When good newspeople leave the news industry
Kirk
Few things surprise me anymore. And the things that do, well that I’m surprised by them is one of the few things that still surprise me. And strangely enough one of the most shocking things to flicker across the in-box of my email was the news that Kirk Ericson was quitting The Olympian. Maybe it’s better to use the lexicon more acceptable in these times of financial duress, he accepted a “voluntary separation package.”
Every time one of my friends leave The Olympian, it’s a mixed blessing. Bad for the paper, good for them, and good for me as I can miss the newsroom a little bit less. Two out of three ain’t bad.
I never worked in journalism as long as Kirk worked at the Olympian. In the last days of Kirk’s 18 years at the daily paper of Olympia, WA, he wrote an online column (some people call these blogs), called These Times. The thing about These Times that stood out from the usual online stuff that newspapers ply was that it was a throwback to an earlier concept was once dominant long before newspapers had websites: That people went to them because they liked to read things.
If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.
