Monday, December 08, 2008
Monday | Dec. 8 | 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.)
89 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. Hello. How are you?
ReplyDeleteHappy to have a job, sad about friends who don't.
ReplyDeleteHey, helllooo! It ain't no Monday here in NJ...how'd you do that? Anyway, I am fine and looking forward to another fine day at work at the Local Newsapaper.
ReplyDeleteHo Hum, or should I say, Bah Humbug!?
Hi Any news on N.J. Jersey papers.
ReplyDeleteWhat exit?
ReplyDeleteThe cost of newsprint is ACTUALLY going down
ReplyDeleteThat's good news. Cost of transportation has to have gone down too with the drop in fuel prices. Not that diesel and gas are the same price...
ReplyDeleteSee, good news. It happens.
I have been ready lots of posts about how unfair and arbitrary the layoffs were. I agree completely.
ReplyDeleteHOWEVER, it is naive to believe that those laid off would be the last hired or the lazy, unproductive or disruptive morons people have been complaining about the last week.
Here is a cold, hard fact from a manager's viewpoint:
"If people have to be laid off, it might as well be someone I don't like."
It is as simple and ugly as that. The reason so many "good" people got the axe last week was just because someone in authority and in charge of the layoffs didn't like them, or didn't want them around any more.
Maybe in some cases it was "last hired" or even the "biggest salary" that made the difference... but the fact remains that many of these layoffs were just an excuse for payback to some worker who got on the wrong side of the boss.... plain and simple.
and that is wht Gannett will always be a terrible comnpany to work for!
The layoffs continued Sunday at The Des Moines Register when the editor called a page designer at home and laid her off. The page designer had just come back from maternity leave and had been at the Poynter Institute all week, so she was out of town when the ax fell Wednesday.
ReplyDeletenewsprint going down ... gas at a buck-fifty ... 3000 fewer employees ... can you smell record profits before long? ... these folks really are genuises ...
ReplyDelete8:41 on previous thread, Lafayette was given an additional week--something about having some last minute legal checking by the higher-ups. Daily Advertiser layoffs will be completed December 10. The extra week has been crushing.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone ever been rehired after being laid off at a Gannett property?
ReplyDeleteWhy not give people the decency of letting them pack up their desks?
ReplyDeleteThat to me, is one of the ugliest part of this whole wretched affair. Having worked with Gannett for such long years, the least some of these managers could do is give people a chance to say goodbye to co-workers they've worked with for years.
In the eyes of these large corporations, we are just numbers.
I understand the economy is tanking, that businesses have to make tough decisions, but some of the managers at these papers, have lost all sense of humanity.
That is also one of the real tragedies of this whole mess.
And why is it that we can hear about Lehman Brothers, AGI, and the big 3 auto companies for days on end in the news, but you get dumped on by media giants like Gannett, and there is deafening silence in the media?
I read a column by the editor of our local Gannett paper today. Without saying as much, he said expect less from us going forward. Then he talked about being the primary source for news in the market. Here is a link: http://www.marionstar.com/article/20081207/OPINION02/812070310/1014/OPINION
ReplyDeleteAs a laid off worker from last week, I'd really like to appreciate the efforts of Gannett in providing workforce rehab with resume writing and interview workshops. So it was almost exciting when the 9X13-inch white envelope with a $1 presorted first-class postage-meter imprint on it arrived over the weekend. Inside, however, we're two sheets of 8-1/2 X 11 that could easily have been folded in thirds to fit in a plain #10 envelope, with non-presorted postage requiring a mere 42 cents, or 42% of the cost of the way it was mailed. See the kind of trouble us formerly costly employees can cause now that we're not at the office 12-16 hours a day?
ReplyDeleteFrom Tim Chavez at www.politicalsalsa.com:
ReplyDeleteI've heard from so many former colleagues in the past few days. I call them "former" since I lost my columnist job more than a year ago.
There is still such a deep sense of anger and shock. I've posted a piece about it on my blog site while also citing Jim for his outstanding public service.
We're also talking about holding what would be a wake for good print journalism in Nashville. And we'd like to toast those laid-off and maybe pass around the hat.
Does anyone know of any other such gatherings in Gannett newspaper cities and what was done to help those laid off?
Thanks for any direction you can give. We really want to do something meaningful in response to this outrage and not let it all pass away with the new week's news cycle.
Thanks
Good week to all in Lafayette(,LA). Hope to be with you all at the end.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this blog Jim. I am young reporter who has been on the fence about journalism for awhile now. I've done it and loved it, but through this blog, I've seen that the way the industry is going doesn't fit into what I want out of life. I am starting on a new path and part of it is because I have gained perspective on this career path because of the posters on this site...
ReplyDeleteI'm shocked at how my grief and shock over the layoffs at our site is deepening as the days pass.
ReplyDeleteOur editor made cuts for the past and cut loose our future.
I've never been more demoralized. I've been with Gannett more than a decade, I'm a newsroom manager and I don't hate the company like some here do. But I'm deeply questioning my future with it (or any newspaper company).
Jim, could you create a thread to figure out how many employees are considering leaving the company, and what type of position they are in now?
I fear the next few months might be worse as the best and brightest leave on their own terms.
And I'm scared to death I'm on that precipice.
10:18pm: Not that I am at all surprised to hear a professional Gannett manager would make a judgement call on staffers from the stance of a Kindergartner. Though it may be human nature to let go of an individual that he/she may not like (for whatever ridiculous reason) one would hope that once such a manager has surrounded him/herself with "friends", that he/she might find it difficult to meet the department's goals with (perhaps) sub-par workers. What I want to know is how do the publishers and human resource managers let this happen? Do they just take said manager's recommendation to layoff an individual at face value? You would think a manager has less control that that, you know, working for Gannett, after all.
ReplyDeleteWith the Tribune Company filing possible banruptcy--do you think Gannett might do the same with the current share price ?
ReplyDeleteI don't know whether this is a result of the layoffs or just plain incompetence, but Page 3A of Monday's Springfield News-Leader carries Sunday's date and is the same Page 3A that ran Sunday.
ReplyDeleteI'm still aching from watching last week's parade of workers taken in offices to be laid off. Many of them were more than just coworkers to me; they were friends and faces I looked forward to seeing through my day. Most of us survivors are going to be sagging beneath a mantle of sadness and the burden of extra work.
ReplyDeleteSo maybe today our advertising department will realize that we are in trouble and get serious about selling some ads. As of Friday, their biggest concern was planning a holiday breakfast.
How do we get the ball rolling on a No Confidence vote against Dubow at the annual meeting?
ReplyDeleteI'd be willing to keep some of my 401 money in Gannett stock to vote on that.
"Why not give people the decency of letting them pack up their desks?"
ReplyDeleteExcuse me -- that would require ability to think in the short-term, long-term, and with common sense.
Also a world without a gross surplus of lawyers, trying to scratch out of a living.
From Lennon & McCartney: "the love you get is equal to the love you give."
Most Chamber people could give a flippin' rip about the latest GANNETTOID carpet-bagger/parasite. A self-fulfilling psych-frame; pearls before swine.
3:00 Good for you. Advice from a veteran: do not get a job in a newspaper today. There is some fiction on this blog, but also a hell of a lot of truth. And the truth is screaming to young people not to fooled into the belief there is anything resembling a career in newspapering today.
ReplyDeleteAs a USA Today employee, I thought I'd seen everything. Bad hires based on demos, promotions and plum assignments based on favoritism, news judgement clouded by committee and blowhards. But the recent round of job cuts is just baffling. Not in their size, but who and how they were cut. What a joke. Morale is worse than ever.
ReplyDeleteI don't know whether its because of the layoffs or is just incompetence, but Page 3A of Monday's Springfield News-Leader is Sunday's Page 3A -- same news, yesterday's date.
ReplyDeleteTo 12/7 10:32 pm:
ReplyDelete"Has anyone ever been rehired after being laid off at a Gannett property?"
Response:
An OC member at Cherry Hill was laid off earlier this fall and is now back as a full time employee selling ads. So, looks like this can and does happen.
This is the first full jobless week for many who were laid off last week. Another very difficult day, particularly for those who don't have other opportunities or fallbacks. I've already cancelled Christmas gift-giving. My family is very understanding. They just want me to survive this and don't care about material things.
ReplyDeleteBut let me say one thing to the folks who used these layoffs to get rid of people they didn't like and didn't measure the worth of the person/position fairly. You've created very bad karma in your lives. Think about that as you're enjoying your holidays. Keep rationalizing why you got rid of people and see how that works out for you. The man upstairs knows you're lying. You want to do something to repair that wrong? Help bring back those people you axed at the first chance you get-- those people who didn't do anything to deserve this and who were performing very important services for the company.
In spite of Green Bay's miserable 42.5 percent profit, the newspaper now is collapsing sections and planning on a smaller paper. You gotta read the publisher's weekend column, proclaiming that in spite of the cuts he imposed, journalism is still alive and thriving in Wisconsin. Looks to me as if Corporate is squeezing even the most profitable papers. Why is that when I look at the impact of these cuts, I think of that old fable involving the goose and golden eggs?
ReplyDelete3:00 Yes, tell all your classmates that newspapers will break your heart. There is no future and those who think they can make it work will be kicked out of their jobs in their 40's with no prospect of finding a new job, and no future.
ReplyDeletejust left Neptune, NJ this morning. Almost 10 employees on the floor around 9 a.m. Silence. Solemn. Except for the managers. They seem upbeat.
ReplyDeleteEven the cafeteria is empty. Great to be back at work after a decent weekend.
Has anyone heard if corporate will layoff directors at local newspapers like they did after the august layoffs?
ReplyDeleteIt appears that someone got the (not so) bright idea that all the EEs and MEs should write "heart felt" columns over the weekend telling readers that despite the "future changes" at their newspaper that "their" local newspaper was committed to reraders and coverage of the community.
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing load of BS!
I just read the column by the Marion (Ohio) editor that a poster linked, and it was incredibly worthless, vague and full of folksy twinky journalism platitudes. So was the one in Shrieveport... and some of the others I have seen excerpts from in the last few days.
What garbage! "Times are hard" is the only explanation given readers - if they are given any explanation at all.
The Marion paper is just an example of how far those Ohio community papers have fallen. One blogger pointed out that one of the Ohio group in a photo caption last week got the name of the city's mayor wrong - not misspelled - just had the wrong person as the long-standing mayor!!!
Apparently it was a big joke in that town the last week....
No credibility is the new standard for Gannett.
And these worthless columns by the editor just make it worse!
To 7:48am, am reading Springfield/News-Leader right now and 3A says Monday and is not same as Sunday. All is well there, don't start trouble,be nice.
ReplyDeleteto 10:32 the OC member who was rehired in CH to sell ads, was that retail or classified??
ReplyDelete3:00 a.m. -- I hate to discourage people from going into a career that -- until this point -- has been good to me, but your choice is a sound one.
ReplyDeleteNewspapers are going the way of radio. While every radio shift once featured a live, decently paid broadcaster, most stations now run with minimal staff who record bits for multiple outlets. Even worse, many stations farm out their morning shows to national talent so they only need to pay a board operator to keep multiple stations on the air.
The same is happening to newspapers. Minimal staff, growing reliance on wire services, and a general shrinking of the product.
It will be possible to make decent money in print journalism in the coming years, but it will be very difficult. In other words, you'll only pull down a reasonable paycheck if you become a star of a somewhat national stature ... and even then you may not have job security.
If there's something else you enjoy doing, make the decision now. It won't be as heartbreaking as it would be later.
Does anyone know if there are "safe haven" newspapers that haven't been affected by this mess so far? I have a friend at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review who swears things are fine there.
ReplyDelete10:40 -- I am not the original poster (7:48) but my home-delivered Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader also has Sunday's page 3 in today's (Monday's) paper. I live well within the city limits, so mine should've been one of the last off the press. The original poster wasn't trying to "start trouble," as you put it -- he/she was simply stating a fact that is shared by me and, I suspect, many, many other subscribers.
ReplyDelete3:00 Take this from someone who once was a mentor for young people coming into newspapering: stay away. There will be a truly miserable couple of years ahead, with more major cutbacks both in staff and space. If you love the business as I have, you will hate the experience we all now face and it will make you sour. Go trade stocks, peddle socks at Wal-Mart, or drive a taxi. Then after 2010, take a second look at the newspaper landscape, and see if you like anything you see. I doubt that you will. As a perennial optimist, I say this business is finished.
ReplyDeleteA site that may be of help to some:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.unemployedworkers.org/
11:51 - Agreed. And it's hard to argue with such sentiments when a paper like The Rocky Mountain News is about to go under, and Tribune is about to declare bankruptcy, Gannett cuts more staff than anyone in the history of journalism, etc. Magazines are just as bad. Local TV is just as bad. There is no good news to be found.
ReplyDeleteI'm not causing problems. My Springfield paper has the Dec. 7 Page 3A. I'd be happy to show it to you. And yes, it is the same 3A as yesterday.
ReplyDeleteHate to bring this point of clarification but... newsprint prices are NOT going down. The major newsprint players have suddenly gotten very good at matching production to demand. They have closed many mills and processing plants thereby reducing supply. Most expect the increases to level off by Q2 of next year. However, there are more increases coming.
ReplyDeleteThe OC member, a former Marketing director, is now selling retail ads for Cherry Hill.
ReplyDeleteActually Abitibi-Bowater announced they are holding off on the $20 MT increase scheduled for December and at the same time announced a number of mills are shutting down. The Alabama River Mill is being "idled" immediately. More lost jobs!
ReplyDeleteRE lame columns.
ReplyDeleteGeez, ya'll were right! I visited a few and then saw comment on romenesko... bor-ring.
Wouldn't it have been great to read just one sentence or two, like, "due to misjudgment and poor planning on our parent company's part..and to a lesser degree the state of the economy...."
Hey, 10:39 a.m.: If you're tired of heartless, why not try just plain ol' freakin' bizarre:
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/5gqgz6
WTF?
Yep! Carty sure is full of his own writing.
ReplyDeleteToo bad he wasted readers time with a drab column that talked about nothing really, and went nowhere.
But at least he didn't talk about the "exciting change ahead for readers" as they condense sections and cut back on staff!
Bankruptcy seems unlikely for Gannett which is not in the debt situation that the Tribune Co is. Despite all its other problems, Gannett actually has a very favorable debt picture. I don't know if you'll find that comforting or not...
ReplyDeleteI was all set to roast that Marion editor for a column that really was not as insightful as you'd hope to see from someone running a newspaper in these challenging times.
ReplyDeleteBut he talked about his 8-year-old daughter who loves to read the comics.
It so happens that I have an 8-year-old daughter who loves to read the comics.
So then I saw him as a dad who loves his daughter and probably worries about how he's going to keep a roof over her head, and I didn't have the heart to knock him.
Thanks to everyone who responded to my comment with honesty. I plan to freelance, but I have to launch a family and life.
ReplyDelete-That young reporter
“So maybe today our advertising department will realize that we are in trouble and get serious about selling some ads. As of Friday, their biggest concern was planning a holiday breakfast.”
ReplyDeleteI cannot speak for your advertising department. However, the department where I was working and most recently laid off from, has been working harder than ever with the worst circumstances to date. Not only was it a constant reminder that we are responsible for the revenue numbers, but also for the layoffs. I find it incredibly hypocritical that we have letters from Gannett (Bob Dicky)saying:
"the fiscal crisis is deepening and the economy is getting worse. Gannett’s revenues continue to be severely impacted by this downturn"
And yet we are told by our managers that the numbers are low because we are not working hard enough. As if to say that the corporation acknowledges that the economy is crap and that they themselves are having to cut corners, but can't understand why our businesses have cut their advertising or stopped all together. HELLLOO it is not our work ethic or from the lack of effort from the advertising departments, we are dealing with businesses who are suffering the same losses due to the same economic crisis. In one week I had clients tell me they are closing their doors, and 2 others tell me they could not afford to pay their business propane/utility bill and that they had to let go of employees that had been with them for over 10 years. Saying to let someone go because they are not doing their job is one thing, having to let them go when they are a great employee and you have to let them go it is devastating. Our Department started hearing things in July. Since then we have been creating special initiatives discounting ad space working longer and harder while being micro managed and having our job threatened daily. To say the least there has been no celebrations or holiday breakfasts let alone any validation. I can say that if we did have a "Holiday breakfast" it might have helped. Working under the conditions we have all been experiencing, Gannett wide, does not encourage productivity or bring the best out of people. It never has. I mentioned above that I was laid off from my department (last wed.), but I know that everyone with exception to our management (Ad Director, Retail and classified Manager) is doing their best under the worst conditions.
3:04 I would suggest you take a look at GCI's financials before declaring that Gannett does not have a debt problem. Count up the figures, and will conclude that GCI has more than $6 billion in debts. (Don't forget to fold in the mystery $1.2 billion taken out in September.) Plus the rating agencies have downgraded GCI's bonds to junk levels in recent months, so some analysts aren't forecasting the rosy picture that you see.
ReplyDelete11:29 AM wrote: "Does anyone know if there are "safe haven" newspapers that haven't been affected by this mess so far? I have a friend at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review who swears things are fine there."
ReplyDeleteWell, it does help to have a megalomaniac multi-millionaire willing to put any money into a project.
But the Trib-Review is one weird place. Just trust me on this.
“So maybe today our advertising department will realize that we are in trouble and get serious about selling some ads. As of Friday, their biggest concern was planning a holiday breakfast.”
ReplyDeleteThis sounds very much like the advertising deprtment where Iwork! There are a great number of our people who spend more work time involved in complete nonsense and stuff like that than doing what they are paid to do...sell advertisng to keep thepaper going. Instead, personal phone calls for hours, unproductive chatting, surfing the web, complaining, backstabbing and even (one person) spending hours doing personal business like balancing checkbook. Yet the "management" allows this to go on and has done so for years. this doesn't apply to everyone but a select few.
As an earlier blogger said,
"but I know that everyone with exception to our management (Ad Director, Retail and classified Manager) is doing their best under the worst conditions." All proof that the wrong people got downsized.
3:16 Yes, freelance. Write all you can for magazines and newspapers. Go overseas. You are young, and need to get out and see the world before being tied down to a desk. All that GCI and the other newspapers can offer you in these circumstances is a local beat, a phone and a desk. Instead, expand your horizons and your mind. COme back with a briefcase full of clips and a book. I wish you good luck.
ReplyDeleteWith corporate decisions causing so much concern in newsrooms/local information centers throughout Gannett, why doesn't at least one of the supposed corporate news leaders speak up? Phil Currie, if you're still in the house? Kate Marymont, if you're still in line to take over his job? Is anyone home? Anyone?
ReplyDelete"Hate to bring this point of clarification but... newsprint prices are NOT going down. The major newsprint players have suddenly gotten very good at matching production to demand. They have closed many mills and processing plants thereby reducing supply. Most expect the increases to level off by Q2 of next year. However, there are more increases coming"
ReplyDeleteThen can you explain the suspension of this quarters planned increase along with a credit?
1 more let go @ APP today
ReplyDeleteSo, are ad people being held to pre-recession sales standards by a company that's blaming its failures on bad economic times? That is so wrong.
ReplyDelete5:42 PM From what department?
ReplyDeleteTo all employees who were let go by this vile and greedy company there is light at the end of the tunnel.I found a job already start Jan.5 and I wouldn't subscribe to another Gannett paper nor will I ever set foot in another Gannett company again.This is the 2nd time this trashy company laid me off and according to Jim's profit report my paper was making 20% profit the last time they laid me off.Our department has 1 supervisor to every 3 employees yet no supervisors were let go.My final words for Gannett are FUCK YOU!!!!!Whew I feel better.Thanks Jim for your blog it really helped me during the last several weeks.Take care people the sun will come up and you are no longer working for CORPORATE GREED
ReplyDeleteTo 3:04
ReplyDeleteRe: 1.2 billion in Sept.
Wasn't that about the time Gannett announced the controlling interest in CareerBuilder?
All right, if no one else is going to correct 9:08 a.m.'s misquoting of Lennon and McCartney, I guess I will. It is not "the love you get is equal to the love you give."
ReplyDeleteIt is: "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make."
I have a far bigger problem with the newsroom boss who unjustifiably laid me off than the company that opened the door to it. I guess I could blame the company for letting this managing editor operate so dishonestly in the shadows for years. The ultimate con artist. His trickery finally took a huge toll on me. Yet, it's this one man who is truly responsible for his actions and he knows who he is. He knows this wasn't a legitimate layoff and how it has impacted so many good folks left behind. He knows he was way outside the company guidelines for these layoffs when he let me go. He underestimated the fallout becaue he's always gotten away with stuff like this and his arrogance got the better of him this time. He usually covers his tracks, but this was over the line and and the results of my positin being lost will be obvious. If he fills the job anytime soon to cover it up, I will sue. He overlooked how this would expose him for what he really is. His legacy will be as ruined as my career. And still, I don't hold the company responsible except to say they should do a much better job at identifying lowlife managers who run good people out. He's done this countless times in various ways to some of the best people in the business. This time it should have been more than obvious. If he's still there in 2009, then I know that his bosses must be asleep at the switch. It's a big place, so it's easy for misdeeds to get lost in the shuffle. I hope, however, this particular newsroom manager is gone soon so that no one else has to suffer as I am now and others have in the past. God help us all as we seek work and survival in this horrible economy. Any boss who needlessly did this to any of us will answer to a higher authority than GCI.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone hear that Michael Maness is getting laid off too?
ReplyDeleteA very reliable source told me that the DIG is going to be closed up.
At least someone is making a smart decision with reducing that corporate waste land.
Who was Lennon and McCartney?
ReplyDelete7:46pm:
ReplyDeleteFunny.
After seeing posters all up over the walls of my LIC, I sent an idea in to the DIG once. Never heard a peep back from anyone, at Corporate or my site.
ReplyDeletewhat happened with corporate newspaper re-org?
ReplyDeleteI heard many were demoted and some let go. Not many kept their title or job.
Any news Jim?
i sent the dig an idea about free spanish lessons available online and got a dig mug . . . and then the idea floated away to nowhere, probably because having reporters learn spanish wouldn't visibly affect the next quarter's bottom line.
ReplyDeletethose free podcasts are still out there somewhere for anyone who thinks s/he might be able to use spanish on the job -- or on a future job.
I worked at The Arizona Republic for approximately 10 years and understand things are bad and resulted in my being let go. Times are tough, I understand. While going through old files, bonus reviews, annual reviews and such I noticed something interesting, while always receiving good bonuses and reviews, I had five Managers in my first four years and countless brilliant directions and changes during that time and I wasn't alone. Which leads me to wonder, at least in Phoenix since being purchased by Gannett, we're we any good before things got really bad?
ReplyDelete8:35 pm: I've been given some information about specific individuals who were devoted. But the information is second-hand, so I'm waiting for further confirmation.
ReplyDeleteWhy doesn’t Gannett just come out and say…
ReplyDeleteGreetings:
Due to poor economic conditions we all have to sacrifice something, we are going to freeze and cut everyone’s pay by 25%.We are sorry we have to do this at this time. It’s nothing personal, it’s just we want a larger profits. You can take this or find employment elsewhere. There will be no severance pay, but we will be glad to give you a great recommendation and you can still have your 50% employee subscription discount for up to six months depending on years of service.
We need you to let Human Resource know your answer within 24 hours.
Happy Holidays….
Congratulations on the new job 6:44 PM. You're a true inspiration.
ReplyDelete9:04 uhmmm.... that answer is pretty obvious.... if EVERYONE had to take a 25% pay cut, it would mean that those making the decision and delivering the message would have too! THAT doesn't seem likely.
ReplyDeleteOld timers remember the Collins drill. Bobby would fly in and review disbursements, making snide remarks all the while. Well, Bobby - you cannot cost cut your way to a good product. Managers like you have ruined Gannett for the rest of us. It was never about a quality product, it was always about greed. Look where it got you.
ReplyDeleteI know that LG was demoted to MK's job as classified director he leaves in this month to retire.
ReplyDeleteI'm suprised that
1. they offered her any job and
2. she took it! she must know what a bafoon she really is
7:46--
ReplyDeletePete Lennon and Arnold McCartney were the EE and ME at the Lansdale (Pa.) Reporter when Gannett owned it.
After all the news about the Chig Tribune filing bankruptcy, and NYT seeking additional funds to stay afloat, I heard today that Gannett may be "seriously" thinking about selling off a lot of its medium sized and smaller properties.
ReplyDeleteSomeone said that two papers, in Florida, including the Pensacola News Journal, is being considered.
Of course this could be pure rumor, but anyone else hear anything about Gannett selling?
Jim, have you heard any such thing?
Jim said:
ReplyDelete"8:35 pm: I've been given some information about specific individuals who were devoted."
Freudian slip or lousy typing?
The shit's hitting the fan at the broadcast sites as well.
ReplyDeleteThe summary:
Despite already laying off 10% of your fellow employees and being #1 in the DMA, if you want to keep your job, you will take a pay cut up to %5.
By the way, there will be no raises next year for you either.
Good thing Gannett spent $500k on our station to automate things so they could have 3 temps watching us from Florida...
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteSo, are ad people being held to pre-recession sales standards by a company that's blaming its failures on bad economic times? That is so wrong.
12/08/2008 5:53 PM
In response.. Yes, we (advertising) have not only been expected to meet pre-recession numbers, but upsell them by 10%, and bring in 4 new contracts a month. Yes, a company that is blaming the economy for their downturn holds it's employees to a different standard.
The publisher- CA has "restructured" the departments and actually placed the Ad Director, whom by the way is clueless, to be responsible for advertising to pre-press and design. When decisions are made shouldn't they require such individuals to be knowledgeable if not familiar with G drive sytems Pre-press.. COMPUTERS! It is amazing how political it is and what a disservice it is to the valuable people of the company.
On the digg.
ReplyDeleteI once submitted a suggestion that dealing the overcrowded parking lots at some locations would go a long way in improving employee morale.
Boy, am I sorry now!
But I do have a space, and a coffee mug.
So how DO you digg yourself out of a mess, when all the good shovels have been retired?
10:34 p.m. Hah! They may be devoted, too, but I was told they were deMOTED.
ReplyDelete9:52 pm: We've heard those Pensacola rumors, too, for months. But nothing ever seems to come of them. At this point, following the Tribune Co. bankruptcy, many would-be newspaper investors probably figure they can wait a few more months -- then get newspapers for just pennies on the dollar. Or for free, if they assume all the debt.
ReplyDeleteIn Reno, we are getting a lavish game room. Construction company working on it now, started today. Ping pong, games, etc.
ReplyDeleteWe lost 61, perhaps the highest percentage.