Digger Pulls Plug On Paper Column

24 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

• 

  Sisyphus on December 08 at 1:30 p.m.

  I agree Dave. But I’m not surprised either.

• 

  OrangeTV on December 08 at 1:33 p.m.

  I can relate. When I worked for the Chamber of Commerce, I was called into Jonathan Coe’s office for an intense earful after people complained about something I wrote somewhere making fun of tourists (can’t recall the details at the moment).

  I’ve learned that it’s much easier to be nicey-nice and not ruffle any feathers with my column rather than be blunt or inflammatory with my opinions. I’ve had my share of pissy emails and complaints to the editors and it can be rather tiresome dealing with the nags of this world, like the one that contacted Digger’s manager.

  I don’t often agree with Digger, but did admire his willingness to stick his neck out there and just deal with whatever fallout came. Perhaps he should make a blog and continue to opine freely.

• 

  Sisyphus on December 08 at 1:36 p.m.

  That’s why God made blogs, orange. So we can use the f-word. ;-)

• 

  MatthewRoot on December 08 at 1:45 p.m.

  It is too bad that he resigned due to a complaint letter. As a small business owner, however, I found most of his columns to be self-centered and narrow.

  He recently complained about the minimum wage, and wished that he could pay a lower wage to a part-time employee (I wonder how much he is paid). As one who just hired three temp workers, one for $18/hr and two for $16/hr, I find his complaint lacks much merit. (I will give those employees a Christmas bonus as well to recognize their hard work).

  Employees are the heart of any small business, and without good people, we would be out of business (at least I would). I have always found that if I respect my employees, in part by paying them good wages, then they will respect the business and respect their jobs. I expect good work, and I am willing to pay for it. I could not imagine paying anyone minimum wage, no matter what they did.

  He complained about his customers, and he complained about what he thought were the high cost of services that he had to pay at other local businesses. Then, he boasted of filing his column from his Blackberry while in Florida. Hard to see a lot of consistency in what he wrote.

• 

  spokelooneh on December 08 at 2:05 p.m.

  Good on ya, Chip.

  More than a few times, Digger made non-complimentary statements about Radio Shack’s corporate policies. I remember cringing when reading them, thinking to myself if RS higher ups see this, they’re not going to be happy. These were comments that he made about his column(s), not the actual columns themselves.

  So I’m not in the least bit surprised by this.

  Gotta dance with the one that brought ya.

• 

  Cabbage Boy on December 08 at 2:15 p.m.

  Kudos to Henry for putting his name on the opinion page. He had some good subjects, but rarely did I come away with anything other than what a self absorbed person he was.

• 

  Digger on December 08 at 2:31 p.m.

  Jesus… isn’t there anything that anyone can do on this damn blog that dosen’t get ripped apart by the commenters?

  This really is a place for feral bloggers - It certainly is not the HBO I started with a number of years ago.

• 

  MatthewRoot on December 08 at 2:35 p.m.

  Well Digger, so it goes.

• 

  nic on December 08 at 2:37 p.m.

  Digger, I’m saddened to see your column go the way of the Souza. You really should start a blog.

• 

  Cabbage Boy on December 08 at 2:38 p.m.

  Sorry digger, but if you don’t have thick skin, don’t be an opinion writer. Blogs are much better for the opinionated writer with thin skinned.

• 

  Digger on December 08 at 2:47 p.m.

  I would also like to clairify a couple things before this thread dies and you no longer have my columns to use as a punching bag:

  #1 - The store I manage is a RadioShack FRANCHISE store. We purchase our merchandise from RadioShack and pay for use of the brand. We are NOT a corporate RadioShack - RadioShack contributes no dollars directly to our store, rather we pay them like any other vendor.

  As such, payroll, local advertising, etc… all come out of our store operations and sales. So when I discuss what I pay my people and needing another but at a lower rate, thats because it comes off of our already small margins as we compete in a recession economy with the academic “web shoppers” of Pullman.

  #2 - Chip - my vacation to Florida has nothing to do with this thread. That trip was a long earned, long saved (like saving for a couple years before we bought our tickets) for vacation.. Don’t sit there and tell me that it makes me look bad for taking a vacation.

  On another note, I’d like to know what industry you are in that you can pay your temporary employees $18 an hour. I don’t even make that on base salary as a manager.

  #3 - I’ve put up with some harsh critisism for my columns on the local level and have discussed my views ad nausem with local people, in person. None, and I mean NONE, of them have been as rude, vile, and disrespectful as some of the commenters here who don’t even have the guts to put out their real identity on this blogsite.

  I have. People know who I am, where I work, and what I stand for. And thats more than I can say for most of the commenters on this site.

• 

  Cindy_H on December 08 at 2:48 p.m.

  Digger, I’m sorry you felt you had to make this choice.
  It takes a lot of guts to be an opinion writer, and the best opinion writers inspire lots of outrage.
  That’s their job.
  I can however see that it doesn’t mesh with your job that pays the bills.
  Start a blog, Digger. Keep writing!

• 

  spokelooneh on December 08 at 2:53 p.m.

  Still. Doesn’t. Get. It.
  More. Drama.
  Not. Surprised.

• 

  moscow_minidoka on December 08 at 2:58 p.m.

  Digger, as someone who lives in the same area as you, I more-often-than-not disagreed with your columns in the Daily-News. However, I do respect you for sticking your neck out and taking a stand that you truly believed in. It’s hard work, and you stuck with it.

  However, like many of your fellow HBOers, I don’t understand your habit of writing provocative (or inflammatory) opinion pieces and then whining because people responded negatively to what you wrote. That goes with the territory. And when you make a habit of badmouthing ‘the little guy” and wishing there were more ways to screw them over (food service workers, your own employees, etc), well, what do you expect?

  You don’t hear Doug Clark or DFO bellyaching because people misunderstood what they wrote or responded to their columns in ways other than they expected.

  I’m not bagging on you - I just encourage you to go out with your head held high, and not with a whine.

  What that reader did to you was low and venomous, and what my dad would call a “chickens**t move.” You should NOT be quitting your column over it. Unless Radio Shack threatened to terminate your franchise or quit supplying you with merchandise, I would just chalk it up to an isolated jerk and not some sort of community call to action.

  Sorry this happened to you, Digger - I hope you’ll at least stick around here - most of what you have to say is at least interesting to read.

• 

  DFO on December 08 at 3:14 p.m.

  @ Digger re: “Jesus… isn’t there anything that anyone can do on this damn blog that dosen’t get ripped apart by the commenters?”

  This blog is a lot tamer today than it ever was. I do see one difference — you didn’t have a column back then. You took some very opinionated stands in the Daily News column. And didn’t like the feedback you received from those stands. Those who note that opinion writers need thick skin are right. You should be proud that you stirred things up, rather than resentful. My old buddy Milt Priggee would jump for joy when he created a commotion with his tunes. He lived for that controversy. I certainly enjoyed setting things off during my 13 years as an opinon writer and my 25 years as a column writer for the S-R. You probably made the right idea re: pulling the plug on the column. It doesn’t mean your a bad person. Just that you were prepared for the rough and tumble of opinion writing in the era of the blogosphere.

• 

  Digger on December 08 at 3:18 p.m.

  Oh, I still love firing things off, DFO. But there is a balance between firing things off and running a business.

  If I could be a full time flamer columnist (no pun intended) I’d be a happy camper.

  But alas, I must also run a retail store in a small community. Therein lies the balanace.

  Oh well. We move on - and I’ll have my Sunday afternoons free again without having to be stuck in my office writing a column!

• 

  MatthewRoot on December 08 at 3:18 p.m.

  Digger, Don’t see much on this thread that could be construed as rude and vile, other than disagreeing with your columns.

  Complaining about a $75 doctor office visit (which seems more than fair for the services received), and complaining about tipping waitresses while being able to afford a Florida vacation and Blackberry seem inconsistent to me. If you can afford a vacation, you can afford the price of services rendered. You mentioned it in your column, hence, fair game.

  Why propose lowering the wages of those who can least afford it? I think that is exactly what is wrong with many business models today.

  I own a successful business, but I do it a different way. I pay my highest paid people about what I make (which is usually about $55,000 a year). I work long hours and very hard to make sure that my company is successful. I serve in many professional organizations without compensation. Other competing companies pay far less to their employees than I do, and the owners make far more than I do. I chose to make less so that I can pay my employees more. When we have a good year, everyone shares in the success, even part-time workers. I am here to provide a service, not make tons of money.

  So far this year, we have also contributed over 10% of our profits to the underprivileged in the Inland Northwest, and the company has donated hundreds of hours of labor to nonprofit projects.

  So yes, I reserve the right to disagree with your columns.

• 

  OrangeTV on December 08 at 3:19 p.m.

  I pretty much agree with Digger about how certain hypercritical people around here rarely have nice things to say about anything or anybody.

  On the other hand, when one attaches their name to an opinion column in a newspaper and says things that most people wouldn’t agree with or with a high level of self-righteousness, one must be prepared to take the heat from all angles (letters to the editor, blog posts, dirty looks) without flinching or firing back.

• 

  Stickman on December 08 at 3:42 p.m.

  Thanks Orange for the first paragraph of your comment.

• 

  Laughing on December 08 at 4:00 p.m.

  “some people are poisonous and vindictive when they don’t agree w/opinionators.”

  Hmmm. As Spencer Tracy said to Katherine Hepburn, in the movie Adam’s Rib, “That was all I wanted to hear.”

• 

  Phaedrus on December 08 at 4:48 p.m.

  before this thread dies and you no longer have my columns to use as a punching bag:

  Is this Digger’s Nixon farewell?

  It’s hard to run a business and express opinions they way Digger did it. I know, if I was a waiter, I’d never shop at his store.

• 

  tarynahecker on December 08 at 4:59 p.m.

  Yeah, Digger. These HBO’ers are so mean and nasty and you keep coming back for more.

  Time to look up your local chapter of BA.

• 

  mike_s on December 08 at 5:26 p.m.

  Digger, as a Radio Shack guy, perhaps you can answer a question for me. Can I use any type of USB dial-up modem with my Macbook or is it proprietary? Do you have any in stock? Price?

• 

  spokelooneh on December 08 at 10:26 p.m.

  Now that I think about it, Digger airing his dirty laundry about Radio Shack franchise mgt. telling him to cool it is also a prime example of lack of any business sense, just as bad as having an unorganized dirty stockroom and shelves not stocked over the critical holiday period in order to save $20.

  Company owned store or franchise, Radio Shack spends big money promoting their brand, and as a company can little afford to have a franchisee tarnishing that brand with often inane and ill-considered columns in the local paper of record.

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