Another sad tale from the newspaper business, via the Columbia Journalism Review, this one involving Little Rock native and former Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reporter Chuck Punkett, who resigned in protest as editor of the Denver Post yesterday:
A month after taking a bold stand against The Denver Post’s owner, the paper’s editorial page editor resigned. Chuck Plunkett, the editor behind a stirring call to action targeted at freeing the paper from the grip of its New York hedge fund owners, turned in his resignation on Thursday after a follow-up editorial was rejected.
The package of editorials Plunkett put together in early April drew national attention to the actions of Alden Global Capital, the hedge fund that has squeezed every cent of profit it can from a string of newspapers including the Post, the San Jose Mercury News, the Orange County Register, and dozens of other titles. The lead editorial pleaded with Alden to change its business practices, and stated, “If Alden isn’t willing to do good journalism here, it should sell The Post to owners who will.”
Plunkett knew he was risking his job, telling The New York Times, “I had to do it because it was the right thing to do. If that means that I lose my job trying to stand up for my readers, then that means I’m not working for the right people anyway.”
Yesterday, when he turned in another editorial that took shots at Alden for cutting more jobs despite making a healthy profit, the piece was rejected and Plunkett resigned. Denver Post reporter Larry Ryckman covered the resignation for the paper:
“Being the editorial page editor of The Denver Post was a years’ long goal of mine, and I thoroughly loved the position,” Plunkett said in an interview. “I did not wish to leave The Denver Post for years to come. I wanted to grow in the role and mature in the role and create an editorial page that Denver and Colorado could be proud of.
“This is a terribly sad day,” he added. “I hope all the journalists who have worked for The Denver Post and continue to toil in this difficult environment can continue to do good work. Don’t lose heart at what’s going on in our company.”
More on the story over at CJR.