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01-19-2008, 11:25 AM
Here is the cover that resulted in the editor being fired:
http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/pga/photo?slug=e31894b0597a4915b0f7ab1f59268a83.magazi ne_cover_golf_ny163&prov=ap
And here's an interview with him:
http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/pga/news?slug=ma-golfweekQA011808&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
Golfweek editor speaks out after firing
By Michael Arkush, Yahoo! Sports
January 18, 2008
In the wake of inflammatory comments made by Golf Channel analyst Kelly Tilghman about Tiger Woods, Golfweek's Jan. 19 issue featured a controversial cover of a noose, which led to the firing Thursday of the magazine's editor Dave Seanor. Seanor spoke on Friday to Yahoo! Sports golf editor Michael Arkush:
Yahoo! Sports: How was the cover decided upon?
Seanor: There wasn't that much else, really. We put together two or three different images of either Kelly or a noose. We did rough mock-ups that sat taped to the outside of a cubicle for a couple of days. They had either different photos of nooses or Kelly's picture.
Y!: Were there specific objections from anyone on the staff?
Seanor: Not so much that people were offended by the image because they knew where we wanted to go with it. But people raised flags that this could stir something up among a certain element of people who might read it one way or the other, and we tried to mitigate that, we thought, with the headline.
Y!: How does the headline mitigate it?
Seanor: By trying to convey the concept that they were caught in a situation where it just continued to tighten around them.
Y!: Did you ever have red flags yourself?
Seanor: I knew it was pushing the envelope, but after several variations, we hit on something that most of us agreed.
Y!: Was it your idea or did a few people come up with it at the same time?
Seanor: I can't really say. It may well have been mine. It was almost simultaneous, a collective process.
Y!: Who gave you clearance to run the cover?
Seanor: Typically, I have the final say. In a case of something that might be sensitive like that, often, I would call and discuss it with our owner, who is the editor-in-chief, Rance Crain. We ran things conceptually by him on Friday just to say, 'Here's kind of where we're going but we're not anywhere near this.' He said, 'Okay, I'm looking forward to see what you come up with.' We had a very hectic Monday, which is when we close, and I was remiss in not running it past him. I dropped the ball on that one.
Y!: Looking back, do you feel it was the wrong decision on your part?
Seanor: There were other options. We had a big package centered around the PGA Merchandise Show. We also had a profile of Jason Day, the young Australian player everyone expects to be so good. We could have erred on the side of caution, but that's typically not who we've been in our history.
Y!: When did you get a call regarding the dismissal?
Seanor: I was informed Thursday evening that they wanted to make a change.
Y!: How were you informed?
Seanor: That's between me and the company.
Y!: Did they give you a reason?
Seanor: That would be between us, too.
Y!: Do you think advertising pressure had anything to do with it?
Seanor: It may well have. That's the reality we live in. I don't know for sure.
Y!: Do you think it's fair you were fired and Tilghman was suspended for two weeks?
Seanor: We don't know what the end of the Tilghman episode is yet, so I think it's premature to comment on that.
Y!: What do you think it says about race in our country and our ability to talk about it freely when an editorial decision results in a firing like this?
Seanor: When race and golf are in the same sentence, people want to change the subject as soon as they can. People in golf don't want to talk about that stuff. I was on the floor at the PGA show, 20,000 people were milling around, maybe 30-40 of color.
Y!: Did it ever occur to you to let the story go once Tiger Woods accepted Tilghman's apology?
Seanor: No, not really, because it was much bigger than that, and that's one of the things that we discussed on our staff, that you had to step back out of that little microcosm of golf and look at the bigger, wide world out there.
Y!: How do you respond to people who say, 'What was he thinking?'
Seanor: It's an easy question for someone to ask who has never sat in an editor's chair or worked in journalism. We were thinking, as unbelievable as that might seem to people. Perhaps we overthought it in a way. We weren't trying to be sensational. It's interesting that a lot of the objection, 'Oh, they're just trying to sell magazines.' We're 99 percent subscriptions. We're not even on the newsstand.
Y!: What are your plans now?
Seanor: I would hope to stay in journalism. I've been in golf journalism for about 17 years or so, and sports journalism for about 34. I think I have a lot to offer, so hopefully I'll land somewhere.
http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/pga/photo?slug=e31894b0597a4915b0f7ab1f59268a83.magazi ne_cover_golf_ny163&prov=ap
And here's an interview with him:
http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/pga/news?slug=ma-golfweekQA011808&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
Golfweek editor speaks out after firing
By Michael Arkush, Yahoo! Sports
January 18, 2008
In the wake of inflammatory comments made by Golf Channel analyst Kelly Tilghman about Tiger Woods, Golfweek's Jan. 19 issue featured a controversial cover of a noose, which led to the firing Thursday of the magazine's editor Dave Seanor. Seanor spoke on Friday to Yahoo! Sports golf editor Michael Arkush:
Yahoo! Sports: How was the cover decided upon?
Seanor: There wasn't that much else, really. We put together two or three different images of either Kelly or a noose. We did rough mock-ups that sat taped to the outside of a cubicle for a couple of days. They had either different photos of nooses or Kelly's picture.
Y!: Were there specific objections from anyone on the staff?
Seanor: Not so much that people were offended by the image because they knew where we wanted to go with it. But people raised flags that this could stir something up among a certain element of people who might read it one way or the other, and we tried to mitigate that, we thought, with the headline.
Y!: How does the headline mitigate it?
Seanor: By trying to convey the concept that they were caught in a situation where it just continued to tighten around them.
Y!: Did you ever have red flags yourself?
Seanor: I knew it was pushing the envelope, but after several variations, we hit on something that most of us agreed.
Y!: Was it your idea or did a few people come up with it at the same time?
Seanor: I can't really say. It may well have been mine. It was almost simultaneous, a collective process.
Y!: Who gave you clearance to run the cover?
Seanor: Typically, I have the final say. In a case of something that might be sensitive like that, often, I would call and discuss it with our owner, who is the editor-in-chief, Rance Crain. We ran things conceptually by him on Friday just to say, 'Here's kind of where we're going but we're not anywhere near this.' He said, 'Okay, I'm looking forward to see what you come up with.' We had a very hectic Monday, which is when we close, and I was remiss in not running it past him. I dropped the ball on that one.
Y!: Looking back, do you feel it was the wrong decision on your part?
Seanor: There were other options. We had a big package centered around the PGA Merchandise Show. We also had a profile of Jason Day, the young Australian player everyone expects to be so good. We could have erred on the side of caution, but that's typically not who we've been in our history.
Y!: When did you get a call regarding the dismissal?
Seanor: I was informed Thursday evening that they wanted to make a change.
Y!: How were you informed?
Seanor: That's between me and the company.
Y!: Did they give you a reason?
Seanor: That would be between us, too.
Y!: Do you think advertising pressure had anything to do with it?
Seanor: It may well have. That's the reality we live in. I don't know for sure.
Y!: Do you think it's fair you were fired and Tilghman was suspended for two weeks?
Seanor: We don't know what the end of the Tilghman episode is yet, so I think it's premature to comment on that.
Y!: What do you think it says about race in our country and our ability to talk about it freely when an editorial decision results in a firing like this?
Seanor: When race and golf are in the same sentence, people want to change the subject as soon as they can. People in golf don't want to talk about that stuff. I was on the floor at the PGA show, 20,000 people were milling around, maybe 30-40 of color.
Y!: Did it ever occur to you to let the story go once Tiger Woods accepted Tilghman's apology?
Seanor: No, not really, because it was much bigger than that, and that's one of the things that we discussed on our staff, that you had to step back out of that little microcosm of golf and look at the bigger, wide world out there.
Y!: How do you respond to people who say, 'What was he thinking?'
Seanor: It's an easy question for someone to ask who has never sat in an editor's chair or worked in journalism. We were thinking, as unbelievable as that might seem to people. Perhaps we overthought it in a way. We weren't trying to be sensational. It's interesting that a lot of the objection, 'Oh, they're just trying to sell magazines.' We're 99 percent subscriptions. We're not even on the newsstand.
Y!: What are your plans now?
Seanor: I would hope to stay in journalism. I've been in golf journalism for about 17 years or so, and sports journalism for about 34. I think I have a lot to offer, so hopefully I'll land somewhere.