Le Batard leaves, Herald waits

In a time when some of the country's best sportswriters are being swept out of newsrooms by layoffs and buyouts, it's fascinating and somewhat surprising to see the Miami Herald let the omnipresent Dan Le Batard to take a yearlong sabbatical from his column so he can concentrate on his other media ventures.

Bob Norman of New Times Broward-Palm Beach first reported in his blog, The Daily Pulp, that Le Batard is taking the time off starting May 15 so he can "have more balance in his life."

Ed Pope is the dean of the Herald sports team and one of the all-time great columnists, but Le Batard is its most visible celebrity. He writes for ESPN The Magazine, hosts a weekly national radio show on ESPN Radio and a daily local show on Miami's 790 The Ticket and is a regular guest host on ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption."

Most papers would have given Le Batard an ultimatum, after all he made his name on its pages and would not have had the cachet to launch his lucrative electronic media career otherwise. Clearly, the Herald believes maintaining its long association with Le Batard is worth the wait.

To witness the sweeping changes in the newspaper business one has to look no further than "PTI's" sister program on ESPN, "Around the Horn." No fewer than three of its regular panelists have accepted buyouts in recent months after longtime stints as print columnists. The latest was Jackie MacMullen, who left the Boston Globe. J.A. Adande previously exited the Los Angeles Times for a gig at ESPN.com and Kevin Blackistone parted ways with the Dallas Morning News before eventually landing at AOL Sports.