Detroit News Managing Editor Refuses to Answer for Gage-ghazi

Posted on by admin by

Screen Shot 2015-02-13 at 9.36.40 PM

By Jeff Moss
DetroitSportsRag@GMail.com
February 13, 2015

You know the story by now. For some reason that NOBODY in Detroit, the baseball world or anywhere else on the planet can figure out, the Detroit News replaced longtime Tigers beat writer Tom Gage with the journalistic holocaust that goes by the name Chris McCosky.

Well, we actually do know the reason why Gage was demoted and how the News is now trying to get him to retire. It’s just that nobody at the paper is about to admit it.

All we have received from the News is this statement from Managing Editor Gary Miles posted on DeadlineDetroit.com earlier this week:

“We don’t discuss our specific assignment changes, but over the last several years, we’ve had several beat changes in Sports and other departments, sometimes to adjust to changing resource levels and sometimes to freshen the perspective or approach to our coverage.

“Last year, before the beginning of the 2014 Tigers season, we talked to Tom about making a shift after the end of the season, and indeed that took place. Tom now covers a variety of topics in sports, where his contributions will touch many areas of interest to our readers.”

“He remains a valued member of The Detroit News sports staff.”

Of course, Gage wasn’t happy at all about this slap in the face and remains pissed about the circumstances of his demotion.

The only other clues we have received regarding this insane switch on the Tigers beat were these two Tweets from Miles:

They want McCosky to establish himself on a new beat? So Gage writing baseball articles would be somehow different than Lynn Henning or Tony Paul, who are currently doing the same? Miles is a pathological liar. They are trying to run Gage out of the building. Plain and simple.

Anyway, I was pretty much done with this story as the News had made it clear that they weren’t going to talk. Until today.

This duplicitous, backstabbing suit had the chutzpah (Italian for nerve) to Tweet out the following ….

It would appear that Gage is only allowed to write about dead baseball players since my sources insist he won’t be covering baseball for the paper. Because they have to let that piece of crap McCosky “breathe.”

So, after reading this Tweet from Miles propping up a man he helped stab in the back, I sent out the following message …..

Here is the back and forth that occurred when this devious con artist decided to respond to me …

Screen Shot 2015-02-13 at 10.13.28 PM
Screen Shot 2015-02-13 at 10.15.57 PMScreen Shot 2015-02-13 at 10.17.11 PM


Screen Shot 2015-02-13 at 10.20.18 PM

 

Screen Shot 2015-02-13 at 10.22.19 PM

And that was it. The Managing Editor of a major daily responded to me FIVE times and not ONCE did he answer any of my legitimate questions. Nor would he agree to speak with me on the phone about this subject.

And I am pretty sure he refused an interview with Matt Dery on 105.1 as well.

And just in case you aren’t familiar with the Managing Editor title, it’s one of the highest levels you can rise to at a paper. An ME basically runs the whole operation as a subordinate of the Editor-in-Chief.

This is the douche bag who is refusing to comment on Gage’s situation. The irony is so awesome. I wish every News subject treated Miles’ reporters in the same manner in which he is handling this situation.

The Detroit News took a man who was just elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame (for journalists, anyway) and demoted him without giving any explanation whatsoever other than empty platitudes and meaningless press releases.

When will Deadspin or some other national publication pick up this story? It needs a wider audience.