The Fort Worth Weekly brings us the surprising news that columnist Dave Lieber no longer works at the paper that employed him for 20 years. From the FWeekly:
The layoff makes little sense — Lieber was an enthusiastic and absolutely tireless promoter of himself, his column, and the newspaper. Lieber’s prominent face and voice was on a level with fellow columnists Bud Kennedy and Bob Ray Sanders.
And Lieber did a lot of good for the community, looking out for underdogs, the voiceless, the aged, the conned, and the screwed over.
“He was an invaluable asset, you would think, given the fact that the kind of advocacy journalism and community interaction he supplied were among the few points of difference that the Star-Telegram — or any local daily for that matter — can still offer to keep themselves relevant,” said a former Star-Telegram writer who was previously laid off. “It’s as if management is trying to steer the paper to a premature death.”
I feel for Lieber. These are tough times for everyone who puts ink on paper. And he left his gig with more equanimity that I will muster when I’m canned. “I thank the paper for giving me 20 of the most exciting years a guy could ever have in Texas,” he told the FWeekly. But I will never forgive him for apologizing for ditching his ill-behaved son at a restaurant and making him walk home.
