Newspapers take care of their own

Excuse me while I lapse into my journalism review mode for a moment.

Most people know that the best way to guarantee that you'll get a real obituary in the newspaper, rather than just a paid death notice, is to work for the newspaper. It's one of those perks, and it extends beyond the newsroom to other departments, too.

That's certainly their prerogative. They're the ones who buy the ink by the barrel, although we are the ones who help pay for it.

What prompted this was a Journal Sentinel story announcing the appointment of a new deputy managing editor, Thomas Koetting. It's a big job, but one were you may never read his name again unless he wins a prize, gets promoted again, or retires from the paper.

But this is the sentence that caught my eye:

He replaces Gerry Hinkley, who recently retired after a distinguished career at the Milwaukee Sentinel and the Journal Sentinel.

I don't know Gerry Hinkley, and I have no reason to doubt that she had "a distinguished career" at the newspapers. But I know that you would never read that kind of statement about a non-newspaper person unless it was in quotes and attributed to someone. This particular story didn't even have a byline, so you can't even say it was the reporter's opinion.

Which suggests, to anyone who has worked around a newsroom, that it was written by a higher-up, to be run as written without editing. I'm hoping the first thing Tom Koetting does is to end that practice.