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.