My personal dealings with Chip Watson, who died far too young Sunday at age 44, were limited to the last few months I was at The Carthage Press, when Watson was working with advertising salespeople for both The Press and the Neosho Daily News. I never had the idea he had much respect for the people on the news side. Or perhaps he just didn't think much of the managing editor. He had a lot of company in that regard.
But I will give Chip Watson credit for creating a positive stir on the Joplin media scene for a short time. His idea of publishing a Joplin news product that stressed its internet components, instead of the print publication, was a bold and visionary concept, though its execution left a lot to be desired.
It is easy to criticize the short-lived Joplin Daily and I have done so on this blog, but Chip Watson's brainchild accomplished a great deal in a short time:
-It forced the stodgy old Joplin Globe to examine the way it does its business (though unfortunately that self-examination did not bring any improvements)
-It offered the best coverage of school news, thanks to Kaylea Hutson, that we have had in my years of teaching in the Joplin R-8 School District. If the Joplin Daily had survived, we would have had at least one newspaper that could understand that a school district receiving the state's top accreditation is more important than a proposed tattoo policy for teachers.
-If offered a viable option to the Globe that emphasized Joplin instead of the regional emphasis that has watered down many stories that should have been entirely about Joplin.
-It provided a showcase for John Hacker, the best shoe leather reporter in southwest Missouri.
At some point, someone is going to take on the Joplin Globe again. Thanks to Chip Watson's experiment, the next hardy soul who is willing to battle the sleeping giant will have a good idea of what will work and what won't work
I didn't see it mentioned in the Neosho Daily News story, which naturally emphasized Watson's role as vice president of sales and marketing for GateHouse Media over the Neosho Daily News and The Carthage Press, as well as his former position as publisher of the Big Nickel, but as far as I am concerned, Chip Watson will be remembered for the Joplin Daily, a publication that was well ahead of its time.
15 comments:
This is probably the tackiest, most classless post you've ever written. You're using a dead man to spew vitriol on the Globe.
Wow. Just, wow. Wonder how the Watson family would feel about this.
And we know the Globe would never spew vitriol on the dead.
Having worked under Chip for a while, I can tell you he was cold hearted and only had money on his mind. Joplin Daily is not the only thing he failed at. He was successful at jacking up prices so high on advertising for some of the daily newspapers he ended up losing a lot of revenue because people refused to advertise, which aided in the drop of GateHouse stock from $22 to 15¢ in a little over a year. Randy didn't say all that in his blog, but I'm sure he would have liked to.
And I can tell you that working with Chip was a joy and a true pleasure. Chip was a GOOD man. He was a family man, and he did his job well. Having Chip as a colleague was a joy. He was a true friend to many of us.
I am Chip Watson's daughter. I want all of you to know that my daddy LOVED and CARED about all of his employees. This stupid blog did not show the true character of his heart or his personality. It hurt him so much when he read or heard about negative comments directed towards him. I would hope that The Turner Report would learn that freedom of speech does not have to result in hurting others or furthuring their own cause in the midst of someone's TRAGEDY. We want ALL OF YOU to know that my family and I forgive everyone who has decided to write mean things about my dad because that is what Jesus would do and what my daddy would have wanted.
I guess that answers my question. Sleep well, Randy.
Brooke: My condolences, as admittedly anonymous as they are, to you and yours. God bless y'all.
If Chip loved his employees he sure hid it well. Never was an ounce of compassion felt when he ended the careers of many who had dedicated their entire life to newspaper. He loved money, that's for sure. So many people have suffered so much because of the decisions he made.
Sometimes it's better to not speak rather than to remove all doubt of lack of class and compassion. You should have kept quiet.
I worked with Chip for a short time and I found him to be a very good person who cared about the people that worked with and under him. It pained him greatly to make the tough decisions that sometimes have to be made with personnel (something I’m betting you’ve never had to deal with). Above all else he cared for his family and his friends. For some reason, he even cared about what you and your cronies wrote about in these blogs and it hurt him.
You hide behind your self-made facade of being an author/reporter trying to lead the charge of quality journalism, but the truth is that you are a bitter individual, motivated by revenge and attention. Your miserable and you want company.
I stopped looking at your blog a couple months ago because it was obvious you had nothing more to say than “I hate Gatehouse because it did me wrong and now look how bad it’s doing.” But I couldn’t resist taking a look at your take on Chip. Unfortunately, you didn’t surprise me.
Grow up and get over it – try to make a contribution by being a positive force in the lives of the children you teach. You are doing no one, including yourself, any good by harboring this hatred.
I worked under Chip for over 2 years. From every experience I ever had with him it is ludicrous to say that he didn't care about his employees. I'm sure that he had to make some very tough decisions throughout his tenure, but to say that he was unfeeling, cold and only cared about money is completely ridiculous. Chip personally went to bat for me so that I could keep my job, and he did the same for my co-workers. He was loud, straight forward and always let his opinion be known, so I can see how he could have come across as cold, but he was always great to work for. Even more than that, he was great to know, and it was always extremely evident that he cared for the people around him.
I am shocked by the negative comments here so soon after his death.
Randy -- I understand your viewpoint, so thank you for directing your attention toward what you consider to be Chip's only positive quality, instead of completely lashing out. That being said, I know personally that there were many good qualities in him. I consider myself fortunate to have known him. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.
J,
While I appreciate your comment, I was definitely not referring to the idea to create the Joplin Daily as being Chip Watson's only good quality.
I did, however, consider it to be an idea that was worth commemorating and one which I had not seen mentioned in either the story the Neosho Daily ran about him or in the obituary.
The creation of the Joplin Daily and its brief existence have been written about numerous times on this blog and have been a subject of continuing interest among readers. I have written at length about the mistakes that were made with the Joplin Daily and I did not feel this was the time to recount those, but rather to remember that for the first time in recent memory, someone actually dared to take on the Globe.
I am also having a hard time understanding the cheap attacks on me for using this post to point out some of the Joplin Globe's flaws. Chip Watson certainly saw the same weaknesses, which was why the Joplin Daily was created.
I also fail to understand how anyone could have considered this post an attack on Chip Watson. I did not mention anything about the current problems faced by GateHouse Media, I did not mention any personal deficiencies, nor do I have any knowledge of any.
I had limited dealings with Chip during my time at The Carthage Press, and I cannot remember any of them being combative or confrontational.
I have sympathy for Chip's family, and appreciate his daughter's comment, but I need to make one thing clear, I was not trying to show the "true character of his heart or his personality." I will leave that to others. I wrote about a great idea he had, one that I sincerely wish would have worked.
As for John Tucker's comments, I get tired of hearing about how "bitter" I am supposed to be about getting fired from my job at The Carthage Press. That happened nine years ago. I write about the media on this blog and what happens to The Carthage Press and the Neosho Daily News is of importance to a great many of this blog's readers. The people who fired me are long since gone and I am doing far better than I would have been had I been able to stay with The Press. I know my readers and I try to post items that are of interest to them.
And as for the cheap shot at my teaching, please feel free to check with my former students, my current students, my students' parents, or my colleagues and former colleagues. The only criticisms I have ever heard about my teaching have come from people who are unhappy with something I have written on this blog and who have absolutely no idea what they are talking about.
I think all to often people want to jump on 1 of 2 sides of an argument.
On one side of this argument we have people who are bitter toward Chip for whatever reason. On the other side we have people who are sympathetic. Both sides are quick to discount the other.
It isn't quite as white and black as this, but that may very well be the perceived notion. I believe "the insider" added to this perception when making claims that you, Randy, "would have liked to" say what he said. My apologies for grouping you with these extremely negative comments, I didn't want to do that. My comment regarding your view on Chip was highly assumptive.
My goal in posting was merely to discount such negative comments regarding the late Chip Watson. Having worked for him and known him personally I have a strong desire to defend his memory.
Chip was a good man, and he will be missed. Me and many others at my place of employment will be attending his funeral.
Randy is right about JoplinDaily.com. It was Chip's extremely good idea that was poorly handled by GateHouse Media and now GateHouse Media refuses to acknowledge it even existed.
Chip Watson was never "corporate." He cared about the people working under him. Just like any manager, he expected people to work their butts off, but what's wrong with that? He was always the buffer between "old-time" business, where employees were taken care of, to the corporate way of thinking, where people are numbers. Chip never lost sight that employees were people with families and problems of their own, and he always had a sympathetic ear to others. He'll be missed.
My heart goes out to the Watson family, in their time of need. God bless you.
I find it funny that Turner continues to use the terms "cheap attack" and "cheap shot" as he whines about criticism leveled toward him. He has always and continues to have no problem attacking others then just trying to simply say that he is just stating facts. What a joke. This post is the epitome of what Turner is all about. Turner, YOU are still bitter about being fired from the Carthage Press, and your next job after that for that matter. You are the one who continues to write about it and make reference to it. As to your teaching "ability".....well just look at the most recent comments by your assistant superintendent as to the state of Joplin South where you teach. It is consistently the lowest performing middle school in Joplin. As for the parents of your former students, you really don't want to go there do you?
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