McGregor McCance, managing editor of the Daily Progress for seven years, is becoming the latest employee of the paper to depart for UVA. McCance is going to work for university spokeswoman Carol Wood.(Note that the position of managing editor is the top editorial position at the Progress—there is nobody with the title of, simply, “editor.”) Today was McCance’s last day. The Progress doesn’t yet have a replacement for McCance.
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
foursix and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
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Too bad. McGregor is a super nice dude and an excellent, conscientious editor. Negative trends in the industry in general and Media General’s fervor to cut costs anywhere they can find them make Managing Editor of the Progress an exceptionally difficult job.
I have to wonder what it’ll be like finding a new editor. On the one hand, there’s clearly a glut of talent out there, as newspapers across the country have folded. On the other hand, I have to imagine that the pay isn’t great, and that a lot of people aren’t eager to work for Media General.
You can edit the paper and buy it, folks! Seriously though, the DP does good work not covered by the weeklies and the other media. Would be great to see a dedicated owner come in and get his or her hands dirty.
I imagine very few would be willing to make any sort of move in the industry at this time. Hell, is journalism even a viable major in college anymore?
Journalism is kind of a bullshit major, IMHO. Michael Lewis had a landmark piece on the topic in The New Republic in 1993, entitled “J-School Ate My Brain,” and he explains why that’s so better than I can. In a nutshell, though, majoring in “journalism” is like majoring in “science”—neither is really a thing to know as much as a vessel. Somebody who knows “science” doesn’t really know anything—you’ve got to specialize in etymology, paleontology, climatology, etc. Ditto for “journalism”—it’s far better to learn about something, and then be a journalist covering that.
Anyhow, more to your point, journalism is undergoing a wonderful transformation as a profession. As of March 1, I’m a Fellow with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, having been selected in their 2011 News Challenge. Basically, they pay a bunch of people to come up with innovative new approaches to journalism (read as: means of disseminating distilled, relevant information to large groups of people). So most of my daily work and communications are with people in the field of journalism, and there’s a heck of an energy, a real sense that things are just getting good. In a way, I have made a professional move into the journalism industry, and I couldn’t be happier about it. :)
Depends on what Media General is willing to sell the DP for, eh?
DP (and 62 other paps) sold to Berkshire Hathaway for $142 million in cash:
http://www2.dailyprogress.com/news/2012/may/17/media-general-announces-sale-newspapers-ar-1921455/