Poynter, Jim Romenesko part ways

Once again, former Milwaukee Journal reporter Jim Romenesko has the media world all a-twitter (yes, it's a deliberate -- and very bad -- pun). In a long post on Poynter.org, new boss Julie Moos reported that Poynter was questioning the long-time media commentator Romenesko's attribution or lack thereof.

Romenesko responded on Twitter this way "@romenesko Romenesko. Poynter has accepted my resignation. Thanks to all for the incredible support today. http://t.co/rUevIN7S." [Editor's note: I put the period after the word "Romenesko" for clarity. Wouldn't want to be accused of changing quotes without acknowledging that I had.]

I'll leave it to New York Times media reporter David Carr to sum up all the nuances the way a good reporter would, but I will add that I've read Jim's blog for years and, in many ways, have patterned this one after it. The blog gave me a quick look at what was happening in the media world, and I never questioned his attribution. Yes, he often didn't use quotation marks while quoting material, but he indicated where his material originated along with relevant links.

Meanwhile, Erik Wemple at the Washington Post, an admitted fan, nicely lays out both sides of the argument, coming down on a bit on Poynter's side. He ends his blog post this way: "To all those frothing at how Moos treated Romenesko on this matter, please consider: All she asked is that he be edited."

Romenesko was planning to retire anyway, and is open about plans for a new blog/website JimRomenesko.com. The blog is up with little content other than a title, a line saying the blog "is about media . . . and other things I'm interested in" and a link to an advertising salesman.