Dependable Erection

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Changes

I'm still trying to puzzle out the reasons and meaning for Richard Hart's sudden resignation as editor of the Independent Weekly.

I thought Richard brought a certain stability and professionalism to the Indy after the rapid changes that preceded his hiring. Under his tenure, the Indy may not have been everyone's idea of what an alt-weekly should be, but i really liked the focus on local music and the Triangle first/North Carolina second approach to both local and national stories. And the overall quality of the writing has been exceptional.

I'm working on digging up some insider stuff, but in the meantime, let's hope that the Indy moves ahead without breaking stride. The Triangle needs a strong progressive media voice.

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2 Comments:

  • WTF???

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5:26 PM  

  • RIchard did a great job helming the publication during its period of growth and absorption of The Spectator, a pretty thankless job, IMHO.

    Here's a toast to Richard Hart! I hope this means he's moving on to better things. It's not clear if he's left the Independent organization or not?

    It was also during this time the Indy-pendent tried different things on-line, again, another thankless job, as anyone who's ever tried to adapt one medium to another would know.

    The fact that he remained a great guy through it all, a guy who loves ersters as much as I do (maybe even more so), speaks volumes.

    That the owners of the "Indy" (so what is the publication called really? can they make up their minds?) failed to "try" and incorporate The Spectator "more" into their format was not surprising. I just wondered why Steve Schewel made such a big deal about it in the first place? Guilt? It's okay, Steve, the whatever-you-want-to-call-it Indy/Independent is a business. Businesses do sucky things to survive, like devour their competition. Now you know why people sometimes make fun of "liberal" businessmen, I guess?

    The tone of the writing in the paper has improved over the years, but sometimes the coverage, for its "progressive" value, can seem preachy and condescending. Readers aren't stupid and don't need to be spoonfed.

    But what I really want to know is, how/why did the News & Observer "scoop" The Independent?

    Funny, huh?

    By Blogger Tony, at 12:41 PM  

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