Rob Tripp, an award-winning crime reporter for the Kingston Whig-Standard, has resigned from the Sun Media newspaper in favour of freelancing.
Now that is a big loss for Sun Media.
Sources say Tripp made his exit last Friday after 20 years with the Whig-Standard as a city hall reporter, crime reporter and city editor.
His first freelance piece can be found on the Canadian Lawyer website. He is also widely read on his CanCrime website.
Last year, he received two National Newspaper Award nominations for beat and local reporting for his work on the killings of four women near a lock in the Rideau Canal at Kingston Mills.
Tripp's exit is the third high-profile crime reporter departure at Sun Media in the past month.
A tipster says the Ottawa Sun's Kenneth Jackson left Dec. 31.
"He was their crime reporter, their best reporter," says the tipster.
The Toronto Sun's Tamara Cherry started her new on air CTV crime beat career this week.
Cherry and Tripp became widely read Sun Media staffers for investigative crime specials. Cherry's series on human trafficking in Canada was widely acclaimed.
To lose three crime reporters within a month is a huge loss for Sun Media readers.
Crime reporters are a dying breed at Sun Media, which is ironic because the flagship Toronto Sun was an early success with its emphasis on crime reporting.
Sun Media is losing the cream of the crop.
But yet none of the higher ups give a damn. All they see is a 20-year salary scale pay gone and high five each other with the money saved.
ReplyDeleteGood luck Rob. You will be missed. But I'm sure anything is better than Sun Media these days.
It's not the higher ups that don't give a damn, it's the highest up that is doing nothing to keep staffing levels consistent.
ReplyDeleteI've heard there's more to Tripp's departure.
ReplyDeleteMaybe someone out there has the specifics, but from what I understand this was not a reporter resigning. This was a reporter who was shown the door.
What sane reporter would walk away from a $950 a week job to freelance?
I don't doubt that Rob was an excellent crime reporter, but there's definitely more to this story.
I am not Sun Media management.
The Ottawa Sun now has two people working on their crime beat which is a return to how they ran the cop beat before Ken Jackson. Both reporters have greatly increased the number of stories on that beat, the variety of stories, exclusive stories and lots of videos. Crime reporting is not dead at the Ottawa Sun. It's now enhanced and both reporters get the multimedia world.
ReplyDeleteThe Ottawa Sun is substandard with the departure of Mr Jackson.People still talk about his stories
Delete950 a week? A man who gives a shit.
ReplyDelete"It's now enhanced and both reporters get the multimedia world."
ReplyDeleteRight. And it has NOTHING to do with a certain points system imposed on these two reporters, correct?
Rob Tripp resigned. It was his choice. This is an opportunity he's excited about. Onward and upward.
ReplyDeleteI just thought it was funny that now it takes two reporters. Sounds like the Ottawa Sun left one reporter out to dry.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of person walks away from a decent job for freelance work? Someone who is tired of the bullshit. Believe me, it's the Whig's loss.
ReplyDeleteAre they still using the points system? Haven't heard too much about it lately? Who is winning?
ReplyDeleteYes, the point system is still in place. If I can get two of three possible points every day between now and March I'll make the post season!
ReplyDeleteNew topic:
ReplyDeleteGot to love The Examiner running the same Saturday comics page again on Monday.
Centre of Excellence does the newsroom proud once again.
Kenny was the Ottawa Sun's best reporter. He got multimedia. I will never forget the video bit he did when a young girl, maybe 8, was poked by a discarded needle and the fear that she may have caught some horrible disease like AIDS, Hep. Who knows. And he got that fear on camera, the randomness of that type of evil.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest mistake the Ottawa Sun ever made was allowing Ken Jackson to get away.I will never forget his under cover story on Ottawa's homeless. SUPERB. This guy has guts and he is unmatched and how can any of us forget the Carson Affair???The Ottawa Sun is substandard without Ken Jackson on their team...period
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