A senior editor at The Sydney Morning Herald has been fired and roughly escorted from the paper’s newsroom in Sydney for “gross incompetence”.

The senior newsman is understood to have been the person who decided to give State opposition leader Chris Minns the front page of Saturday’s News Review section and a two-and-a-half page spread inside the section, the exact same treatment Premier Dominic Perrottet was afforded the Saturday before.

And with just about the same number of photos as well!

Despite having several decades of experience as a senior newsprint editor and layout guru, the unnamed man was jeered and slow-hand-clapped from the premises by other Herald journalists when he turned up early this morning and was promptly told to collect his things, many shouting things like “You fucking idiot!”, “Can’t you read a room, mate?” and “Labor stooge!”

The Bug understands the employee would still have a job today were it not for the way an unfortunate set of circumstances panned out.

As one senior member of staff explained: “Bevvo (editor Bevan Shields) had seen Deborah Snow’s feature article on Minns posted online on Friday and he thought in all fairness that’s where it should have stayed.

“Early voting began on Saturday and it would have been dreadfully unfair to the LNP to have given Minns and Labor so much print-media space under those circumstances. Bevvo is a stickler for fair, balanced and professional journalism.

“So he’s headed off to a regular dinner, right, with City Rail executives thinking the paper’s got the balance just about spot on.

“At the same time, Mr Costello (Nine Entertainment Co. chair Peter Costello) would normally have been walking around the sub-editors’ table, standing behind production folk and taking an interest in how the next morning’s paper was coming together.

“But as fate would have it – for the poor sap who’s gotten the bullet – he also left the building early to have dinner with others in that elite and select group who have been recognised as the world’s greatest treasurers over time.

“When Mr Costello saw the paper the next morning, he spat out his muesli, shouted “that’s gross incompetence”, grabbed his mobile and the rest is history.”

The Bug understands Shields’ own future will be determined at a one-on-one meeting Costello has called for Monday morning.

“But I think he’ll be safe,” another senior staffer told us. “He rights very well.”