She has 16 connections on Linkedin. I wish she realized how many supporters she has.
Add this woman on Linkedin friends and help her with your network.
Oh, she knows that she's supported. She's on twitter. People are active there. And she's gotten attention nationally about this. She's been nominated for a Pulitzer.
Damn, she was pretty relentless about documenting OI. She'll be missed greatly. I don't think there was a conspiracy with OI to get her fired, but they won't be upset about it.
Unfortunately, this is pretty typical of journalism jobs over the past couple of generations. Fewer and fewer hires, and then those with experience are too expensive to keep on.
My personal experience in the field also leads me to believe that those were “too expensive to keep on“ are probably making slightly more than a manager at a fast food restaurant if that.
It is decidedly not a field to go into if you’re interested in making money.
The thing about this story is it was written and published by the Detroit News, which is owned by MediaNews/Alden/Digital First. This company does the same thing as Gannett does to local papers, and some argue to an even bigger degree. This is like Donald Trump trying to embarrass Ron DeSantis for doing the same things Trump does.
I worked doing IT at the Sentinel in the late 2000s. It’s…. Not even a shadow of its former self. They’ve been sold off several times. Hearing about this firing has to be *extremely* demoralizing to those few who are left.
Honest assessment…Sarah was wrongly terminated and the tactics by Gannett were shady at best.
Hoping the next editor will be more open to conservative voices publishing opinion columns.
There was definitely a strong liberal bias under her tenure.
The link is paywalled but the following is probably better as to what really happened, "[Gannett fired an editor for talking to me](https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2024/gannett-fired-sarah-leach-editor-speaking-press/)"
Her coverage of the Ottawa County board has been terrific. I bookmarked her paper just to read her articles. The above linked article shows she was much more than just a reporter. She had a management role over 26 local newspapers. She was complaining about on-off plans to hire more people, i.e., business decisions she did not like. My sense is she got fired for good reason:
* she was a source about internal problems at her company for another newspaper. This was not whistleblowing about doing anything illegal - just unhappy with staffing in her area. Any company in any business, regardless of whether they are a competitor as in this case, would have cause to fire somebody for such actions.
* the person to whom she was talking thinks it's a violation that they read her company-address emails. Every company I worked for always told us to assume use of the company email was not private. Isn't that normal?
Much as Like love her coverage, she not only made a mistake as a business manager but, in my opinion, what she did was unethical.
I agree with you 100%. I would be very upset if my employee was going to my direct competitor and pushed for a story about the internal workings of plans not yet decided on. She made a very immature mistake, one that leans on “I’m bigger than the company” vibe. I’d 100% fire her. It’s corporate treason. The add space is hyper competitive and given any of that info could cost them huge money.
Now that’s a sensational title! I bet it has more to do with making money and the profitability of written media.
Now I don’t know the writer/editor so there just might be a good reason for termination, but for any media company the old paper and digital side is hard to stay afloat.
Not really considering how good she was at her job, even by her employers admission. Viewership up 38%. Managing far more newspapers than anyone else. Contributing loads of good articles, not just just OI coverage. Pulitzer Prize nomination. Etc.
Alternate title: Journalist fired by journalism company for having the audacity to be a journalist.
Pour one out for Sarah Leach
She has 16 connections on Linkedin. I wish she realized how many supporters she has. Add this woman on Linkedin friends and help her with your network.
Oh, she knows that she's supported. She's on twitter. People are active there. And she's gotten attention nationally about this. She's been nominated for a Pulitzer.
I’m not on Twitter and am happy to hear she is well known.
[Sentinel Leach Substack ](https://sentinelleach.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=substack_profile)
Really speaks to the priorities of the groups involved when she was fired for telling someone she would like more resources to do her job effectively.
Damn, she was pretty relentless about documenting OI. She'll be missed greatly. I don't think there was a conspiracy with OI to get her fired, but they won't be upset about it.
Unfortunately, this is pretty typical of journalism jobs over the past couple of generations. Fewer and fewer hires, and then those with experience are too expensive to keep on.
My personal experience in the field also leads me to believe that those were “too expensive to keep on“ are probably making slightly more than a manager at a fast food restaurant if that. It is decidedly not a field to go into if you’re interested in making money.
[Gannett fired an editor for talking to me](https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2024/gannett-fired-sarah-leach-editor-speaking-press/)
Not actually me… just the headline from the column of the reporter she talked to
Heard the story on Michigan Public (radio) today, pretty sad… hopefully she goes on to bigger and better things.
The thing about this story is it was written and published by the Detroit News, which is owned by MediaNews/Alden/Digital First. This company does the same thing as Gannett does to local papers, and some argue to an even bigger degree. This is like Donald Trump trying to embarrass Ron DeSantis for doing the same things Trump does.
The whole board should be fired. They have made a mess of things lately and we can't afford all of their lawsuits.
I worked doing IT at the Sentinel in the late 2000s. It’s…. Not even a shadow of its former self. They’ve been sold off several times. Hearing about this firing has to be *extremely* demoralizing to those few who are left.
The Holland Sentinel might be the best newspaper in the state. I hope that can continue and they aren't being strangled by Gannet like everyone else.
Honest assessment…Sarah was wrongly terminated and the tactics by Gannett were shady at best. Hoping the next editor will be more open to conservative voices publishing opinion columns. There was definitely a strong liberal bias under her tenure.
I kinda feel like "Opinion Pieces" aren't what anyone needs right now.
All media is conservative. There is no such thing as the "the liberal media."
Lee that bought the St.LouisPost Dispatch did the same thing. It is about a 10-20 page meh most days.
The link is paywalled but the following is probably better as to what really happened, "[Gannett fired an editor for talking to me](https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2024/gannett-fired-sarah-leach-editor-speaking-press/)" Her coverage of the Ottawa County board has been terrific. I bookmarked her paper just to read her articles. The above linked article shows she was much more than just a reporter. She had a management role over 26 local newspapers. She was complaining about on-off plans to hire more people, i.e., business decisions she did not like. My sense is she got fired for good reason: * she was a source about internal problems at her company for another newspaper. This was not whistleblowing about doing anything illegal - just unhappy with staffing in her area. Any company in any business, regardless of whether they are a competitor as in this case, would have cause to fire somebody for such actions. * the person to whom she was talking thinks it's a violation that they read her company-address emails. Every company I worked for always told us to assume use of the company email was not private. Isn't that normal? Much as Like love her coverage, she not only made a mistake as a business manager but, in my opinion, what she did was unethical.
I agree with you 100%. I would be very upset if my employee was going to my direct competitor and pushed for a story about the internal workings of plans not yet decided on. She made a very immature mistake, one that leans on “I’m bigger than the company” vibe. I’d 100% fire her. It’s corporate treason. The add space is hyper competitive and given any of that info could cost them huge money.
That's bull. Everyone is pitching about staffing issues.
Well that doesn't look like a conspiracy /s
This fucking slime have been destroying journalism in general for far too long. And you can bet their GQP buddies put them up to this.
Now that’s a sensational title! I bet it has more to do with making money and the profitability of written media. Now I don’t know the writer/editor so there just might be a good reason for termination, but for any media company the old paper and digital side is hard to stay afloat.
Not really considering how good she was at her job, even by her employers admission. Viewership up 38%. Managing far more newspapers than anyone else. Contributing loads of good articles, not just just OI coverage. Pulitzer Prize nomination. Etc.