If I were going to be around for a while, I'd probably care more

[wombat_socho]

Lileks gets demoted to local reporter by the idiots running the Strib. The sensible thing to do would have been to fire the entire editorial staff and just reprint op-eds from the New York Times and Daily Worker, assuming the latter rag is still around now that Moscow's not helping pay the bills. Instead, according to Brian Lambert (via Mitch Berg) they're cutting back all the things that make the Strib distinctive in favor of...more beat reporters and a publisher being sued for industrial espionage? This is just stupid. Given the institutional prejudices of the Strib, the chances of them actually improving their local coverage (i.e. giving Minneapolis the scrutiny it deserves and the local companies likewise) are pretty much zilch. One seriously doubts Nick Coleman or Doug Grow, much less CJ, are going to say anything to upset the applecart down at City Hall or the Government Center. Kersten, maybe, but she's the token conservative on staff and nobody there takes her seriously.

I don't think the Strib has ever really known what they had in Lileks. The man is a pop culture savant, radio host, essayist, and all-around Cool Dude. He could have become a one-man fount of new media for the Strib and made its website nationally famous, but under the current (and previous) owners, he was regarded as another weirdo specialized columnist like Al Sicherman. So much the worse for the Strib. Personally, I don't read their paper and seldom check their website, but I hit the Bleat every day. That won't change. I do wonder, though, how many local readers are going to note the passing of the Quirk and decide that enough's enough; no point in spending half a buck a day to get the same news you can find for nothing on Drudge or the Examiner.

Other reactions by Hugh Hewitt, Don Surber (whose Charleston WV Daily Mail went the other way), Powerline, and Captain Ed. Except for Hewitt and Surber, I didn't bother linking the other out-of-towners because they really didn't have anything unique to add, but there's a lot of folks talking about this.

Comments

[michaellee.livejournal.com]

I'm not particularly in agreement with Lileks on all matters political -- but I don't have to be for his column and writing style to be of interest, and I'm especially saddened by this as he should certainly a great resource that could have helped the Strib in the modern era.

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

*nods* Most of the stuff I like him for isn't political, in fact. The whole "Institute of Official Cheer" and its offshoots, the photo galleries of the way Fargo and Minneapolis used to be...none of that has any political content at all. Which is good, imao; you can get pretty twisted if all you read is political blogs. The Strib really screwed the pooch this time.

[433.livejournal.com]

I like his internet stuff better than his current shorter columns. I liked his longer Backfence stuff back in the day.

But he is cetainly a great writer, and I'm sad that the Strib doesn't see that.

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

Par Ridder? La Brea called. Your tar pit is ready.