"Reading Tom Robotham's column is like running into an acquaintance who invites you home for a drink, kicks off his shoes and tells you about what he's been doing and thinking since you last met.
"His conversational style allows him to roam over a variety of issues... [while sharing] his abiding concerns for his community and [his appreciation of]... what he calls 'the music of ordinary life.'
"Robotham is not afraid to embrace contradictions.... His effort to avoid being pigeonholed and his willingness to confess uncertainty clearly touches a responsive chord in his readers, who accept his challenge to extend the debate he provokes.
"I particularly like the way he calls attention... to what is valuable yet cannot be measured by price....
"Often his reflections are moving. For example: a tribute to a mortally ill community leader leads him-and through him us-to reflect, 'I've grown distracted by the white noise of my own anxieties—the static of my soul—and have wasted precious time in the process.' That's good writing, something that deserves to be recognized because it's in such short supply in newspapers big and small."
–Pulitzer Prize winner Bernard L. Stein, explaining his reasons for selecting Tom Robotham as the winner of the Virginia Press Association's 2003 D. Lathan Mims Award for Editorial Leadership.
In the last 10 years Port Folio Weekly has gone from being a freebie I'd pick up occasionally, to one for which I'd go out of my way every week. I'd always read, and often save, the Editor's Notebook. Just as often, I'd copy and send it to family and friends out of the area. To my student daughter in Massachussets I preached on Mr. Robotham's amazing synergistic and polymathic thinking. I argued that his editorship of this local newsie proved single-handedly that there is indeed intelligent life in the South.
I credit to the editorship of Tom Robotham the amazing transformation of a product selling local advertisement to a topnotch publication. As good as anything like it on the national scene, Port Folio has provided a stage for our diverse range of voices on everything from music, art, poetry, literature and the life of the Spirit, to local events, politics, people, and contemporary issues of critical importance. Robotham has been bold in sharing his point of view and equally bold in inviting divergence, rebuttal and further exploration. He has stimulated our thinking and dialogue and the ability to come together from widely varying points of his readers' compass.
My younger daughter is severely disabled and, during her illness-plagued childhood, I was often tightly tethered to my home front. But Port Folio, with its amazing depth of address, kept me in the loop, kept me feeling I was part of a larger community that had heart and mind to spare, that was creative in essence, that was growing and changing. Port Folio was part of my anti-stagnation and despair lifeline. For this I am forever in Tom Robotham and Co.'s debt.
The astonishing decision by the "higher ups" to fire Mr. Robotham leaves me gasping. There is no one in our region who has done as much as this man has in helping to forge a larger sense of community among our fractious city hubs. He articulates our identity in a way that is essential for our ongoing creative growth. He has supported the emergence of young writers and artists, pulled in new readers and made this magazine in every way a success!
Though there may be other people of ability able to take on the editorship, there is no doubt this paper will suffer without him. Not withstanding Mr. Robotham's grace in articulating the reasons for his dismissal, the writing is on the wall, clearly visible for all employees to read. And it says: "We regard you as a fungible cog in a product whose purpose is to sell the advertisements. We do not care about content because we have no other value system than profitability. Please do not believe you are here to think or to speak with originality or depth. Depth offends us, controversy scares us. Stick to the superficialities and to whatever salacious or banal topics will further our aims."
The bottom line has to be part of every existence, but when it becomes the primary reason for existence, existence becomes worthless. My hope is that out of the ashes of this act of arson something new and vital will arise. Perhaps we need an alternative "alternative" format or just more choices than our current media monopoly can provide. I'll be on the lookout, glad to give my support to these new ventures, the ones that don't depend on a narrowing of vision, the ones that don't bank on my stupidity and apathy. And I wish Tom Robotham Godspeed in the continuing expression of his own creative gifts.
—Karen K. Waller
Virginia Beach
An intelligent and most valuable voice was silenced this month in our Seven Cities when Tom Robotham resigned his post as Editor-in-Chief of Port Folio Weekly. It seems that the publication's corporate owners just couldn't put up with someone who gave the paper a distinct point of view and a bit of attitude, attributes sorely lacking in most of our local newspapers and magazines.
They also couldn't stand the idea that readers might actually want to learn about slightly off-the-radar subject matter and hear from people who hold unusual, non-mainstream points of view.
Under Mr. Robotham, Port Folio Weekly was a straight-shooting, tell-it-like-it-is publication, and not a focus group-driven "product," which is exactly the direction the current owners wish to take the paper. It is the same mode of thinking that turned FM radio into the dull, repetitive and unimaginative wasteland it has been for years.
We will all be poorer for Mr. Robotham's departure. Let us all now turn on our radios, where "Another One Bites The Dust" will no doubt be airing.
—BJ Leiderman
Virginia Beach
Tom Robotham's departure from the editorship of Port Folio is a sad day for the Hampton Roads community. During his 10-year run as editor, Robotham transformed a mundane journal into exciting required reading.
Port Folio combined hard-hitting investigative journalism with the best cultural watch in the area. The Virginia-Pilot, Port Folio's parent group, would do well to study the strengths that Robotham brought to the best alternative press since New York City's Village Voice of the 1950–1960s.
—Maurice R. Berube, Ph.D
Norfolk
We are very disappointed that Landmark let Tom Robotham go; he was a fine editor and was very committed to building our community. Port Folio Weekly covered so many topics—because of him—and he believed in diversity as well. It seems that Landmark did not understand his work at all. We will miss Mr. Robotham greatly.
—Christine Hoppe
I heard, much to my dismay, that Tom Robotham was terminated from his position at Port Folio. Robotham's contribution both to Port Folio and Hampton Roads has been incalculable. His and the paper's voice has filled a void, which will be most difficult to fill in his absence. If there's any possibility of reconsideration, then I hope Port Folio exercises that option immediately.
—Fred Levy, LCSW
Newport News
It has come to my attention that Tom Robotham has been laid off, downsized, or fired by his employers at the Virginian-Pilot. I wish to add my voice to the chorus of outrage I trust that you have been receiving over this decision. Robotham is a vital community resource—a deeply thoughtful, nuanced, and historically informed Emersonian voice in a media landscape that is increasingly trivialized, one-dimensional, simplistic, mean-spirited and crass.
For the past three years, since I assumed my present professorship at TCC, Norfolk, I have looked forward every week to Robotham's opening editorial in Port Folio Weekly as a source of inspiration, encouraging all of my students to do likewise—to read his thoughtful, elegant, fair-minded editorials as a paradigm of insight and civility in media. In fact, I have routinely given my students the following choice for their reading responses every other week: choose a sample essay from their composition textbook or read Tom Robotham's latest piece in Port Folio, and large numbers of my students from across the sociopolitical spectrum consistently opted for the latter. Since the selections in my textbook are written by many of the best writers of our time (Virginia Woolf, George Orwell, E.B. White), I have, in effect, put Tom Robotham on par with them. Next year, I will not have this option available. My students will be the poorer for it, and so will we all.
Why has the Pilot decided to dump its very best journalistic asset? I have no idea, of course, but I can only conclude that it is part of the distressing nationwide trend toward media consolidation—that as mergers gobble up more and more local newspapers, the casualty will be authentic, original, imaginative, and above all civilized journalistic voices like Robotham's. Corporate moguls seek only to maximize profit, and they most often do so by minimizing quality and diversity, so that anyone who has original, provocative, outside-the-box ideas becomes a threat to the bottom line.
I fear that with Robotham's departure, the other gifted journalists he has drawn to him will be soon to follow, and in short order Port Folio Weekly will degenerate into just another clone of Link or the other trashy, television-on-paper zines that simply deaden our minds.
[This decision] will mean a catastrophic loss to the community: the willful corporate silencing of one of the last voices of the authentic, original American spirit—the courageous and compassionate spirit of Tom Paine, Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman—left in our dying nation.
—Thomas I. Ellis, Ph.D.
Hampton
What a sham/shame. What kind of "alternative weekly" bags such a good editor for standing behind his principles? Rhetoric, though. I know it's not that "alternative," but I picked it up and read it anyway. Bad, bad move; I know a steaming pile when I see one. This is bad news.
—Jessica Gabriele
Chesapeake
CORPORATION VS. COMMUNITY.
It is my understanding that Editor-in-Chief, Tom Robotham, is leaving his position at Port Folio Weekly. This news is an immense loss for the Seven Cities area community. While most reasonable people recognize that "all things must change," the decision to make such a sudden shift serves the corporate media paradigm rather than the community. There were over 80 mass media conglomerates across the US in the late 70s. Today they have been consolidated into five. Having grown up in Hampton Roads, I have lived in the Richmond, Chicago and DC regions for 22 years, while returning for occasional visits to family. Since relocating to Hampton Roads four years ago and being a person of varied interests, I knew I was "home" when I recognized the fresh, innovative and liberating direction that Port Folio Weekly had embraced under Robotham. I made it a personal mission to encourage my neighbors, friends, business associates and family to read Port Folio Weekly and habitually pick up extra copies for them to support one of Hampton Roads' finest community resources—ever! No matter where Tom chooses to land—and his options are many—his commitment to building quality community will always be a public testimonial to his integrity.
—Ann Williams
Virginia Beach
OUR OFFICIAL "ALTERNATIVE WEEKLY."
Tom Robotham's departure from Port Folio is disappointing. Particularly unsettling were the words in his final Editor's Notebook: “The higher ups here believed that Port Folio under my leadership had become ‘too staunchly liberal'.”
What?
He also discusses "a growing hunger in this community and this nation for more liberal voices."
To that we would add that there is also a pervasive and growing hurt in this community and nation from lack of a true liberal forum. Content under Robotham's leadership clearly highlighted and celebrated a diverse cross-section of our community with its vast pool of talent, art, culture, and natural beauty. It is also a region of deep spirituality, which was beautifully and richly captured in Robotham's columns.
Why strip a community of such a heartfelt, insightful and irreplaceable voice? No other publication has inspired us over the years as much as Port Folio. Its staff writers and editors are top notch and have worked tirelessly and bravely to uncover an intellectual depth and spirit that would have otherwise been lost. We thank them and will be forever grateful for the gift of a unique publication truly "not bound by conventional or orthodox attitudes;" "free from bigotry;" "open-minded;" "tolerant of the behavior and ideas of others;" and "generous."
We hope whoever takes the helm of editor-in-chief retains that same spirit. The website www.tomrobotham.com is now our official "alternative weekly." May Tom's voice and talents continue to inspire the Seven Cities and beyond.
—Sherry & Skip Friel
Virginia Beach
Last week I read with great interest the "farewell comments" of Mr. Tom Robotham. I was sadly surprised by his somewhat abrupt departure as editor-in-chief of Port Folio Weekly. Maybe it was because I had the distinct pleasure of reading every issue of Port Folio Weekly over the past 23 years that I have been in the local community. In the past decade, I have written numerous articles and guest columns for the magazine.
Over the past 10 years, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading Mr. Robotham's articles and columns. I found them to be thoughtful, inclusive, poignant and enlightening in an easy, down-to-earth manner.
I have no real doubts about Mr. Robotham's reasons for resigning from his position. If there were "other" reasons, I am sure he would have shared them with us. Port Folio Weekly's loss is shared by all of us who admire and respect Mr. Robotham as an excellent writer and a decent human being.
Yes, Mr. Robotham, you were a "different voice" in the Hampton Roads community. I applaud your "thinking and vision" during your tenure at Port Folio Weekly. Many of us, leaders and followers alike, could learn a thing or two from your philosophy and approach. And, we who believe in the "beauty of the rainbow" do applaud and salute you.
My only disappointment, Mr. Robotham, is that your stay at the magazine was far too short. You jarred us into "thinking out loud," whether we agreed with you all the time or not. Most of us are better off for having experienced your style of journalism. Your articles and comments will be sorely missed, especially by those of us who are interested in the "very soul of this community with its diverse people, places and stories."
Mr. Robotham, I would say "good luck," but you don't need that. You bring your own "good luck" by way of your dynamic personality and professional skills. And, most of all, you epitomize not only the qualities of a "writer," but also a "teacher." All of which reminds me of the eloquent words of a couple of poems by Kevin William Huff:
...Why God created teachers,
In His wisdom and His grace,
Was to help us learn to make our world
A better place.
...For the dawn of each poet
Each philosopher and king
Begins with a teacher
And the wisdom they bring.
In closing, Mr. Robotham, I wish you good health and great rewards in all that you continue to do for the Hampton Roads community. I shall miss you!
—John L. Horton
Norfolk
Bottom line: I unfortunately think it is time for change at Port Folio. It's a little gray at the temples. Tom Robotham was probably the most philanthropic, intelligent presence your publication will ever boast in its ranks. However, sometimes that isn't enough, and now is one of those times in this unappealing market place.
I recently saw a very cool French movie at the Naro, Tell No One. Smart, action-packed, easy on the eye—what's not to like? But the experience was pretty sobering. I just hit 40, and I was the youngest person there! What happened? I guess all the kids went to see The Dark Knight and Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon. Really? Their loss, frankly.
Now the editorial team has shifted. What would Port Folio do? After reading "A Quest For Change," with all its talk of "hippest, hottest information," "synergies," and "cutting edge... stories," I'm concerned. The minds of our children are at stake here, not their economic potential.
—Colin Ginks
Norfolk
I am so disgusted about the firing of Tom Robotham. I fear it is the end of this area's best progressive magazine. Port Folio made this area more cultural, metropolitan, intelligent, informed, meaningful and free. I fear now it will be just like any other ho-hum fluff magazine.
—Tara White
Virginia Beach