comfort, knowing that is one subject the Globe covers better than just about any newspaper in the state.

Whoops, I used the wrong tense in the previous paragraph. I should have written "the Globe covered better than just about any newspaper in the state."

Three days before the business-as-usual farm page ran in the Sunday edition, Globe management gave Mike Surbrugg and 14 other full or part-time employees the old heave-ho, reportedly having guards escort them from the premises.

Of course, that cavalier treatment of someone who gave his all for the Globe for decades did not stop the newspaper from milking every last bit of copy Mike Surbrugg turned out...while never having the guts (or the common decency) to tell readers of their actions.

Four days have passed since the firings. As of yet, not one word has been written in the pages of the Globe. Apparently, the Globe's philosophy is it's only news when it happens to someone else.

A lesson in hypocrisy

(The following is my column for this week's Newton County News.)

Over the years, Joplin Globe editors and reporters have earned a reputation for doggedly pursuing the truth, even to the point of browbeating politicians and businessmen who refuse to give them answers on anything the newspaper deems to be of public interest.

That dedication to the pursuit of the truth has enabled the Globe to break many important stories, something which, of course, benefits its readership.

During the past several months, the Globe has diligently pursued stories about layoffs at local plants, interviewing those who have been left without jobs and those who made the decisions on who would be sent to the unemployment line.

Unfortunately for Joplin Globe readers, that noble quest for news the public needs to know ended last Thursday. That was the day the axe swung at Globe headquarters. From what I have been able to discover, at least 15 full or part-time workers, and possibly as many as 25, were fired, including at least one name which should be familiar to those who have read the newspaper on a regular basis.

Farm Editor Mike Surbrugg had been with the Globe for at least three decades. During the time I was editor of the Lamar Democrat in the 1980s, Mike, in addition to handling the Sunday farm pages, was the regional reporter covering Lamar, Barton County, and numerous other areas. He has a reputation for working hard and doing his best to make sure his readers were receiving accurate information.

From what I have been told, Globe supervisors called the budget cut victims into their offices and told them their jobs no longer existed. After that, with no time to say goodbye to longtime friends, guards escorted the fired employees, including veterans like Mike Surbrugg, out of the building.

If this is the first time you have heard about this, it is not because you missed it in the Globe. The same newspaper that has bullied people who refuse to answer its questions has not written one word about this situation in the five days since the massacre occurred. The information has been available from only three sources, my blog The Turner Report, KOAM, which could get no comment from any Globe officials, and word of mouth.

Three days after leading Mike Surbrugg away from the building like he was some kind of security risk, the Globe Sunday edition ran his last farm page, complete with a column accompanied by his picture (smiling, of course). No mention of the fact that the man who put in all of the work that made the page possible was no longer employed by the newspaper.

I suppose it is a sign of the times. The Joplin Globe is far from the only media company to studiously avoid publicizing anything negative about itself. Sadly, that is something the media does every day. Some would call it good business sense.

A more accurate word would be hypocrisy.

It must be a slow business week in Joplin: Pac-Man Mania still top business story for Globe.

Judging from the business section on the Joplin Globe's website, not much is going on in the Joplin business community.

The lead story is still Wally Kennedy's riveting expose of a new business that offers the opportunity for its customers to play vintage video games such as Pac-Man.

Many of the articles on the business page of the website were written by veteran reporter Mike Surbrugg, who was unceremoniously given the boot and escorted off the premises, as were at least 14 of his colleagues, nine days ago. Not one word has been printed in the Globe about the firings. Yet not only did the Globe run an entire farm page created through Surbrugg's hard work three days after his dismissal, but its webpage is still promoting his work, including a picture of him smiling as if everything is warmth and sunshine at the newspaper.

I had hoped that Editor Carol Stark would finally address the issue in her column for the Sunday edition. But that column, which was posted earlier this afternoon, totally ignores the situation. Apparently, the Joplin Globe believes it is only news when someone else is getting rid of longtime employees.

News at the Globe, but the Globe is not telling anyone about it

At least 15 full or part-time employees were fired Thursday at the Joplin Globe, including veteran Mike Surbrugg, who has been with the newspaper for decades.

Three days have passed since the workers were escorted from the Globe premises, yet not one word has been printed in the newspaper.

undeniably, the Globe has the First Amendment right to publish what it wants and if it decides it is not the public's business to know what happens behind its hallowed doors, it is entirely within its rights to do that- But what kind of message is that to be sending from a newspaper whose editors are quick to criticize others for keeping information from the public.

It is not as if the Globe does not consider employee layoffs to be news. The newspapers archives are filled with articles about companies cutting jobs. A few examples include:

-Jan. 16, 2008: System and Services Technologies, Inc., announced plans to lay off 40 employees.

-Aug. 23, 2008: Six hundred employees out of work with closing of Superior Industries plant in Pittsburg

-March 2007: Joplin Workshops, Inc., announced plans to lay off 21 workers.

-Dec. 3, 2006: Precious Moments, Carthage, announced the layoffs of 11 full-time and 29 part-time workers

-Oct. 19, 2006: City of Joplin announces plans to eliminate the job of clubhouse manager at Schifferdecker. This one was so important that it required two bylines, Mike Dwyer and Derek Spellman.

-Feb. 3, 2007: Talbot Industries in Neosho cut 54 jobs.

This partial list does not even include one story after another when OSullivan Industries in Lamar was eliminating jobs.

If members of Joplin Globe management expect news sources to be open and honest with them, it is time for the Globe to show the way.

Globe reports Leggett & Platt layoffs, still no word on its own

At 1 p.m. today, the Joplin Globe posted news of a layoff of 40 workers at the Leggett & Platt plant in Carthage:

The layoffs impacted workers involved “in every kind of job in the office, from clerical to managerial, from one to three people in every department,” (John Hale, senior vice president for human resources) said.

It is a legitimate news story, no doubt, and an important one to the Globe readership. But once again, I point out, it appears the Globe reports on every downsizing but its own.

The posts The Turner Report has run on this subject since the Globe fired at least 15 employees, including veteran reporter Mike Surbrugg, can be found at this link.

Globe all over St. John's layoffs, but not its own

It takes a lot of nerve, but the Joplin Globe is back to publicizing everyone else's layoffs while sweeping its own under the rug.

In today's edition, in an article written by Wally Kennedy, the newspaper reports "fewer than 20 people in middle management at St. John's Regional Medical Center could be laid off this month."

And this is just a case of "could be." The Globe firings of at least 15 workers, including veteran reporter Mike Surbrugg, has still not been mentioned in the pages of the area's "newspaper of record." And we know for sure those people are unemployed.

As I have said before, it appears that firings are news when they happen at other businesses, but are a private concern when it comes to the Joplin Globe.

That is hypocrisy.

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I would provide a link to the St. John's story for you, but as far as I can tell, it is only in the print edition.

Globe's top business story: Pac-Man Mania hits Rangeline

If you check out the Joplin Globe business section on its website, you will discover the top business story is a new place on Rangeline that offers vintage video games such as Pac-Man.

You would think that a century-old business firing at least 15 full and part-time workers and perhaps as many as 25, would be the top business story in the Joplin area.

Five days have passed and the Joplin Globe still hasn't had the decency to inform its readers of legitimate news. Of course, it's legitimate news that casts the Joplin Globe in a bad light.

Unfortunately for Globe readers, the newspaper's management has Wally Kennedy watching Rangeline and no one is watching the Globe.

(It should be noted that except for those written by Kennedy, most of the articles on the Globe's business page were written by veteran reporter Mike Surbrugg, one of those who was unceremoniously handed his walking papers then escorted off the premises by a guard after decades of loyal service.)

At least, the News-Leader announced its cuts

Criticize the Springfield News-Leader and its parent company Gannett for cutting 19 jobs if you will (and I will), but at least the company issued a news release and lived up to the cuts.

In this corner of Missouri, we are still waiting for the Joplin Globe to own up to its recent cuts of more than 15 workers, including veteran farm reporter Mike Surbrugg.

As I have stated numerous times, and will continue to state, it is hypocritical for the Globe to push for every scrap of information on any business that lays off workers in the Joplin area, and then stonewall any coverage of its own firings.

Seven R-8 administrators made $100,000+ during 2014-2015

Seven Joplin R-8 administrators made six figure salaries during the 2014-2015 according to information the district filed with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Twenty-six people listed as working in the Central Administration office received more than $50,000.

The descriptions of the employees' jobs, which were provided by the school district, indicates that the district is making it appear as if it is paying its teachers more by listing the teaching/learning coaches, many of whom make more than $50,000 a year as teachers, despite the fact that they generally serve as an arm of administration in their buildings, and many of them serve as the eyes and ears for upper administration. The positions have also been used as a steppingstone into administrative positions in the district.

Those receiving the most pay in the school district during the past school year were the following:

1. C. J. Huff, superintendent, $177,125
2. Kerry Sachetta, Joplin High School principal $114,661
3. David Rockers, Franklin Technology Center director $104,267
4. Mark Barlass, executive director of student services $101,501
5. Jason Cravens, executive director of secondary education $101,198
6. Lisa Orem, student services program coordinator $100,952
7. Jennifer Doshier, executive director of elementary education $100,580
8. Jeff Starkweather, athletic director, $96,948
9. Steven Gilbreth, South Middle School principal $95,213
10. Bud Sexson, East Middle School principal $89,315
11. Brandon Eggleston, North Middle School principal $89,051
12. Steven Reed, Franklin Tech assistant director $85,825
13. Greg Boyd, Joplin High School assistant principal $85,606
14. Darrell Hueller, Joplin High School assistant principal $82,761
15. Sandra Cantwell, Joplin High School assistant principal $79,455
15. Matt Harding, Joplin High School assistant principal $79,455
17. Teresa Adams, Soaring Heights Elementary principal $78,020
17. Julie Munn, Kelsey Norman Elementary principal $78,020
17. Nila Vance, Irving Elementary principal $78,020
20. Heather Surbrugg, Eastmorland Elementary principal $77,844
21. Amanda Boyer, early childhood coordinator $76,849
22. Jarrett Cook, Jefferson Elementary principal $76,848
22. Jill White, Royal Heights Elementary principal $76,848
23, Terri Hart, McKinley Elementary principal $73,311
24. Gayle Hennessey, Cecil Floyd Elementary principal $74,260
24. Sarah Mwangi, Columbia Elementary principal
26. Bret Ingle, West Central Elementary principal $73,311
26. Karen Secrist, Stapleton Elementary principal $73,311
28. Eric Pitcher, director of technology, $73,011
28. Sarah Stevens, director of curriculum, instruction, and assessment $73,011
29. Shally Lundien, South Middle School assistant principal $72,669
30. Sabrina Davis, Central Office, occupational therapist $70,123
30. Mary Lowry, Central Office, physical therapist $70,123
30. Lisa Shallenberger, Central Office, occupational therapist $70,123
33. Kayla Spencer, Central Office, physical therapist $69,923
34. Jeff Williams, teacher/coach Joplin High School $69,558
35. Susan James, director Beacon School $68,795
35. Jason Weaver, East Middle School assistant principal $68,795

Not on the list provided to DESE were the names of Tina Smith, chief operations officer, Mike Johnson, building program director, or any of the people who hold positions such as events coordinator, director of alumni relations, or anything to do with Bright Futures Joplin.
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How did the Joplin School District get into the mess it is in today?  You can find out that, as well as background on Joplin City Government and Wallace-Bajjali in the new book, Silver Lining in a Funnel Cloud, Greed, Corruption, and the Joplin Tornado.