O for directly addressing reader concerns

Yes, there was an election. Results were ugly, coworkers were ugly, friends were lost, NCFocus will deal with it some other time.

Minor edits below, plus Swift Newspapers phone number.

For this week, the Union's publisher writes his column about Engles' letter advocating publisher's departure. He didn't address the substance of Engles' complaints; as far as I could see, the column is all humor and digs.

Now there's a guy in town named Eric (he knows his last name) who says he's got a Ph.D. and wants all of us to know because he uses it every time he writes his name.

Et tu, Brutus...Come on, boys, you used to be reporters; unless you know for a fact that something is true, don't say it. It's your own opinions you're entitled to, not your own facts.

[Engles' letter says that] Mr. Ackerman (that's me)...plays fast and loose with the facts...

I've been working with my boss [ Arne Hoel ] for maybe 15 of the 20 years I've been with the company. This isn't the first time someone has asked him to fire me.

From the Swift Newspapers ( 775 850 7676 ) website:

Our newspapers are run with local autonomy by publishers and management teams who are leaders in their communities.

How does "local autonomy" differ from "lack of accountability"? Is it true that as long as advertising revenues are healthy, Swift Newspapers allows the publisher free rein to treat the community as he pleases? What does it mean to be a leader in one's community? Is it merely a statement of fact - that one has power? Or does it imply that the publishers and management teams are to be responsible community leaders?


Arne, enquiring minds need to know.

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We got traded.

NewsInc, 3/25/2002:

Publishers: In Nevada, Peter Starren has been named publisher of the Nevada Appeal in Carson City. Starren, the former publisher of The Union in Grass Valley, Calif., has also been named general manager of the Tahoe-Carson Area Newspapers cluster of Swift Newspapers Inc. of Reno, Nev.

Jan. 10 2002: Ackerman to replace Starren as The Union publisher

Mission: Succession (1997):

Corporate execs describe Jeffrey E. Ackerman, publisher at Carson City's Nevada Appeal, as a "wild man," "competitive" and quick to act. Swift Newspapers of Reno bought the property in mid-1995, amid a border skirmish with the neighboring Reno Gazette-Journal. It ain't over yet.

"This is a war, war is hell, that's what's going on here," Ackerman mutters...

Confidential to "war publisher": the scorched earth policy does not go over well with the locals.