Somebody in management went overboard. I can't see firing Redding in this situation.
Firing does look like an extreme reaction. These farewell mock pages have been produced for years at papers all over the country, with the knowledge of the management. Often with management's encouragement. This screwup isn't in the same league with plagiarism, fabrication or embezzlement.
In the interest of disclosure and fairness, I should point out that I worked with Cliff Redding at The Sun when he was making a beginning in copy editing. He was earnest, energetic and serious about the craft. It is sad that this misfortune has overtaken him.
I'm wondering if there wasn't more to this story - something we're not hearing about. Like maybe someone was quietly waiting for a reason to have him fired. I don't know what his work record was there, nor do I know if he had good or bad relationships with people he worked with - but this sounds suspiciously harsh. It's one thing if someone knowingly, or even sloppily, permits something offensive, libelous or obscene in the paper. But fired for a satire? True this kind of mistake is not acceptable but he could have been reprimanded, put on notice, etc., but - FIRED??
I used to work at the News-Press. Dr. Laura wields a lot of power there. She played a role in the firing of Lifestyle Editor Andrea Huebner last year. I would not be surprised if she was involved in Cliff's ouster.
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