Inquirer editor in chief Bill Marimow was abruptly fired some time in the last two hours (some time after the 10:30 news meeting, which he reportedly attended), reportedly by publisher Bob Hall and co-owner George Norcross. This terse email went out to staff:
From: Hall, Bob
Sent: Monday, October 07, 2013 11:15 AM
To: All IGM Employees; All Philly.com Employees
Subject: AnnouncementPlease be advised that effective immediately, Bill Marimow is no longer employed by Interstate General Media, Inc. We wish Bill well in his future endeavors. Stan Wischnowski will become acting editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
However, reports from inside the news room indicate that the Marimow firing was done without the consent of the other co-owners, Lewis Katz and Gerry Lenfest. Reportedly, Marimow has told staffers “this isn’t over,” and is refusing to leave the building. Some staffers are threatening to walk out with him if it comes to that. Marimow said he refused to do “things I would never do,” presumably referring to another mass newsroom cull. Ordinarily, we would call Mark Block, spokesman for Interstate General Media, the Inquirer’s parent company, but he has proven himself to be a font on non-information.
ROMANESKO: “Shades of his Baltimore Sun firing” in 2004, a Sun journalist says Marimow’s refusal to leave the Inquirer building. “Marimow continued to show up for work for a full week after his firing and occupied the editor’s office, giving interviews and receiving condolences. That forced new editor Tim Franklin to work out of a windowless cubicle in the business department until he finally asked HR step in.” MORE
UPDATE: Bill Marimow has left the building, to applause.
HAPPIER DAYS: Bill Marimow, second from right, celebrating a 1978 Inquirer Pulitzer win.