Former Chatelaine editor Kim Pittaway quit after 11 months in the job (and years as a contributing editor), citing editorial independence issues.

An excerpt from The Globe and Mail story:

"It boiled down to a fundamental disagreement about which areas of responsibility were mine and which were the publisher's," Pittaway said yesterday.

She declined to cite specific areas of conflict, but added that "there were a wide range of issues, some very micro and some macro."

The issues were serious enough that, after considering her options during a recent vacation, she decided to resign immediately, without benefit of a severance agreement or a buyout package.

Pittaway said that, after 10 years at Chatelaine, she will become a freelance editor and writer.

The publisher, Kerry Mitchell, did not return calls yesterday but, in a statement to staff, said: "We will all miss Kim's wit and intelligence and her tremendous respect for Chatelaine and its readers."

A spokesman for the company later said on Mitchell's behalf that "if Kim was unhappy, she never made it clear. [Her resignation] was an absolute shock." ...

This was an interesting line:

"The publisher told me my opinion was important, but hers was very, very important," Pittaway said.