Media

Fired Philadelphia Inquirer editor gets standing ovation

Philadelphia Inquirer editor Bill Marimow got a standing ovation from the newsroom on his way out the door.

Marimow — who was dismissed by publisher Robert Hall on Monday morning — stuck around until 7 p.m. that night, hoping to get some of the paper’s owners to reverse the decision.

The editor is reluctantly leaving little more than a year after returning to the top of the masthead. When the owners of Interstate General Media took over last year, they pledged a hands-off on editorial policy.

Philly.com reported that Hall and co-owner George Norcross supported the ouster but that at least two other co-owners, parking lot magnate Lewis Katz and Gerry Lenfest, had not.

Diane Mastrull, a business writer at the Inquirer since 1997 and an officer of the Philadelphia Newspaper Guild, said being a member of the staff “feels a lot like being a child of divorcing parents.”

“In this case, the parents are the owners who reportedly are divided over the quality of the Inquirer, its leadership and its coverage strategy,” she said.

“I say reportedly because we got no answers from Bob Hall as to what there was about Bill Marimow and his leadership that caused him to fire him — after he brought him back after firing him before.”

Marimow, who could not be reached for comment, served as editor from 2006 until 2010, when he was axed by the previous owners.

He was brought back in April 2012, after the paper emerged from bankruptcy and by a group of Philadelphia business leaders.

By late Monday, Hall said that five of the six co-owners had gone along with the decision to fire Marimow, who had met with editors throughout the day after his ouster.

“As part of Interstate General Media’s corporate documents, this ownership group agreed not to be involved in the editorial affairs and journalistic operations of the Inquirer,” Hall said in a statement.

“The decision to terminate Bill Marimow as editor of the Inquirer was made by me and associate publisher, Mike Lorenca, which is within our authority to make such a decision. Although not required, five out of six of our directors/owners have concurred in our decision to terminate Bill Marimow.”

Hall named Stan Wischnowski interim editor. Wischnowski ran the editorial meeting on Tuesday but could not be reached for comment.