Yes, it is sad news. Michael will be missed. Hope he pops up somewhere else.

I hope that some smart company will just scoop Michael Silence right up. He's a wonderful person and a terrific journalist. What a loss for the News Sentinel and for our community :-(

This is terribly sad and shocking news. Mike has always been an active cheerleader for me and my writing. When I was out of work, he even invited me to guest blog on his blog (pro bono) which helped draw valuable attention to my writing.

I have known of many people he has reached out to help over the years and he has been a tireless advocate on behalf of journalists adopting digital tools.

I hope to do whatever I can to repay the favor to help him in searching for his next adventure.

is a lousy way to treat employees.

and let me add my enormous thanks to Michael too, for being a constant supporter of my blog and many, many more, and for providing a very prominent, wide-read forum for so many writers and readers. back in the spring of this year alone, his one reference to a post i had made brought in thousands of readers from all over America for days and days.

may smarter bosses be in your immediate future, Michael!

Some jerk I know was smugly commenting how lazy Gen-Y'ers were. This was my response:

I think the comment was made in relation to what I've observed the younger generation seeing- that there is no connection between hard work and success at their job, or being valued by their company, that their future is out of their control. Two particular cases of people I know:

(1) Guy works at manufacturing plant, starts in shipping, and eventually is the only guy to master the production planning software for the plant, making him essential- so essential in fact, that he's not allowed to take vacation, only sick leave. But he's OK, the plant has a production bonus program, and his team hits the production goals every quarter, netting a nice ($300-$500) bonus every quarter. Two years ago, plant gets bought by another company. "None of our other plants have a production bonus", so they kill theirs. Then, his new manager, wanting to put his stamp on the plant, starts getting rid of everyone the previous manager hired, but can't get rid of this guy since he's the only guy who can do planning. Gets him to cross-train his replacement. Tries to get him to leave by saying not only he can't take vacation, he can't take sick leave anymore. One day he calls and tells them he has the flu, and is throwing up repeatedly. Manager's response: "you have to come in, we'll give you a trash can." Ends up in the ER with dehydration. Finally, the manager lays him off, once his replacement was trained.

Now, if you were that kid, would you say "hard work and loyalty to your company pays off"?

Case (2) is simpler- a young fast food worker who is clearly more effective than his peers, one of the few smart enough to run the register, and always shows up to work and even takes other people's shifts when they fail to show up. Establishment has seasonal decline, so the manager that doesn't like him lets him go (the other manager is kind of incensed, knowing this person is one of the most reliable employees).

That's just two cases in the last few weeks, but I see it among dozens of Gen Y'ers. I don't blame that generation for being lazy, I think I would be too if I saw this kind of sh**t day in and day out. Very few employers value hard-working employees.

Michael was my last link to Knoxnews. Now I do not have much reason to go there. I'm very surprised he was on the cut list.

On a lighter note,

TN moves out of bottom 10 in health ratings Posted by MICHAEL SILENCE on December 6, 2011 at 7:51 AM.

Does anyone have Michael's contact info? If so, could you be so kind to send it my way in a private message? We may have something he might be interestred in considering.

Thanks!

Michael Silence asked the KNS to post the following message on his blog:

No Silence Here: A programming note

As you may know, I got laid off yesterday along with 32 others. That sucks, but it is the reality of our business. I will miss my colleagues, a great bunch of people who I got to hang around with for 29 years and 11 months.

This blog, started in August 2004, has been a blast, and thanks for constantly opening my eyes to new perspectives. I'm told it will cease to exist. It has been the most rewarding aspect of my time here. I've been honored to sit on the front porch of the 21st Century.

As I've said for many years of those who have left the online world, "They'll be back. They always come back."

Stay well my friends, and no worries
Michael