Morlin, Steele, Webster Leaving SR

21 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

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  Duffer on March 20 at 12:48 p.m.

  Well, one by one, the S-R’s vital organs are being removed. At this rate of departure, it soon will join the P-I. Hang on to your seat cushion DFO. You might need it for flotation.

  And I just re-upped for another three months!

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  JeanieSpokane on March 20 at 1:29 p.m.

  I’m shocked! I went to school with Bill’s sister. I’ve wondered if he ever met my Dad, Don Rice, on the Chronicle. And I’ve loved everything that Karen has written. “Incalculable loss” is an understatement. It’s almost too much to take, Dave - along with everything else: the economy, my son’s lay off; every Tom-Dick-and-Harry company wanting to raise their rates; my 401(k) disappearing off the chart; my dreams of retirement fizzling; papers closing; more layoffs being treatened; and now this.

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  Digger on March 20 at 1:47 p.m.

  Why do I have this mental image of a string quartet playing “Nearer my God to Thee” in the lobby while at the same time Stacey Cowles is telling Gary Graham to re-arrange the deck chairs?

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  Transplanted_Texan on March 20 at 1:56 p.m.

  I’m going to miss Webster’s stuff! :( Will he still be doing the Spokane Public Radio movie reviews on Fridays?

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  Buddy Bob on March 20 at 4:35 p.m.

  With these three veterans will come a whole change in newsroom spirit and personality…. Best of luck to all of them! I appreciated everyone of them and they were all very, very good newspersons!

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  hmoffsuite on March 20 at 5:24 p.m.

  I’ve mentioned before that I have a buddy who took an early retirement last year from 30 years at the Miami Herald. He could see the direction things were going and got out with nice severence and pension benefits, etc. When McClatchy papers got it, things got real bad. Now doing layoffs like everyone else. But, what I wanted to mention here is that the Herald still calls him to write stories or something as a pvt contractor. (he is usually too busy wiriting for other organizations now). It could be that some of the laid off folk can keep doing what they were doing but as a non employee. If a guy were hired on that basis, it would be much cheaper for the paper with no contributions or employee taxes having to be paid. That might be a direction the business will turn to after the economy picks up. In the good old days, empolyees were valuable assets to the company. Then, somewhere along the line, employees became liabilities.

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  mia on March 20 at 9:13 p.m.

  Another sad day in newspaperdom. I respect all three, I have met and totally love Dan Webster’s reviews, I am sad, sad to see more of your great writers go. What is to become of our dear Spokesman????

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  Sam on March 20 at 9:37 p.m.

  Bill Morlin is an amazing investigative reporter, as is Karen Dorn Steele and them not being at that paper is a severe, severe loss.

  Work I did last year exposing a local man lying about his educational background and then working as a contractor, among other things, earthquake-proofing places like the Hanford nuclear site is a DIRECT result of Bill Morlin first getting the list of thousands of people who purchased fake degrees from a Spokane diploma mill from a source.

  His work on that story exposed people nationwide and led to the investigation of Washington State Troopers who purchased fake degrees and used them to get raises.

  His work on other stories had the same impact, most especially his work on the Aryan Nations in Idaho.

  Seriously, I geek out when I hear Bill Morlin’s name and I honestly couldn’t care less who knows it. The guy is an amazing journalist and I wish he was going to be around around to serve as an example for journalism students to aspire to.

  Very sad.

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  Sam on March 20 at 9:42 p.m.

  Also, as to Karen Dorn Steele. I absolutely loved the way she wrote, and I was so happy that the Spokesman editors appreciated it enough to allow it, too.

  She wrote directly and very bluntly. She told it like it was, and though often it sounded harsh, especially when it came to her coverage of law enforcement, it was factual and it allowed you to understand the issue easily and made you think.

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  cantyoureadthesigns on March 21 at 1:01 a.m.

  Stunning… These names have been Marquis at the S/R for many years. Should save the jobs of several newbies, more than 3, one would hope.

  The slow but persistent death of local, in-depth investigative reporting, and enteraining and informed comment on the media of all sorts.

  Tick-Tock…

• 

  zelda on March 21 at 10:55 a.m.

  I don’t know how much more of this I can take. The S-R isn’t running stories anymore; it’s more like synopses. Three short paragraphs and that’s it.

  When I picked up the paper in the morning I would scan it, actively LOOKING for Karen’s, Bill’s, and Dan’s bylines because those were the stories I had to read first.

  Their work has molded and shaped this community and I especially want to salute Bill Morlin’s work on the Aryan Nations, fraud and organized crime. This is vital reporting that has benefitted countless people.

  I am truly sorry to see them go.

  On a side note, I’ve noticed that The Inlander is posting new, in-depth stories on its Web site nearly every day instead just Thursdays. So, thanksfully, good journalism is finding a way to endure in Spokane.

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