Elizabeth Zimmer off-handedly drops in that Deborah Jowitt has been fired after 40 years at the Village Voice. In her post on Arts Journal about the Jerome Robbins exhibit she seemingly randomly inserts the sentence: 

“I’d ruminate more on the show, but I’ve just been derailed by the news that Deborah Jowitt, one of Robbins’s biographers and my long-time colleague at The Village Voice, has just been fired from her job as chief dance critic there, after 40 years.”

It seems an odd way to break the news if it’s true. Elizabeth was herself removed as dance editor of the Voice a few years ago. Bitterness? Why would Elizabeth want to beat the official statement or say anything before Deborah has?

And is “fired” the right word? That would be something completely unrelated to the trend among newspapers of “laying off, “downsizing” or just “eliminating the position.” As a former editor, Elizabeth is usually pretty good about choosing the correct wording.

The jury is still out on this one.