Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Joe Sylvester leaves Scranton for the Times Leader
Longtime Pittston reporter Joe Sylvester, who had recently been covering Old Forge and surrounding towns, has left The Times-Tribune of Scranton for the copy desk of the Times Leader. Kudos.
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end of an error
correction: long-time Pittston bureau chief sans le bureau.
Timers Shamrockers are celebrating this. Can any explain what the TL is thinking?
what the TL is thinking:
Hmm, we need a night copy editor. We'll take what we can get.
Hey, Sylvester should be at least an OK copy editor and maybe a very good one. It's a good move for him and probably for the TL.
Sylvester is better than Ed, John and probably Larry gave him credit for. No ball of fire, but covered the beat well.
A lot of personnel decisions in the Times Tribune newsroom over the years have been made according to the dynamics of the high-school lunchroom.
Times Shamrock is celebrating because they can replace him with a 23-year-old who's thrilled to make $27K. It's the Beaupre Way.
But Slavin nailed it, they'll be lucky to find a kid who's as dependable as Sylvester or knows the terrain as well. If you catch him between acid flashbacks, Joe knew his stuff. He just got no respect from Murph, Ed, Kelly, etc. and that wears you down.
Worked with Joe years ago at TL. They are lucky to have him.
He's a good guy.
Stop me if you've heard this one before: After torturing the crap out of or marginalizing someone in the newsroom, Times Tribune bosses are dumbfounded when said person gets a better job and leaves.
See Slavin, Daily, O'Donnell, Seder etc. etc., now Sylvester. "What did they see in him that we didn't?" Duh.
Throw in people like Birk and Kemeny and Dobo who never got any better than the day they came in the door.
I think it says a hell of a lot about management as judges and managers of talent.
It's about figuring out what people are good at and putting them in a position to do it while you work on their weak spots. Not just trying to make them a clone of yourself.
And appreciating what people do well. There aren't any perfect reporters or editors out there, so you gotta figure out how to get the best work out of the ones you can convince to work in Scranton.
It's amazing some of the talented people who've passed through that newsroom without making much of a dent.
It doesn't say much for Murphy, who handles young reporters and editors the way a slaughterhouse handles the cattle, or for Beaupre, who should know better but seems to have abdicated any role in making key decisions.
Sylvester was doing fine at first. But now that Joe Healey is in charge of the copy desk, the "power" has definitely gone to his head.
He's treating people like Sylvester like garbage. It's only a matter of time before Healey + (Dan) Burnett go at each other. It'll be worth a laugh to watch.
The editors at the TL at useless in unique ways. Connor is delusional. Joe B. is spineless. Fennick is spineless. Burnett is incompetent. Healey is mad with power. All copy editors are planning their way out the door.
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