Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Righeimer and Wylder Out At Daily Pilot

THE DAILY VOICE REPORTS...
Wow! Big news reported by the Newport Mesa Daily Voice this morning. In a column, HERE, they report that both Jim Righeimer and Greer Wylder are out as Daily Pilot columnists! Huge news!

CONFIRMS EARLIER RUMORS

I had heard rumors earlier that Riggy was on shaky ground with his column, but declined to print that information because it wasn't
a done deal. The source at the Daily Voice seems to think it is now.

RIGGY'S CHOICE

I called the Daily P
ilot, spoke with two editors, who confirmed the facts as presented in the Daily Voice column - that Riggy was given the choice of retaining his column or resigning from the Planning Commission. It doesn't surprise me that he chose to leave the newspaper. I also called Riggy, who acknowledged the circumstances of this story.

UNFAIR ADVANTAGE

From my personal point of view, permitting a sitting city official to have a regular column in the Daily Pilot has always been
a little curious. In my view, it was made worse because Riggy obviously had aspirations for higher office and the column gave him a platform to express his views not available to other potential opponents.

LAST COLUMN?

No word yet when the Daily Pilot will publish his final column... it may already have done so with his presentation last week.

WYLDER DEPARTURE LEAVES HUGE HOLE...

The departure of Greer Wylder is also a shocker. Her column in the Daily Pilot has a HUGE following but, according to sources at the Daily Pilot, they were unable to reach
agreement on a contract. This will leave another big hole in the Daily Pilot's presentation of important information to its readers. I have no idea whether or not the fact that Wylder is married to former Daily Pilot editor, Los Angeles Times reporter and co-publisher of the Newport Mesa Daily Voice had anything to do with her departure from the Daily Pilot.

DRAMA CONTINUES
Lately it seems that there is no lack of drama over on Sunflower Street... this is just the mo
st recent event. Ever since Sam Zell bought the Los Angeles Times parent company, The Tribune Companies, and systematically dismantled that once-proud news organization speculation has existed about the future of the Times Community News family of local news outlets, including the Daily Pilot. I've written many times that I do not want the Daily Pilot to go away... our communities need this newspaper of record for more than a century. I hope the folks managing that group find ways to adapt to the changing world of journalism and remain an important, essential part of our communities.

Labels: , ,

3 Comments:

Blogger The Pot Stirrer said...

Just a little reminder that I won't print comments signed "Anonymous"..Pick a name - any name - and re-submit it...

1/27/2010 03:31:00 PM  
Blogger Bruce Krochman said...

I had always thought it odd that Righeimer was immediately appointed to the planning commission AND given a column in the Daily Pilot after moving to Costa Mesa. His political ambitions were a matter of record, so the Daily Pilot's selection of him was either a "favor" to his political mentors or possibly some way of currying political favor with the local GOP. It isn't as if there aren't several hundred conservative republicans in Costa Mesa that couldn't have done a similar job in writing a column.

1/27/2010 04:41:00 PM  
Blogger Gericault said...

I'm kind of disappointed..it's more exciting hitting the Pinata when it's just hanging there and everyone stands around and watches........Now I won't know what he's up to...

1/27/2010 10:21:00 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home