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Topic: Memos Sent to Romenesko
Date/Time: 12/12/2008 11:39:14 AM
Title: McClatchy news veep Weaver's farewell memo
Posted By: Jim Romenesko
 
Memo from departing McClatchy news vice president Howard Weaver to the Washington staff

11 December 2008

Dear friends,

I've been looking for a chance to come to the bureau to visit since my announcement. I haven't found one yet, and the days are slipping away so I decided to write this note now in any case.

My relationship with the bureau has been closer than with many newsrooms simply because I got to be involved to some degree in your work. (The bureau chief is, as you may know, one of only two people who actually had to report to me). I have treasured my visits -- even the grillings, or perhaps especially the grillings -- and I don't want to depart with telling you how special it has been.

I also don't want you to have any misimpression about why I'm leaving or what that could mean for you.

I can remember how often readers in Anchorage would come up to me somewhere and say, "I read your column Sunday; what do you really think about that?" I always told them I was the most transparent guy in Alaska: I might be right or I might be wrong, but if you had fifty cents, you could find out what I really thought.

Same now. As I mentioned in my blog post, I am leaving because it's time for me to do something different with the next part of my life. It has nothing to do with a change in direction or emphasis at McClatchy. It's no portent of impending disaster. I'm not trying to duck out before the deluge; in fact, I did my best to wait the worst of it out, though time alone will tell how that plays out.

You're all big kids who know where babies come from, and I know I don't have to tell you there's uncertainty and struggle left before the news business settles into a stable new business model. The Tribune bankruptcy, closing of the Cox bureau, sales rumors and more all point to continuing struggle. But I trust you also know that I believe we're well on the road to reaching that stable new platform – and are much farther along than most people believe. A great deal of very real progress has been masked by the economic crisis. /CONTINUED

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