Sidney Rudd are you listening?

Sidney Rudd is a Danville resident who wrote in to The Danville Register & Bee to urge subscribers to cancel their subscriptions until the 12 folks in the graphics department were rehired. Thanks Sidney. It will take advertisers withholding their ads - not just subscribers -to get the paper to change. Even this blog hasn't been able to wring an acknowledgment of wrongdoing out of the paper or Media General.

What Sidney Rudd and most of Danville may not know or realize is that at one time 30 to 40 people worked in pressroom alone. Those numbers have dwindled over the last couple of years as the paper began sending work to Lynchburg while it made plans to shut the pressroom down.

Sidney doesn't know about the nine jobs lost last Oct. in the composing room when those jobs were laid off as well. Those jobs are being done now by temps in Lynchburg who think that if they do a good enough job they'll be hired permanently!! NOT! Those temp jobs weren't announced to the public and neither were the Classified Department jobs which were terminated or laid off so the work could be sent to Lynchburg to more temps. Then there were the photographer's jobs. Folks, do you like seeing the photos that reporters (who are really writers - not photographers) are taking? Publisher Steve Kaylor acts like it's some sort of great thing that reporters are also having to take photos - but the fact is, unless you are, by training and ability, a natural born writer and photographer - it's very difficult to both effectively and efficiently. Such individuals - ones who do both well, the industry itself concedes - are rare. Publisher Steve Kaylor told local groups like the Rotary that it was part of an effort to do better journalism when in fact - it leads to worse journalism and poorer coverage. All it really does is save stockholders and the corporation money. There is no benefit to the community at all.

THEN..... [CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO ENLARGE THE LETTER SO YOU CAN READ IT]

Gotta love this letter from a reader regarding how one reporter covered a political event. Sorry readers - this young reporter is a self-proclaimed socialist who grew up down the street from Obama and who thinks he walks on water. She's also from Chicago, so don't expect her to understand or care about issues in the south side. She's here to start a career - not to set down roots. She's had little to no training at The Register & Bee and doesn't have any guidance - but she is good friends with and parties from time to time with Darren and Brandy (Remember them - the supervisor "dating" his employee - not a problem except he was married to a very nice woman who thought Brandy was her friend - not sleeping with her husband...). They don't do journalism at The Danville Register & Bee folks. So stop expecting it. They don't care how much you complain as long as you buy the paper and buy ads. They don't care what you think or what to know about politics...or accurate reporting. We're talking a youngster with NO prior experience other than taking photos and deciding she likes to write....You're better off with blogs or attending meetings yourself...or subscribing to The Star Tribune...[CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO ENLARGE THE LETTER SO YOU CAN READ IT]