Wednesday, August 27, 2008
News / News Bites Jay Mariotti Leaves the Sun-Times, and He'll Have Company
Posted by Michael Miner on Wed, Aug 27, 2008 at 12:43 PM
Jay Mariotti tells the editor in chief of the Sun-Times, Michael Cooke, Tuesday evening that he's quitting. As of immediately. But on Wednesday he shows up back at the paper to tape his ESPN show, Around the Horn, in what Cooke calls "the nice little TV studio we built for him."
"It's for the last time," Cooke tells me.
But why didn't you throw him out? I wondered.
"This may escape Jay, but it's the question of dignity," says Cooke.
Cooke doesn't want to get into the details, but he notes that Mariotti, in his 17-year career at the Sun-Times, threatened to quit many times before. The paper always found a way to change his mind, and Cooke supposes it might have been able to find a way once again. "He gave us an opportunity to pull the trigger, which we’ve never done in the past," says Cooke. "This time we pulled the trigger."
A couple months ago, the Sun-Times spilled a lot of its own ink publicizing Mariotti's latest contract, which was supposed to keep him at the paper through May 2011. "It's interesting that a guy walks out on a contract after spending a lifetime criticizing other people for not observing their their contracts," says Cooke. "I'm sure that irony won't escape our readers."
Cooke adds, "We’re not hearing from grief-stricken fans. The truth is quite the opposite. Quite the opposite. We've gotten hundreds of e-mails, including ones that say 'Now we’ll buy the paper.' By all indications our circulation will go up."
Anyway, he's got other things to worry about. Bad times have been followed by worse times at the Sun-Times, and Cooke had to meet Tuesday afternoon with leaders of the Chicago Newspaper Guild, giving them the bad news that the paper needed to cut salaries to the tune of three columnists, a reporter, a photographer, and five editorial assistants. Going by guild scale, the combined yearly salaries of those positions comes to about $580,000.
So when Cooke received Mariotti's memo that afternoon that said "I quit," he had every reason to think, well, that's convenient. With more on his mind than Mariotti, Cook wrote and emailed the following staff memo:
The Sun-Times continues to manage through the unprecedented newspaper economic downturn. While our circulation, in context, continues to be acceptable, advertising revenues are awful. So again we are left with no choice but to cut our costs to try to match the reduced income.Says CNG's executive director, Gerald Minkkinen, after the guild-management meeting "things happened that could change the picture."
What?
"Jay Mariotti resigned."
Mariotti's salary is between him and the paper, but it undoubtedly represents a huge chunk of that $580,000. And so it was that Mariotti, instead of hearing back from Cooke, heard instead from a Sun-Times lawyer that his resignation had been accepted.
Showing 1-7 of 7
And it's just like Mariotti to bleed the Sun-Times for a trip to China for the Olympics, then quit as soon as he gets back. Whatta guy.
...Perhaps it was unknown elements concerning that trip to China that helped derail Mariotti and his career. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... The Manchurian Columnist (Nah, just kidding -- and glad to see the idiot leave...Now, who will we turn to for fake "clever" sporting nicknames -- like "Blizzard of Ozz" or "Rex, the Wonder Bear" -- that no one else ever uses?)
Deadspin says that Mariotti was angry that Telander could write a column about Obama (and his comments on the Cubs) as Mariotti was told to stay away from politics several times.
One less reason to buy the Sun-Times now. Say what you like about Mariotti, he was never dull. If they lose Steinberg then it's game over.
Yes, to use a baseball analogy, Mariotti had good stuff, and I will miss his flame-throwing column. But I didn't have to work with him.
This is so much fun. His vendetta against Ozzie and Hawk and hid double talk on so many topics does not make him a respected writer. The only thing he was good at was controversy and after a while anyone that read his work regularly could see right through him.
This guy was the true definition of an Italian Goomba, he completely and utterly was a piece of human garbage. Of course he criticized other people about their contracts then bailed on his, typical douchebag.
Latest in The Blog
-
Too New to Review: Prairie Fire, Leo's Coney Island, the Southern, Revolution Brewing Company, and More
Prairie Fire, Leo's Coney Island of Chicago, the Southern, and other restaurants too new to review.
- Feb 8, 2010
-
Fewer Shoes on the North Side
Times are tough for shoe stores too.
- Feb 8, 2010
-
When Golden Earring Were Good
Wait, Golden Earring was good?
- Feb 8, 2010
- More»
Author Archives
-
More Chicago in the New York Times, Courtesy of Reader Executives
- Nov 19, 2009
-
The Perils of Sylvia: More Cuts on the Tribune's Comics Page
Can the passion of a readers whose numbers aren't legion save Sylvia in the Chicago Tribune?
- Feb 4, 2010
-
Rethinking 'Roids
Why do we object so vehemently to performance-enhancing drugs anyway?
- Jan 28, 2010
- More»
Top Commenters
Comments (7) RSS