Edited by author 06-28-2002 11:43 AM
Your thoughts will have credibility here.

Edited by author 06-28-2002 11:47 AM
Part of what I'm wondering is whether the problem for the paper was not that Armao showed her bias, but that she reflected a little light upon the squirrelly way the paper actually thinks. The problem of credibility then becomes, "who will believe us if we show people how we really operate?" At which point we begin to suspect that journalism can only attain the illusion of credibility by concealing its beliefs...

What I keep wondering is how long firing people for honesty can continue. It doesn't seem to me that the employers are losing incompetents this way; quite the reverse.

When will the all-façade organizations break down under the weight of their own façades?

Edited by author 06-28-2002 02:26 PM
Dorothea, Here's the email that led Armao to lose her job.

I'm guessing there was a fundamental incompatibility between a person with passion and principles, and a bunch of media princes and princesses who can't stand to have their linen exposed to the public gaze.

Edited by author 06-28-2002 08:41 PM
Here's my letter to the editor on this:

To the Editor:

Janet Weaver's June 28, 2002 explanation of the end of Rosemary Armao's management of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune explained little, justifying the decision to accept her resignation with a few generic remarks about "impartiality."

Why not present to your readers the facts, in this case the email that Armao wrote that was the "cause" of your depriving the public of the talents of a respected, principled and passionate journalist? What sort of impartiality have you displayed by refusing to publish (and link to) the email exchange that precipitated her departure? What sort of trust in your readers and in your managerial wisdom have you just managed to demonstrate?

Poynter.org and others on the Net have furnished the primary source material that you for no apparent reason chose not to disclose:

http://www.poynter.org/medianews/letters.htm#rosemary

Your readers will also find a fair amount of discussion of the judgment you rather summarily handed them.

Very truly yours,


Tom Matrullo

Dorothea's spot on. Exactly what I was talking about with a fellow ex-Fla. NYTRNG person today. Smart, passionate, honest people are rare in this biz, and we're shooting them at every opportunity. Meantime, you trip over a half-dozen of the half-wit lifer deadwood every time you go to the Coke machine.

Edited by author 06-29-2002 01:02 AM
Journalists must be "impartial" in all their demeanor, as catholic priests must be "celibate." The bollocks.

from the Head Lemur:

''If you add sprinkles you can't call it vanilla anymore.

'In a dramatic and bold return to the world of Leave it to Beaver, the
consensual Janet Weaver has returned the town of Sarasota back into another
idyllic community free from strife and controversy.'


but the good news is the republicans may own sarasota they don't control the
web yet...

http://katherineharrissucks.com/"

Edited by author 07-02-2002 10:46 AM
This on Romenesko's site from R. Armao's husband:

No corporate journalist

From FRANK LIUZZI: I'm proud to know Rosemary Armao. I've been married to her for over thirty years and I can tell you that she has lived and breathed journalism as long as I have known her. She is passionate about an industry that has unfortunately been invaded by people less concerned about good, hard-hitting journalism than they are about their bottom line and their advertisers' feelings. She gave her all to the Herald-Tribune as evidenced by frequent missed dinners, late nights editing stories or mentoring reporters, and her working weekends and holidays so those with young families could be home with them. By the way, she does use the f-word and speaks her mind because she's not a lily white, PC, corporate journalist. Our sons and I would have her no other way.

Edited by author 10-15-2003 05:33 PM
Janet Weaver hired by the Poynter Institute? The parent company of the St. Petersburg Times? What does this say about Poynter?
Janet emptied out the Sarasota Herald-Trib's newsroom when she transformed the newspaper into the tool of corporate conservatives, staffing it with recipe-writing fluff-weights instead of journalists.
The Herald-Trib recently dropped its online Forum because free speech grates on Janet's nerves. Instead of zealously guarding the 1st Amendment, Weaver takes an adversarial stance against anonymous online posters who are not p.c. and don't spout the Trib's party line. And Janet's Trib dropped its online Forum just when Katherine Harris started her mass-mailing political campaign (Oct. 2003) And, mind you, immediately after an anonymous poster directed readers to the fine Web site, BushorChimp.com.

Talk about suppressing criticism.

Poynter's stories and feedback regarding Rosemary Armao's departure from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune are no longer available. I wonder if Janet Weaver, while dean at Poynter, ordered someone to remove the embarrassing information.