RIDGEWAY STILL DROPPED DESPITE PROTESTS. Yesterday--just one day before The New York Sun (!) was among news outlets reporting testimony that George Bush authorized Scooter Libby to leak classified information--Gawker reported that Nat Hentoff, Wayne Barrett, Jarrett Murphy, and Jennifer Gonnerman are among those who signed a petition protesting the recent dismissal of three-decade Village Voice veteran James Ridgeway, late of the paper's DC beat. The petitioners wanted their statement published in the Voice this week, but that didn't happen; I take it the darn thing wasn't scrawled on a paper napkin.

I'm concerned that Ridgeway's departure is, in the words of the petition, "a terrible message as to the sort of coverage that the new ownership portends," but somewhat consoled by the feeling that Ridgeway will surely land on his feet.

Previous coverage here.