There are plenty of country weeklies in America where the editor is also the publisher—and also sells the ads and takes the pictures and answers the phone and probably sits on the school board.
Before Ferro moved on he tested some of his ideas at the Sun-Times. Jim Kirk is both the editor and the publisher, and I asked him what he thought. He e-mailed me this response:
To your question about whether the wall goes away? No, the wall is still maintained where it should be maintained. Editors have had exposure to the business side for many years. If anything, having an editor wear both hats helps maintain and enforce that wall.
