|
The editor of The Evening Bulletin, John Secor, left his job at the paper this morning. (Full disclosure: I worked there from December 2004 to July 2005 as the Arts & Culture editor. I left on good terms and harbor no ill will at all. If you’re a regular reader, you probably already know this, but I wanted to make sure.)
Now, I didn’t know we were quite at this level in the blogging zeitgeist yet, but, just a little bit ago, he posted about the whole ordeal on his blog. And, to make it even better, it’s his blog hosted on Xanga. (To be honest, I didn’t know people other than Fred Durst used Xanga.)
Anyway, the old editor, John Secor — who replaced former Bulletin editor Kevin Williamson back on March 12 of this year — writes about his last day in the office:
PHILADELPHIA — It all went down today. For weeks, members of my staff and I discussed how we could best approach the “boss.” He has gone through employees like a gambling addict goes through dollar bills in Atlantic City. He has skirted and dodged serious issues (like paying his workers on time, or … paying them period). He has been dishonest and deceitful. In my opnion (and I am not a lawyer), he has violated a spate of federal and state labor laws. A real schmuck, who might have been a decent guy not too long ago. But his impervious ego has created a searing black mark on the staff’s morale.
I turned in my resignation 46 days ago. It didn’t take me terribly long to figure out that this guy and his “business” weren’t legit. But, the loyalties toward my staff and the people we serve, got the better of me. I agreed to stay on temporarily until he found my replacement or until he was willing to sit down and deal with me and my cache of issues. [...]
Then [the boss] looked at me.
“I don’t want to work for you. You’re dishonest. You’re deceitful and it makes me sick to be here.”
A pause, then:
“When’s your last day?”
I stood up, I crammed my balled fist into my pocket and fished for the building keys, which were already detached from my key ring. My fingers found them and I balled my fists again once the keys were in the palm of my hand. Then I took my hand out of my pocket and slapped the keys on his desk.
“Yesterday.”
Whoa, is this a newspaper or Days of our Lives?
Word is the paper’s going to soldier on and the staff’s working on tomorrow’s issue. Secor says he’s looking into grad school.
Update: The Bulletin, minus Secor’s name on the masthead, came out today. Secor has taken down his blog post about his job.
MY DAY OF LIBERATION [Tales of A Recovering Journalist]
Related: Previous editor’s tale of leaving Philadelphia and the Bulletin
|
I may be wrong, but this seems a bit critical of John Secor.
I happen to know Secor. I don’t think you know the whole story- the “rollercoaster” of the Evening Bulletin, particularly the management; what was originally promised to Secor(for example, a steady paycheck); or more importantly, during his entire employment, he had a family to support back in Michigan, a family who wondered if the bills will be paid this month, who wondered if Secor would be coming home next week, next month, or next year.
Perhaps you should look past the dramatics- the “Days of our Lives” aspect- and think that Secor’s anger may have been sparked by the thought of the (mis)management of the Evening Bulletin was not only worrying him, but hurting his family, too.
The Evening Bulletin.
Ha.
I thought the Evening Bulletin went out of business years ago…
Oh Boo Hoo. Poor John. There were plenty of other people on the same “roller coaster” and apprently you missed the opening paragraph where it was said that D-Mac worked there at one point. And if JS was worried about steady paychecks, all he had to do was ask any employee before he got there, and he would have know that it is a regular event for payroll to be late. Sometimes by several weeks. But, perhaps “Days of Our Lives” is inappropriate. It’s more of a “The Young & The Restless” but hey, who am I to judge?
Perhaps the person who posted the previous comment didn’t get an opportunity to read the whole story. There was more to it than late paychecks. Secor spoke of the inept management and how the publisher’s incompentence affected the lives of the entire staff. This isn’t about Secor, other than him forcing the fraudulence to the forefront.
I don’t know what the dramatics are behind the scenes at The Bulletin, but I love the content. It is refreshing in these days of liberal media bias and dominance, especially in a once-great city such as Philadelphia. I recommend the paper to all of my friends and co-workers, and will continue to do so…