When An Entire Newspaper Gets Fired

Ever since the Seattle Weekly burst like a pimple between the fingers of new owners New Times Media and sprayed former editorial staffers in every direction like so much pus, Seattlest has been combing the internets for tell-all rants. We're just going to need a little more than the P-I's account, sorry. Until yesterday, nothing. Our combing skills are apparently for shit, though, becuase yesterday we found a Geov Parrish accounting of the slaughter right under our noses. We know he does that Eat The State thing, but, you know, newspapers blow up, time elapses, you eventually quit combing so hard.

In the current issue there's a longish "Seattle Weekly and Me" article that has all the goods on who quit, who got fired, who went into a meeting with the scary Dutch-sounding guy (who no doubt wears nothing but black turtlenecks and round glasses) and came out not knowing whether they were fired or quit but were damn sure they had appeared on their last Seattle Weekly masthead.

Monday, Seely (who I like and respect) told me that they very much needed and wanted my contributions. But the subtexts were that, first, column-writing as I understood it was dead; second, that once the paper was back up to full staff, my contributions would no longer be needed or even welcome; and third, that until then I would be told what to write. And that week's ordered topic was something I not only would never have written on my own, but which clearly was not in my own personal or professional interest to write. So I quit.

I found out later that while I was on vacation Van De Voorde told Skip Berger to fire me. This is chickenshit for two reasons: ambushing someone while they're on vacation, and setting up an outgoing editor as the fall guy for a move sure to be unpopular with readers. Berger refused, forcefully. Taylor and Seely also reportedly fought VVM on my behalf, which I appreciate but which ultimately didn't matter.

There's a lot more where that came from so you really want to go read the whole thing, and while you're at it, support Eat The State.