The new publisher of the SF Weekly and Examiner, Glenn Zuehls, declared in a staff meeting on Friday that there is no wall between advertising and news, according to Joe Eskenazi, who wrote for the SF Weekly for eight years. Eskenazi’s report was carried by San Francisco Magazine.

Zuehles was upset that the Graton Casino in Rohnert Park pulled $68,496 worth of ads over a humorous story in the SF Weekly about the casino. Eskenazi said Zuehls ordered the newsroom to do a puff piece on the casino in the hopes of getting the ads back. When the newsroom staffers objected, Zuehles said the staff should dig into their own pockets to come up with the $68,496.

Eskenazi says three editorial employees have “parted ways” with the Examiner over the dust up.