One of the truths about Sam Zell’s assimilation of Tribune is that nobody gets no respect. Employees get cursed at, told they have had their heads up their asses for too long, are laid off, shorted out of their pay, and preached at by a lunatic ’visionary.’
The guys in charge, who knew nothing of the media and still know little, want their fellow “owners” to follow their lead, despite that little oversight of theirs of not forseeing the danger of amassing a $13 billion debt.
So I guess it should come as no surprise when the new management in Hartford appoints a new content minister and refers to the longtime editor of the Courant as the “print platform manager.”
I doubt this was intended as a slur or slight; but I am sure that it is perceived by Cliff Teutsch’s longtime colleagues and subordinates as an indication of the company’s diminished opinion of him as a company leader.
Cliff has captained the Courant newsroom through probably its worst period in modern history. He has made some bad decisions and some good ones; and I think some of what he has had to do has cost him a part of his journalistic soul. Still, through all that, he has always conveyed, through words and deeds, the deep and abiding respect he has for the Courant staffers.
Too bad the new management couldn’t show the same respect for him.
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“platform manager,” my ass.
This is very well put:
Cliff has captained the Courant newsroom through probably its worst period in modern history. He has made some bad decisions and some good ones; and I think some of what he has had to do has cost him a part of his journalistic soul. Still, through all that, he has always conveyed, through words and deeds, the deep and abiding respect he has for the Courant staffers.
Sounds like he works for a damn warehouse…
Do you suppose they’ll change that masthead to reflect Cliff’s new title? (and in a related question, is that what they call the box w/ his name in it?)(and in a related related question, if they start calling an “editor” a “ppm” might they also decide to get rid of anachronistic terms like “masthead”?) (and in a related related related observation, that would be OK with me because I’m not certain what a “masthead” is)
While we’re on the subject of whether Cliff deserves respect — and there’s a lot of people out there who aren’t so sure he does — it should be mentioned that he allowed someone else (namely, his managing editor) to essentially hijack his newsroom while he stood by and watched the bad decisions and human sacrifices pile up.
Cliff Teutsch will always have my respect for being the rare grownup often of necessity riding herd on a lot of squabbling children. He deserves better than “platform manager” (but at least he still has a paycheck — for the time being).
Bullies go after the weak. The Courant, under the leadership of Cliff et al, has shown little strength in the face of the ultimate bully, Sam Zell. Instead of standing up, they allowed Tribune to walk all over the Courant and its staff. While I do believe Cliff is a good soul at heart, he could not or would not stand up to these people, so now he is disrepected by the bully. It’s no surprise.
Cliff (undeniably a good soul) is being reinvented by his bosses, according to their Zellish notions and on their terms.
Me (in my post-Courant days), I’m reinventing myself, according to my own heartfelt notions and on my own terms.
Time will tell whether my ideas are sensible, or even defensible, but I wouldn’t trade places with him, not for a moment — not even out of compassion.