I am a former member of the Post-Dispatch staff. I worked there 30 years as a reporter and editor and took a buyout in 2005. I have continued to collaborate with the Post-Dispatch from time to time on projects sponsored by the Press Club of Metropolitan St. Louis where I once served as president and for which I am now head of a committee that encourages enterprise journalism. I have many friends on the staff. So I am not parachuting into this as a disinterested outsider. I come to this story with some empathy, and also appreciation for difficulties in the hiring process.