Robert Lee leaves ProJo sports department

Rob Lee, a well-liked sportswriter and the only African-American male journalist at the ProJo, has abruptly left the newspaper under somewhat mysterious circumstances.

While the rumors have swirled around the newsroom, there is no definitive explanation for Lee’s departure. He covered the New England Patriots, a high–profile beat. Generally when a talented young reporter leaves the ProJo, it is for a bigger or more lucrative media post. Lee reportedly did not have another job lined up.

Lee, a University of Rhode Island graduate, worked his way up the ladder in the sports department, toiling away at high school sports before taking on coverage of the Boston Celtics and the Pats.

The ProJo newsroom has never been very diverse and is now less a mirror of Rhode Island’s population than at any time in its modern history. The newspaper had more African-American male bylines (one, Jim Rhea) before the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights than it does today.