For almost three decades, Bob Ross helmed the Everyman desk of movie criticism at The Tampa Tribune, a good counterpoint to the at-times snootier takes of his across-the-bay rivals. As the industry changed at the turn of this century, he even went multimedia, appearing on Newschannel 8 and phoning in a regular bit to the top AM news-talk station once a week. So how did his overseers on Parker Street thank him? By showing him the door as part of a 70-employee layoff earlier this year when ad revenues plunged. Even worse, the paper didn’t replace Ross, opting instead to pick up wire copy reviews and asking the public to submit their own reviews for publication. Ross now does his movie thing online, at bobross.com, filmed at Channelside Cinemas each week. bobross.com.
