Wretched Chattanooga Newspaper Fires Editor Because of Anti-Obama Headline

Posted on | August 1, 2013 | 45 Comments

The citizens of Chattanooga are afflicted with a paper owned by the same crowd of truthless swindlers who own the New York Times:

“The headline was inappropriate for this newspaper. It was not the original headline approved for publication, and Johnson violated the normal editing process when he changed the headline.”

The Times-Free Press is a disgrace to any fish unfortunate enough to be wrapped in it. Parakeets become constipated if you line their cage with it — they don’t consider it worthy of their droppings.

Category: Journalism

Comments

45 Responses to “Wretched Chattanooga Newspaper Fires Editor Because of Anti-Obama Headline”

MrEvilMatt
August 1st, 2013 @ 4:50 pm

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Lockestep1776
August 1st, 2013 @ 4:50 pm

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CHideout
August 1st, 2013 @ 4:50 pm

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Citzcom
August 1st, 2013 @ 4:50 pm

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jwbrown1969
August 1st, 2013 @ 4:50 pm

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hellomoxy
August 1st, 2013 @ 4:50 pm

RT @smitty_one_each: TOM Wretched Chattanooga Newspaper Fires Editor Because of Anti-Obama Headline http://t.co/Xnx3iCFFuf #TCOT
Siborg6
August 1st, 2013 @ 4:51 pm

RT @smitty_one_each: TOM Wretched Chattanooga Newspaper Fires Editor Because of Anti-Obama Headline http://t.co/Xnx3iCFFuf #TCOT
rsmccain
August 1st, 2013 @ 4:51 pm

“The Times-Free Press is a disgrace to any fish unfortunate enough to be wrapped in it.” http://t.co/rXzUvL23Lu | @instapundit #tcot
Mark Caldwell
August 1st, 2013 @ 4:52 pm

Leftists are at war with anyone who does not worship the ‘One’.
Professor_Why
August 1st, 2013 @ 4:52 pm

Wretched Chattanooga Newspaper Fires Editor Because of Anti-Obama Headline http://t.co/8LhgbsMufQ
yidwithlid
August 1st, 2013 @ 4:53 pm

RT @rsmccain: “The Times-Free Press is a disgrace to any fish unfortunate enough to be wrapped in it.” http://t.co/rXzUvL23Lu | @instapundi…
mkues65
August 1st, 2013 @ 5:07 pm

RT @rsmccain: “The Times-Free Press is a disgrace to any fish unfortunate enough to be wrapped in it.” http://t.co/rXzUvL23Lu | @instapundi…
darthlevin
August 1st, 2013 @ 5:15 pm

Instead of “Journalism”, I’d have categorized this story under “Feckless Progressive Knob-Gobbling”. But that’s me, it’s your blog after all.
instapundit
August 1st, 2013 @ 5:35 pm

RT @rsmccain: “The Times-Free Press is a disgrace to any fish unfortunate enough to be wrapped in it.” http://t.co/rXzUvL23Lu | @instapundi…
DaveO
August 1st, 2013 @ 6:07 pm

The NYT owns the paper? Geez. Oh well, just another episode of workplace violence to blame on the TEA Party.
ihazconservative
August 1st, 2013 @ 6:23 pm

Who knew someone would be fired for disregarding internal editing procedures to use a very inappropriate, low-brow headline? I’m sure if it was Sarah Palin we were talking about you’d be singing a different tune.

” It was not the original headline approved for publication, and Johnson violated the normal editing process when he changed the headline.”
stardog235
August 1st, 2013 @ 6:26 pm

Wretched Chattanooga Newspaper Fires Editor Because of Anti-Obama Headline http://t.co/8t8RghPZcR
Brightdey
August 1st, 2013 @ 6:33 pm

RT @stardog235: Wretched Chattanooga Newspaper Fires Editor Because of Anti-Obama Headline http://t.co/8t8RghPZcR
thatMrGguy
August 1st, 2013 @ 6:49 pm

Wretched Chattanooga Newspaper Fires Editor Because of Anti-Obama Headline http://t.co/Y8QQjm52wB
Italia_Federici
August 1st, 2013 @ 7:04 pm

“Crowd of truthless swindlers” terrorizes Chattanooga, link to NYC based syndicate: @rsmccain “http://t.co/LX1Fk4Up1h
rsmccain
August 1st, 2013 @ 7:15 pm

RT @Italia_Federici: “Crowd of truthless swindlers” terrorizes Chattanooga, link to NYC based syndicate: @rsmccain “http://t.co/LX1Fk4Up1h
coastx
August 1st, 2013 @ 7:21 pm

America responds: Times sales are stable. For the record, This planet is a nightmare.
cincinchili
August 1st, 2013 @ 7:33 pm

RT @rsmccain: “The Times-Free Press is a disgrace to any fish unfortunate enough to be wrapped in it.” http://t.co/rXzUvL23Lu | @instapundi…
sokeijarhead
August 1st, 2013 @ 7:34 pm

Wretched Chattanooga Newspaper Fires Editor Because of Anti-Obama Headline : The Other McCain http://t.co/yl9aFcX8jq
gmardre
August 1st, 2013 @ 7:37 pm

“Wretched Chattanooga Newspaper Fires Editor Because of Anti-Obama Headline” good read http://t.co/FhDjSkPZid
lolvincitomnia3
August 1st, 2013 @ 7:41 pm

RT @Italia_Federici: “Crowd of truthless swindlers” terrorizes Chattanooga, link to NYC based syndicate: @rsmccain “http://t.co/LX1Fk4Up1h
JeffS
August 1st, 2013 @ 7:42 pm

Reprimand, yes. Demote, yes. Suspend, yes. Transfer, yes.

Fire? Over-reaction, especially considering the smearing of conservative politicians in the past. Including Sarah Palin. And the lying headlines, to boot.

There’s more to the story than any simple violation of “the normal editing process”. The options are limited:

A. The guy was a marginal to poor performer.

B. There’s a long standing problem with personnel-management relationships

C. Insufficient backbone on the part of the newspaper leadership.

D. Political influence.

I lean towards a combination of C and D myself, especially given how the Obama Administration has abused reporters in the past.
jarmstrongiv63
August 1st, 2013 @ 7:43 pm

RT @commonpatriot: via @rsmccain: Wretched Chattanooga Newspaper Fires Editor Because of Anti-Obama Headline http://t.co/HYWqxDvng0 #tcot
richard mcenroe
August 1st, 2013 @ 7:54 pm

Surely there are better things to do in Chattanooga than waste time and money reading a newspaper?
richard mcenroe
August 1st, 2013 @ 7:55 pm

Times sales are stable and their losses are increasing daily.
Wombat_socho
August 1st, 2013 @ 7:59 pm

Baseball. IIRC, the Cardinals’ AA affiliate is located there.
TNJim
August 1st, 2013 @ 8:12 pm

Wretched Chattanooga Newspaper Fires Editor Because of Anti-Obama Headline http://t.co/u4hxzedSCO #TCOT #sgp #ocra #TGDN
BobBelvedere
August 1st, 2013 @ 8:19 pm

RT @rsmccain: “The Times-Free Press is a disgrace to any fish unfortunate enough to be wrapped in it.” http://t.co/rXzUvL23Lu | @instapundi…
RAB88
August 1st, 2013 @ 8:30 pm

RT @rsmccain: “The Times-Free Press is a disgrace to any fish unfortunate enough to be wrapped in it.” http://t.co/rXzUvL23Lu | @instapundi…
pepper_sprout
August 1st, 2013 @ 8:37 pm

RT @rsmccain: “The Times-Free Press is a disgrace to any fish unfortunate enough to be wrapped in it.” http://t.co/rXzUvL23Lu | @instapundi…
kobayashifh
August 1st, 2013 @ 8:37 pm

http://t.co/e52ZfqkfKH http://t.co/wWZFgcGRVZ
Finrod Felagund
August 1st, 2013 @ 10:09 pm

And their comment registration system sucks. I tried registering there and the process timed out partway through, which left me with an account that existed but hadn’t been verified so I couldn’t do anything with it, since the process crashed before it could send me the verification email, and of course there’s no way to re-send the verification email, and even getting my password changed successfully still didn’t set the registration as valid. I even emailed them about it and they tried frobbing it and said it should be fine, but of course it wasn’t.
ihazconservative
August 1st, 2013 @ 11:28 pm

Fired for circumventing policy and damaging your company’s brand? Absolutely. That producer who let those fake Asian names of the Asiana crew on the TV got fired even though he checked the names out.
Nan
August 2nd, 2013 @ 12:32 am

The fake asian names were offensive when read aloud. Totally different than providing truth
SDN
August 2nd, 2013 @ 12:54 am

You mean the policy that didn’t exist until after the story was written?
binky354
August 2nd, 2013 @ 1:02 am

I resent your description as a low-brow headline. I thought the headline was very creative and was a good lead in to the article. I’d been happy if he used something like, “Liar-in-Chief, take this….” You get the point. The current administration counts on the media refraining from covering their lies and bringing forth the truthful facts. Journalism died in this country years ago. It’s rare to find anything in the paper that gives the who, what, when, and where and allow the readers to come to their own conclusion about what the information means. I hope Mr. Johnson will find another job soon. And I hope those who don’t like what happened to Mr. Johnson will voice their opinion with their pocketbooks.
JeffS
August 2nd, 2013 @ 1:23 am

The only credible damage to the paper would be with people who think Obama is doing a good job on the economy. By the most generous interpretation of polls, that’s barely half the country.

Given their unemployment rates, I can’t see how the good citizens of Chattanooga feel better about him. Considering how Tennessee went for Romney, I expect a significant majority would volunteer to hold a mirror for Obama while he shoved it.

So maybe Mr. Johnson is getting a lot of free drinks right, hmmmmm?

That won’t hold much water with the paper management, I’m sure. But there’s a distinct possibility that the Chattanooga Times Un-Free Press damaged their brand even more by this firing, than if they had been less knee-jerk reactionary.

That’s my opinion, and I am sticking to it.
Jason Lee
August 2nd, 2013 @ 3:05 am

Oops. I followed the link to the Chattanooga Times-“Free” Press. Not proud of the fact that I just gave them some traffic.

For the first time in my entire life, I’m ashamed to be a citizen of Chattanooga. I wish I could stop subscribing to the newspaper in protest, but I was never stupid enough to subscribe in the first place.
Jason Lee
August 2nd, 2013 @ 3:18 am

The paper conjured up an ex post facto rule and then fired him for violating it. Actually, they’re not even pretending that he violated a rule or guideline. They simply claim that as their token conservative editor, he screwed up an “editing process.” It seems unfair — certainly uglier than the headline he generated.
A slap on the wrist would have been sufficient. I would have given him a raise.
Be careful working for libs, guys. They’re not open-minded or tolerant at all.
Jason Lee
August 2nd, 2013 @ 3:22 am

They’ve already damaged their brand beyond any redemption with their incessant fellation of the Obama administration and their relentless distortion of the truth. This isn’t about reputation or standards, this is about ideology and MSM peer pressure.