Monday, October 20, 2008
Monday | Oct. 20 | Got news, or a question?
Can't find the right spot for your comment? Post it here, in this open forum. Real Time Comments: parked here, 24/7. (Earlier editions.)
55 comments:
Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hi, there. What's up?
ReplyDeleteWhat's up? Not Gannett stock.
ReplyDeleteWhat's up? Anxiety levels.
ReplyDeleteAn ad at the top says, "About to lose your job? Great advice on getting prepared. Vault: Your Trusted Career Source"
It's like it knows. Wait -- maybe it does...
10:12 PM: "It's like it knows. Wait -- maybe it does..."
ReplyDeleteIf you're accessing from work, it's a no-brainer. All they need is a reverse-IP lookup. GCI domain? Bingo!
I walked around my little town yesterday and stopped at 7 stores that sell newspapers. The Journal News had over 70 unsold papers as of 3:00P.M. The sad thing is that the draw for the 7 stores was 115 !
ReplyDelete"Quote"
ReplyDeleteHere's the scope on Asheville:
the corporate folks will be in Asheville to announce the consolidation to Greenville. The publisher will be gone, as well as the remaining department heads.
"Unquote"
What the heck does that mean? Who still has their job after consolidation?
There has been no official word from C-J management on the contents of Friday's meeting. There were plenty of emails leading up to it, but nothing since. If it hadn't been for this blog, and the few things I was able to overhear, I would never have known just what Dubow said. And that's said with great gratitude to you, Jim.
ReplyDeleteHere is an idea.
ReplyDeleteLets scrap the Ad Director position and bring in a real Creative Director to run Advertising. We will replace the managers with one Art Director in advertising. After that all Sales Reps will have to reapply for a position of Account Executive. All news staff will be utilized as Copy Writers. We will then scrap the News Print and focus on Glossy Magazines and other cutting edge publications and go out and get real world accounts based on the Creative backed campaigns that we will create. We will be focused on the big accounts that pay more in the long term.
It is time to Retool the industry folks.
9:48 what type of qualudes are you taking?
ReplyDelete9:48 what type of qualudes are you taking?
ReplyDeleteWhat if doing this meant you could keep your job.
"Qualudes" your age is showing. LOL
Anonymous at 9:48 AM said... We will then scrap the News Print and focus on Glossy Magazines and other cutting edge publications and go out and get real world accounts based on the Creative backed campaigns that we will create."
ReplyDeleteMagazine Death Pool, "Layoffs and Mondays always get me down"
"If you are crazy enough to launch a magazine these days, you can pick the cream of the crop down at the Department Of Labor's unemployment office."
and
"They closed CosmoGirl and one of our commenters wanted to know how they could shut down a 1.5 million circulation magazine. Look, publishers have shut down many magazines with circulation over 1 million. Circulation is expensive to keep up. If it's not there and trending downwards, you bite the bullet and shut it."
The rest of the site is similarly encouraging.
10:04
ReplyDeleteNot in the Southeast and in other areas driven by tourism. This model might not work for every area but in many it would.
That said, if it saved jobs I don't see what the problem is. I just think you have old school newspaper mentality.
"Quote" Don't work to fast, you will make us all look bad.
10:15, You missed the point. It's not about saving jobs, it's about making the dividend number!
ReplyDeleteyou people are so clueless.
ReplyDeleteprint anything is tough these days because it costs soooooo much money to produce and advertisers can get online ads for less than a $1.00 CPM vs $60.00 upward for print.
you really are either too young or too clueless...you obviously have never sold to clients which is all the more reason to keep creative people OUT OF AD SALES....CLUELESS.
Gannett Blog is pretty quiet. Jim must be out looking for a job.
ReplyDelete11:21am
ReplyDeleteI run several very profitable magazines in the southeast. We have no shortage for advertisers and many of them like or quality and design
much better then what they get at the paper. We also have cheaper rates compared to Newspaper and our product targets the customer base better.
That said, change your model and save jobs. You can either go down with the ship or paddle a life raft.
You choose.
The Observer & Eccentric editorial and administrative staff now working in Livonia will relocate to the Detroit Media Partnership building downtown.
ReplyDeleteTo best accommodate this move, DMP Finance employees now located on the fifth level will be moving to a new home on the 6th level. This will allow for a centralized O&E operation on level five.
In addition:
* The O&E Product integration staff will move to the Community Weeklies Prepress Department on the 4th Floor. O&E Information Technology employees will have a new home on the second level.
* O&E Circulation Customer Service will relocate to the DMP Distribution Center on Haggerty Rd. in Plymouth.
* O&E sales employees in Birmingham, Sterling Heights and Plymouth will remain in their current locations.
· USA Today, USAToday.com, PointRoll and USA Weekend employees will be moving to the O&E office in Birmingham.
Thank you.
Kristi B. Bowden
Vice President, Human Resources
Detroit Media Partnership
Michigan's Information Leader
o: 313-222-2061
f: 313-222-5426
kbowden@dnps.com
Found this on another Web site in relation to more Gannett cuts:
ReplyDelete"It could possibly be as much as twice that. Don't be surprised if they even fold/merge a few papers where they have other Gannett papers close by.
"They want it done by Christmas."
Followed by:
"I think some of the argument is that if you fold/merge some of these papers, Gannett's hope is that the circulation is absorbed and then they can start charging more for advertising."
And then:
"This is my understanding of how it works.
"If you get the Murfreesboro paper (just using the papers mentioned previously), one day you would just start getting the Tennessean. This is similar to what Gannett has talked about for some time about folding a handful of medium-sized papers and then producing a wrap that they would put around USA Today.
"On no level do I think any of this is a good idea, but this is what's rumored."
Any idea if there is any truth to this and which sites may be in the line of fire?
well at least communications are coming from Gannett and not the rumor mills.
ReplyDeleteAll this blog is doing is posting the official memos from Gannett. Gannett is controlling the information direct to employees better.
2:03 p.m.: Can you supply the name of that website -- and provide its website address?
ReplyDelete2:05, This site will post the new ABC circulation numbers, Gannett will never post those hideous numbers. And sites such as Westchester will continue to post 2006 numbers to advertisers.
ReplyDeleteJim, when are the new ABC circulation numbers coming out?
ReplyDelete2:46 p.m.: One week from today, according to this note on ABC's website: http://tinyurl.com/5ssnp8
ReplyDeleteWill you be posting Gannett's biggest losers again?
ReplyDeleteJim,
ReplyDeleteThe above rumor is on sportsjournlists.com
2:31 ABC numbers are in the media kit available to anyone and easy to find. Don't spread such false rumors if you have no idea what you speak of.
ReplyDeleteABC is an independent source that all advertisers use ....advertisers are obviously smarter than you !
This blog continues to attract people who make gross statements that are seldom true.
3:24, maybe you should look at your own site and check out the numbers listed before you accuse anyone of spreading false rumors. If you need help finding the proof, here is the link.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.lohud.com/about/prod-tjn.shtml
I check out that link and those are old numbers. Westchester, seems like your circulation information is seldom true.
ReplyDelete3:24, the disclaimer says those figures are from APRIL 2007.
ReplyDeleteIf that's what they're using to sell advertising in October 2008, that's pretty misleading.
from the above-noted link:
Source: Circulation Data: ABC Audit Report for The Journal News, 4/1/07
Note: Total circulation includes newspapers sold outside of Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties.
Due to ABC methodology, household estimates and circulation by county vary from that of zones as they are developed by zip code data.
@3:55, Read the small print, they are actually listing the 2006 numbers, which is even more deceiving.
ReplyDeleteSource, Circulation Data: ABC Audit Report for The Journal News, 3/27/06.
Cash money will get you the numbers you want from ABC; I've seen it done several times at a non-Gannett paper. We cut our draws by 30% and still had 2 year old numbers from the audit. I don't know what it cost, the CM didn't either.
ReplyDeletethat's why you'll see a lot of claims using 'reader' numbers, not 'papers' in circulation. it sounds better to say 80,000 people read the Dipshit Journal News Reporter Gazette than 60,000 papers hit the streets.
ReplyDeleteYes Anon 4:02 Westchester Journal News seldom tells the truth to their advertisers. If those advertisers only knew what was being thrown away in the dumpsters in the back...there would be hell to pay.Don't worry though ole Tony Simmons won't be there much longer !
ReplyDeleteCooking the Books by the Recovering Journalist, Mark Potts in November 2007.
ReplyDelete"the Audit Bureau of Circulation is dramatically changing the way that newspaper circulation is calculated. With a nod to the circulation manager in the joke, let us count some of the ways:
* "A flexible pricing model where newspapers will be considered paid by ABC regardless of the price for which the copy was sold."
* "There will no longer have to be payment for third-party copies or Newspapers in Education for the circulation to count."
* "Hotel and employee copies, currently under other-paid, will be reclassified under a new paid-circulation category."
Phew. That's some creative accounting. Those papers given away to schools or left unread in front of hotel room doors just became big winners."
Be careful comparing this year's circulation with previous numbers.
I am an advertiser and I would never be so dumb as to not read the current past two ABC statements. Period. The ABC does not allow for fraud...the newspapers just simply use the ABC statement they want. The most current is ALWAYS available to any advertiser who knows what the heck they are doing. and its very easy to access.
ReplyDeleteYou people are pretty daggone dumb with the crap you write here. Get some facts straight.
@5:09, you are not an advertiser, there are only newspaper people on this site, you might be @3:24. If you are an advertiser, why don't you inform us and tell us the easy way to access the real numbers.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous at 5:09 PM said... "I am an advertiser and I would never be so dumb as to not read the current past two ABC statements. Period. The ABC does not allow for fraud..."
ReplyDelete"When newspapers fudge the numbers" from 2004 in the St. Petersburg Times.
Some excerpts,
"After a handful of newspapers confess that they inflated circulation figures, the industry finds itself facing a new credibility problem."
"Since mid June [2004], Tribune Co.'s Newsday and Hoy, Hollinger International's Chicago Sun-Times and Belo Corp.'s Dallas Morning News have admitted boosting the paid circulation figures on which ad rates are based. Instead of delivering newspapers - and advertisements - to paying customers, at least two of the publications reportedly tossed thousands of copies into trash bins and even onto dead people's doorsteps."
It's a long article. Worth reading.
"Newsday and Hoy Settle Circulation Case for $15 Million" from the NY Times last December.
"Newsday and the Spanish-language publication Hoy in New York have agreed to pay a $15 million fine to resolve a criminal investigation of a scheme to inflate circulation figures, prosecutors said Tuesday."
"Nine people have pleaded guilty to participating in the scheme. All are awaiting sentencing."
@2:03 must have in mind the C-N being folded into the HNT. Both papers run "Daily Briefing" straight up, wrong fonts and all. Nothing on Colin Powell endorsing Obama.
ReplyDeleteOn the sports side it's worse. Boxing in Atlantic City -- staff writer. Preseason NBA game -- AP story and picture. BCS rankings come out -- nothing. And the HNT is the hometown daily for Rutgers!
@5:31, it's not that hard to find, google Audit Bureau of Circulation and even you can figure it out! To make it easy for you, go to www.accessabc.com
ReplyDeleteAccept the fact there are other people reading this besides "newspaper people", and no I am not an advertiser but thankfully, a former gannettoid!
I subscribe to both the srds and the abc statements. It is not that hard to get the real numbers. Do you really think advertising agencies for the past 50 plus years have not used syndicated reliable data from which to invest ad dollars on behalf of clients.
ReplyDeleteWe could care less what the "sales pitches" say...we have our own reliable information. sorry but even you can find the numbers . e expect sales people to use anythign at theri disposal to help tell the story. But at the end fo the day, we rely on non-proprietary information.
With more layoffs seemingly on the horizon, what should reporters do once they are let go by their newspaper? What other fields, besides PR, would a journalist be qualified for?
ReplyDeleteHi guys ... want to make sure nobody at Murfreesboro and/or Nashville freak out regarding the discussion at SJ.com. When we talked about your papers, we picked you in that example as a hypothetical situation.
ReplyDeleteGood luck and keep pounding.
4:03 you are full of s?!!
ReplyDeleteABC does not take bribes as you insinuate. They have been around for a very long time and are considered a premium resource for the advertising agencies.
Be careful about posting complete and udder lies on this blog as you hurt Jim's credibility.
Jim has credibility?
ReplyDeleteGiven the state of ad sales in our papers we can just play the odds and know that its far more of a chance that that guy was a Gannett Exec then an ad purchaser. And, trust me people. I work for a gannett paper and we do play with the numbers for circ. Now, let me add this though, ABC gives us the tools to do it. Look at the privious posters info on ABC rule changes. He was spot on. I have seen some things with circ numbers that remind me of how Enron used to play with the sec numbers. Its a joke.
ReplyDelete7:46 that is a very good question about what jobs to do next. Jim, maybe you could make that a post and ask people who have been laid off, what job did they take next. That would be helpful and productive.
ReplyDeleteCirc numbers??? All the pubs want to give out now is some jumbled mix of circ numbers and website "unique visitors" Roll it all into one big ball and call it "reader impressions." That way, Gannett papers (and the websites) can be linked and the real numbers obscured. I've heard lots of talk of Gannett just dropping ABC altogether as an "antiquated and outdated system of measuring reader and viewer impressions" Hint: All they want to talk about are .... you got it - impressions. Some McClain consultant told them that in a lemming meeting of group pubs....
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing what newspaper execs will do to boost the numbers. The pressure to do so is incredible- back around 1990 our circ. director at the Pensacola paper was fudging the numbers and sending papers by the truckload to the landfill. Needless to say he got caught, was asked to resign and the publisher suddenly "retired". What a biz!
ReplyDelete6:40 p.m., the reason the HNT sports section is horrible now is because the publisher there, Skip Hidlay, openly has told people in the past that he hates sports and only reads it because he has to. He guts every sports department he touches. Ask the folks at the Courier-Post and in Asbury. Skip is the reason the Nets and Devils aren't covered by staffers. When he first shut down those beats in Asbury, the HNT sent staffers to Nets games for a few weeks -- until Skip told them to stop.
ReplyDeleteYou think you can get a job in p.r.? Let me wake you up -- they aren't hiring either. The downturn in advertising is putting qualified, experienced pr/marketing types on the streets, too, and I bet they have a better portfolio than you as a reporter do.
ReplyDeleteTwo months after the layoffs and I am still looking, with no leads and hardly any interviews let along offers. Those papers that at least interviewed me ended up not filling the positions. I talked to one newspaper yesterday about a job that pays one-third my previous salary, and it's starting to look like the only thing out there. Problem is, I couldn't support my family on the take-home pay. I'd be better off working part time at 7-Eleven and collecting unemployment.
The city, county and state aren't hiring, the university isn't hiring, hell, even the retail stores have more part-timers than they have hours for.
I hope you saved up a nice fat emergency stash of cash, because it may be a long time after a layoff before you are working again.
Sorry to be a downer, dude. Maybe your city has more options than the one-newspaper little shitburg where I live.
5:19 I feel your pain. Hang in there.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous at 5:19 PM said..."Two months after the layoffs and I am still looking, with no leads and hardly any interviews let along offers. Those papers that at least interviewed me ended up not filling the positions. I talked to one newspaper yesterday about a job that pays one-third my previous salary, and it's starting to look like the only thing out there. Problem is, I couldn't support my family on the take-home pay. I'd be better off working part time at 7-Eleven and collecting unemployment....
ReplyDeleteThe city, county and state aren't hiring, the university isn't hiring, hell, even the retail stores have more part-timers than they have hours for."
Functional illiteracy is widespread, and a major factor in the death of newspapers. Judging by your comment you're one of the few remaining citizens of the USA who can write clearly and make a point.
Widen your focus a bit and look for any position that emphasizes writing skills. Show that you have them and aren't afraid to use them.
Good luck. Wish I had more to offer.
I would also be interested in a thread about what kinds of jobs laid off workers have taken as they move to "life after gannett." With journalists' need to know a little about a lot of things, there are lots of things that people can do after newspapers if they really think about it deeply. Writing, editing and designing for a newspaper is not the only thing out there. Those skills can translate to many an area still needed in the workforce.
ReplyDelete"Judging by your comment you're one of the few remaining citizens of the USA who can write clearly and make a point."
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kzandra. As the poster of that comment, a 20-year editor who took tremendous pride in my work, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your recognizing that I can write clearly and make a point. That really gave me a boost.
For a minute, with your lead-in about functional illiteracy, I thought you were going to ding me for that along/alone typo, which made me cringe when I realized I made it. Whew!
Thank you again for the support.
I was laid off in August, and I just got a bill for the ONE DAY left of life insurance coverage that my severance pay didn't cover. It was a bill for 7 CENTS!!
ReplyDeleteIt cost Gannett more to mail the bill!
I was three months short of 6 years of service to Gannett, and they only gave me severance for 5 years. Yet, they can't write off $.07? I've seen my old boss (the Ad Director) write off WAY more than that!
Thanks Gannett!