New Acronym: NBC

Nothing But Class.

That's the only way I can describe what happened yesterday at The Sun. On the last day for 40+ veterans -- and by veterans I mean professionals -- our newsroom leaders (Tim Franklin, Bob Blau, Marcia Myers, Howard Libit, et al.) showed a level of class, decency and integrity that I don't think I've ever personally witnessed in the workforce.

With so many journalists at other papers simply getting a tap on the shoulder (or a phone call at home?! Really?), our newsroom leaders put together a 1 hour send-off and tribute.

Kind words were spoken about every single person who was leaving. People cried. The voices of crusty editors, who are rarely sentimental in public, cracked with emotion.

Reporters, copy editors, designers, multimedia pros, photographers -- these 40+ people who left yesterday helped raise The Sun in the morning and helped it set in the evening.

If you wish, take a moment in the comments to give a shout-out to some of the people who left, and share a memory you had with them. Let me start with a few:

Andre Chung. Good luck my friend. I'll never forget the good times we had together in some of the worst parts of Baltimore, reporting on some of the worst things that people can do to one another.

Greg Garland. Good luck, my friend. I'll never forget the work we did together on stories on the state prison system. We worked hard to be fair and accurate. We made a difference. You always amazed me with your abilities to cultivate sources.

John Lindner. Good luck, my friend. You turned my shaky video clips into two-minute Web hits. I learned so much from you. And yer pretty damn funny, too.

-30-

Saying Goodbye to People Who Knew All About AFDI

We've heard alot about AFDI, that acronym that's been shouted at us here in Baltimore from quarters out west. AFDI, or Actually F!@#$%^^& Do It, was meant to empower us. To give us the gumption to come up with ideas and implement them. Even as the tools and the manpower to AFDI get stripped away from us almost every week.

I'm talking about the heart and soul of our newspaper: our people. Our fellow journalists. My God -- do you all realize who have walked (or will soon walk) out the door of the Sun this week?

Sandy Banisky. Jon Morgan. John Fairhall, to name just a few. I can't even imagine some disaster hitting Baltimore without seeing their faces in the newsroom to help guide the stories.

You want to talk about AFDI? These three journalists are prime examples of people who got it done in Baltimore for decades. They did more to enrich this city, with their dogged reporting and great writing, then any Hot-L ever will. I certainly hope that our fledgling free, daily publication "b" succeeds, but seriously, even 20 years of "b" will not come close to the indelible mark that Banisky, Morgan and Fairhall -- to highlight just a few of the 55 who are leaving -- have left on Baltimore.

My colleagues: think about what we are losing and remember to mark this passing. It is truly a momentous time in Baltimore's recent history, this flight of so many probing, independent thinkers who are walking away from our journalistic enterprise. The loss is not only The Sun's, but the citizens of Baltimore. These are great minds, hard workers, seasoned veterans, and decent, humane people who actually gave a f!@#.

I know the time will soon come to focus again on the future, but ... we're about to say goodbye to so much institutional memory that it's frightening. It's like we're performing a partial lobotomy on our own collective newsroom brain. So much for AFDI.

But there is some decency left. Thanks to our top editors, Tim Franklin and Bob Blau, for taking the time to mark the moment for many of our esteemed colleagues who are leaving. It means a lot.

Sneak Peek At the New Sun

TellZell.com got hold of a presentation that discusses the Sun's "reinvention," slated to debut Aug. 24.

Here's the document, which debuted online at TellZell. Thoughts, comments, prognostications? Share in the comments section below. Everyone loves talking about their local newspaper, so let's start the conversation up right now.

The Baltimore Sun reinvention - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: The Baltimore Sun reinvention

The Hyperlocal Future

What else can we be now, but hyperlocal? But what does that mean? Can The Sun make enough money to thrive if we're all about hyperlocal news? And can we do it well enough so that we not only hook readers, but keep them absolutely plugged in and virtually addicted to our news content for hours each day, at work and at home?

I thought I'd post some links to some recent thoughts in the blogosphere on what it means to be doing hyperlocal journalism. Read at your leisure. But you may notice a common theme that the writers have, which is that great, original, newsworthy content -- produced by people who really know a community -- really does matter.

• "Tag A Site Hyperlocal And It's Doomed."
  
  
• Tribune Should Hire This Guy (Rob Curley)
  
  
• "Cracking The Local Market"(a rundown of hyperlocal sites, such as Topix)
  
  
• Hyperlocal News Fails Without Locals -- one of my favorite posts, whichtakes the perspective that the Washington Post's experiment with hyperlocal in Loudoun County failed because it didn't have enough "locals" who knew how to make the site really resonate with readers. Hmmmm. Something to think about.
  

That's all for now. Happy monday.