My first attempt at online political activism follows. The Fresno Bee has quietly, without any fanfare, cancelled the weekly John Ellis political column and reassigned him to, of all areas, the federal courts "beat". I discovered this after I sent John an email earlier this week asking him if we was on vacation, as the column didn’t appear in the paper Saturday. He informed me that the column was no longer a part of the paper!
I want to be clear: he has not asked me to campaign for the column to reappear. But it is one of the top two reasons why I even take the paper, so its important to me and many political insiders across California.
The Ellis column was the most widely read and quoted column in the Bee. I’ve seen it excerpted in the Hotline, Rough & Tumble, Calpeek and the Flashreport dozens of times and on weblogs and political websites literally every week. The Bee evidently didn’t value (or even know) of this exposure. Worse, they don’t understand that the Central Valley and State need this column. It has existed since Editorial Page editor Jim Boren had it back in the 1980’s and 90’s and probably existed in some form prior to that. We have come to rely on it for insider information and analysis at every level of government.
I am asking you to make your thoughts on this subject known to the Bee. Here are the contacts: Editor Ray Steele (559-441-6060) – (click here to e-mail) or Charlie Waters (click here to email).
If you want to see the Ellis column survive, I need your help. Today. Please call or send an email to the Bee with a request to re-establish John’s column. Its important!
[Publisher’s note: If you want to see WHY we NEED John, here is a link to his columns. – Flash]