So long. And thanks for all the fishwrap

It has been reported in several places that a number of Times-Picayune writers have been taking "voluntary buyouts" as the paper's parent company, Newhouse Publications undergoes massive cost-cutting exercises. Among these are veteran contributors Chris Rose, Walt Philbin, Angus Lind, Susan Larson, James Gill and others.

When I first learned of the buyouts and who was involved, I expected the T-P to make a more public acknowledgment of the departures of some of their longtime fixtures. Certainly James Gill deserved something close to the kind of send-off Lind got when he retired back in May. Instead, the entire business has been kept remarkably quiet by the paper and the writers involved.

For example, check out how the T-P handled the "retirement" of longtime Saints beat writer Brian Allee-Walsh whose exit was bizarrely scheduled right smack in the middle of football season. Allee-Walsh was given a one-sentence caption at the bottom of a weekly predictions square.



I know the print is difficult to make out. It says,

"Editor's Note: Brian Allee-Walsh's NFL selections will no longer appear in The Times-Picayune. He has retired after 32 years of service."

As far as I know this is the only public note the T-P has made of any of these buyouts.