Sunday, April 09, 2006
For Mike Lacey Good Journalism Has Nothing To Do With the Newspaper Business
It's not a big surprise to me that New Times' chief dickhead Mike Lacey fired veteran Village Voice reporter James Ridgeway. First off, Lacey doesn't like good reporters. I think he feels threatened by them because he's such a bad reporter himself and a worse writer. The other drawback for Ridgeway was his critical, insightful reporting on the Neo-Nazi movement in the United States, Of course, Mike Lacey is a Neo-Nazi himself. So there you have it. Ridgeway had to go.
The Letter
The following letter was signed by 19 members of the Village Voice's editorial staff last week, protesting the firing of veteran investigative reporter James Ridgeway and asking New Times to reinstate him. Obviously, these people don't know or understand that Mike Lacey is not a reasonable, fair, pragmatic or sane man. But they will soon learn, if they choose to stay.
For 30 years, James Ridgeway has, in his person, his politics, and his writing, defined what makes the Voice a special publication.
From Three Mile Island to 9-11, Ridgeway has provided some of the nation’s most incisive and insightful coverage of government misfeasance and malfeasance. He was one of the first journalists in America to spotlight the threat posed by a resurgent racist and neo-Nazi movement, an issue he hammered away at in the pages of the Voice years before anyone ever heard of Ruby Ridge or Timothy McVeigh. His reports on escalating environmental abuses exposed corporate law-breakers and bureaucratic indifference.
Ridgeway’s writings on conflicts from Bosnia to Baghdad to Haiti have always provided the otherwise unreported flip-side of the world according to the mainstream media, in short reporting that jibes precisely with the exact mission of the Voice. Over the past few years, Ridgeway expanded onto the Web, filing regular nuggets of breaking news, and even posting video reports on the 2004 elections.
In light of this distinguished track record, the decision last week by the Voice’s new ownership to terminate Ridgeway is shameful. It also sends a terrible message as to the sort of coverage that the new ownership portends. We call on Voice Media Executive Editor Michael Lacey and Chairman and CEO Jim Larkin to reverse his discharge.
Signed,
Tom Robbins
J. Hoberman
Lynn Yaeger
Nat Hentoff
Jarrett Murphy
Ed Park
Chuck Eddy
Robert Christgau
Nina Lalli
Elizabeth Zimmer
Dennis Lim
Tricia Romano
Aina Hunter
Corina Zappia
Jennifer Gonnerman
Jorge Morales
Wayne Barrett
Michael Musto
Darren Reidy
[read more]
For 30 years, James Ridgeway has, in his person, his politics, and his writing, defined what makes the Voice a special publication.
From Three Mile Island to 9-11, Ridgeway has provided some of the nation’s most incisive and insightful coverage of government misfeasance and malfeasance. He was one of the first journalists in America to spotlight the threat posed by a resurgent racist and neo-Nazi movement, an issue he hammered away at in the pages of the Voice years before anyone ever heard of Ruby Ridge or Timothy McVeigh. His reports on escalating environmental abuses exposed corporate law-breakers and bureaucratic indifference.
Ridgeway’s writings on conflicts from Bosnia to Baghdad to Haiti have always provided the otherwise unreported flip-side of the world according to the mainstream media, in short reporting that jibes precisely with the exact mission of the Voice. Over the past few years, Ridgeway expanded onto the Web, filing regular nuggets of breaking news, and even posting video reports on the 2004 elections.
In light of this distinguished track record, the decision last week by the Voice’s new ownership to terminate Ridgeway is shameful. It also sends a terrible message as to the sort of coverage that the new ownership portends. We call on Voice Media Executive Editor Michael Lacey and Chairman and CEO Jim Larkin to reverse his discharge.
Signed,
Tom Robbins
J. Hoberman
Lynn Yaeger
Nat Hentoff
Jarrett Murphy
Ed Park
Chuck Eddy
Robert Christgau
Nina Lalli
Elizabeth Zimmer
Dennis Lim
Tricia Romano
Aina Hunter
Corina Zappia
Jennifer Gonnerman
Jorge Morales
Wayne Barrett
Michael Musto
Darren Reidy
[read more]
Lacey's Legacy: Silencing the Village Voice
New York Observer, April 6:
Village Voice investigative reporter Jennifer Gonnerman resigned from the paper on Monday, according to Voice sources. Gonnerman, 35, was a Livingston Award winner in 2000 and a National Book Award finalist in 2004. Her 2004 book Life on the Outside chronicled the effects of the Rockefeller drug laws through the story of Elaine Bartlett, a first-time offender sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Gonnerman left to further pursue book writing, Voice sources said. Amid turnover at the Voice, Gonerman was said to have told executives from the paper's new owner, New Times, that they should be tapping into the talent of current staff.
Gonnerman couldn't be reached for comment. Interim editor in chief Ward Harkavy said of her resignation, "I consider that personally and professionally a real loss. I'm saddened by that. Anybody who's worked with her would be saddened by her loss."
Village Voice investigative reporter Jennifer Gonnerman resigned from the paper on Monday, according to Voice sources. Gonnerman, 35, was a Livingston Award winner in 2000 and a National Book Award finalist in 2004. Her 2004 book Life on the Outside chronicled the effects of the Rockefeller drug laws through the story of Elaine Bartlett, a first-time offender sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Gonnerman left to further pursue book writing, Voice sources said. Amid turnover at the Voice, Gonerman was said to have told executives from the paper's new owner, New Times, that they should be tapping into the talent of current staff.
Gonnerman couldn't be reached for comment. Interim editor in chief Ward Harkavy said of her resignation, "I consider that personally and professionally a real loss. I'm saddened by that. Anybody who's worked with her would be saddened by her loss."
