Editor’s Note

Hey, Pitch readers.

We published a bunch of year-end reflections

this week, with Martin’s column about the Year in Stupidity, my

take on the year in Funk and Gloria, Charles Ferruzza’s recap of

a horrible year in the local restaurant industry. In print, look for Forester

Michael’s cool photos of the year in music.

But that copy went to bed a couple weeks ago, and mostly

I’ve just been thinking about the year ahead. First, we had to get

through an agonizing last week of 08. Here at The Pitch, we’d avoided

much of the bloodletting like that at the Star. We’ve always been lean

— we didn’t have room to mess with stories about how to organize

closets, we

didn’t have the luxury of wasting beats, and we could never afford

inflated sports writers dragging down our budgets. Also unlike the dailies, our papers have always been free. We know how to make money by giving away

free, high-quality information — and that’s serving us well in Web world.

That’s not to

say we haven’t suffered along with everyone else — except for a

privileged few — in the Bush economy. Honest, hard-working people bankroll The Pitch with their advertisements; in return, we

provide businesses with readers who become customers. But after eight

long years of whatever is the opposite of “compassionate conservatism,”

we’re left with an economy in ruins. And we’ll be honest: It’s torn a

hole in part of The Pitch. Last week, we laid off two of our comrades

in the editorial department. We restructured several other jobs,

cutting hours and, in some cases, benefits. Our bosses announced they

wouldn’t match our 401(k) plans until further notice. We won’t get

raises for the foreseeable future. Top editors and publishers took pay

cuts. This is apparently what we have to do to survive until the economy improves.

It breaks our hearts to lose co-workers, but it hasn’t

broken our spirit. Dozens of people still work at The Pitch as always, either full-time, part-time or freelance — and we’re pissed.

In the year ahead, we’ll fight even harder against arrogance, stupidity,

incompetence, evil and corruption. We’ll keep championing hometown heroes, people who make the city a better place and give us reason to hope.

And we’ll drink at local bars. Eat at local restaurants. Watch local theater. Buy

local art. Pay cover charges to see local music. Because we’re just

like everyone else in this town, and these are the things that keep us

strong. — C.J. Janovy