One of the largest clubs in the Triangle is FEN&O – Former Employees of the News & Observer. At last count it had (at least) five times the active membership of CEN&O (Current Employees of the News & Observer) and is adding a new member next week… or so we hear. The notorious Linda Williams is finally leaving the red-ink hemorrhaging, ever-dwindling McClatchy N&O ….. again.
Who? I’m sorry. You don’t know about the N&O’s quite notorious razor-totin’ woman – Linda Williams… a/k/a The Do-Rag Queen.
I didn’t give Linda Williams those names or any of the other not-flattering-at-all names she has been called by former co-workers over the past twenty years. If I repeated the majority of names Linda Williams has been called by N&O co-workers Obama’s Justice Department would be storming my front door. They are quite NOT politically correct. Linda was described by a former co-worker thusly…
… She is just terrible. Has no journalism talent, no people skills, no ability to see past her own nose. She is incredibly rude and overall a terrible person. The entire community agrees, as does just about everyone at the N&O…. LINK.
Full Disclosure: I have never worked-with or even “met” Linda Williams which I acknowledge with the same sense of relief and pride as I’ve never had gonorrhea or been bitten by a rabid raccoon.
I’ve always thought of Linda as The Sheila Jackson-Lee of the newspaper business . Sheila J-Lee being Congress’ poster-girl for “She can do that / say that because she’s black” known as Reparational Incompetence.
Linda Williams has most recently been the Front Page Coordinator (?) or some such imaginary title for McClatchy’s much-maligned North Carolina operations in Raleigh and Charlotte.
Yes, the McClatchy newspaper in Charlotte that never mentioned that – Chad Sevearance – the original promoter of the The Great Bathroom Mess – is/was A REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER. That Charlotte Observer.
Whatever she has been most recently was after she was no longer The News Editor for The N&O back in March of 2006. Does that date ring a bell? Can you say DUKE LACROSSE boys and girls?
Yes indeedy; it ‘twas then News Editor Linda Williams who coined THE phrase that must always appear in every regurgitation of The #1 Media Embarrassment of The 21st Century.
“…. honor student and single mother of two”
Before the world had ever heard of Mikey Nifong. Before “Nifong” became a verb for “monumental incompetence”; the world read about Crystal Mangum – a/k/a “honor student and single mother of two” – HSSMoT…. according to N&O News Editor Linda Williams.
Crystal (“HSSMoT”) was the quite cuckcoo “working girl” ….. “escort” ….. “exotic dancer” …. (insert dozens of other occupational 
sobriquets for what Crystal was) who concocted the whole Duke Lacrosse Scandal which Linda Williams bought hook, line and sinker while dancing a jig with then Executive Editor Melanie Sill as the two girl friends whooped “Yippeee, we gonna win us a Pulitzer!!!”…. back in March 2006.
Jesse Jackson promised to send a check to pay for Crystal’s continuing education at NCCU “back then” which Linda’s N&O news department proudly touted… and which, of course, Rev JJ never sent…. but nobody, even Linda, ever thought he would.
Who can ever forget the half-page Tribute to Crystal Mangum that Linda Williams’ staff printed within several days of the “assault that never happened” at 610 North Buchanan Blvd in Durham in March 2006?
Not only did Linda tout Crystal as an “honor student and single mother of two”…. she implied Crystal was also A NAVAL HERO ???? Those were quite exciting times back then as Linda (and Melanie) chased that elusive Pulitzer.
HSSMoT Crystal has since had several more children by several more boyfriends, one of which she butchered with a butcher knife for which she was convicted and is now incarcerated. Enough about dear sweet Crystal Mangum ….. “honor student & single mother of two”.
As incredibly bizarre as HSSMoT was…. it is not my favorite Linda Williams’ story.
As the yucky Duke Lacrosse Scandal smoldered like a dumpster fire forever staining the reputation of “The Old Reliable”…. leave it to Linda Williams to take it a step further:
Linda’s “Do-Rag Rule”
The City of Durham has long had “issues” with those of the African American persuasion being of the “commit a lot of violent crime persuasion” too. Have you forgotten the Eve Carson Tragedy and the whole bunch of muggings on The American Tobacco Trail…. over 30 at last count? ….. Leave it to Linda Williams to solve “that”.
Linda ordered her reporters to NEVER MENTION the race of “perps” in their crime stories…. unless, of course, they were “white”. By leaving out any mention of the race of criminal perpetrators, Linda figured N&O readers would not realize the epidemic extent of the problem. Clever Linda…. very clever.
About six months after “the assault that never happened” involving the “rich white boys” there was another sorta similar incident over in Durham. This one involved an African American fraternity party at which a “white girl” was assaulted by…..
“a young man in his early 20s, about 6’ tall wearing jeans, a sweatshirt…. and a do-rag.
The N&O reporter – handcuffed by Linda’s Rule to NEVER MENTION THEIR RACE …. had circumvented her edict by noting the perp “was wearing a do-rag” which carries the same ethno-racial connotation as “was wearing a hoodie”. Do-rags and hoodies being uniform of choice for YBMs “on the prowl”.
VOILA! The Do-Rag Rule joined HSSMoT in Linda Williams’ bulging file of Journalistic Absurdities.
Linda was quietly replaced as N&O News Editor and sorta kinda “dis-employed” by The Suits at The N&O ….. UNTIL a clerk in HR noted:
“STOP! We can’t fire Linda. She’s black AND a very angry razor totin’ woman.
She will sue our a** fer sure.”
So an imaginary new position was created which she has supposedly been doing since then.
… Is it a coincidence that angry razor totin’ Linda Williams is finally leaving McClatchy’s employ just as Publisher Orage Quarles is also leaving. Publisher Quarles also traces his lineage to The Dark Continent.
…. The N&O will soon employ fewer AfAms than the average Major League Baseball team. Kind of sad for a media organization that so loudly criticizes others for “lack of Diversity” !!!! Sad indeed!
This leaves Barry “The Colonel” Saunders as the only notable employee “of color” left at McClatchy’s 
N&O.
It has been a standing joke among N&O Former Employees for many years that “Colonel” Saunders will “turn out the lights” as the last N&O employee. Ain’t NOBODY got the cajones to try and fire “The Colonel”.
That Linda Williams will be joining Bully Barber’s Hoot & Hates as Queen of Media Manipulation is only a rumor…. for now.
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PS: Tell me again why some of you STILL subscribe to any McClatchy newspaper. Are “coupons and obituaries” really worth you subsidizing this borderline criminal enterprise?
MORE AgentPierce …. LINK
