Secret Santa: The Hank method
Pushing back against the journalism Scrooge.
As journalists by trade, we don’t exactly have “office gift exchange” budgets.
Regifting is much more doable.
So this week, we’re wrapping up each other’s best stories and handing them back to their authors (with a note on why they stuck with us).
It’s kind of like a professional Secret Santa.
We’ll be spotlighting the year’s best editions through Friday, then we’re off for the rest of December to be with our families and prep for some big things coming on the Agenda horizon.
To kick off our Secret Santa series, Nicole is writing about her favorite story that Hank wrote.
Here at the Arizona Agenda, we talk a lot about the importance of local, independently owned media.
And since we’ve all worked at corporate-owned papers, we’ve seen firsthand how profit-driven ownership damages the industry.
But the firing of Republic columnist Abe Kwok in July felt uniquely cruel.
While the Agenda was on break in August, Hank found out about the loss of decades of institutional knowledge through a wave of buyouts at the Republic. Kwok, however, was outright fired.
The announcement came while he was on medical leave after suffering a stroke.
That decision didn’t just merit coverage — it merited pushback.
So Hank returned from our hiatus to organize a letter-writing campaign to Gannett’s CEO to protest the move. More than 600 people wrote in, and Gannett rescinded Kwok’s firing.
That’s the Hank method: going beyond observation and into action — whether that’s running a bill to honor Don Bolles with a monument at the Capitol, or creating Deep Fake Kari Lake to show how easy it is to manufacture reality.
We may never know whether Gannett reversed course because of the campaign. But there’s no question it helped — and it’s a reminder of what independent journalism can do when it refuses to look away.
This is just one of hundreds of great stories we write every year, all of which are made possible by our paid subscribers.
More bloodshed at the Republic
You can’t just “fix the glitch,” Mike.
Hey readers,
We’re still on vacation, but we heard a disturbing story that we wanted to share with you.
We’re hoping you can lend a few minutes to help right a wrong. Or at least make some corporate schmuck’s life a little less comfortable.
So… Last time we broke from our vacation, it was to tell you about the wave of buyouts at the Republic.
Those buyouts took out beloved longtime Capitol reporter Mary Jo Pitzl, plus the entire Republic editorial board.
But one member of the editorial board — 36-year Republic veteran and columnist Abe Kwok — didn’t get the buyout.
He got fired.
And not just fired — fired while he was on medical leave and still in a hospital bed after suffering a stroke.
And the corporate monsters at Gannett didn’t even tell him.
Also, the management at the Republic didn’t even know about it until they got bounceback emails from Kwok’s address.
We’ll let the Republic’s Richard Ruelas tell this tale of “Office Space” level of corporate incompetence and indifference.
Below you’ll find the letter Ruelas wrote to members of the Republic’s union.1
But first, here’s how you can (maybe) help.
We used our grassroots advocacy tool, Wolfpack, to spin up a letter-writing campaign to Gannett CEO Mike Reed advocating for Kwok.
It’s super simple. Just type your name and email address, pick a custom talking point or write your own, and click the button.
Wolfpack will draft a unique email that you can edit or send directly to Reed with a simple click.
It’ll only take a second, and if enough of you do it, we might actually be able to help.
Ok, here’s the lowdown from Ruelas.
See you all next week!
From: Richard Ruelas
Date: Fri, Aug 15, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Subject: An Abe Kwok update
To: Arizona Republic Guild
An update on our colleague Abe Kwok:
Abe Kwok’s 36-year career at The Arizona Republic has come to an abrupt end.
Gannett fired him in July.
Abe has been on medical leave since October after suffering a stroke.
In May, the Company drafted a letter informing him that he was being terminated from the Company, effective July 1.
The Company claimed it mailed the letter to Abe’s home address.
In late July, while Abe was in the intensive care unit of a Scottsdale hospital, his wife was informed for the first time that Abe had been fired.
She was told through a text message from Abe’s boss, Elvia Diaz.
Abe was released to his home a few days later. But his wife still hadn’t found the right moment to tell him he had been fired.
That day, Diaz texted Abe’s wife again asking about retrieving his work computer and power cord.
Gannett apparently wrote the May letter terminating Abe without informing Republic management.
In a mid-July email to Human Resources, editor Greg Burton said that Republic managers found out he was fired when they received automated notices about his computer and his access.
Human Resources said it was going to investigate where the communication breakdown occurred.
Upon receiving the text from Diaz that said that Abe was fired, Abe’s wife called and told me.
I sent an email to management asking about it.
The director of labor relations for Gannett sent me a copy of the May termination letter that was supposed to have been mailed to Abe’s home address.
I forwarded it to Abe’s wife.
It was the first time she had seen it.
Republic managers, in a labor-management meeting on August 1, said that the situation should have been handled with more grace.
Last Friday, I told Republic management that Abe had not yet been told of his firing.
I asked if anyone, or someone from Human Resources, might wish to make that notification.
With no one from the Company volunteering to do so, I met with Abe this Friday.
I gave him the letter from Gannett and we discussed the situation.
He had heard about the voluntary buyouts.
He requested that I ask the Company if it could let him participate in it.
“I want some compassion,” he said.
I drafted the email while sitting next to Abe and sent it. I have not heard a response.
Abe’s recovery journey has been difficult.
Each period of progress has been followed by a backslide.
This news was a tough blow.
Hearing it from me was not ideal.
But I’m sure he appreciated the humanity in someone telling him to his face, rather than finding out this life-changing news in an envelope sent through the mail.
Abe started working at The Republic in September 1989.
He remembered that date as we spoke on Friday.
And as I sat with him, I looked through the archives and verified he was correct. We pulled up his first stories, two that ran on the same September 1989 day.
Abe was also a key member of the bargaining committee that successfully negotiated our first contract.
This update is being sent because Abe said he wanted everyone to know the circumstances of his firing.
He can accept texts at 602-XXX-XXXX.
Though, as those of us who receive texts from him can attest, reading his responses might require some patience.
If you wish to send a card, his home address is: XXXXXXXXX
In solidarity
Richard Ruelas
unit chair
Arizona Republic Guild