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Josh Meyer is leaving the Tribune Washington bureau for a gig at the nexus of journalism and academia. His exit note to the newsroom this afternoon begins here and continues after the jump with praise for his colleagues.
From: Meyer, Josh
Sent: Friday, January 15, 2010 3:30 PM
To: yyeditall
Subject: Sadly... saying goodbye after 20 years at The Times
Friends and colleagues,
I’m saying goodbye after two decades at the best newspaper ever. I’ve decided to accept an offer from Northwestern University’s Medill journalism school to help it build a National Security Journalism Initiative.
It wasn’t easy, given how much fun it has been to work for The Times, and more recently, with my Tribune colleagues here in DC, and to watch the daily miracle of seeing so many talented people working together to create such great journalism, both in print and online.
But after much soul-searching, I decided that this is too important, and novel, an opportunity to pass up. We’ll be trying to create something that will play a key role in the urgent effort to figure out how to teach—and how to do—the all-important kinds of national security journalism in this changing news environment.
I am honored and deeply humbled to have had the privilege of working with (and for) so many of you, here in Washington, in Los Angeles and elsewhere. Over two decades, you have become my family, through earthquakes, riots, political scandals, OJ Simpson and Michael Jackson, 9/11 and the war on terrorism—not to mention all of the little stories that make daily journalism so inspiring and challenging.There isn’t a better, nicer or just plain cooler bunch of journalists anywhere. Keep fighting the good fight. It is a sacred mission.
I’ll be at this email for at least a week. Please keep in touch with me after that at xxxxxxx. Friend me on Facebook. And if in DC, stop by and see me; I’m just moving a few blocks, to Medill’s DC office and newsroom.
And please check out the new initiative and send me suggestions on what we can do, and how we can help! www.medillnsj.orgCheers,
Josh Meyer