What Recession?
If Bruce Hunter Is Pulled Out Of Unemployment
THE GREENWICH TIME BOSS WATCH:
The Struggling Greenwich Time Has Now On It's
Fourth Editor In Eight Months
Joe Pisani - Gone From The Greenwich Time
David Warner - Gone From The Greenwich Time
Jim Zebora - Gone From The Greenwich Time
Ex-Greenwich Time Managing Editor Bruce Hunter
Is Pulled Out Of Unemployment
Staff Reports
Posted: 01/05/2009 12:35:47 AM EST
(Note that Greenwich Time reporters are so embarrassed at Bruce Hunter's Return no one wanted to put their name on this story's byline.)
More than a year after leaving Greenwich Time as part of a wave of staff reductions, veteran editor Bruce Hunter is returning as part of a restructuring of the upper management of Greenwich Time and The Advocate.
"I've missed Greenwich and missed the newspaper business a lot more than I thought I would," Hunter, 55, said shortly after his return as Greenwich Time managing editor was announced Friday by Greenwich Time and Advocate Publisher John Dunster.....
PLEASE SEE:
We Wont Have Greenwich Time Managing Editor Jim Zorba
To Kick Around Anymore
You Wont Read This In The Greenwich Time......
Jim Zorba Days Are Numbered As The Greenwich Time Managing Editor.
Zorba may have already been ordered to clean out his desk.
COMMENTS:
Greenwich Time Publisher John " I Just Don't Know How To Pick A Winning Team" Dunster Also Announced That He Was Helping Doomed Hearst Newspapers Regional Strategy To Failure By Adding Jim Zebora To The Regional Business Reporting Team .....
....the transfer of current Greenwich Time Managing Editor Jim Zebora to a new position overseeing regional business coverage for the Hearst Connecticut Newspaper Group .....
....Zebora said the decision to leave Greenwich Time was difficult, but he could not pass up the opportunity to direct business coverage for Hearst's four daily newspapers and seven community weeklies throughout Fairfield County. The company also owns the Connecticut Post and the Danbury News-Times.....
MORE COMMENTS ON JIM ZEBORA:
This Greenwich Time Article That No Reporter Wants To Put His Or Her By Line Too Fails To Mention Why Jim Zebora Was In Over His Head At The Greenwich Time.
Greenwich Time Insiders Say Before Zebora Got Into Newspapers He Ran An Antiquated Record Store. This Business Experience Of Managing Retail Employees And Waiting On Metal Heads Somehow Sparked Zebora's Interest In Business Reporting.
For Nine Years Jim "Records" Zebora Led Business And Financial Coverage At The Stamford Advocate and Greenwich Time. As You Know Both Papers Share The Same Canned Business Content.
Then When Ex-Greenwich Time Editor Joe "Helped Martha Moxley's Killer For Over A Decade" Pisani Was Fired John Dunster Went Over To The Advocate / Greenwich Time Business Desk And In A Desperate Move Made Jim Zorba The Managing Editor Of The Greenwich Time.
Greenwich Is A Place Where A Lot Of Business Gets Done, But Clueless Jim Zebora Was So Clueless About Walter "Feeder Fund" Noel He Failed To Assign A Reporter To Dig Into The Local Ramifications Of Greenwich Fairfield's Involvement In Bernard Madoff's 50 Billion Ponzie Scheme.
Under Jim Zorba's Failed Management Of Greenwich Business Stories Have Failed To Localize Financial News To The Street Level Here In Town.
Time And Time Again Jim Zorba Has Been Unable To Follow The Fate Of Greenwich As National Events Unfold As Town Residents Pull The Strings In The Background.
Greenwich Is The Number In Hedge Funds, Behind New York City And London, But Zebora's Coverage Of The Towns Number One Industry Is To Publish Wire Service Reports And Company Generated Press Releases.
Real Hedge Fund News Of What Is Going On At Greenwich Hedge Funds Comes From Award Winning Out Of Town Newspapers And Local Citizen Journalists And Bloggers Like Chris Fountain.
Now John Dunster Has Doomed Hearst Newspaper's Plan To Regionalize (ie. Same Crappy Daily Business Insert In Danbury, Greenwich, Stamford And Bridgeport) And Merge The Business News Desks Of All Of Fairfield Counties Daily Newspapers.
Instead Of Hiring Jim Zebora To Regionalize Business News John Dunster Should Refocus The Greenwich Business Sections On What The Town's Local Players Are Doing.
As Managing Editor Of The Greenwich Time Jim Zebora Failed To Properly And Professionally Cover The Schools Where Our Children Study, The Churches We Go To And the The Taxes We Pay.
When The Greenwich Police Department Got Over 80 Civilian Complaints In A Two Year Period Jim Zebora Was Not Brave Enough To Assign A Reporter To Se How A Town Of Only About 60,000 Residents Could Generate A Civilian Complaint About Every Nine Days.
When A Binder Of Fake Greenwich Beach Passes Were Handed Over To The Greenwich Time Earlier This Year Joe Pisani And Jim Zebora Did Not Have The Journalistic Balls To Publish The Counterfeit Beach Passes, Parking And Marina Permits That Were Generated In Old Greenwich.
Ealier This Year A Greenwich Post Article Slammed Greenwich Time Managing Editor Jim Zebora For Firing Liberal Greenwich Time Columnist Sarah Littman.
The Greenwich Post (The Only Non-Hearst Newspaper Publication In The Town Of Greenwich And Stamford) Came Out With An Article Whacking Greenwich Time Managing Editor Jim Zebora For Firing Progressive Columnist Sarah Littman.
The Greenwich Post Reporter Ken Borsuk Stated.....
"Greenwich progressives are demanding Sarah Littman get her job back after she was abruptly terminated last week as a Greenwich Time columnist.
Ms. Littman, a children's book author who had been contributing to the paper since 2001, had been a regular columnist since 2003. Readers of her column said her departure came as a shock.
She said she was fired after she wrote a column sharply criticizing congressional candidate and Greenwich resident Lee Whitnum."
Greenwich Post Reporter Ken Borsuck Was Able To Get A Quote From Greenwich Time Managing Editor As He Was Hiding Under His Desk During The Sarah Litman / Lee Whitnum Controversey.....
When reached for comment, the Time's managing editor, Jim Zebora, said he didn't want to get into the specifics surrounding Ms. Littman's termination.
"We consider this a personnel issue and we are not at liberty to discuss it," Mr. Zebora said.
But Frank Farricker, Last Years Democratic Candidate For First Selectman, Told The Post That He Personally Believed That A Select Few People Had Convinced John Dunster To Have Jim Zebora Fire Ms. Litman........ "just because they didn't like what she had to say." Because On A Real Good Day Jim Zebora's Daily Commute Takes Him Over An Hour To Get From His Hometown In Meriden. Often Jim Zebora Spend Over Three Hours Get To And From His Meriden Home.
Another Reason That Jim Zebora Is So Out Of Touch With The Issues That Concern Greenwich School Parents And Taxpayers Is That He Is Mainly Concerned About Meriden.
When John Dunter Foolishly Promoted Jim Zebora To Greenwich Time Managing Editor He Told The Local News Paper Don't Worry I Wont Be Moving From Meriden Anytime Soon.
"It has a good, rich heritage that I know about. I want to see it strong again."
After The Record Shop Gig Zebora Spent 19 Years At The Tiny Record-Journal, First As A Stringer, Then As A Staff Writer / Business Editor, Before John " Don't Know How To Pick A Winning Team" Dunster Discovered Him.
Many In Town Think That Dunster Would Have Had A Better Chance Of Improving The Greenwich Time In 2008 If He Would Have Hired Jessica Blanton, Last Years News Editor Of The Beak - Greenwich High School's Student Newspaper.
But There Is More To This Newspaper Comedy Show.....
A Clueless Greenwich Time Publisher Dunster Had Everyone In Greenwich Rolling On The Floor Laughing When He Said With A Straight Face .....
..... Dunster welcomed Hunter back to Greenwich Time, saying it is terrific news for the staff of the paper and readers.
"He knows the town of Greenwich better than anyone covering it today,"
Yeah, Bruce Hunter Knows Greenwich Better Than Cub Reporter Colin Gusafson, Debra "I Am A Big Fat Liar" Friedman, Martin "Nervous In The Service" Cassidy and Niel "What Should I Do With This Binder Of Fake Beach Passes In My Desk Drawer" Vidgor.....
Dunster said. "I have no doubt that he can play an instrumental role in rebuilding the connection of Greenwich Time and our readers."
Yes All Of Greenwich Is Joining Bill Clark At Greenwich Gossip In Saying "What The Heck Was Dunster Thinking By Bringing Hunter Out Of Unemployment?
Change, it seems, is the only constant at the Local Rag, aka Yellowwich Time. Having already announced that they will be cleaning house between now and April 1st, the Hearst Corporation is further roiling the waters by bringing back a veteran hack who was downsized over a year ago. What gives?
Bruce Hunter has long been tied to the coattails of recently-fired editor Joe Pisani, and was one of his chief underlings in the "See no evil, write no evil" school of Greenwich journalism. One wonders if perhaps Joe may have thrown him to the wolves last year in a desperate attempt to save his own job. Well, it didn't work, and now for some reason Hearst has decided to bring Hunter back to carry on the Pisani tradition.
One is tempted to surmise that Hunter comes cheaper than Pisani did, and that this is simply another cost-cutting move on the part of a dying newspaper. But whatever the reason for the change, one thing is sure to remain constant: the indescribably pathetic writing, the slanted coverage, and the ongoing failure to report the real news in our fair Town.
Yes, folks, the masthead of Yellowwich Time will still remain yellow, with perhaps a bit of grizzled gray mixed in to match the color of Bruce Hunter's beard. And so the soap opera continues...who knows, at this rate Hearst may even bring back Joe Pisani, no doubt at a quarter of his former salary. Stay tuned!
PLEASE ALSO SEE:
UPDATE:
More On Hearst Newspapers 40-Paper Connecticut Chain That Includes The Greenwich Time.
Plus A Few Words About Ex-Greenwich Time Managing Editor Jim Zebora:
.......And forget the fact that the overwhelming majority of Connecticut voters loath the guy. Oh, the editor's name is Jim Zebora. You might recall him from his recent oped in which he strenuously opposed gay marriage because gays can't procreate, and who stated that anti-Semite Lee Whitnum had run an "honorable campaign", or as the guy who insisted that progressive columnist Sarah Littman be fired. Him....
....No, for Hearst Newspaper's Greenwich Time, it's all about whitewashing. Don't interview Democrats, don't bring up the really criminal stuff. Just keep it simple, keep it among Republicans, and tell as little of the truth as possible. ....
.....Well, therein lies the rub, Mr. Zebora. Because you DIDN'T report what they said and did.
Let's take, for example, the press release Ms. Whitnum issued about Jim Himes' trip to Israel - a long anti-semitic rant, in which she made such inflammatory statements as blaming Israel for 9/11. Your paper didn't even bother to report on that press release.
That's why I felt compelled
to write a column about it, the column that you decided was the reason to silence my voice in the paper.
If you'd been doing your job reporting all the facts, I wouldn't have had to write that column. But no. You were too busy presenting a sanitized picture of Ms. Whitnum's extremist views, until my column and her performance in the televised debate made it impossible for you to cover up for her any longer.....
....on Lee Whitnum you failed miserably in bringing the electorate the real facts. Why did readers not hear how she consistently failed to file her FEC reports in a timely fashion, and when she did there were irregularities in the time periods reported, plus she hadn't included known campaign expenses such as the Google ad campaigns she's been running for over a year (the ones that also promote her book "Hedge Fund Mistress - so dignified for a prospective Congressional candidate) ......
About The Same Time That Greenwich Post Real Estate Columnist Chris Fountain Was Getting Fired For Waning Us About The Hard Times Comming To The Greenwich RealEstate Market.....
" The country has had a couple of financial meltdowns since I started working in the area: The dot com crash of 2000 and the post 9-11 market meltdown which the federal reserve fought with lower interst rates as it is doing now in the credit crisis.
Niether of these slack periods affected greenwich Housing too much, and those who remember the real estate recession of 1990 say it only reduced real estate prices by only about 5 percent."
How Many Peopole In Town Wished They Had Listened To Local Real Estate Expert Chris Fountain When He Was Being Fired By The Greenwich Post For Esentialy Saying ..... SELL !!! SELL !!! SELL !!! BEFORE YOUR FAMILY LOOSES A BIG CHUNCK OF YOUR HOMES VALUE.....
Instead Of Listenming To Non-Greenwich Real Estate Expert And Ex-Greenwich Time Managing Editor Jim Zebora Who Essentially Told Us ...... DON"T WORRY. BE HAPPY. YOUR HOME WONT LOOSE MUCH.......
So What Does Ex-Greenwich Time Editor Jim Zebora Have To Say To All Of The Greenwich Home Owners Who Are Facing Foreclosure...
"Don't Bother Me With Your Petty Little Problems. I Am On Deadline. I Have To Write A Few Business Stories That Will Go In All Of Hearst 40 Conneticut Newspapers."
Lastly, We Would Like To Mention Jim Zebora's Hatred Of The Citizen Journalists And Bloggers That Have Helped Give Him The New Title Of Ex-Greenwich Time / Stamford Advocate Managing Editor.....
A Greenwich Time editor made an odd comment about bloggers- or, it may have been about you, the people who leave comments on blogs. I wasn't sure, so I thought I’d ask what you all thought.
In an
op-ed, Greenwich Time managing editor Jim Zebora writes:With all due respect to bloggers, people who write to newspapers are just the best. Our letter writers show the courage to share their views with the world - whether opining about the financial bailout, the presidential election, downtown parking or Henrietta the turkey - and they do so with their identities known to all. It's a more civilized way of making a statement than hiding behind a conjured-up screen name.…
..... It's especially heartening to see the informed, thoughtful give-and-take on this part of the editorial page. Reasonable people can and do disagree, and in their letters to the editor they do so in what I believe is an extraordinarily civilized way.
Unlike many blog-posters. I’m confused about who he’s calling uncivilized. He starts out talking about bloggers (that’s me) then ends by cracking on “blog-posters.” I have no idea what “blog-posters” are. I post to my blog-- a blog is made up of posts-- but readers also post comments on blog posts. Is he busting on bloggers or commenters?
Since most local bloggers aren’t that anonymous (my photo was on the front of the Advocate this summer in an article about bloggers), and since most of the local bloggers are quite civilized, I think he’s busting on commenters.
Commenters do tend to be anonymous. However, the uncivilized, anonymous comments appear not on local blogs, but on the Greenwich Time’s own Topix discussion site. Topix is a news aggregator service that also offers a comments forum for articles. I guess the Stamford Advocate and Greenwich Time use the service because it's easier than running their own forum, but I think the quality of the comments suffers. The Topix website, for some reason, attracts raging xenophobes and people who you can tell are 45 but write like petulant 14 year olds. So, those must be the uncivilized blog-posters, right? Nope. Topix isn’t a web log-- aka "blog."...
People, I think he’s busting on you- and me, since I comment on other blogs. I think we are the “blog-posters.”
However, in my year of reading Stamford and Greenwich blogs, none of the discussions have gone into wacko, racist, libelous territory like the ones on Topix. Therefore, I think Zebora must be confused about the word “blog,” and is really referring to the Topix commenters, not us.
Or, maybe he wanted to bust on Topix, but didn’t want to offend those people since they read the paper online, so he instead insulted bloggers. (?).......
Stamford Talk's Raging, Crazy Commenters Had The Following To Say About Ex-Greenwich Time ? Stamford Advocate Managing Editor Jim Zebora.......
The man does sound a bit confused.
Maybe he doesn't know Topix exists.
Maybe he doesn't know how a blog works.
Maybe, we should invite him to the next drinkathon . . .
Anonymous said this about Zebora ...
What do you expect from the dying elite mainstream media?
MamaBall said this about Zebora ...
I think he's confused about what to call the place where people leave comments on Greenwich Time articles. I've noticed they get pretty ugly sometimes, and only occasionally do those people leave their real name (or something that potentially could be a real name). I guess it's just easier for him to lump it all into "blog-posters". Frankly, I'm annoyed he couldn't be bothered to learn more about the technology and get the terminology correct.
I would be offended...but its Greenwich Time...I mean, cmon. I couldn't even care enough about it to leave a comment there.
How sad is it to see an outgoing Editor pander to his elderly subscribers for speaking up on such hot local topics as 'the wild turkey of todds point' and 'the cupcake incident'...
I mean seriously, it was an embarrassing read.
Anonymous said this about Zebora ...
What a shocker. An old time newspaper person slamming this new-fangled technology know as the internet and blogging.
Is it really a surprise to learn that when people can post anonymously, their comments will be a little less restrained. This is not a phenomenon unique to blogging.
But, does the author realize that, along with the "uncivilized" posts, are little gems of opinions that would never have seen the light of day had the posters been "forced" to reveal their true identities. I, for one, am willing to overlook certain posts to get to these gems. Anonymity can and does enhance dialog.
This author needs to think about the benefits and opportunities that today's technology can bring forth rather than harp on the limited, somewhat useful benefits of outdated methods of communication.
So What Did Those Raging, Crazy Commenters On Topix Have To Sat About Zebora?
TOWNY Says this about Zebora....
Thank goodness Zebora is gone. His editorials were so rife with grammatical errors, they were unreadable.
What a world says this about Zebora leaving the Greenwich Time ....
So maybe they are going to make a go of this paper. I kept hearing it was set to close down in three months.
Vox Pop says this about Zebora.....
Ditto.
Throw in his total lack of accountability for the departure of a columnist and stonewalling for a reporter involved in the Congressional race.
Hunter's return to Greenwich Time is hopeful.
John Breunig's promotion at the Advocate is too.
However, and sadly, more staff cuts are on the way for these and other Rosebud papers.
Hmmmmm says this about Zebora's replacement Bruce Hunter......
"He knows the town of Greenwich better than anyone covering it today," Dunster said.
Well since none of the staff have any clue about the town this might be a step up, however, I will wait and see.
GIJOE says this about Zebora's departure .....
The Stamford Advocate is crap, and many of the new writers they have are horrible. I don't even think that their work is edited, if it is, everyone needs to be fired and beaten. Many of the stories I have read have been horrible as well, I can't tell what the heck the writer is stating, and I'm not alone.
I truly hope that the Advocate starts taking some pride in their work or at least hires someone who can report the news accurately.
And remember folks, knowing is half the battle!!!!
I Agree adds.....
It does not matter who they hire as writers or editors, as the publicity department of Malloy Inc. The Advocate will continue to have all facts checked by the Mayors office before publishing all the news that is deemed allowable to print.
Ciro says this about Zebora's editing......
We need local people working in the News Dept. The other day the paper mentioned someone who lived on Hawley Lane in Stamford. To my knowledge there is no such place in Stamford. Places at the lower end of Glenbrook Rd. are consistently referred to as being in Glenbrook. Not so. I wonder how many of the news staff are from Stamford and how many live in Stamford.
Vox Pop says this about Zebora leaving......
Hunter's return is a good thing.
Zebora's departure, I am sure will be met with a sigh of some relief from GT readers. They won't like Zebora being "kicked upstairs," after the unexplained fiasco over termination of a columnist and retaining a reporter involved with the recent race for Congress in the 4th District. If his "business" focus is restricted to breweries, no harm, since - in the eyes of this reader - writing about beer seems to be his only accurate passion.
Good for John Breunig. One can only hope that Hearst will allow him to at least rebuild the skeleton - if not the muscle - of his newsroom, with LOCAL talent.
Jane Bradley says ......
A new broom sweeps clean so the saying goes.
New journalists bring fresh approach to the newspapers involved.
TOWNY also says ......
I hope Mr. Hunter will institute a new spell/grammar check,
as the Zebora program is clearly not working.
HERE IS WHAT GREENWICH ROUNDUP HAD TO SAY ABOUT ZEBORA'S ATTACKING BLOGGERS:
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