TO: Yolanda Apodaca
CC: Scott Steepleton

October 3, 2006

I hereby resign from the News-Press.

And since you no longer control what I say and how I say it, I’m going to tell you why.

For 11 years, I have been proud to work for this company. I was honored to have managers who were smarter than me, and had something to teach me.

They weren’t bullies. They weren’t liars. And remarkably, they were able to manage our newsroom by employing scruples rather than lawyers.

But they’re all gone now, and the only thing our current leaders have been able to demonstrate is the heartbreaking mess than ensues when ambition far exceeds talent, and hubris trumps wisdom.

At a good newspaper, as ours was, truth is held in higher esteem than power. It makes me sick to see Wendy McCaw topple that hierarchy here, and to watch you both help her do it.

While I will desperately miss the camaraderie of my noble colleagues and the relationships I developed with countless readers, I am grateful for one thing.

That when I look in the mirror, I won’t see what you do.

Sincerely,

Starshine Roshell