Terry Pluto to PD

[Zip Watcher]

Terry Pluto apparently is moving to PD if you believe the sports talk hacks in Cleveland today. Not sure which spot he's taking, but he's leaving the BJ.Could help widen the footprint of UA if he brings his feel good angles with him to PD .. don't really see how this hurts the Zips. .. may not help .. but does it hurt?

[ziptrumpet87]

I think it means no more Pluto articles on the Zips. Will the ABJ still cover UA with that kind of article/story? Maybe not. Will Pluto do any more articles on UA for the PD? Probably not when he can concentrate on doing articles on the Browns, Indians and Cavs.

[Captain Kangaroo]

don't really see how this hurts the Zips. .. may not help .. but does it hurt?

I think it hurts the Zips because a lot of people subscribe the Beacon because of him (don't ask me why). His departure will certainly hurt the Beacon's circulation. Less cash flow means the Beacon will probably cover less Zips road games...wait...they don't cover those anyhow...Here's hoping Mike Rasor replaces him!! (If they can afford him)

[akronad]

It is confirmed. TP is leaving for the PD. I tlaked with somone in the sports dept. who confirmed that the sports editor (Rich) sent an e-mail to the rest of the sports staff that he was leaving.

[Blue & Gold]

As a person I love Terry Pluto. As a sportswriter I think he is very insightful and most definitely respect his work. But he seems to care so little about Akron that I don't think this will hurt Zips coverage at all. On the contrary, we now have the opportunity to replace Terry with a home-grown Akron writer who's passion is for Akron, not Cleveland. Terry adored the Browns, Cavs and Indians; he wrote about the Zips when either he had to, or merely had nothing else to write about. He also was generally quite condescending in his tone towards UA athletics. I actually view this as a positive development. Here's to the Beacon hiring Rasor, or some other Akron writer with blue & gold in his veins!

[Dr Z]

Here's to the Beacon hiring Rasor, or some other Akron writer with blue & gold in his veins!

This is the BJ's chance to get my quarter back. My guess is a YSU grad takes his spot.I'm interested to hear Rasor's take on this.

[ZachTheZip]

David Lee Morgan or Rasor would do well in that spot in terms of Zips coverage, but Pluto was the sport's page personality. He wrote on everything sports related. Don't expect them to replace him with solely a Zips writer. In that case, I just hope that whomever does replace him realizes that not covering a sports team located across the street from you office is just plain stupid. UA is slowly taking over the city's economics, skyline, city profile, and research and developement, and is even becoming the major defining thing about Akron. Why not sports, too? It all starts with getting the community to care about the Zips and to show up to games. We could go 10-2 this year and it wouldn't make a difference if the media doesn't let anybody know about it.

[MRasor0200]

I appreciate you guys thinking of me, but I'd put the chances between slim and none I'll ever work in journalism again.I am going to law school because the only job in journalism that I would want is working at the ABJ, and they won't hire anyone new until 2012 at the earliest, from what I hear.A new columnist would come in-house, most likely. The ABJ has a union that would ensure a rookie never got such an opportunity. It's the same union that forced the newspaper's layoffs to come through seniority, which is also why young readers have no writer to connect with. If Terry's really leaving, I just lost my last one.Edit: Yep, he really is leaving.

[skip-zip]

Pluto was a guy that I will remember over the years for some of his very questionable viewpoints on the Zips (I recall him defending Lee Owens vehemently).And I'll never forget how he sung the praises of the resurgence of Akron Athletics about a decade ago under a former AD who he really liked, only to have the article appear next to the MAC's All Sports standings, which showed Akron darn near last in both men's and women's athletics. That was a classic. Everyone I know who is a Zips fan still talks about it to this day.

[zip81]

I appreciate you guys thinking of me, but I'd put the chances between slim and none I'll ever work in journalism again.I am going to law school because the only job in journalism that I would want is working at the ABJ, and they won't hire anyone new until 2012 at the earliest, from what I hear.A new columnist would come in-house, most likely. The ABJ has a union that would ensure a rookie never got such an opportunity. It's the same union that forced the newspaper's layoffs to come through seniority, which is also why young readers have no writer to connect with. If Terry's really leaving, I just lost my last one.Edit: Yep, he really is leaving.

Mike....good move.Believe me....good move!If this hurts anyone, it's the ABJ.Another nail in the coffin for an Akron daily destined to follow 23 Newsday.

[74ZIP]

the ABJ is slowly going the way of the TITANIC...a shame because when i was growing up in Dacron, Ohio in the 60's and 70's the BJ(sorry) was actually a nationally recognized paper...when the Knight's ran it it devoted resources to gettng news both hard news and sports... long before pluto or ocker got there... the BJ actually did a story about a Little League Tourney game I was in in 1964!!! thats writing about sports!...anyway... the paper did NEWS REPORTING not all this human interest personal opinion stuff it does now...pluto is only looking out for himself...probably what many of us would do who need a job!

[Zipsrifle]

I imagine that Rasor is right, they'll probably promote from inside. If not, they'll try to grab someone from somewhere else. Unfortunately, the ABJ is not going to sell significantly more papers if they cover the Zips more and neglect the other major sports teams. I also agree that TP seemed to treat UA as that nice little school next door. To be honest, I'm actually impressed with the coverage DLM is putting up these days. I've actually seen a few articles by him, more than in the past. Now, if the ABJ can just have someone attend all the games and not copy an article from the wire, I will be very impressed.

[Dr Z]

Pluto joins sports columnists Bill Livingston and Bud Shaw. He will continue to write his Sunday notes column, which he said he patterns after the style of Hal Lebovitz, the late sports editor of The Plain Dealer."Bud and Bill have different styles and opinions than I do, and that's why this can be a lot of fun," Pluto said. "It gives the readers three different approaches, and I can't wait to work with them."Along with his sportswriting duties, Pluto also will write two or three faith columns each month for the PD's religion section.

[bobbyake]

I live in Akron and get the PD instead of the ABJ. Part of the reason is that OSU gets more coverage than the Zips in the ABJ, the other reason is that I don't want to read a 2 page business section in the back of the sports page. The ABJ is a horrible paper under its new ownership. I've encouraged family and friends to switch to the PD, and I'm encouraging everyone here to switch as well.I can live with a Cleveland paper covering the suckeyes more than the Zips, but for a hometown paper to do this is unacceptable.Good luck finding the business section in the ABJ. When you find it, enjoy your 2 pages of crap. The PD's business section is actually pretty interesting. I get the Wall Street Journal for free through the University but I read the PD's business section first.

[bobbyake]

Another nail in the coffin for an Akron daily destined to follow 23 Newsday.

I have Akron News DVR'd and watch it religiously. It's a lot better than any of the other news programs, especially FOX 8. And it's the only local news you can get OnDemand.

[zippyrifle32]

I appreciate you guys thinking of me, but I'd put the chances between slim and none I'll ever work in journalism again.