A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis, serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. © James Conner.
Updated. Chuck Johnson and Mike Dennison are leaving the Montana state bureau for the Lee newspapers. Montana Cowgirl, Intelligent Discontent, 4and20blackbirds, and the Last Best News, have good posts with links to key stories. Chuck is retiring, but Mike is looking for work.
They were offered an unacceptable pay cut (40 percent, reports Romenesko), which is how established reporters are fired these days. Their sin was seniority, an unavoidable result of experience. Lee believes they can be replaced, if they are replaced, by young reporters who are willing to accept entry level compensation. That will leave more money for paying bonuses to the Lee executives who led the business into bankruptcy.
I think their experience and high level of professional competence are irreplaceable.
Although busy men, Mike and Chuck always had the time, and decency, to send me a friendly note when I needed to make a correction. Mike even used me as a source on a story he wrote on Flathead politics.
I wish them well. May their journey forward be blessed with fair winds, following seas, and the bright sunshine of good fortune.