Thanks for Being the Best Hinton, You’re FIRED

2nd January 2008

Thanks for Being the Best Hinton, You’re FIRED

posted in Commentary, NASCAR |

Censored In the four years I’ve been posting to this sad excuse for a media outlet I’ve had many occasions to quote the writtings Ed Hinton.

Many have described Hinton as “the best NASCAR writer in the nation” as the lead NASCAR writer for the Orlando Sentinel and you won’t find a dissenting voice here.

Not anymore, he may still be the best, but it won’t be under the masthead of the Orlando Sentinel.

He wasn’t fired in the truest sense of the word, but when they put your job on the chopping block you have a choice, leave for greener pastures or become the head writer for the Homes & Garden section. Or worse, the Obituary Editor.

Tribune Co. has told the Sentinel’s sports staff via memo dated 2 January, 2008 the following:

“With the increasing demand to produce local news, we’ve decided to eliminate our national NASCAR coverage and focus more on local sports coverage.”

“Following a joint decision by the Sentinel, Chicago Tribune and the Sun-Sentinel, we won’t be covering as many NASCAR races and will spend more of our budget on local news.”

And a Happy New Year to you Ed.

An unsigned memo I should add. How brave of the Tribune Co. I wonder just how this fits into the Tribune’s “company values?” I don’t think teamwork or integrity fits the situation and being a Sneaky Snake isn’t listed.

In the case of the Orlando Sentinel you have to ask what the Tribune Co. considers “local sports coverage?” The city of Orlando is a mere 50 miles from Daytona Beach, it doesn’t get more local than that.

Moreover, putting the axe to NASCAR coverage in the Chicago Tribune deprives the sixth largest daily newspaper in the USA of, at minimum Ed Hinton’s column, and potentially all NASCAR coverage.

To say nothing of the Orlando Sentinel and the Sun-Sentinel being the 36^th and 37^th largest papers in the USA and 2^nd and 3^rd in the state of Florida.

What of the Los Angeles Times (#4 in the nation) and Newsday in New York (#19 in the nation) which are also owned by the Tribune Co.? Are they also losing NASCAR coverage to make space for more local coverage?

Just what are these boardroom buffoons thinking?!

I have little doubt Hinton will have too much trouble landing a job. With a r

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008 at 7:21 pm and is filed under Commentary, NASCAR. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On January 3rd, 2008, Luke said:#

Wow.

// jaw drops…

Wow.

I’m speechless. (Weird, huh?)

I’m sure Ed will easily land on his feet though. His talents will be well sought through the industry for sure. Hinton + Poole? Hmmm…

Why couldn’t this have been a year from now? // lips sealed.

Luke’s last blog post..Daytona 500: 45 Days and Counting

posted on January 3rd, 2008 at 12:56 pm

2 On January 3rd, 2008, Marc said:#

Yeap, pretty damn shocking Luke.

Obviously, at least to me, the company going private had something to do with it. (Can you spell the new owners are NOT RACING FANS!?)

The Trib Co. along with all the other major US dailies are losing readership faster than Britney can shave her [bone]head. But to cut coverage of the second most watched and attended sport in the USA? It’s an asinine decision that will bite them in the ass in the long run.

posted on January 3rd, 2008 at 3:04 pm

3 On January 4th, 2008, Megan said:#

Yo, Ed we don’t want you in Indy so go where he suggested not seeing your butt at Indy or the Brickyard is great. See ya at the smorgasboard.

posted on January 4th, 2008 at 9:22 am

4 On January 4th, 2008, RBD said:#

I understand this decision. When it comes to local newspapers covering NASCAR, it’s fair to ask this question: Who’s the home team? The competitors are 45 independent contractors, none of whom represents an institution or a city.

posted on January 4th, 2008 at 12:46 pm

5 On January 4th, 2008, Marc said:#

Gee Megan, Hinton pee in your Wheaties in the past?

RBD - You understand it? Ok fine for you, but to pull national coverage for the #2 most watched sports is asinine and sooner or later it will show up with even more subscriptions being canceled.

If you think more than a handfull of MLB or NFL players give a rats butt about the city they play for your sadly mistaken. NASCAR’s independent contractors has little to do with it.

posted on January 4th, 2008 at 1:07 pm

6 On January 5th, 2008, Diecast Dude said:#

As I mentioned over at RPT, while Hinton is a top-notch writer you’re more than welcome to him.

posted on January 5th, 2008 at 7:31 am

7 On January 5th, 2008, Marc said:#

Hey… I’ll take anyone about now.

Got Hannah Montana’s number? That should be worth a couple hits at the expense of the Tall Glass of Lactose.

posted on January 5th, 2008 at 9:49 am

8 On January 5th, 2008, Kiyoshi Martinez said:#

Hey, just wanted to say thanks for recognizing and linking to my post!

I’ll admit I’m not a NASCAR fan, but I think any major media institution is making a big mistake reducing their sports coverage of one of the major, growing sports — especially with a writer who’s so talented. Best of luck to Hinton, wherever he ends up.

Kiyoshi Martinez’s last blog post..Review: Rock Band for XBOX 360

posted on January 5th, 2008 at 2:29 pm

9 On January 5th, 2008, Marc said:#

Not a problem Kiyosi.

posted on January 5th, 2008 at 3:45 pm

10 On January 6th, 2008, John Daly said:#

The continuing shift in media access is behind this decision. In many media blogs, this is being referred to as “unbundling” the traditional media. Hinton would be outstanding if he was turned loose on SPEEDtv.com or Scenedaily.com to interact with readers and put out more content than he is allowed in the traditional local newspaper column syndication format.

Here at thedalyplanet.tv, we have seen a rise from several hundred to as many as ten thousand users per day on this one blog-style site. Any website that could add Hinton will see an immediate rise in both users and credibility.

Thank you for the link to our site on this blog.

posted on January 6th, 2008 at 2:01 am

11 On January 7th, 2008, Marc said:#

John -

Hinton would be outstanding if he was turned loose on SPEEDtv.com or Scenedaily.com to interact with readers

He’d be even better if turned loose here at FT!

Kidding of course… I read a couple of the links at the bottom of this post that mention the “unbundling” business model.

In fact I suspect that’s exactly what will ultimately happen with Hinton, one of the larger racing sites will snap him up.

posted on January 7th, 2008 at 4:16 am

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