May 07, 2007
More on Lileks
Ihad forgotten to update my Reader's Almanac last night, so when I got home from work, I got online, finished the job, then clicked over to Lileks' site, where he told us he'd been demoted.
Taking his advice, I sent a nice note to the Star-Tribune's ombudsman. I was very polite, pointing out Lileks' contributions to the newspaper, how he drew me to their site, how he was the public face of Minneapolis and the newspaper.
Today, now that I've had a night's sleep, I've thought about it more and read
Insty's links to everyone, even
Dave Barry weighed in, and I agree with
Captain's Quarters comment, and came to this conclusion.
I'm not surprised. In fact, I suspect they want him gone.
Think about it. A columnist being asked to hit the streets on a general assignment beat is being demoted. There's no way around that. Lileks is a talented writer, a creative thinker, a restless idea-generating machine, and he's as tapped into the potential of the Intertubes as any journalist around.
And they want him to cover car crashes, fires, and the local potluck dinner.
These are assignments you give new reporters.
They could have softened the blow by moving him to features, or the editorial page. Write house editorials, cover TV and movies, write features looking back at the history of the city, such as in his
"Murder at the Casablanca" series.
Nope. Not good enough. General assignment. The bottom of the totem pole.
They want him gone.
HEH: I liked this line from
Dustbury: I'd be willing to bet the Star Tribune would never have bumped Lileks off his column had he been, oh, let's say,
a transsexual sportswriter. (Yes, he did like my Kentucky Derby remark, too. We bloggers can be an incestuous lot sometimes).
UPDATE: Welcome Instapundit readers! This site is a showcase for my writing, but I sometimes comment on current events and offer a daily "Reader's Almanac" with links to noteworthy posts. Mostly, I just gas on. I hope you enjoy the visit!
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If James Lileks appeared on both the front page of the Star-Tribune, and the front page of the local section, writing whatever he’s good and feels like, and look-at-me-look-at-me-I’m-so-great Nick Coleman only appeared in the Source section with the comics and puzzles, that would be a great improvement for the Star-Tribune indeed, both in quality and circulation.
Posted by Douglas on 05/07
Is there a need for anyone to read Nick Coleman, ever? You know what he’s going to say before you scan the page.
Posted by Jim,MtnViewCA,USA on 05/07
It’s obvious the objective of this “reassignment” is to have Lileks quit on his own. This saves all the expensive hassles of a settlement/buyout. To think that the management at the paper considered this a legitimate journalistic decision is fairly obtuse.
Posted by Dave on 05/08
Well, I don’t know anything about the newspaper business but can’t his column be picked up by other, more august papers? Heck, with the internet he won’t even need to move. Maybe something like a “Letters from America” column in the Sydney Morning Herald or the Japan Times. Anyway, I’m sure this is going to hurt the Star-Tribune more than it will Lileks.
Posted by Alan on 05/08
Since Lileks is such a fabulous columnist, I’m sure his singular talents will be snapped up by some other news outlet, Web portal or whatever that is willing to pay him as least as much as he’s making with the Star Tribune.
And if this doesn’t happen, it will be a signal by the Web marketplace that Lileks ain’t worth paying for.
Simple as that.
Posted by Dexter Westbrook on 05/08
Like so many terrible, terrible decisions made by newspapers across the country nowadays. Powerline would call this another “Profile in Disgrace.”
Posted by Jimpithecus on 05/08
“I’m sure his singular talents will be snapped up by some other news outlet ...”
It would depend upon what they want James to do. I don’t think—judging by his writing about his time in Washington—that he would want to move to another city. Unless it’s St. Paul, which hiring him would be a real thumb in the eye.
Plus, remember that he gave up his Newhouse column willingly, before this happened.
Perhaps the best thing for him would be to leave the job and push himself into doing more books. He could end up like Scalzi, doing fiction and non-fiction. A collection of his Bleat columns would be a good start.
Posted by Bill Peschel on 05/08
