There's something a little sad—ironic is too obvious a word—in the apparent fact that Robin Hinch, the Register's famed obituary writer, is among the casualties of the paper's most recent round of self-immolation.
Today I received an anonymous tip from a source with ties to the Register's newsroom saying that Hinch—the subject of a Weekly feature story years ago and a former Freedom Communications Employee of the year—is departing the paper. Besides Hinch, the source said the following staffers were on their way out the door:
*Catherine Reiland, the paper's deputy editor for finance
*Neil Pinchin, a design editor
*Andy Horan, a Sunday editor who joined the revenue-draining OC Post as managing editor until it folded recently, returning to the Reg
*Travel editor Steve Plesa
*Sports editor Greg Gibson
*Daniel Anderson, a photographer and husband of Register columnist Yvette Cabrera
It's still unclear if Hinch and the others are being forced out or are taking buyouts that were announced in tandem with the staffing cutbacks, although one would have to assume that at least some of the departures are voluntary. It's too bad, as our profile of her noted, Hinch was one of the best obituary writers in the business; she actually took more time to get to know her dead subjects than most writers spend talking to live ones. And both Plesa and Gibson edited award-winning and highly readable sections of the paper.
Stay tuned for more names as they become known.
Award-winning investigative journalist Nick Schou is Editor of OC Weekly. He is the author of Kill the Messenger: How the CIA’s Crack Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb (Nation Books 2006), which provided the basis for the 2014 Focus Features release starring Jeremy Renner and the L.A. Times-bestseller Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love’s Quest to bring Peace, Love and Acid to the World, (Thomas Dunne 2009). He is also the author of The Weed Runners (2013) and Spooked: How the CIA Manipulates the Media and Hoodwinks Hollywood (2016).