Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Weekly Dig, still digging

In response to my Brainiac post, last night, about Joe Keohane's departure from Boston's Weekly Dig, and my complaint that Keohane was the only good thing about that periodical, Dig founder and publisher Jeff Lawrence writes:

I'll never forget making Joe the offer [to edit the Dig], he said no twice over a pint at Foley’s, and I might have begged him in between, because I knew then what I had always known: if this paper was going to grow and thrive, having a genuine voice at the helm would be of the utmost importance, and Joe was clearly that voice. Without experience and a bucket full of fear, he transformed my fledgling little rag into something I honestly consider to be one of the best written publications of its kind.

HOWEVER, and I'm sure Joe has said as much to you but it's worth repeating, we do actually have a great editorial team here beyond him. How can I be so certain? It's one that Joe put together himself, so that when he finally did leave, we'd be better off than the day before. I hope you'll still pick [the Dig] up post-Keohane and enjoy our next prose.

Actually, Keohane has never said anything to me about the quality of the editorial staff at the Dig, but I do think he had more leeway to hire and fire than we do, for example, at the Globe. So chances are that he does, in fact, think the folks he's leaving behind are good at what they do.

So... I still don't think the Dig will be anywhere near as good as it was under Keohane. But like I wrote to Lawrence, what else am I supposed to read on my Wednesday morning train ride, the Phoenix?

Posted by Joshua Glenn at 02:59 PM

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