Word: kovach
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...weeks ago, Bill Kovach, the highly-respected editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution resigned after a disagreement with his publisher. The New York Times reported that "some staff members suggested that the management of the Atlanta newspapers had been under pressure to rein in Mr. Kovach because of his aggressive coverage of [Atlanta's] business community." According to the Times article, the newspaper's investigations had angered David Easterly, president of Cox Enterprises, Inc., which owns the Journal Constitution. Cox Communications is also one of the 15 corporations that own most of the American press...
...editor David Winder all resigned. The immediate cause: the announcement by the managers of the 80-year-old church-owned paper of plans to reduce the Monitor's size, run less breaking news and cut the staff by one- fourth. Earlier this month, Atlanta Journal and Constitution editor Bill Kovach quit in a dispute with owner Cox Enterprises over the control of budgets, staffing and Washington reporting. Although the two cases differ in specific respects, both boil down to a single issue: management's role in determining the editorial direction of the papers...
...Kovach, a highly respected New York Times bureau chief, was recruited by Cox two years ago to revive the flagging fortunes of the Atlanta papers. After beefing up the staff and running hard-hitting stories on such powerful local institutions as Coca-Cola and the Georgia Power Co., says Kovach, the papers' managers began urging shorter, softer stories in the mold of USA Today. Finally, following a showdown with the publisher over control of the papers' Washington bureau, Kovach quit...
...departure sparked a high level of emotion. Some 200 Kovach supporters staged a mock funeral in downtown Atlanta, protesting the "death of a free press." Last week assistant managing editor Dudley Clendinen announced his resignation, complaining of the "continuing collision" between corporate and editorial factions. Management, he said, "sees readers as a market, as opposed to people who need information...
...style, independent-minded editors like Fanning and Kovach, such compromises are intolerable. But others argue that the rules of journalism have changed, and there is simply no going back. Says Fancher: "An editor who says to the publisher, 'I just want to concern myself with what's happening; you worry about making money' -- that editor doesn't last long." On the other hand, it is important for publishers to realize that quality and integrity are in themselves good investments, even if they sometimes hurt the short-term bottom line. "If the measuring stick is only profit," says Burl Osborne...