The (Pulitzer-Prize-winning!) Seattle Times dropped five of its "partner" neighborhood blogs last week, after one of them, the B-Town Blog, ran a series of April Fool's posts about "our newest intern Editor, Robb Patrickson." The posts included a headshot of an African-American teenager and fake "quotes" written in patois rife with words like "dis" and "dat."

For example, the first post "quoted" Patrickson thus: “I’m honored that [blog editor] Scott [Schaefer] is trusting me with da keys to deser here blogs, eh” Patrickson said. “I just hope I can deliver da caliber of journalism that’s expected here, oh ya oh eh?”

A follow-up post on April 2 read in part:

Just a short note to let everyone know that I did my bestest today editing this here website, and that I will be signing off now, eh?

I had fun, and I hope my choices of stories were good enough for y’all, eh? I sat here in the BTB offices with my AP Stylebook and notes from Scottso, and did what I could with the info I had. I know he’ll be looking at dis later, so Scottso please let me know how I did.

"Several people called out that the use of language like 'dis' and 'dat,'" says Bob Payne, director of communities for the Times. "It just made people uncomfortable—especially when you have a picture of an African-American kid there." Noting that posts from Schaefer's sites feed directly onto the Times' home page and RSS feeds, Payne adds, "We just felt it wasn't the right fit." Kathy Best, the Times' digital news managing editor, says the paper only partners with "people who share our journalistic values."

Schaefer, a former writer for "Almost Live" and "Bill Nye the Science Guy," says the Times editors just don't know how to take a joke. "As you probably know, comedy is quite subjective, and not everyone gets every joke," Schaefer says. "I was pretty shocked by the Times' decision, but we were doing fine before we were partners, and we'll be fine afterward." Schaefer's other blogs focus on Des Moines , Normandy Park, Tukwila, and SeaTac.