Letters

By: When the The Nielsen Co. announced on Dec. 10 that it planned to shut down E&P ? ending the magazine's 125-year run in print ? our inboxes were flooded with hundreds of e-mails from well-wishers voicing their shock, appreciation and support. As we go to press there is still a chance we might continue. Below is a very small sampling of those letters.





A DEATH IN THE FAMILY

Prize-winning to the end. You and your team should hold your heads high ? for the toughest, crankiest, thinnest-skinned audience on earth, you delivered. Best wishes to you all.

Diana B. Henriques

The New York Times



This is a sad, sad day for the industry and the profession of journalism. As long as I have worked this unique craft, almost 35 years, E&P has been a window on what we all have to say and report about each other. This is a dimming of the lamp.

Dennis Anderson

Antelope Valley Press

Palmdale, Calif.



I'm a 28-year veteran of news- papers. Last year, my career was ended in the""downsizing"" at The Star-Ledger. But I wept like a grandmother when I heard about E&P.

In my view, the ultimate was to make Editor & Publisher. You weren't someone in journalism unless you made E&P. I made your pages the first time in 1983 at The Plain Dealer. A decade later, when I shared the 1992 Pulitzer Prize at Newsday, it didn't count until the winners' names ran in E&P. Clipped it, put it on the wall, carried it in my wallet, sent it to my mom. Did the same in 2006, when E&P ran the winners' names of The Star-Ledger's Pulitzer Prize in 2006. Those clips are THE prize!

So I wanted you to know, it hurt when I heard E&P might fold. I shed tears ? and it was the first time I've been moved since the abrupt end to my career, the waves of layoffs of friends and 367 days and counting without work. When I heard E&P might fold, that's when I knew it was time to throw my notebook in the air and run the other way.

George Jordan

Newark, N.J.



This is absolutely devastating news, from a business, professional and personal standpoint. It's hard to imagine a day in the industry without the opportunity to read Editor & Publisher, or check the E&P Web site, several times a day ? and that doesn't even count the times we visit to ensure our advertising is running! Your articles, blogs, interviews and overall industry coverage is invaluable, and your venues offer vendors such as ourselves who serve this important industry a perfect place to make this support known.

I feel as though I am losing a very smart and very close friend.

Debra J. Kalish

Publishers Circulation Fulfillment, Inc.

Rockleigh, N.J.



I am heartsick at the news of Editor & Publisher's closing. Words alone can't express the profound loss this is to our industry. One reporter in my newsroom just left for lunch and said he was ""going to have a good cry."" And he wasn't kidding. The insight and inspiration you and your staff delivered is irreplaceable. Here's hoping for a rebirth of E&P in the weeks ahead.

Eric Ebeling

The Indiana (Pa.) Gazette



You guys have served us all very well. Hard to imagine what is happening, how fast it is happening, and how we will wind up.

Michael Getler

PBS

Washington, D.C.



I have been relying on E&P ever since I was a newspaper reporter at the University of Georgia, 35 years ago now (eek!). It has always been an invaluable, independent and informative voice for everyone who cares about the industry, including those of us who now try to teach journalism to the first ""digital native"" generation. Like so many others, I am so very sorry to hear of the plans to cease publication.

If there is any hope for a revival, I would be more than happy to pay for an

online subscription or to contribute in some other way.

Jane Singer

School of Journalism and Mass Communication

University of Iowa



It's been a few years since I worked in the newspaper business: My last stint was with The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, when I had my one (but very important) encounter with E&P. I was working in the photo lab at the paper at the time of Katrina. Ordinarily, I rode out every hurricane at the T-P offices. This time, my mother begged me to bring my friends and ride out the storm at her house in Prairieville {Continued on page 39}