Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Happy days are here again


Having been let go at The Baltimore Sun last April, as I have repeatedly, and no doubt tiresomely, reminded you, I spent eleven months looking for another job.

It would be indelicate to identify the potential employers who passed up the opportunity to engage my services, but today I am pleased to name the one that has ended the long search.

I have accepted the offer of a position with – 

wait for it –

The Baltimore Sun.

A stunned newsroom learns today that, by invitation of the departed Monty Cook, I will be back on May 4 as Night Content Production Manager, overseeing newsroom operations in the evening: the front page, coordination between the newsroom and production, print and Web, and generally holding the bag when anything goes awry after sunset. The sabbatical is over.

It remains only to say that my delight in returning to work alongside my once and future colleagues is unbounded and that my gratitude for your expressions of support this past year is profound.

85 comments:

  1. And it will be great to have you back!


    Jay

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  2. Congrats, John!!!
    I'm happy for you, and for The Baltimore Sun. :)

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  3. That's wonderful news! Congratulations Mr. Mc!

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  4. Congratulations, John. You can't keep a good man down.

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  5. John, does that mean that the Sun will, as of May 4th, become as interesting and mind-tickling as your blog? Bestill my heart!
    I subscribe to both the Sun and the Post, one for sentimental reasons and the other for actual content. Alas, it appears that your new position is responsible for operations and not content. So I hope you will continue with this blog, selfish beast that I am, updating it in the wee hours of the morning when all is calm.

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  6. John- the Sun has come out today and will hopefully glow brighter in the future!

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  7. Excellent, excellent news. It is warming to see perseverance rewarded. And the Sun will be equally rewarded. Congratulations!

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  8. Hey, hey, hey! Hooray
    Your biggest anonymous fan says: Now go make it The Baltimore Sun again. Not the Baltimore edition of another newspaper.

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  9. Oh, dear. All sorts of problems. Does this mean I have to figger out a way to rejiggle the who-shah-callit on my-watchama-callit to get this blog, again?
    Oh, sorry: Congratulations.

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  10. Best decision by a newspaper I've heard about in a long, long time. Congratulations, and may this be a sign of better times.

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  11. John,

    Congratulations. Strange stuff, but I am really happy that you will be back at work.

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  12. Congratulations, John! This sounds perfect for you. I shifted from a desk chief's job to an ME's job two years ago this week. While the ME on a magazine with a small staff still does a lot of editing, I've found the problem-solving, organizational and what I call "air traffic control" skills needed are the same whether it's words or pages you're coordinating.

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  13. I am delighted for you! Congratulations.

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  14. Great news, John! Congratulations and best wishes. I only hope your presence in the blogosphere won't be diminished.

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  15. A stunning development, indeed. Congrats, John!

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  16. jancleach@hotmail.comApril 27, 2010 at 12:24 PM

    Many congratulations! Since you'll be working at night, you won't need that nightshade. Please send it to me so I show students a bit of journalism lore.

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  17. Congrats! It was hard to keep this news under my hat at the ACES conference. I'm glad to see it here.

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  18. Great to hear and best wishes

    Bill Ordine

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  19. Congratulations, John. May your return to the newsroom not only improve your life but the Sun as well.

    Oh, and please continue to blog.

    Jason Wilson

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  20. Congratulations to the Baltimore Sun for its wisdom. And congratulations to you for having the strength to give up a potential career on stage (new theme song noted) to return to a largely thankless but supremely rewarding job.

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  21. Congrats from an ACES colleague; how they let you go in the first place will ever be a mystery.

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  22. Congratulations, John! It's comforting to know that you will have a chance to once again prevent the paper from embarassing itself on a regular basis. Mostly I'm glad to know you can go back to doing something you love and are better at than anyone I know.
    -Erik Nelson

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  23. Great news, John. Can't wait to see you in the newsroom again.

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  24. John, congratulations!

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  25. Congratulations to the Baltimore Sun for making an excellent decision!

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  26. Congratulations. Go and make the trains run on time.

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  27. That's great news, John. Congratulations and good luck! At least the Sun won't have to spend long training you in...

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  28. Excellent news! Congratulations to you and the Sun.

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  29. Congratulations! Very happy to hear you'll be back in the saddle again.

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  30. congratulations. great news for you, the paper and the craft.

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  31. Shabash! Agree with previous comments -- keep this blog going.

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  32. Congratulations, John! Great news!

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  33. Congratulations! But can you tell me where the title "content manager" comes from. Several of our senior newsroom people have become some form of content manager. Is "editor" not corporate enough? Do people think laymen don't know what "editor" means? Have content managers been around forever and I'm just ill-informed?

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  34. That's wonderful news. It sounds like you'll have your hands full of work, and you'll be placed where you'll be most effective. As someone who once interviewed me for a position said, work 'em like borrowed mules!

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  35. Well, Congratulations Professor! The Sun and its readership are all the better for it.

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  36. Congrats. I realize your blog was born long before your, er, sabbatical happened. But have you thought much about how this blog may change now that you are heading back into the newsroom? Best wishes!

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  37. How wonderful for you and, most of all, The Sun and all who work there!

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  38. John: I am so delighted for you. It's about time they came to their senses and realized that those who were let go were not obsolete excess baggage.

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  39. Congratulations, John! They must have finally realized they had to do something about all the awful errors that have regularly cropped up in the year since you left. Get back in there and head 'em off at the pass!

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  40. This is great news for you and for us John!

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  41. Great move. The only downside may be fewer online contributions for your devotees to anticipate.

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  42. Good move, Sun. Never should have let him go.

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  43. Congratulations, John. Hope the Sun doesn't foul up your work! Mike Waller

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  44. Congratulations, John! Smart move by the Sun.

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  45. Hooray!

    NOw get 'em to avoid this stuff:

    http://gawker.com/5525783/the-washington-post-cannot-tell-obama-from-malcolm-x?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+gawker%2Ffull+%28Gawker%29

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  46. How about that, and you don't even have to move. Welcome back to the trenches, John.

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  47. Heartfelt congratulations, John. I hope your blog stays here, though!

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  48. I'm here late, but I join the dozens before me in saying "Congratulations!"

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  49. Go figure! The Sun is a better place starting May 4th. (We'll be watching.)Buen suerte!

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  50. Wow. This is fantastic news. Congratulations, Mr. McIntyre, and thank you for returning to a newsroom.

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  51. Congratulations! And I'll add my hope that you continue the blog as well.

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  52. So excited I nearly put a pickle up myself.

    Well done, John.

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  53. Should we start calling you The Phoenix? Congratulations. I'm glad your talent is being put to good use.

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  54. Deo gratias. Bien entendu. Finalmente. Capital, old sock!

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  55. O frabjous day! Congratulations.

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  56. Congratulations to you...and to the Sun. Two winners!

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  57. Hooray! Many congratulations! As a long-time (transatlantic) reader and veteran of night production shifts, I'm greatly looking forward to a new, nightside vibe for You Don't Say.

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  58. Congratulations! Evidence that hope continues to springs eternal.

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  59. I missed this announcement yesterday- Congratulations.

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  60. John - A force for the good and true, watching in the dark. This is wonderful news.

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  61. From a member of your silent legion of fans, congratulations, congratulations, congratulations!

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  62. They FINALLY came to their senses! Took them long enough!

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  63. Good move for you and for The Sun. Congratulations!

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  64. Congratulations. I know our friends and colleagues are delighted to work with you again -- I only regret that I will not be there, as well.

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  65. Congratulations.
    I follow from sunny Oxted in England and this has made me very happy.
    Simon Jay Price

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  66. Congratulations... but do you have any misgivings about returning, given the ugly manner in which you and so many of your colleagues were shoved out the door a year ago?

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  67. What a hoot! Knock 'em dead. Lord knows the paper & web site have suffered in your absence.

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  68. Thrilled to hear it, John. This is wonderful news.

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  69. Hallalujah, they have seen the LIGHT! Good news, John.

    Carol Bowers

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