News-Record.com

Congratulations, John. And welcome to the club! Business NC interviewed me last year (inasmuch as Cone and his ilk would like the world to think that there aren't any journalists interested in my story of woe in Asheboro). I'd offer up the link but it's down . . . the magazine's webpage appears to be undergoing an update/overhaul.

I was interviewed because I got fired after defying administrative edicts (at a "local" hospital) in order to save a baby's life, and then having the NC legal system (not to mention GSO's big-gun bloggers) stomp all over me because I dared fight back.

You're getting interviewed because you're "re-inventing" the newspaper . . . after firing 41 members of your staff (in the exact same fasion I was fired).

I guess they're right. "Business is never boring". And truth is stranger than fiction.

John, I've followed recent events and have some questions.

Why did you let the competition scoop you with its article quoting your publisher? Giving the story to the Biz Journal instead of his own paper?

You say the paper is not for sale? Look at the Wall Street Journal, it wasn't "for sale". I'm sure the owner of the Raliegh and Charlotte papers would be interested. Especially since you say the NR profit margin is low double digits. I'm sure they would think it would be easy to raise it to the high teens. - Maybe by eliminating your job.

How do you think your advertisers feel when the Editor of Go Triad writes a column about shopping in Charlotte for her wedding dress. Do you support local advertisers? You might want to clue her in that Go Triad is supposed to be an Entertainment and Arts pub her columns have become unbearable to read. I agree with the post that it has become nothing but listings. Move the Calendar and movie reviews online and put something worth reading in it.

Saw the article Saturday about clutter and selling stuff. I'm surprised you mentioned classified ads at all. I bet your ad folks loved you for that one. Did you approve that article? What editor proposed that story for publication?

Just Wonderin

Scoop? That was a scoop? America is a wonderful place and people can talk with anyone they like. Would you have me tell the publisher he can't?

OK, a more serious answer.

As with any story, we published what we thought the bulk of readers wanted to know. If you actually read the column in the Business Journal, you will find a little from the publisher and a lot of conjecture/guessing by the writer. I guess that is why he was interviewed by one of their reporters, who turned over the information to a columnist. (Yes, that's just a guess.) Your challenge is to read through all the qualifiers and the suppositions and try to figure out what is fact.

I don't believe I said that the profit margin is in the low teens. I don't believe I said anything specific about the profit margin. I was asked a question about whether the paper was for sale and I answered it. What that has to do with the Wall Street Journal, I don't know. If you think this paper is for sale, produce some proof. Otherwise, you're really not saying much of anything.

Thanks for your thoughts on Go Triad. There's actually a lot in it beyond the listings. My suggestion is that if you don't like the editor column, skip it. We don't expect everyone to like everything we publish.

I'm unclear on what didn't you like about the Saturday article. You think we didn't write enough about the opportunity to buy classifieds?