Commiserations to David Hart, who found himself out of a job as editor of the Haverhill Echo after 32 years of loyal service to the weekly paper. Not only was Hart told to pack his bags – owing to “restructuring” by owners Johnston Press – with, as he colourfully put it, “barely enough food for a day’s march”, he now finds himself embroiled in employment litigation over the manner of his dismissal.
Hart claims that he was ‘let go’ because of his age (he is 56), and claims age-related discrimination. It’s an interesting case and we await its result eagerly, but in the meantime commend Hart’s farewell column. He wrote pithily of his exit in classic simple yet effective local paper prose:
I don’t suppose I need to tell you what I think of the decision to send me on my way after 32 years, with barely enough food for a day’s march.
Sadly, the scenario of editors being shed by the big newspaper companies is becoming more and more common.
It is no secret that times are hard in the newspaper business and costs have to be cut.
But somewhere along the line newspaper companies seem to have lost sight of the fact that they didn’t create these businesses.
These giants are just agglomerates put together by directors who wanted to expand their empires and supposedly also for the benefit of shareholders who wanted bigger and bigger dividends.
Rather like in the banking business, we now see this was a bit of a bubble which was always going to be pricked one day.
Newspaper owners, and everyone in journalism, should take especial note of that last sentence.
The beguiling painting by the excellent Karen Jurick is entitled ‘Lounge Act’.
