Summit Daily News Sacrifices Independence for Vail Bucks?

Dec 10, 2009  ·  03:31 PM  ·  permalink

In an ugly development for Summit County journalism, a reporter for the Summit Daily News has apparently been fired for writing an article critical of, among other parties, advertiser Vail Resorts.

DenverPost.com reports that 12-year veteran Bob Berwyn was fired by Summit Daily News publisher Jim Morgan when he refused to “grovel” before Vail Resorts which had been angered by a November 19, 2009 article suggesting that the ski resorts aren’t honest about snowfall.

The Denver post doesn’t tell us what would have constituted “groveling” but apparently, Berwyn stood by his article which pointed out that very often actual snowfall at ski resorts does not live up to ski resorts’ reporting and hype.

Please. Let’s all say it together:

I am shocked, shocked to find that ski resorts overhype snowfall!

The article is so innocuous that it’s hard to imagine Vail Resorts could have been that upset by it, which suggests that the paper’s publisher and editor staff must be extraordinarily weak. It also suggests that Summit County dwellers should be particularly skeptical when reading the Summit Daily News—and maybe look to other sources for local news.

If the facts are as DenverPost.com reports, kudos to Berwyn.