The New Editor talks about it on the part of both the democrats, and a media that refuses to report on it.

[Update at 8:20 PM EDT]

And Hugh Hewitt continues to express his dismay and amazement (shared by me) at the Star-Trib’s treatment of James Lileks:

Of course James is my friend, but a lot of my friends suffer at the hands of bad management, and I don’t say a word about it on my blog or my show.

I am exercised about Lileks because it is an astoundingly stupid decision affecting an industry with which I am connected and in which merit used to matter. The collapse of the media business and the rise of mediocrity is what’s bugging me.

I offer you Dave Barry as an expert on the field of newspaper columns. Case closed. Ten thousand second stringers can line up and berate Lileks, but we know better, and Barry’s assessment just ends that discussion.

And a comment from Dave Barry’s post:

Yeah, one thing that Lileks’ blog revealed was how much life and quirk was being squeezed out of his writing to make it fit in the Star-Tribune. (For which the editors blame him, not themselves.) Anyway, I don’t think we should be bashing the people here who don’t find Lileks funny. Humor is individual, they’re entitled to their opinion…

…and isn’t it interesting that at least they HAVE an opinion of Lileks. How many other writers at the Star-Tribune can anyone here say that of?

And a similar comment from Ken Layne, who would know such things:

This is completely retarded. Lileks is the best-known writer on that whole paper — if there’s any nationally-known writer other than Lileks on that paper, I’ve never heard of ’em. I wouldn’t be surprised if his personal site gets more traffic than the whole Strib site.

Here’s a quiz to see if you’ve “got what it takes” to be a newspaper editor:

You’re in a fading industry that’s making a slow & dumb transition to the online world. You’ve moved so slowly & clumsily that most of the things you used to control — comics, sports news, classifieds — have already been reinvented and seized by people who aren’t involved with newspapers at all. But on your staff, you’ve got a local columnist who has a big & loyal online readership you would spend millions trying to get on your own. Do you:

a) Give him a substantial raise and have him write exclusively for your online paper?
b) Demote him to local coverage.

If you answered B, then you’re ready for a high-flying newspaper management career … for a few years, anyway, when the last local print newspaper shuts down for good. Jesus …