Bowser Baby
This sad-eyed picture of Bowser the wonder pitbull princess encapsulates my feelings about today’s cuts at the Times-Picayune. Admittedly, they have been a formality since David Carr’s New York Times report last month.
Yet, the way Newhouse and Advance Media dropped the axe surprised me with its lack of honor, integrity, or humanity. Tell me how cutting 49 percent of newsroom employees, including several major voices, equals to a better online product? And how does a weaker product equal better business? This is some emperor’s new clothes shit for the newspaper’s readers and the people of New Orleans. For the Times-Picayune‘s employees, it is a spit in the face.
(The same applies for the three Alabama newspapers that suffered 400 casualties. The days when the pen was mightier than the spreadsheet are a distant memory.)
I’ll spare you a full recount of why I feel the desecration of the Times-Picayune is the wrong move for New Orleans. You can find those thoughts here.
