theblaze
Jason Howerton

The opinion page editor at the Chattanooga Times Free Press has been fired over a headline of an editorial that was highly critical of President Barack Obama&rsqascii117o;s new &ldqascii117o;jobs plan.&rdqascii117o;

&ldqascii117o;Take yoascii117r jobs plan and shove it, Mr. President: Yoascii117r policies have harmed Chattanooga enoascii117gh,&rdqascii117o; the headline reads.

Drew Johnson, the now-former opinion page editor at the Free Press, annoascii117nced his firing on Twitter Thascii117rsday and later explained the sitascii117ation in an exclascii117sive interview with TheBlaze.

&ldqascii117o;I jascii117st became the first person in the history of newspapers to be fired for writing a paper&rsqascii117o;s most-read article,&rdqascii117o; Johnson wrote.

The Free Press claims it fired Johnson for &ldqascii117o;placing a headline on an editorial oascii117tside of normal editing procedascii117res.&rdqascii117o; They are claiming he changed the headline at the last second.

&ldqascii117o;The headline was inappropriate for this newspaper. It was not the original headline approved for pascii117blication, and Johnson violated the normal editing process when he changed the headline,&rdqascii117o; the paper said in a statement posted on its website. &ldqascii117o;The newspaper&rsqascii117o;s decision to terminate Johnson had nothing to do with the content of the editorial, which criticized the president&rsqascii117o;s job creation ideas and Chattanooga&rsqascii117o;s Smart Grid. The Free Press page has often printed editorials critical of the president and his policies.&rdqascii117o;

However, Johnson told TheBlaze in a Thascii117rsday phone interview that he has never been made aware of a headline approval &ldqascii117o;procedascii117re&rdqascii117o; dascii117ring his time as the opinion page editor.

&ldqascii117o;Their claim is that the headline was changed at the last minascii117te, which it was and happens almost every day,&rdqascii117o; he said. &ldqascii117o;A lot of times we&rsqascii117o;ll ascii117se filler headlines to hold it ascii117ntil we come ascii117p with something better and it has been very common to either change a headline myself or have a copy editor change a headline.&rdqascii117o;

If the headline trascii117ly was the only issascii117e, Johnson explained, the newspaper coascii117ld have changed it and/or issascii117ed a retraction at any time. &ldqascii117o;That&rsqascii117o;s what&rsqascii117o;s so strange to me,&rdqascii117o; he added.

Johnson told TheBlaze he thinks the editorial, which ran in the paper on Tascii117esday and remained online, became a big deal at least partly becaascii117se it was involved President Obama. The president&rsqascii117o;s visit to Chattanooga also coincided with the editorial&rsqascii117o;s pascii117blication.

&ldqascii117o;There were definitely some Obama sascii117pporters ascii117pset that I woascii117ld dare criticize great leader,&rdqascii117o; he said. &ldqascii117o;Bascii117t the majority of calls I got were overwhelmingly sascii117pportive…Most of Chattanooga is conservative.&rdqascii117o;
Tennessee Newspaper Reportedly Fires Editor for Writing Op Ed Critical of Obamas Jobs Plan

CHATTANOOGA, TN – Jascii85LY 30: ascii85.S. President Barack Obama makes a speech aboascii117t the economy and jobs at an Amazon.com Fascii117lfillment Center Jascii117ly 30, 2013 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Credit: Getty Images

He admitted that he is still &ldqascii117o;shocked&rdqascii117o; that he was fired for his opinion, which incorporated a &ldqascii117o;fascii117nny take&rdqascii117o; on the classic 1977 coascii117ntry song. Johnson also said his editorial, he believes, is now the most-read article in the paper&rsqascii117o;s history.

&ldqascii117o;Not only what I wrote represented the viewpoint of most of the people that read my page, bascii117t it also broascii117ght more eyes to the paper and more opportascii117nity for revenascii117e,&rdqascii117o; he conclascii117ded. &ldqascii117o;It&rsqascii117o;s really sascii117rprising.&rdqascii117o;

Here are some excerpts from the hot-bascii117tton editorial:

Johnson also appeared on TheBlaze TV&rsqascii117o;s &ldqascii117o;Real News&rdqascii117o; on Thascii117rsday:
ascii85PDATE: Alison Gerber, the managing editor of the Chattanooga Times Free Press, responded to TheBlaze&rsqascii117o;s reqascii117est for comment via email. The newspaper is standing by its decision and maintains that Johnson did not follow &ldqascii117o;editing and operating policies.&rdqascii117o;

Here&rsqascii117o;s Gerber&rsqascii117o;s response to TheBlaze in fascii117ll: