Important Message From David Schectman

Andy Hoffman will no longer be contributing to our newsletter or blog for Miles Franklin.  We appreciate everything Andy has done for Miles Franklin.  He is very talented, and encyclopedic when it comes to facts and past industry history.

I discovered Andy nearly a decade ago and was taken by his passion and his knowledge of our industry.  He worked long hours promoting his view of the world in our daily newsletter and on podcasts.

For a long time, Andy shared the newsletter load with Bill Holter and myself.  Each of us had a different writing style – and often a different slant on what was happening in the marketplace.

A year ago, Bill stopped contributing regularly to Miles Franklin to partner up with Jim Sinclair at JSMineset.  Around the same time, I cut back on my writing and the newsletter gradually became a platform for Andy Hoffman’s views.  Andy Hoffman was contracted to be a spokesperson for Miles Franklin.  Our views and philosophies were to be featured.  When Andy’s views and our views were on the same wavelength it worked very well.

Lately two things became evident.  First, I began to feel that we needed to add a disclaimer that stated, “The opinion of the writer is not necessarily the opinion of Miles Franklin.”  Second, with Hoffman now as the face of the newsletter (with Holter gone and my writing reduced to maybe once a week or so) many of our readers identified Miles Franklin with Andy Hoffman. We often heard from our readers that they assumed he was Miles Franklin, or one of the principals.  Andy Hoffman was contracted to contribute to our newsletter.  He was neither management nor an owner. Our readers assumed his views, some of which were controversial, were those of Miles Franklin.  Sometimes they were, but not always.

Andy Hoffman was hired to be a spokesman for our philosophy and views.  Over time, the newsletter became a platform for his philosophy and views. We had reached an impasse and we decided to move in a new direction.

It is our intention to bring on additional writers who share our views and who will add value to our daily.  I will do more writing as well.