By LOU ANTONELLI
Editor-in-Chief
The Tribune newspaper was sold to August 9. That's probably good news for Mount Pleasant.
Originally the weekly Titus County Tribune, then simply the Daily Tribune after publication went daily, the paper was sold in 2014 after being owned by the Palmer Family since 1941.
The Tribune was in its fourth generation of family ownership, and the after being so closely held for so long, it would have been difficult for any new owner to take over and do well.The Palmer Family didn't want to sell, but a perfect storm of bad luck, bad timing (because of the Great Recession) and bad decisions forced the matter.
The new owners, Granite Publications, took over and kept me on board as managing editor for a half year, mainly because I was the only non-Palmer left behind. Otherwise they wouldn't have been able to find the bathroom.
It's common for the children of the people who built a company up to be miserable bosses because they inherit a company they didn't earn, and they sneer and look down at their employees. They're spoiled and obnoxious and often inherently dishonest.
That's why they treat employees like crap - firing people at the slightest provocation and shipping jobs overseas when they can. That's one big reason what's left of the Middle Class in America stopped listening to business leaders, and endorsed Trump's economic patriotism.
Newspapers can't ship jobs overseas, so crooked bosses are even more frustrated. Their special razzle-dazzle is to give employees ridiculous workloads and refuse to approve overtime, making people work off the clock. Employees leave quickly, and company is happy. They never have to pay anyone a promised raise.
Granite Publications is being run by the daughter of the company's founder, and all of the above applies in this case. It's like she doesn't know the difference between management and aristocracy.
People in Mount Pleasant quickly noticed the plummet in the quality of the Tribune and also the extraordinary staff turnover. What they didn't realize was that it was not only expected but welcome.
I knew a company like Granite only uses people, so I knew they would give me the boot when they thought they could get along without me.
Fact is, they're not too intelligent, and I was tickled by the experience of dealing with a bunch of assholes were weren't smart enough to be as evil as they tried to be. I outsmarted them at every turn.
It reminded me of a line by Peter Lorre in an an old 1940s horror movie, "I'm tired of wasting my time outwitting fools."
The corporate executives of Granite Publications belong in jail for their constant, systematic and ongoing employment fraud. Problem is, our Republican state government has too many people who are essentially idolaters of wealth and think businessmen can do no wrong.
The American people used to believe that for the most part, but the abuse of the honest Christian working man by greedy and unethical business executives who worship the Almighty Dollar like a pagan idol - and have no nation and no god except profit - has resulted in a clear-sightedness that has resulted in a groundswell of support for Donald Trump and which helped lead to his election.
I could have held the Tribune together, but I knew I wouldn't be allowed to, and you all see what's happened. I moved on and watched the freak show from afar.
The collapse of the Tribune wasn't helped by the fact the top executive of Granite is a bone-crushing left wing FemiNazi who probably chewed the wallpaper off the wall election night when Trump won. It was a total mismatch with how the people of Titus County feel and what they believe.
So...
It will be impossible for the new owners of the Tribune NOT to do a better job.
They're already burdened with the fact that Mount Pleasant lost its daily paper, but it wasn't their doing, and they can start afresh with a clear conscience.
Northeast Texas Publishing, LP also owns The Pittsburg Gazette, Steel Country Bee (in Daingerfield), the tlanta Citizens Journal, The Cass County Sun, and the Bowie County Citizens Tribune in New Boston, so they know the area, know what the communities are like, and have some excellemt experience.
I've already called the new publisher, Mark Henry, and wished him and Northeast Texas Publishing well. I bear them no ill will at all and know they have a lot of hard work ahead of them to clean up the mess Granite left behind.
A good community news paper is a great asset to that community, and I hope - as you should, also - that the Tribune recovers some of the ground it lost in the past three years,, and it rejoins the ranks of Mount Pleasant's respectable and service-oriented businesses.
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