Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Change: Mike McCardell says goodbye, joining a parade of others



The basic lesson of our relativistic universe is that things change. And change, it seems, is all around these days.

A few weeks back we learned that editorial cartoonist Bob Krieger was leaving The Vancouver Province newspaper - a victim of the deep staff cuts going on at Pacific Press. Krieger was one of the best in his field and his absence will be felt (you can still follow Bob on twitter @kriegercartoons).


This was a statement posted by Kreiger on his site (click on image to enlarge):



Next we learned the excellent reporter David Baines, of the Vancouver Sun, was going too (@dmbaines).


And tonight Mike McCardell, in a statement that caught everyone off guard, announced at the end of this evening's Global TV newscast that it was his last appearance after 32 years.

After returning from a glorious, sunny long weekend, tonight's post was going to focus on July's r/e statistics. Instead we acknowledge change and bid adieu to three of Vancouver's best story tellers... the top in each of their fields.

Thank you gentlemen.  You all will be missed.  We sincerely hope we will continue to see you in blogs and on twitter.

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14 comments:

  1. Wow why is David Baines leaving? He was the only one who nailed the most corrupt thieves on Howe Street. He was single handedly more effective in protecting investors than the highly staffed but rather ineffective BC Securities commission.

    a very sad development.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Forced out with the others at Pacific Press. See link added to this post in the paragraph talking about Baines.

      Delete
  2. It is indeed the end of an era.

    We may never see this era again - we have easily replaceable reporters that have negligible personality and opinions.

    It is up to you Whisper to carry a torch - only the bloggers have an opinion and personality.

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  3. Here, here.......

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  4. Ya, I saw McCardell do that. No warning. Did his story and wrapped it up by saying it was his last and goodbye. Then Debra Hope came on and apologized for the suddenness but that McCardell wanted it that way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Now time for Deb Hope to leave Global!

      Delete
    2. GET RID OF DEBRA HOPE

      Delete
  5. VERY SAD, REPLACED BUY NEWBIES TO SAVE COSTS ? AT LEAST WE STILL GOT W FOR THE TRUE STORIES

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  6. I enjoyed reading Baines, good digging on all the shady characters running around out there. Too bad he's gone, I wonder how long the papers will hold out....

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  7. Pacific Press group offered buyouts to just about anyone who would take the offer.
    For someone in David's position, this meant that he could take about 2 years salary and walk. For employees in their 60's, that's an offer they likely won't see again before retirement. Simply put, he could get paid for 2 years to work.........or take the buyout and get paid for 2 years to not work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If I may, this is a classic example of what goes wrong with buyouts/incentives/packages to retire. The employer wants to get some deadwood out the door, but among the people who take the off and go are some of the best veteran employees.

      Props to Baines. He was an actual investigative reporter. Those are few and far between at any time, and at Pacific Press they're an endangered species.

      Delete
  8. I welcome Baines into the blogosphere. Perhaps he'll write something on the nefarious characters in real estate. But then again, he'll be exposed without the protection of a newspaper. But then again (doubly), no one at the paper ever exposed real estate because it was their bread and butter.

    You can't win for trying.

    ReplyDelete
  9. It's easier to get the headlines from a Twitter feed and then follow up with one's favourites in the blogosphere like WftVotEotR

    Newsprint is old print by the time it hits the dropbox and suffers from zero hyperlinks.

    I have updated my real estate charts with the June data now: http://www.chpc.biz/charts.html

    ReplyDelete
  10. GOOD RIDANCER OF BAD RUBISH. TOGETHER WITH THE LATE JIM GREEN, NOTHING BUT A YELLOW COWARD.

    ReplyDelete