By: Joe Strupp The Gazette of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, did not acknowledge the departure of Editor Mark Bowden to readers until today, a full week after the veteran newsman left the state's second-largest daily.
In a brief item to readers, which did not appear on the paper's Web site and was printed on Page B10, the paper reported only that "Mark Bowden, editor of The Gazette, is no longer with the company. His last day was Dec. 11. Bowden had been at The Gazette since 1979. He had been editor since 2002."
Bowden, reached by E&P at his home Tuesday, also declined to offer reasons for his departure.
"I'm not going to be able to tell you a whole lot more," said Managing Editor Dan Geiser, who is now in charge of the newsroom.
The departure of its top editor is even more unusual given that the paper is in the midst of its busiest news season with the Iowa Caucuses slated for Jan. 3. Geiser said his 100-person news staff is not planning to reduce or alter coverage, despite the loss of the top editor.
"At this point, we plan to cover the caucuses just like we planned before," Geiser said. "I don't think anything will change there. We have no plans to scale back on caucus coverage."
A Gazette staffer since 1991, Geiser said this year's caucus campaign is among the busiest ever with more candidates than usual and very competitive races in both parties. He also noted the increased online reporting at the paper, which has devoted several Web pages to coverage with blogs and online updates.
"We are devoting more resources to online coverage than four years ago," Geiser said. "It is a combination of both [print and online]."
Publisher Dave Storey did not return calls Tuesday.
Bowden had apparently launched a blog in recent weeks, but a review of postings showed no initial controversial items. No information about his departure had been posted on the blog as of Tuesday morning.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here