A spokeswoman for Gannett told the Times the decision to lay off Jackson had to do with a 2019 merger between Gannett and the parent company of GateHouse and not the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, which has added to the newspaper industry’s struggles.The attention to Jackson’s plight prompted 30 Gannett employees to write an open letter to company CEOs Paul Bascobert and Mike Reed asking them to end eviction proceedings against Jackson, apologize to employees and end staff reductions.
He identifies four types of homeless individuals: chronic (those long-term homeless folks often seen on the street), episodic (those who live in a hotel or car between jobs), transitional (those, like him, caught in a life transition) and hidden (couch surfers without a place of their own).Regardless of type or duration, the experience is difficult, even for someone like Jackson who remains optimistic he’ll find some kind of meaningful employment despite the suddenly brutal economic conditions.“Being in the middle of a pandemic is not helpful,” he said, understating the challenge of what many economists are predicting could be the worst downturn since the Great Depression.Even in his current predicament, Jackson’s signature sense of humor, hopeful outlook and Wisconsin roots shine through in his blog, as demonstrated in this recent post: “The local jobs, given there’s really only one newspaper from which I was laid off, include things like technical writer and human resources generalist. “You can stick me in a Motel 6, but I’m still going to write. Free local newspaper directory - Knox Leader - Melbourne, Australia The highest ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing editor, or executive editor, but where these titles are held while someone else is editor-in-chief, the editor-in-chief outranks the others.
Your notification has been saved. His new forum: a blog he titled “The Homeless Editor.”“It took me 20 minutes after I was alerted to decide that I needed to write this experience,” said Jackson, who figures he has written or edited hundreds of stories about homelessness before unwittingly becoming the subject of such stories. Acts of kindness have included folks dropping off beer from his favorite local brew pub at his motel, a professor at a local university he’d met once sending him $100 in restaurant gift cards, a GoFundMe account started on his behalf raising nearly $2,500 as of Friday morning and the Motel 6 owners giving him a free week of lodging and providing a microwave and refrigerator.“It’s so heartwarming, I can’t even tell you,” said Jackson, who moved his belongings into a friend’s garage this week.But the kindest gesture of all came from a complete stranger — a local attorney who offered Jackson use of guest cottage through the summer if needed. You gotta keep your chops, you know.”This week the blog surpassed 54,000 page views — a remarkable number for any blog and an unfathomable leap from the time Jackson started a blog during a temporary furlough from another Indiana newspaper during the 2009 recession.
This week in The Leader – July 22, 2020 July 22, 2020 Editor This week in The Leader: School board unveils draft reopening plan; Province announces over $7 million in funding for SLPC; South Dundas council lobbies MacLeod for ICIP project funding; Counties sign bylaw concerns raised; Former […]
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A few days later he was living in a Motel 6.“It’s a good reminder of how brutal the economy can be for individuals,” Jackson told the Leader-Telegram, where he worked as a summer intern in 1989. Seventeen coronavirus deaths reported in Wharton County He is now living at a Motel 6.Chippewa Falls native Rich Jackson recently started a blog titled The Homeless Editor after being laid off from his job as the top editor of The Herald Times in Bloomington, Ind., and losing his apartment at the same time.