Is The Downtowner Sugarcoating Doug Taylor's Departure?

The weekly Downtowner newspaper wants to be known as "the pulse of the city," but they may be giving you the wrong "beat" when it comes to the departure of Doug Taylor, their general manager.

This week in place of Taylor's normal "My View" column is one entitled "Thank you Doug." In the column it says that "Doug has made what we are sure is a difficult decision for him." Click here to read the rest. According to Taylor, the decision was made for him.

“I signed a one year contract and when it was up, they decided not to renew it,” Taylor says. “It wasn’t my decision to ‘retire.’ I wasn’t pursuing other business opportunities.”

Taylor, who owned the publication, turned over operations and management to a company headed by Roger Ach last spring. Taylor states most of the Downtowner racks and boxes are his property and is talking to his attorneys as to what legal action to take.

Richard Hines, who now operates several websites across the country, including The Cincinnati Nation, launched the Downtowner over 27 years ago. Since his departure, the publication has had various owners.Taylor was general manager for over 10 years.

- Larry Gross

(Photo of Doug Taylor from the Downtowner)

Comments

[Mark]

You could kind of figure that out since he didn't get to write a final column. I'll probably stop picking it up now all together.

[Robert]

I got out of the habit of reading this paper a long time ago. It was always the same old thing week after week.

Maybe Taylor's departure is good - bring some new life to the paper.

[Del]

About the only thing decent about the Downtowner was Taylor's column. I won't be picking it up anymore.

[Bret]

I remember working downtown in the 1980's and always picking up the downtowner. Move ahead and few years and now it's not worth the trouble.

[Barbara]

Doug Taylor is a very nice man. The Downtowner will no longer have me as a reader.

[Katie]

Doug was the one good thing about The Downtowner. Once the "Pulse" got started, the paper went downhill.

I wish Doug good luck and hope he resurfaces somewhere. Maybe here?

[GMan]

Google Roger Ach. Apparently, Games Inc’s leader has an interesting history, one that appears to suggest that there’s most likely much more going on here than what’s been shared. Guess is that the company name fits well.

[Danny]

I very seldom ever agreed with Taylor, but I read him every week. I'll miss his column.

[David E. Gallaher]

I like Doug Taylor, but he needs to face the fact he made a pisspoor career move by getting into the newspaper business. It was never his "thang," and it showed.
The jury is still out on whether Ach can make any money on this little rag, but, if you study it carefully, as I do each Wednesday, you will have to admit he seems to be hitting all the right notes.
There's a column by Andy Furman.
That spice guy up at Findlay Market writes a dynamite column about spices. Loved what he said about SALT. I even clipped to send to my cousin the latest column about the obscure spice, "Asephetity (sp?)"
And there's lots more...

Batten down the hatches CityBeat. The new "Pulse" may soon be whuppin' your ass.
And downtown readers may be on the edge of a tsunami, buzz-wise.
Any o' you basement-dwellers been down here lately?
Around Fountain Square could be the new Main Street??

[CincyCapell]

ask any waiter, waitress or bartender in town about Roger Ach. He's a bad tipper, and they all call him "Old Vag*na Lips".

[Matt]

I have no idea who Roger Ach is but Doug Taylor was the face of the Downtowner newspaper. Now it has no face? As far as I'm concerned, keep your boxes empty.

[Tim]

Back when Hines ran The Downtowner, it was a must read every week. The paper had some energy to it, but for the past several years, I felt like the paper was just going through the motions and most of the articles bored me. I stopped picking it up.

You could say The Downtowner was Cincinnati's first alternative newspaper. Years ago, it had an edge to it. These days, we leave that up to CityBeat.

[ed]

if doug's gone then i'm gone too. here is a guy who talks to you when he passes you on the street and is always nice. he is the downtowner and without him its gonna be a sad thing.

[Brian]

Taylor was the perfect face for the Downtowner: uptight and conservative.

[Curious]

Where's the follow-up story on the lawsuit that Doug Taylor filed this week against Roger Ach, et al for continuing to publish The Downtowner without permission? And, what happened to the former editor, Jessica Noll?