Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Tuesday | Oct. 28 | Got news, or a question?
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98 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."
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One week until Election Day!
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited I don't know what to do.
ReplyDeleteI wish you could try to get information on the profitablitly of each newspaper. Maybe some finance guys would be willing to leak the numbers from some of the main properties.
ReplyDeleteI would prefer not having profitability numbers put online for the simple fact that my competitors would use those numbers in the marketplace.
ReplyDeleteWhen the TV or radio weenies (sorry, broadcast) go out and try to steal my advertisers, I'd rather they couldn't point to the fact that my paper made 18% profit last year while Mr. Advertiser maybe made 1-2%... and our rates are going up 8% again.
An industry or company average profit number is another thing and can be explained away.
How many GCI shops are having Holiday parties this year? Bonuses?
ReplyDeleteI work in Burlington, we haven't had a party in 5-6 years, but every year for Thanksgiving we get a choice of a ham, block of cheese, turkey or some vegan thing.
Simply outstanding.
7:34 You're kidding me, right? We get nothing in NJ. In fact, we're expected to walk to work, for miles, all uphill, in the snow, and with no shoes! And we like it!
ReplyDeleteThis holiday season we will all get a cornish game hen with pink slip stuffing!
ReplyDelete7:34
ReplyDeleteActually at the Asheville paper we are expected to walk up hill to work in the snow from the parking lot. The paper leases a lot a quarter mile away next to a mission that houses Vagrants and panhandlers.
And yes we have to walk downhill in the snow and ice everyday after work. Probably more dangerous.
snow in nj? wah wah.
ReplyDeleteCome live in Wisconsin, we had snow yesterday.
Citigroup started coverage of GCI today and rated it a buy.
ReplyDeleteGoogle Ad:
ReplyDeleteGannett Company
Get Gannett Company Employee Surveys: Culture, Pay, Recruiting!
Sorry, I just thought it was funny --- "Gannett Employee Surveys, Culture"
Isn't Citigroup in trouble.
ReplyDeleteCitigroup was also hit on Monday after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to "sell" and said the largest U.S. bank may have to write off $15 billion over the next two quarters as mortgage losses reduce earnings.
Is anyone else beside me getting the run-around about their pension?
ReplyDeleteI called back in september and it was supposed to be done and they were sending the paperwork. Today, for some unknown reason it has to be re-submitted.
I am all for having a place where employees can vent in tough times. However, I can't help but believe much of what is said on this blog hurts the very people it is intended to help. Why? Putting out negative news constantly...real or imagined....just contributes to the demise of the company.
ReplyDeleteWhen the company suffers, our jobs are at risk.
So maybe ironically , this blog contributes to more lay offs.
10:35 I agree. We need more happy news so we will all feel better. How about a good, juicy story posting about how wonderful and pleasing it is to work for a company as humane and employee-sympathetic as Gannett.
ReplyDeleteOn another thought, perhaps if one focused on their work entirely and didn't read this blog at all then maybe this would be a moot point. But I was blind-sided by my layoff and if I had read the blog back in August I would have been better prepared.
ReplyDeleteTo Anon 10:35AM - Really, piss poor management is what leads to more layoffs . . . I have worked for a number of companies over my work life and Gannett is by far the worse . . . micro-managing, no trust in employees, bad managers, etc.
ReplyDelete10:35am said "So maybe ironically , this blog contributes to more lay offs."
ReplyDeleteI remember working for Gannett (at a different newspaper) when the stock was at $90... They were a cheap, bare-bones and vindictive company then. Now, at $9 a share, they still are a cheap, bare-bones and vindictive company. Gannett deserves everything they get on this blog.
I've actually noticed some small things improving since this blog began. My managers seems a tad more in tune to what's really going on in the newsroom. It's far from perfect, as they've lived in their isolated, sugar-coated worlds for a long time, but it's getting better. There seems to be greater awareness that idioctic managerial decisions are going to be exposed, so therefore, things are being thought through a bit more than in the past. Not saying the improvement has been dramatic, but it's nice to know this blog in some ways makes managers a bit more accountable and feeds the higherups info they might not normally ever hear. So, I disagree with 10:35. This blog in my opinion has more of a positive effect than a negative one. Transparency and accountability are usually good things. Sticking one's head in the sand isn't. This blog became necessary because the company had too many managers who didn't want to hear anything negative from their staff, let alone do anything to improve difficult situations. They let things fester for many years. Now this blog is helping reverse things. Even if Jim bails out at some point, I am sure others will pick up the ball and run with it. The power of the Internet has shined a light on a lot of dirty secrets on all levels. To me, that's a healthy thing that will improve the company eventually. It shouldn't have taken a blog to do that, but at least it's a first step. The only ones who should fear this blog or any open/honest communication are the people who have been doing bad or neglectful things. Some of them have done these things in the name of the company, but most are just selfish people protecting their own jobs. Blog on!
ReplyDeleteNever ceases to amaze me how some people like 10:35 are so scared of the truth being exposed, yet they work for a media company. Even if only half of what is said here is based in fact, that's far more than we'd get if we left it up to Gannett and our individual supervisors to share info with us. The truth is what is going to save this company. Lies, manipulation and deception(that grew before this blog started) are what has made Gannett a second-rate company, filled with sub-par thinkers. If this blog can turn that around, I say more folks should contribute to the cause. It's time to stop with the popcorn tricks and start getting serious about fixing all that is broken. More weaknesses and dysfunction need to be identified and exposed, and the cancer needs to be cut out so that this company can grow again. That should be happening on all levels, but I fear it's not. I fear the big bosses are just going to take the same old tired approaches to remedy the situation. The same old managers are going to make the same old bad choices and be blind to the same old longtime problems.
ReplyDeleteHey Asbury Park Press, how's the experiment with Hollis Towns as executive editor working out????
ReplyDeleteGannett has some very good people with great ideas. But they are buried under layers and layers of horrible managers. Some have given up, figuring it's easier to just collect a paycheck and smile and say yes. Some couldn't get their word out in any other forum besides this so they've stopped rocking the boat. This is a company, like many, that doesn't allow its truly great minds to rise. This is particularly true at USAT. Tucked away in corners of that massive building are lower managers who are more capable of running the place than the people who curently have the big titles and offices. These are quality people with great integrity and a feel for managing and problem solving. But they are seen as outsiders, or no one has been smart enough to see these qualities and promote them. Some upper managers simply aren't secure enough to have smart people around them. They prefer yes-men and yes-women. These quality people keep the boat afloat, but they do it in relative obscurity. I am not one of those very bright, natural leader types...but I see them around, and wonder why they haven't gone further. There is a failing on a massive scale that has either sent good people running to other companies or has beaten down some of the best minds who, for whatever reason, have chosen to stay. If and when Gannett/USAT can figure out a way of getting these natural-born leaders into positions where they can fix things, you will see things really improve. As for now, we only have this blog to get our messages out.
ReplyDelete10:35 suffers from (at best) a serious lapse of critical thinking.
ReplyDeleteCriticism and so-called negativity hurt the company?
Really?!!
How about two-and-a-half decades of myopic leadership, a "slash-yourself-to-prosperity" ethos, and the cult of "corporate wisdom"?
How about the fact that more than a decade ago GCI grudgingly adopted (notice I didn't say "embrace") new technologies as a defensive measure....not as any forward-looking strategy?
But according to 10:35 our criticism might bring down the company?
If it were that easy the Rosslyn towers would have fallen a long time ago.
Grow up.
USAT has crushed the spirit of many terrific people. The lack of efficiency has always been a problem for various reasons, and it's not become a crisis in many departments because of cutbacks. I have little hope of that changing in our lifetime. Basically, the paper is now on auto-pilot. Eventually, it will run out of fuel, crash and burn. I often get the feeling that the top dogs can't wait for that to happen. Why else would they watch the paper get dismantled and do nothing about it?
ReplyDelete9:47 CITIGROUP was part of all the "Off-Balance Sheet" S.I.V., C.D.O. Credit Default Swap mess. Their stock is DOWN to about $12.00 from $55.00 a few years ago.
ReplyDeleteDo you think we should really care or believe their recomendation on GANNETT.
I would be impressed with an ANALYST'S rating from Oct-2007 that said SELL GANNETT NOW!!!!
Don't tell me after the plane has crash that we might lose some altitude.....LOL
Too many folks thinking like 10:35 is what has gotten us into this mess. But people like that will never understand our point of view. Many of them are managers, which is really scary. Managers should be the ones with the most guts.
ReplyDeleteThese 10:35s want to live in their make belive worlds and not confront anything that might cut close to the bone. Blogs are poison to them. Threatens their worlds. They claim they are positive for the good of the company, when in fact a lie is a lie...and lies are toxic in any form. Pretending to be positive isn't the same as being positive. Deception is deception. A company doesn't need a bunch of smiling actors. A company, particularly in bad times, needs people who are willing to speak out for what is right and what is smart and well planned out. We are losing that freedom. We are losing people who had the balls to do that. The people who helped build the USAT brand.
Now we have a bunch of mindless cheerleaders running us into the ground, saying we all need to be nice and play together while they practically rape us.
What a joke.
Warning to all 10:35s, this blog is bound to get more negative until some things begin to turn around. So if you can't take it, find some cheeful place to go online and let us do the dirty work here.
10:18 I am getting the run around on my pension too! I call and call and keep getting lame excuses. Im ready to roll over and re-invest but cant get Gannett to get there greedy little paws off of my money!! I bet they are just waiting to go bankrupt so they dont have to pay any of us! Like we haven't been slapped in the face enough already!
ReplyDelete10:35 I wish it were as easy as "Let's Think Happy Thoughts" and the company would be rejuvenated. Unfortunately, that is not how the real world works.
ReplyDeleteWhen our individual papers were run by the people who founded them (or their descendants) their was a sense of pride of ownership that shone through in the product. Yesterday I wrote about my friend's 75 year old Mother deciding to cancel her 7-Day subscription after 50+ Years because she told me there was no content-no compelling reason to buy the paper anymore.
The character of the paper changed from a truely local paper, with experienced local executives, editors & reporters to a "Cookie Cutter" 1970-GM-Car-Like Cookie Cutter duplication of every other local paper owned by the monolithic "Engulf & Devour Company"...I'm mean GANNETT.
And now all the bureaucratic excesses & myopic management styles & the mistaken company goal to be the LARGEST NEWSPAPER COMPANY in the World, are working against GANNETT in the Stormy Seas of a Global Economic Hurricane. The company by virtue of it's structural, organization, product, and management flaws will not survive as a single entity.
Rene Fredric Thom -the great French Mathematician- called it Catastrophe Theory. Systems build up to the point where they develop internal functional contradictions and ultimately collapse.....Don't believe me...Look at General Motors (1980-worth $100+ Billion, now worth slightly more the Gannett $2+Billion).....or better yet, Look at Present Day Earth's economic & financial systems. The same laws apply to companies....even GANNETT.
Monday,Monday< at least no more> Wilmington News Journal, among six other newspapers, are KILLING Monday editions.
ReplyDelete12:19 Is Wilmington having a home delivery price increase? If so how will that play with eliminating a day?
ReplyDeleteRmichem, where are you getting that info on Monday editions? Very significant if true.
ReplyDeleteOK folks-
ReplyDeleteInstead of bitching and feeling sorry for ourselves and I have done my share. Those of us who are still shareholders need to organize a grassroots effort to replace the directors who are up for re-election in 2009. We may not succeed but maybe we can rattle enough cages. I think Jim's blog would be perfect for this.
OK folks-
ReplyDeleteInstead of bitching and feeling sorry for ourselves and I have done my share. Those of us who are still shareholders need to organize a grassroots effort to replace the directors who are up for re-election in 2009. We may not succeed but maybe we can rattle enough cages. I think Jim's blog would be perfect for this.
1:13PM this is 12:00PM. please e-mail me privately at tammjenanalytics@live.com. I'm an a low level 'Blue-Collar" type....not a suit....but I'm smart.
ReplyDeleteThe Wilmington News-Journal in OHIO is eliminating its Monday edition. Looks like a pretty small paper, based on the Web site.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wnewsj.com/main.asp?FromHome=1&TypeID=1&ArticleID=170550&SectionID=49&SubSectionID=156
Concentrate on work? What work? We have no work. They're not selling enough ads...
ReplyDeleteThat is the Wilmington, paper, in OHIO. Is not the one in Delware, that is owned by Gannett. I got the feed, from a small story in a Gannett's paper. I am just wondering when Gannett's papers are going to do this? Why Monday? I would kill Saturday, and instead make a weekend paper.
ReplyDeleteAbc's #'s yesterday tell the whole story. To have 99,000/day on average Monday to Friday in a market ( New York) with millions of residents is downright frightening.
ReplyDelete1:15 PM -- I'm all for it -- If I'm still employed after the 1st week of Dec! Otherwise, I won't give at damn about what happens to Gannett. Sorry to be so negative, but to announce that there is going to be layoffs 3 weeks before Christmas just makes for a wonderful holiday season.
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth:
ReplyDeleteLegendary Christian Science Monitor is abandoning print.
http://www.forbes.com/business/2008/10/28/newspapers-christian-science-monitor-biz-media-cx_jea_1028monitor.html
10:35, just keep living in your bubble.
ReplyDeletePersonally, as crappy as it is that these layoffs are coming three weeks before Christmas, at least I have a month to plan out what to do about it. I'd rather know ahead of time than find myself on Dec. 15 without a job and with having bought Christmas gifts that I can no longer afford to give.
I'm a 10 year employee. I work hard. I've have worked alot of unpaid overtime over the years because I thought I was part of a team getting an important product -- The News- out on the street. But the anxiety & stress: with the economy; with Gannett job prospects; with family expenses has just been draining. I feel like we've been in a hurricane for over a year now.
ReplyDeleteI still work hard, but over the last year or so I feel like the guy in the movie Office Space....when he says to the corporate "Efficiency" consultants.."It's not that I mind hard work, it's just that I don't care." The he wishes them luck on the lay-offs and hope their firings of other people go well.
Now that the end seems real, I feel a little better about trying to go in a new direction in the future. I know it's going to be hard financially, but I have no choice. I'm going to try something that produces real value for customers and satisfaction for me...as well as some Coin. Something that's got good Karma.
www.WindStormStructural.com
I hope all of you find or rediscover something you love to do, Instead of this crap. Best Wishes and Good Luck to All.
1:13 PM
ReplyDeleteHey. There's a November 10 deadline for submitting items to be considered during the March annual meeting. I believe that's also the deadline for submitting names for board memebrs. Look on one of the past annual reports and you'll some some of the requests that have been presented for board consideration. (limiting board terms, etc.) Also, the Pension Rights Center has some information about grassroots efforts to unfreeze pensions.
Does anyone know for sure if the 10% is across all properties; what departments will be hit the hardest?
ReplyDeleteseems like it's up to the local papers as to what they do to trim their staff, including what departments and who. has anybody had staff meetings yet?
ReplyDeleteI guess pink is the new red this holiday season
ReplyDeleteI'd love to know how much middle management will get hit in this wave. We have lost about 10 "regular" workers for every manager lost. Oh wait, they only let ONE manager go out of about 6.
ReplyDeleteWilmington just recieved email about layoff-10% TBA by nov 14,2008
ReplyDeleteNow that the official word about layoffs is out, it's going to be a hell of a show the next couple of weeks. Many individuals will be screaming real loud "look what I've done!" in desperate hopes that someone high up will take notice and their job will be saved. You will even see those employees that work a 4 hour day now staying late working past their 7.5 hour shift. And watch your back, that guy that you think is in the same boat you are in will try to push you overboard when he gets the chance. And then there are the slick department heads who were offered the buyout last time but didn't take it, they will start and oversee big 6 month long projects and even try to takeover other departments to try to save their own ass. Just when you thought the work environment couldn't get any worse. Happy Holiday from Gannett.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't you know it. Gannett was really pumping up its online numbers by giving blow job tips on its Moms site. Now, with the reconstituted and pasteurized MomsLikeMe site, the "Romance and Sex" board has been renamed "Romance and Relationships." I dropped in on one of those boards today just for some last-second advice before a date tonight, and there was only one post. The old R&S board had THOUSANDS of posts with all kinds of tips about oral sex, anal sex, cheating on spouses, etc.
ReplyDeleteDid I read it correct on some of the business sites, that there will be the 10% cuts in early December and maybe more by the end of the year? Can they torture us anymore!
ReplyDeleteTwo names mostly responsible for the eventual meltdown of GCI...SUE CLARK JOHNSON and GLW. Period.
ReplyDeleteIn response to numerous comments about this blog being negative and needing something positive...I've said it before and again now...I would like to see someone post something positive like what Gannett is doing to turn things around. I'm a former Gannettoid working for another media company and we're HIRING and investing in areas where we see future growth, where we can grab market share, technology, and in innovation in all forms. Where is Dickey's innovation for a future Gannett or is he just riding the ship down? I don't see it. Apperantly Wall Street doesn't see it either.
ReplyDeleteAnyone know if 10 percent means 10 percent of the employees or 10 percent of the payroll? If it's the payroll, anyone making a half-decent salary seems to be in trouble.
ReplyDelete5:03 p.m.: One of my tipsters said earlier today that it is 10% of payroll, so I'd say your instincts are correct.
ReplyDeleteThe investors must be a little happier today. Gannett up 1.09
ReplyDeleteGreet, more good news. Health insurance going up 5% to 8%!
ReplyDeleteDear Gannett Employee:
Reenrollment for 2009 health benefits will be November 10 through November 21 this year for eligible employees.
I encourage you to go to our reenrollment Web site at www.ybr.com/gannett beginning November 3, 2008 to see what has changed and to study your various options.
Here are some highlights:
Employee contributions for health coverage will increase, although the amounts differ by plan. We have made every effort to keep increases to a minimum. Our most widely-subscribed plan, the PP0, will increase 5% for single coverage and 8% for family coverage.
There are no increases to co-pays under the Caremark prescription drug program.
The EPO plan will not be offered in 2009. EPO participants will be able to choose from as many as three other available plans, depending on the location. In most cases, employee contributions for these plans are lower than for the EPO.
The current PPO plan with Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield and UnitedHealthcare will be re-named PPO–High. Otherwise, there will be no changes to this plan.
A new PPO option, called the PPO-Low, will be offered. It will have a higher deductible and higher out-of-pocket maximum but a lower employee contribution.
The Aetna HealthFund will be replaced with UnitedHealthcare’s Consumer-Driven Health Plan (CDHP). Any Aetna HealthFund balances at the end of 2008 will be transferred to the new UnitedHealthcare plan, subject to Plan limits.
HMOs offered at certain locations will no longer be available in 2009. For details, see www.ybr.com/gannett.
New improvements to our Voluntary Life Insurance Program:
We are offering new options under our voluntary life program, along with a new administrator – MetLife. This will mean enhanced life insurance under our supplemental, AD&D and spouse/child life insurance plans, plus lower premiums in most age brackets. If you are currently enrolled in the supplemental life plan, you can increase your coverage by one times without providing evidence of insurability. Make sure you read about these improvements on our reenrollment Web site.
We will continue to emphasize wellness and preventive care and provide you with voluntary programs such as Active HealthManagement and Wellness Works.
We ask all of you to do what you can to improve your health and make wise healthcare decisions. Your good health benefits everyone, especially you.
We welcome your comments. You can send them to me at reenrollment@gannett.com.
Dubow to visit Brevard on Nov. 17
ReplyDeleteThat explains all the cleaning, bathroom repairs, painting and drywalling that has been going on the last week or so.
Here is what went out from Bob Dickey:
ReplyDeleteOctober 28, 2008
To: USCP Publishers & General Managers
As all of you are painfully aware, the fiscal crisis is deepening and the economy is getting worse. Gannett’s revenues continue to be severely impacted by this downturn, and our local operations are suffering. While we are doing our best to reduce all non staff-related expenses, I am sorry to report that we must do another round of layoffs across our division.
To that end, we will institute an involuntary staff reduction of approximately 10% by the first week of December. The terms of the severance will be one week for each year of service with a cap of 26 weeks.
Each Publisher is responsible for developing their local plan to achieve the expected goal. Decisions will be made locally because each of our markets is unique, with differing market conditions and individual needs in light of our previous reductions.
I have asked that all plans be completed by November 14th at which time they will go through the standard review process.
I fully understand this announcement will cause you concern but I felt that once a decision was made it should be communicated as quickly as possible.
While this is more bad news, it is a sign of Gannett’s determination to remain healthy and viable as a company during these turbulent economic times. We continue to be a leader in our industry, not only because of our fiscal strength but also because we have a plan to aggressively grow the company when the economy returns.
To that end, I encourage you to contact me with your thoughts and ideas. We need to grow revenue as well as continue to find efficiencies. I would appreciate your help and ideas on both fronts.
My email address is rdickey@gannett.com. I promise you will be heard and receive a timely response.
I appreciate your understanding and commitment during these challenging times.
Thank you.
Here is the official memo:
ReplyDeleteOctober 28, 2008
To: USCP Publishers & General Managers
As all of you are painfully aware, the fiscal crisis is deepening and the economy is getting worse. Gannett’s revenues continue to be severely impacted by this downturn, and our local operations are suffering. While we are doing our best to reduce all non staff-related expenses, I am sorry to report that we must do another round of layoffs across our division.
To that end, we will institute an involuntary staff reduction of approximately 10% by the first week of December. The terms of the severance will be one week for each year of service with a cap of 26 weeks.
Each Publisher is responsible for developing their local plan to achieve the expected goal. Decisions will be made locally because each of our markets is unique, with differing market conditions and individual needs in light of our previous reductions.
I have asked that all plans be completed by November 14th at which time they will go through the standard review process.
I fully understand this announcement will cause you concern but I felt that once a decision was made it should be communicated as quickly as possible.
While this is more bad news, it is a sign of Gannett’s determination to remain healthy and viable as a company during these turbulent economic times. We continue to be a leader in our industry, not only because of our fiscal strength but also because we have a plan to aggressively grow the company when the economy returns.
To that end, I encourage you to contact me with your thoughts and ideas. We need to grow revenue as well as continue to find efficiencies. I would appreciate your help and ideas on both fronts.
I promise you will be heard and receive a timely response.
I appreciate your understanding and commitment during these challenging times.
Thank you.
Bob Dickey
I have to wonder how many lost man hours there were today after the announcement,and how many more there will be until Dec.
ReplyDelete4:34:
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm just down in the dumps today, but I'm going the opposite route. I'm supposed to start groundwork on a big project this week, but am thinking about asking my bosses what the chances are that I'll be able to finish it. I'd much rather spend my last few weeks on the job wrapping up some of those smaller, community-focused stories that I've been pushing to the back burner, instead of something that'll never see the light of day.
I'm not planning on a future with Gannett. The suck-ups who will be spared this time are the ones who are going to get the ax next time when they cut even deeper. It may be six months or a year from now, but they're going to get it.
I'd really prefer to get out from under the f**king mess my paper already is and avoid the stress, not spend my days looking over my shoulder and wondering if I'm pleasing the jerks in the fishbowl who've run this paper into the ground already.
That said, there's NOTHING around here that's hiring in similar fields or at comparable salaries. I'm already getting my application to Wal-Mart ready. It's going to be a rough next 2 or 3 years moneywise - we're going to be eating lots of mac & cheese and homemade soups - but I have a gut feeling I'll be much happier stocking shelves, doing freelance writing for whomever's buying and spending extra time playing with my kids and volunteering at their school than busting my butt for a bunch of morons.
When I started in this business (not at a Gannett paper), I bet at least 85% of the employees actually subscribed to the paper.
ReplyDeleteI'll suspect it's less than 10% now.
What more is there to say, when the people who make a product won't buy it?
To: 4:52 p.m.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with the GLW and SCJ blame, although they share some of the blame. I think it ultimately goes back to John Curley and later Doug McCorkindale and their lack of vision of the future of the communications world.
They were not as aggressive as they could have been in positioning the company for the digital world. They were living quarter to quarter with a business model that was becoming irrelevant.
7:45 PM
ReplyDeleteI believe Gannett went overboard positioning itself for the digital world. I believe somebody, and I'll have to blame the guy at the top since the buck stops there, made some horrible assumptions about web traffic, human behavior and ad sales.
I agree with 8:11, they threw all the resources into digital without putting capable people in charge of running the sites. Managers who were not qualified jumped into those positions to give themselves job security. They spent enormous amounts of money on equipment and manpower because corporate let them.
ReplyDeleteGannett has been around for over a 100 years. Where was gannett when Yahoo and Google were starting out? Why didnt we create a webcrawler to bring web traffic in? Where is our fantasy sports on the net? Where is our social network site? Where is our creigs list? Why do you only have a half ownership in a crapy carreer builder site? Where has gannett corp vision been in the last 15 years? I guess if you make 7 mil a year you dont care about the future. You can just do it a few years and you are rich. F the company. I hope i get the pink slip becuse either way I am gone. At least i get the severance.
ReplyDeleteCEO Craig Dubow $7,546,710.
ReplyDeleteCan I assume that he will also take a 10% payrol deduction? $754,671
6:25 amon. no work was done today. does anyone know if Dubow, garica and Dickey will forgo getting a big holiday incentive. NOT!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI have a question. I've spent a lot of time reading how stupid all the top directors are. So I am asking; what would you do if you were in charge? Its a fair question. And don't tell us how you'd change the format or information in the newspapers. The current generation doesn't read print. Its a fact. Just check out anyone under 30. So I ask all of you smarter than everyone else folks, what would you do? Give us five things you'd do that would increase revenue streams by at least 50 million dollars. Rather than sit around and bitch, bitch, bitch, lets hear it. Please, dazzle us with your brillance. Oh and before you say it I will do it for you...Helloe Craig.
ReplyDeleteIt's been obvious for a while that Gannett is doing everything it can to run itself in the ground, and you have to ask why? I think there has got to be more to it than what meets the eye. I think the people in charge are deliberately trying to kill it, perhaps, so that they can get the money people have spoke about in other posts. I'm not sure, but I think something is going on.
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought it was a political conspiracy of sorts. Eliminate all the journalists, and there are no checks and balances, no investigative reporters. Corporations and governments can freely do what they want with no "liberal" media there to criticize them.
I don't know exactly what is happening, but I think something is that is to the detriment of many and benefit of a few.
I do know that everybody who works for Gannett really needs to make plans this week to leave. If you aren't laid off in December, it will only be a matter of time. This industry is dying for a number of reasons, and the papers, if they survive, will likely be reduced to a staff of less than 10 or 15 people who file daily stories for the Web or a one-section paper until print is completely gone.
Don't wait around for the pink slip. As much as you love it, you just have to let it go and do what's best for you.
9:33 create another metromix or moms.
ReplyDeleteJim
ReplyDeleteCan you set up a PO Box so we can send you cash?
We need you but I don't want to use PayPal.
At least one big corporation cut out the adoption assistance benefit for staff in a cost cutting measure. Any idea what kind of savings that would offer Gannett? Does the company contract with a single agency, or how is that handled?
ReplyDelete9:33 pm - Granted those under 30 don't read the paper. I really doubt they give a crap news in any form. But wait, that means 40+ do read the paper from time to time. Give them a paper that actually has value and guess what--- you have a reader for 20 more years.
ReplyDeleteI think the death of print is bit premature. Unless Gannett keeps it up, then all bets are off.
I wonder how the small town papers(non-chain) are doing? As bad as the big boys?
Jim, I second 10:01's request for a PO box for cash/money order donations.
ReplyDelete9:33. I believe that you were sent a million ideas by employees for the DIG innovation project. They were posted in a forum on the Gannett site. Go look through some of them, and you will probably find some profitable ideas. I doubt anyone else has looked at them since I'm not really seeing any "innovation" from Gannett.
ReplyDeleteEmployees are fed up with offering ideas that are not going to be used. Since everything must be approved by corporate executives who are determined to drain the identity from every paper and create universally themed generic products, what's the point in creativity and innovation?
Gannett is 10 years behind where it should be because the people in charge thought they knew it all and didn't pay attention to the changing times and next generation, and they are the ones who should be laid off.
Here's my great Halloween costume idea for this year:
ReplyDeleteI'm dressing up in an outfit made out of newspapers. When people ask me what I am, I'll answer: "What's black, white and dead all over?"
Get it? A little gallows humor for ya.
When, oh when, will anyone with any clout at all wake up and realize Doh! Covering local news is all that we ever had as a franchise, and we have abandoned it. Whatever form we manage to package that information in - a blog, an email blast, a pill that you swallow - we still need to investigate, gather and report THE LOCAL NEWS. Real news. Not E! television news. Not Project Runway news. Not FOX news. THE LOCAL NEWS. Why did my tax rate go up? Are there gangs in my neighborhood? Is the board of health meeting behind locked doors illegally? Will the hs. superintentent get a golden parachute? Are there toxins in our water? WE HAVE NOTHING if we abandon covering the news. The good news, the bad news and the "eat your broccoli news'' in between. People may think they are too busy to need it, but see how well life in America goes when it's gone and all you've got to inform you is the school newsletter, your tax bill and - hey! where'd my bike go
ReplyDelete?
9:33 here. So far not one idea. Come on whinners chime in. It is easy to say leadership is screwed up and they are 10 year sbehind. Does that apply to every other newspaper chain as well? They ALL have screwed up leadership? So dazzle us, gives us one idea that will make real money. What's that I ehar? Nothing, thats what. We are in the perfect storm, a massive change in how people want information and the worst economic climate in recent history. Ask NBC, ABC and CBS if their audiences ahve found new ways to receive information. Come on folks, share some of that insight how Gannett can make money. How about jsut one real idea that will make money?
ReplyDelete9:33am: "So I am asking; what would you do if you were in charge? Its a fair question. And don't tell us how you'd change the format or information in the newspapers. The current generation doesn't read print. Its a fact."
ReplyDeleteFIRST: Our product is comprised of two elements: PRINT and NEWS. To suggest that we should abandon our core product because the current generation doesn't seem interested in it is ABSURD.
SECOND: If I were in charge I'd insist that each paper tailor its core product to match its local community. Gannett currently rules with an iron fist. It needs to instead unclinch and uplift. Every paper needs to find it's own individual voice again.
THIRD: I'd get rid of middle management. STREAMLINE where it counts, baby. Put more dollars towards attracting more quality workers, rather than towards no-talent, paper-pushing, hanger-ons. Good workers can manage themselves just fine, thank you.
FOURTH: Ditch all the other products. The newsweeklies are weak soup. Ditch 'em. Our magazines all suck. The only people who don't know that are us. Seriously. They're a joke.
FIFTH: Make our online subservient to our core product. Use online to drive people to our core product. Not vice versa.
We're NEWSPAPERMEN, not pansy-ass information gatherers. The silly schoolgirl wishing and hoping that some big hunk like Google will notice us, makes me nautious. Screw that. Let's return to what we do best. Get involved in the local communities again. Hire the most talented, hungry people and get stories that no one else can get, tell stories in a way no one else can and illustrate them in a way that makes people want to BUY a hard copy.
Yeah, I'm sick of the whining. I'm also sick of all the mediocre, unimaginative dunces who have given up on our product and are in turn DESTROYING it.
Yo 10:36 there isn't one idea in your list that will actually make money. But it would make a great term paper at the local community college. And "NEWSPAPERMEN" I am sure your female colleagues appreciate that one. Wake up caveman it is the year 2008!
ReplyDeleteMakes you nauseated.
ReplyDeleteYou may not need a paper-pushing manager to supervise you, but you still need a copy editor.
Sorry, usually I really do restrain myself from adding wise ass comments that just make these threads longer, and I agree with a lot of what you say, but there are plenty of middle managers working their asses off - some to the point of getting ill - so why don't we just stop pulling each other down and have a little compassion for the fact that most of us cannot afford to lose our jobs and many of us are about to lose our jobs. And it sucks.
9:33 here. Still waiting????? Ok go back to whinning. It is obvious that is all you can do.
ReplyDelete10:42, appreciate the copy-editing. Writing on a blog is different from writing for print. OBVIOUSLY. See the guy who wrote the original questions, for pete's sake. And, yes copy editors are necessary. It's a shame to see so many already gone or in the process of being eliminated.
ReplyDelete10:36, I'm not sorry I'm not as supersensitive as you apparently are. NEWSPAPERMEN in my world includes women. So does MANKIND or MEN.
And, yes, these old-fashioned ideas will make money. Caring and investing in your product always does.
10:36 You have some very valid points. I find it very frustrating to see what the newspaper has become. We used to be a beacon in the community and now there's no relevance. It's just a big joke.
ReplyDelete10:50 having consideration for women or any of our colleagues is not being overly sensitive, it is simple courtesy. Try it you may like it. But back to your idea, none of them will make money. They are all ideas for a world gone by. We need fresh, new ideas that will both inform and produce revenue. Got any?
ReplyDelete10:50, you are assuming - wrongfully - that I'm not being considerate of women. You are also assuming -wrongfully-0 that these ideas I've laid out won't make money. They used to when they were followed. I have no reason to doubt they would again if they were followed again.
ReplyDeleteTake for instance a discussion I had recently with a magazine publisher in Florida. They began publishing a HIGHLY successful business magazine because they recognized none of the local newspapers covered business anymore like they used to. So now thismagazine is highly successful because (a) they are providing a useful service to their community and (b) they are attracting advertising dollars as a result. Thir expectations for this magazine were not just met, but exceeded. That's in the same bad economy we're all experiencing, btw.
I know, it's old-fashioned, it's kind of hard work, but it works.
10:53 PM
ReplyDeleteWhy in the world should anyone share money-making ideas with a company that 1. Won't give them credit or a thanks, 2. Chose to layoff people during the holiday season, and 3. Continues to post jobs for analysts that are supposed to be paid for coming up with innovative and creative ideas?
9:33...Your request for deas to raise revenues:
ReplyDeleteOne is to purchase TV stations/newspapers in top major markets. Ignore cross ownership issues. In major markets like St. Louis, buy the newspaper. The cross-ownership issue is a court fight that is way overdue and it would be in Gannett's best interest to get this law changed now. Owning both a TV and newspaper in a single market would offer lots of opportunities for cross selling, bundling, marketing/promotion, etc.
A court case is needed and Gannett is in a great position to challenge this outdated law and the FCC.
Get out now. If you are still in your 20s, don't hesitate. Go back to college. There is no future in this.
ReplyDeleteI have offered up several good ideas in the Advertising arena to combat with our decreasing classified dollars. Matter of fact, I proposed an idea years ago that I thought was a direction the classifieds should take to combat the loss we were experiencing with the Job publications and online websites. After submitting it, I NEVER heard a word back on it. Just the other day I heard someone else propose the same idea (this person wasn't here when I first proposed, so not saying they stole my idea).
ReplyDeleteI also feel that we've priced ourselves out of being "THE PLACE" to look for jobs or cars or houses. Why not lower the price of a classified ad and get more advertisers back in the game. I remember when the classified section was THE place to look for a job. Do you know what a JOB ad costs? The Advertisers do and they can't afford that. So bring down the cost of the ad and offer them better deals. Then what happens – The Sections get bigger and we're making money instead of sticking Promo ads in the paper and then people start looking at the paper for what it used to be. It would have to be across the Board REMARKETING plan at all Gannett papers. Let people know that THIS is THE PLACE to get a Job, car or house. And my idea above??? Create a one piece product that would be a GIVE AWAY. It would replace all the TMC products that we currently give away – sort of like a bargain mart or Thrifty Nickel, but with class and a nice look. It would be a smaller version of our classifieds that people would get for FREE and we would make money off of upselling into the section. One of the biggest complaints I've heard people say is there are SO MANY products offered. Let's concentrate and make just the few that we should offer GREAT and do it right.
I work as an IT professional, so I'm one of the typical "under 30 and never reads a paper" people. I get all my news online; I did buy a local paper, for kicks, and the local stories that were in it had all been posted online. The national and world stories had been pulled off the AP wire, and I'd read them online when they broke the evening before.
ReplyDeleteWhy would I pay money for that which I can get for free?
To tell the truth, the only papers I ever buy with any amount of regularity are the Sunday papers, because my wife checks out the sales ads and coupons. (My wife, the non-techy under 30 who uses Google reader to aggregate all her information, something I don't even do.) She doesn't read the paper... she skims it for ads, classifieds, and throws it in the recycle bin.
Why *wouldn't* news outlets be focused on digital in this day and age? The tide is turning, print has become unprofitable. Jettison the losses as best as you can and adapt for once, or you'll be riding this sinking ship to the ocean floor.
Gannett has no interest in revenue right now, the goal....the only goal is to cut expenses, that is it.
ReplyDeletePubs and corp can deny it, but out actions speak louder then any words. We will be cutting another 10%+ in newsprint, we looking at pulling preprints from Monday's and Tuesdays, we are looking at closing 30% of the street rack locations, and we can rattle off more ideas that will only hurt audience and save expesnes.....even though the revnue losses will be more then the expense savings. How come that is not addressed here? How come no one can answer the questions why do we cut revenue generating prgrams and people.
As high and mighty as most news people are, we need them to supplu content that our readers can not wait to get there hands on, that in turn will improve circulation volume and that in turn groes pre-print revenue and hopefully help secure ROP ads.
9:33 - one question:
ReplyDeleteWhen you brand us "whinners" is that a typo meaning "winners" or "whiners"? Either way, if you don't like the company you keep here, move on.
There is no magic bullet to revenue. The properties that are making above average profit right now are the ones blessed with a good local economy and managers who know how to extract advertising from their market.
Unfortunately, the newsprint delivery model is being replaced with a digital delivery. A copy of Flash, a Mac and internet access can create a news/aggregator source that is as effective as a multi-million dollar print facility - at least for some news consumers.
There's no way to avoid a shakeout. The car makers brought in robots, AMC disappeared, when have you ever heard announcements that GM was hiring? Industries change. I'm doing the only job I've ever done, like many of you. I'm under 40 and functionally obsolete.
But I'm getting ready to pull up my boots, take a pay cut, and start a new career. Health care looks promising, or perhaps mortuary science. I'm guessing embalming won't be a future do-it-at-home process, so maybe I can get another 20 year career.
"I'm under 40 and functionally obsolete."
ReplyDeleteWow.
1:55 AM
ReplyDeleteJust who do you suppose wrote all the stories that were posted online so that you could read them for free? I'm guessing it was someone in somebody's newspaper division---somewhere---someone who stands a great chance of being out of a job really soon.
I look for a totally advertorial/advocacy look across Gannett. That's sad to think a former news organization is giving up on what matters and what customers want and need the most right now.
9:33, I posted last night but apparently I messed up and it didn't take.
ReplyDeleteHow's this for an idea: Cut the cost of ads 50 percent across the board so that the businesses in the local communities can actually afford them and, in the end, buy more ads.
I'm a former Gannettoid, working for a company where I recently had to hire a replacement for an employee who left. I placed a classified ad in my local Gannett daily, and for $250 I got five lines -- about 10 words -- that ran four times in the daily paper and once on CareerBuilder.
I placed an ad for the same job in two of the local weeklies. In one case I paid $60 to run it for four weeks; in the other I paid $50 for four weeks. The ads in both were significantly longer and more detailed.
The ad in the daily paper produced only two legitimate candidates. Because the ad was so truncated, it was essentially worthless.
Gannett has forgotten its bread and butter, which is serving the communities. There's a thousand ways to do it. Produce a special high school sports section and have some company sponsor it. Or have them sponsor special features each week, like "player of the week." High school sports are extremely popular and done correctly can be a great way to build deep ties to the community.
Go back to focusing on things that really matter in people's lives. Stop covering BS and give them information about what's happening in their town.
Give people real reasons to read the paper; make it affordable for businesses to advertise in it, and make it a place your employees can say they are proud to represent.
I got out because I watched the paper that I was proud to work for stripped and denuded worse than a field being attacked by locusts. It's a shell of what it once was, and it's a shame. The readers deserve better. the advertisers deserve better and the employees deserve better.