WILL POWER: TIMES HERALD EDITOR STRIKES AGAIN

Dallas Times Herald Editor in Chief Will Jarrett turned Herald staffers on their ears once again
when at the 11th hour he killed a story on female impersonators by writer A J. Love. The piece was supposed to
be the June 2 cover story for the Herald’s new Sunday magazine, Dallas City. Instead, weekend editors
scrambled to replace it with “Steeped in Tradition”-a story about Texans and iced tea originally set to run June 9.

According to some Herald staffers who won’t soon forget their anger and disappointment following the paper’s
cancellation of John Bloom’s Joe Bob Goes to the Drive-In column, this latest incident appears to be
more of the same.

Dallas City staffers say what made them angriest is that Jar-rett admitted later he had not actually read the
story before he made the decision to kill it. He said that it was “too much” and “too big a story for that small a
segment of the population.” But, worse than that, Jarrett was reportedly told by the Herald’s advertising staff
that they were worried that such a controversial story in such a new magazine would inevitably hurt advertising
sales.

Now that he has read the story, Jarrett says, “Frankly, it was a good piece.” But he says the story was too long for
the Sunday magazine, which is trying to raise its story count. “It might appear at some point in the newspaper,” he
says. “We could use it in the Living section.” Herald staffers say they aren’t holding their breath.

Media critic Dennis Holder says the argument that Dallas City is too new to support controversial
stories doesn’t hold water. “The Herald is trying to sell Dallas City as a new look and a new concept
and it isn’t anything different,” he says. “I think anytime you declare that advertising controls editorial matter,
you send a message that anything controversial isn’t wanted. And that’s too bad.”

Love says, “The Times Herald has been the leader in liberal thought. Now we are the reactionary paper. We
wonder where it is all going to end.”