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Richard Delevan sacked in dubious manner

  • 06-11-2007 10:14am
    #1
    gurramok
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,992 ✭✭✭✭gurramok


    The business editor of the Sunday Tribune stepped on someone's toes, story here. http://www.politics.ie/viewtopic.php?t=28239

    It seemed very suspicious that he gets the sack straight after pointing out what auctioneer Ken McDonald had said about a so-called housing market recovery, Richard had pointed out that Ken has had his own house on the market for 13 solid months still unsold despite Ken saying everything is hunky dory out there in housing market!

    I speculate that the Tribine may have relied too much on property ad revenue.


Comments

  • #2
    mike65
    Closed Accounts Posts: 88,978 ✭✭✭✭mike65


    Intriguing, it could be cos no-one liked him of course. Its rarely that simple in the world of newsprint though.

    All the papers esp Sundays are way too reliant on property advertsisng revenue.

    Mike.


  • #3
    jdivision
    Registered Users Posts: 4,260 ✭✭✭jdivision


    Wasn't he facing a bullying action?


  • #4
    flogen
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 10,243 Mod ✭✭✭✭flogen


    jdivision wrote: »
    Wasn't he facing a bullying action?

    According to Phoenix, yes.

    The consensus seems to be that this article was merely a chance to get rid of Delevan rather than the sole reason. Perhaps they knew the result of the bullying investigation, or perhaps it was just a case of management not liking him.

    By the sounds of things the sacking was done in a dubious manner and could be open to some kind of appeal, although that's all hear-say.


  • #5
    mike65
    Closed Accounts Posts: 88,978 ✭✭✭✭mike65


    Nothing on his blog - yet.

    Mike.


  • #6
    jdivision
    Registered Users Posts: 4,260 ✭✭✭jdivision


    Sorry Adam, I was being rhetorical. By all accounts he was extremely disliked and was facing bullying allegations but the manner in which he was fired was stupid and like you I think he'll have a case for wrongful dismissal.


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  • #7
    Gekko
    Registered Users Posts: 1,189 ✭✭✭Gekko


    Perhaps the management used the bullying stuff and the article as an excuse to act on a decision they had already made before this stuff happened.

    I seem to recall reading something a while back suggesting the Sunday Tribune wanted to reduce its business coverage to cut costs. We all know it's not exactly a financial success and the London Indy and SIndy have recently purged their business journalists.

    Also, I don't buy the paper, but I do read the business news when the site is working, and I can't remember the last time it had a great business lead story...so that might have been an issue too.

    Was surprised by the bullying stuff in the Phoenix, as I've met RD on two occasions and he seemed a fairly sound guy to me. He knew what he was talking about and I thought he was a pretty good writer....he certainly didn't strike me as the bullying type.


  • #8
    flogen
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 10,243 Mod ✭✭✭✭flogen


    jdivision wrote: »
    Sorry Adam, I was being rhetorical. By all accounts he was extremely disliked and was facing bullying allegations but the manner in which he was fired was stupid and like you I think he'll have a case for wrongful dismissal.

    Ah right :o

    Yeah - he has a reputation for being abrasive alright. I've never met him myself and have spoken to him via email once or twice where it was naturally hard to form an opinion of him.

    I've also been told he was a very decent guy, so I don't know... I just know I've heard more negative things about him than positive.


  • #9
    jmcc
    Registered Users Posts: 7,280 ✭✭✭jmcc


    Looks like the Trib has lost another business journalist according to a thread on politics.ie. Unlike Delevan, this guy had a serious business journalism track record.

    Regards...jmcc


  • #10
    mike65
    Closed Accounts Posts: 88,978 ✭✭✭✭mike65


    Just saw that Bill Tyson, its getting messy.

    This from IT
    Tribune' business editor loses post after article

    Paul Cullen

    The business editor of the Sunday Tribune , Richard Delevan, has been let go and a columnist Bill Tyson has resigned in solidarity with him.

    Mr Delevan confirmed yesterday he was no longer working at the newspaper but declined to comment further.

    He lost his job on Monday, a day after an unsigned article appeared in the business section about the home of estate agent Ken MacDonald in Blackrock.

    The article, which was based on contributions to an anonymous blog, said Mr MacDonald's home has remained on sale for over a year at an asking price of €2.4 million.

    Mr MacDonald refused to confirm or deny reports that his firm, Hooke and MacDonald, had written to the newspaper following publication of the article. However, he said he was shocked by the highly personalised article which was "riddled with untruths".

    "This was a massive invasion of my privacy and my family's. I don't think anyone would like to see their photo and that of their house in a newspaper in this way."

    Mr Tyson said he resigned as a columnist on Tuesday to show his concern over recent developments.

    Attempts to contact the group managing director of the Sunday Tribune , Michael Roche, were unsuccessful. The newspaper's editor Noirín Hegarty said the situation was more complex than it seemed: "It's ongoing and I'm precluded from further comment."

    Mr Delevan had been told he was being moved to edit the newspaper's website last month.

    However, management regarded the article on Mr MacDonald as inappropriate in tone and decided to terminate his employment.

    Remember when Kevin Myres was slapped down by the IT editor for his piece about BMW drivers which got BMW Ireland so hot under the collars they used thier ad-spend as a threat?

    Mike.


  • #11
    jmcc
    Registered Users Posts: 7,280 ✭✭✭jmcc


    Bill Tyson seems to have a serious record of business journalism. It should be interesting to see if anymore stringers or journos jump ship on the Trib's business section. Tyson may be snapped up by other Irish newspapers. I'm not sure if Delevan has quite the same prospects given how everyone in Irish journalism. That sideways promotion to "editor of the website" may have been a ploy to get Delevan out of the way. The Tribune website is a piece of junk anyway. Perhaps the strategy is to turn the Trib's business section into a peanut farm [1] with the cheapest freelancers supplying copy and most of the pages padded out with advertorial and advertising.

    Regards...jmcc
    [1] The old expression - pay peanuts and get monkeys.


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  • #12
    lostexpectation
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,082 ✭✭✭lostexpectation


    was there a photo with the article in the newspaper then? was it the same photo as on a property website, (although that wouldn't have deatils of the owner).

    are they still living in that house?


  • #13
    jmcc
    Registered Users Posts: 7,280 ✭✭✭jmcc


    lostexpectation wrote: »
    was there a photo with the article in the newspaper then? was it the same photo as on a property website, (although that wouldn't have deatils of the owner).

    are they still living in that house?
    Big photo of him and a little photo of the house. The article's headline was in red and the article and headline were in Sans Serif font - unlike the rest of the articles. It was meant to stand out.

    Regards...jmcc


  • #14
    Serenity Warm People
    Posts: 0 ✭ Serenity Warm People


    jmcc wrote: »
    Big photo of him and a little photo of the house. The article's headline was in red and the article and headline were in Sans Serif font - unlike the rest of the articles. It was meant to stand out.

    Regards...jmcc

    Yes and WITH GOOD REASON the man is issuing press releases telling people to buy buy buy while he is trying to offload his own property.

    The man is a hypocrite and the article was justified completely - people should open their eyes to this crap.
    Insider profit taking ring a bell? He has been trying to sell the house over a year now, he wasnt smart enough or he would have done it 18 months ago at least.

    The whole thing stinks


  • #15
    jmcc
    Registered Users Posts: 7,280 ✭✭✭jmcc


    Serenity Warm People wrote: »
    Yes and WITH GOOD REASON the man is issuing press releases telling people to buy buy buy while he is trying to offload his own property.
    But was Delevan's running the article the real reason for firing him? That's what hasn't come out yet. And so far, Delevan has not said anything and the editor of the Tribune has said that the situation was complex.
    The whole thing stinks
    Well it is the Tribune. :)

    Regards...jmcc


  • #16
    gurramok
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,992 ✭✭✭✭gurramok


    Funny thing is the Independent published the exact same story about Kens house a year ago(http://www.independent.ie/business/will-macdonald-be-lovin-it-135197.html) and not a whimper from Ken about it.

    Invasion of privacy my arse, there is something rotten in the tribune, maybe they do rely on that ad revenue now that they are losing 50k a week as Mike has highlighted in the other thread.


  • #17
    mike65
    Closed Accounts Posts: 88,978 ✭✭✭✭mike65


    Ah but the house was'nt a flagship for the the states' unsold inventory then. :)

    Mike.


  • #18
    jmcc
    Registered Users Posts: 7,280 ✭✭✭jmcc


    gurramok wrote: »
    Invasion of privacy my arse, there is something rotten in the tribune, maybe they do rely on that ad revenue now that they are losing 50k a week as Mike has highlighted in the other thread.
    The article in the Trib was different from all the others on the page - its headline was in red and the font was in sans serif font. All the other articles were in serif font. It was meant to stand out. It could easily have been considered a personal attack.

    Every newspaper relies on advertising. It was very stupid of a business editor to upset advertisers moreso given the rather iffy financial situation of the Trib. the business section in the Tribune has shrunk over the years and it seems to be padded out with advertorials (articles that are really just adverts). This is generally an indication that it is more lucrative for the publication to run advertorials than to pay journalists for articles. With advertorials, the ad revenue is guaranteed whereas journalists merely fill space between adverts. At this point in a publication's decline, you also see product pimping where products are supplied to journalists in order to have them promoted to the public.

    Richard Delevan has not spoken publically about his firing. The editor of the Tribune has also been relatively quiet about it though she did apparently say that the situation surrounding Delevan's firing was complex. I guess we'll have to wait to find out what really happened and to see if there is a separate business section in next Sunday's Trib.

    Regards...jmcc


  • #19
    mike65
    Closed Accounts Posts: 88,978 ✭✭✭✭mike65


    Check the Sunday Times today, while The Turbine ed takes of things being more complicated than they seem, what seems to be the case is a pissed-off major advertiser did hold the gun to the papers head.

    e-mail from MacDonald to Michael Roche the Tribs managing director
    Considering the loyalty I have shown to the Tribune over a very long period it reflects poorly on your own sense of loyalty and good taste. As far as the future is concerned between us it is clear to see that the Tribune do not vlaue or respect the relationship in any meaningful way

    Mike.


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