UPDATE: 'Newsday' Editors Return After Dispute With Cablevision

By: E&P Staff The reports in the New York Post turned out to be true. Indeed, as reported, Editor John Mancini was missing from the office for several days due to a dispute with new owner Cablevision Systems Corp. over editorial content. He returned to the newspaper's Melville, Long Island, offices, with the matter "resolved," his paper reported.

Speaking to newsroom staff, without providing details, Mancini said his absence since Wednesday "was due to a difference of opinion with ownership over the editorial policy of Newsday. That has been settled....

"No one outside the newsroom influences . . . our news coverage in any way."

The paper's account, by James T. Madore observed, "Applause erupted, followed by many questions from staffers."

Two other editors had also been missing for a few days and were back at work but the Newsday story did not make clear how they were involved. However, The New York Times reports on Thursday: "The top editors at Newsday reported for work Tuesday, ending a period of several days in which even their own staff did not know whether they had been ousted by the paper?s new owner, Cablevision Systems, in a dispute over news coverage.

"Newsroom employees said tension between the editors and Cablevision boiled over because of the paper?s coverage of allegations against a player on the New York Knicks, a basketball team owned by Cablevision. But a person briefed on the dispute said it focused on 'the tenor and depth of overall coverage,' not any particular topic."

More from the Newsday story follows.
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Mancini said there would be "no change in direction. Our only concern is that we get it right. Let's do our jobs and tell the story straight."

He acknowledged his disagreement with Cablevision executives had grown heated. When asked whether the words "you're fired" or "I quit" were used, he said "words to that effect were uttered."

Rumors have circulated that Cablevision was angry about coverage of a sex harassment lawsuit filed against Eddy Curry of the New York Knicks; the team also is owned by the Bethpage-based cable operator. Mancini declined to comment when asked whether Knicks' coverage sparked the dispute...

Mancini said he had decided not to return to the newsroom "until I had clarity that the editor was expected to perform his job as he had done."

When asked when he got clarity, he said "this morning."

Mancini said Publisher Timothy P. Knight, who declined to comment, and some at Cablevision had been supportive of his stance.

While staffers seemed relieved that Mancini had apparently protected newsroom integrity, many in their questions expressed concern that similar confrontations could lie ahead....

Cablevision purchased Newsday last year for $650 million. Since then there have been few changes in the top ranks of the newspaper's management.

Managing editor Deborah Henley also returned to the newsroom Tuesday. Managing editor Debby Krenek was in Melville on Monday. Both declined to comment Tuesday.