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?
3 comments:
Too bad for Mike. I wish him well. I will miss the farm section(if it goes) and his stories and column. It is sad that this paper is a shadow of what it used to be. About the only reason to even buy the Sunday edition is for the sales circulars.
Having worked with him earlier this decade, Mike is truly one of the few good people at the Globe.
At least he can enjoy watching the Phillies in the World Series,
So much inaccurate information. Do you ever question the inforation you get from your sources close to the situaion, or do you just hit the "publish" button and never look back. It is sad it happened, but to publish such incorrect info is almost as sad.
Post a Comment