Monday, February 16, 2009
Monday | Feb. 16 | Your News & Comments
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66 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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This post is another pre-post!
ReplyDeleteThis is more than a pre-run, Jim.
ReplyDeleteIt's like a weekly. Oh wait, the smaller GCI papers will be weeklies soon.
You're on the cutting edge as usual, my friend.
May I be the first to acknowledge that NJ PAPERS SUCK!
ReplyDeleteI saw that Little Rock now charges a monthly fee of $4.95 per month for access to all stories... or if a subscriber to the paper, all online access is free. Stories that can be accessed in other parts of the web are also free... ie AP stories that appear on the website. Unique content has a small price... less than $60 per year.
ReplyDeleteNot a bad idea.
The problem with a lot of Gannett papers is that there is so little unique content that charging a fee might be a tough sell.
Scott
New Jersey papers are the most corrupt in the nation!
ReplyDeleteKinda like Jersey's government.
ReplyDeleteRay O. to the rescue!
ReplyDeleteWhat ever happened to Ray O?
ReplyDeleteTeaching at Princeton, I believe. Passing on his knowledge of how becoming a butt-kisser to the non-involved sign of the publishing partnership will get you to be Executive Editor.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why everybody is assuming that paying for content will save newspapers. The issue is ad revenue. Ads are not working on the Web. Until they do, newspapers will remain in ruins.
ReplyDelete"An economy of information, a wealth of words."
ReplyDeleteMetromix to the rescue!!
ReplyDeleteThis week the Phoenix metromix includes a guide to the best strip err ahh, "gentlemen's clubs" in Phoenix.
The race to irrelevancy continues.
http://phoenix.metromix.com/bars-and-clubs/roundup/best-gentlemens-clubs-in/772566/content
John Hillkirk will be named editor of USA Today this week. Say what you will about him. But at least Moonie is keeping it in-house.
ReplyDeleteGannett doesn't keep record of IP addresses, so one person can buy that $4.95 subscription and give the login information to 100 friends to use.
ReplyDeleteA blogger also could just report the salient info with attribution to Gannett, and no one would have to pay.
When I saw the push a couple of weeks ago for paid news sites, I thought traditional media has run out of ideas, because that's just a recycle of its original plan that was tried and failed.
If it didn't work while we still had original content, it sure isn't likely to work now that Gannett has laid off its best talent and killed original cartoons and columns. There's too little now for many people to care about paying even $4.95 a month.
And the total of $4.95 a month from the number of people willing to pay isn't likely to pay even the one salary of the publisher, let alone his annual office redecorating. It can't replace the lost advertising.
online subscription buster: bugmenot.com
ReplyDeleteHey Jim, were you in that big pillow fight?
ReplyDelete"Gannett doesn't keep record of IP addresses, so one person can buy that $4.95 subscription and give the login information to 100 friends to use."
ReplyDeleteThat's true. And for those that are actually subscribing... The current system is cookie based, so if you have maintenance progs that clear your cache/nuke your cookies, the damn thing won't remember who you are and you'll have to either pay again, or contact customer service which is not equipped to handle online technical problems.
But, customer satisfaction was never our strong point.
Just when you think it can't get any sillier, I noticed now that many Gannett sites are "jumping" stories. On the Springfield site, one of its stories jumped to fives pages. Many other stories jump one or two times.
ReplyDeleteWeren't we told back in the day that readers don't follow jumps? So, why do it in a format that doesn't require it? There are no space limits on the Internet.
I can tell you why it's done. It's purely to get more hits on the site as a rader is force to click from page to page to page to page. More hits mean the paper can increasead rates. More time spent by a reader to follow a jumping story is what the site wants.
Sites are "jumping" stories for the same reason sites are allowing their Jerry Springer-like cesspool of anonymous commenters to fester on their papers' sites where the most racist, bigoted, homophobic, violent comments are published with the paper hiding behind its "terms of Service" agreement to point out they aren't responsible for what's written by the authors nor should they demand the author's identity be published with the comments.
But papers should drop the guise that they are allowing the comments to provide their readers a place to voice their thoughts. Drop the high and mighty journalistic duty.
You want people to keep it as nasty as possible to draw as many viewers as possible in order to charge advertisers as much as possible.
It's business not journalism.
@8:40 am - you do not know what you are talking about. i would call you an idiot but that would be mean to other idiots. have you ever heard of a user name and password? all that a cookie would do is allow the person to access the content without loging in again. if the cookie is cleared, all that you would have to do is login again.
ReplyDelete12:36 and 8:40: Get your facts straight before you reflexively blame Gannett. Little Rock isn't Gannett.
ReplyDeleteHere's a contradiction for you.
ReplyDeleteThe higher-ups spend all that time in those multiple planning meetings everyday to make sure the products are great, I guess. But how much time is devoted to reviewing and deleting some of the reader comments that violate terms of service agreements? That doesn't make a bit of sense to me.
8:54 AM, I am 12:36 and I wasn't assuming Little Rock is a Gannett site, nor does it appear 8:40 assumed that. We're talking about the old news media in general on this recycled pay-site wave and what it would mean for Gannett. Speaking for myself, I wrote with the fact I didn't think Gannett owns Little Rock in mind.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you are the one reacting reflexively, and hostily. Maybe you've been reading your own site's viscious story comments too long. There's a big world out there that's not hateful, bigoted, homophobic, etc. etc.
8:50, I know that's true about cookies, but what do you think about the fact, it seems to me, that login would have to be granted from any computer, anywhere? Even if Gannett started retaining IPs, people travel with their laptops.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me everyone in a group could use one paid subscription, easily. How would Gannett stop that?
Frankly, Gannett “unlocked” a lot of profits by not “locking-up” the value of its online content years ago.
ReplyDeleteAnd, as someone who was flat-out told to place all of our remaining content online for free soon after Gannett acquired our newspaper group a few years back without discussion of our strategy, I must share that Gannett’s strategy remains significantly flawed. And, if Gannett truly can’t figure out the technical side, then call the Wall Street Journal as I’ve been happily paying for their online edition – accessing it from wherever I want - since its inception.
So, in the words of my former boss, it’s well past the time to “just do it”.
Stimulus for newspapers?
ReplyDeleteIf there is government spending, state and local, thanks to the stimulus bill, won't that benefit newspapers because there will be a flood of legal classifieds?
Isn't that a good thing?
@9:26 - "It seems to me everyone in a group could use one paid subscription, easily. How would Gannett stop that?"
ReplyDeleteAll sites that want to control on-line subscriptions have the same issue. It's a pretty simple fix. Don't allow simultaneous logins from multiple IPs.
CN's A-1, above-the-fold story today is the same one that ran Feb. 9. Also a North Brunswick story on today's carousel ran yesterday as well. Not a good job.
ReplyDelete"Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteStimulus for newspapers?
If there is government spending, state and local, thanks to the stimulus bill, won't that benefit newspapers because there will be a flood of legal classifieds?
Isn't that a good thing?
2/16/2009 9:30 AM"
What makes you think that the listings would go to print classified, and not to online sites (whether newspaper-affiliated or not) or state/county job boards? It's not like employers have no choice, and the past 13 years have demonstrated clearly what that choice will be.
cookies? girl-scout cookies?
ReplyDeleteI tried to find a A1 story on our local gannett website that a friend had told me was in the paper that day. It took me 5 MINUTES to find the story. I wouldn't pay a dime to subscribe to the online site. It is absolutely frustrating to go on their site.
ReplyDeleteThe papers, including USAT, work fine to me as long as they're free. I wouldn't pay even a small token amount to read any of them.
ReplyDeleteAnother Monday...Another 8-page newspaper.
ReplyDeleteTotal of 6 ads in the edition.
Tick...tick...tick.
@11:09 - even if you are joking and understand what a cookie is in relation to a computer, this is exactly why the newspaper industry is going into decline. for the most part, the industry is full of a bunch of luddites with minimal knowledge about what will drive the industry into the future. even when the knowledge is present, there is a basic knee jerk reaction to reject new ways of doing business. this board is full of people hoping that things will go back to the way they were. your wishful longing for the past will put you right out of a job.
ReplyDelete11:35 - cookies or no cookies, I wouldn't pay a dime for access to a Gannett website. They are absolutely horrible! I can't believe no one sees this.
ReplyDeleteQuestion to you ad reps out there: Isn't it true that it's classified ads that are supposed to pull in the most revenue? I keep reading about ad reps getting laid off. Why?? Shouldn't they be figuring out how to revive classified?
ReplyDeleteI know, craigslist is "better." Well I don't think so. It's full of phoneys, phishers and fakery. I know because I've been trying to find a decent job since I was laid off in December and craigslist has yield Zero.Point.Zero
Wow 11:25 ... 8 pages? Is this one of the small Ohio papers? Indiana papers? With no classified, I've been told residents in those communities have revolted big-time against the "tiny" papers.
ReplyDeleteThere are even some better alternatives starting up...
Tick.. tick... tick... indeed
@11:35 - what don't you like about the web sites? serious question. hopefully a serious response from you and others.
ReplyDelete"Luddites" should be capitalized.
ReplyDelete11:35, cookies or no cookies, I wouldn't pay a dime for access to a Gannett website. They are just horrible sites to navigate, not pleasing to look at and just plain awful. I can't believe that a company that is depending on the website for survival wouldn't put more effort into making their website better. IMHO this is what is going to do Gannett in.
ReplyDeleteCan anyone explain what the hell is happening to the New Jersey newspapers? Where is the vision and leadership?
ReplyDeleteTo 1:26 p.m.
ReplyDeleteOur site is slow, cumbersome to navigate, the story chats take FOREVER to come up, the videos (that take an enormous amount of time to produce) bore me, the same story appears in several places and there's no rhyme or reason to it. Readers have asked for numerous changes since we got forced to adopt the new site, to no avail. I guess we can't change what Gannett has forced down our throats. The ads are annoying to say the least. You want more?
And the stories are thrown up on the Web without editing and often with spelling mistakes in the heds. And readers do notice.
ReplyDelete1:26 honest question and hope to get an honest answer. Do you think the Gannett websites are acceptable? Or just good enough..
ReplyDeleteDubow, Martore, McCorkindale, etc. would never think of doing this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/story/904842.html
The answer is the once-proud Marion Star, where Warren G. Harding years ago held the position of editor.
ReplyDeleteIt's about an 11,000 circ. paper in central Ohio. Others are similar in the NNCO group. That's the Newspaper Network of Central Ohio (or the No News of Central Ohio).
Any1 know the current circulation #s for the NJ dailies?
ReplyDeleteI would have to say that most of the Gannett Web sites are not worth a dime of subscription money. They are poorly maintained, riddled with errors and slow to turn over new stories. Our local edition keeps stories on the front page under "communities or local news" for more than a week. And I'm talking about things as stupid as pee-wee cheerleading teams and people turning 100 years old. I'm gonna pay for that? Not hardly.
ReplyDelete3:36
ReplyDeletethanks for posting that story. what a great guy he is!
Dear 3:58---Nobody knows the circulation numbers in New Jersey--But your curse began when Gannett bought your paper. They have purchased several papers in the past and they have nose-dived. Hmmmm--Maybe it is the piss poor management of Gannett---maybe perhaps they deserve a 4 dollar stock price. Yesterday another gutless wonder named " Anonoymous" claimed I was dissed by Krista Mueller--therefore the reason why I have been suggesting--" Krista Mueller to the rescue!!!"--Actually never been interested in Krista Mueller--but she embodies what the fuck has been wrong with Gannett for years and years. Hate to burst your bubble --but Westchester is a joke!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteToday's Tennessean Web site:
ReplyDeleteSlide show on what local celebrities would look like with mustaches.
www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=DN&Dato=20090210&Kategori=FEATURES01&Lopenr=902100803&Ref=PH
"House of Cards" airs tonight on CNBC at 7:00 CST if you haven't seen it yet. It's a 2 hr program on all the greed that led to the failing economy.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteGannett will fall,unless they come out with the BIG story right now.The story that has bin suppressed for years,and all of us NJ reporters know it!Speak-up now,and save the Mother ship UFO's are real!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteUmmmm, anonymous on that last furlough comment please! Jeez, I should lay off the Leinenkugel's.
ReplyDeletePlease, info center types!
ReplyDeleteDo not post "Breaking News" when you don't have any information. I'm tired of my non-Gannett friends giving me shit for it.
Example:
Breaking News:
(headline) Police hunt on for man in shooting.
Story:
We have reports that the sheriff's department is searching for a man wanted for questioning for a shooting.
That's it... No What, when, where or why. Hell, the man-hunt might be in my neck of the woods, or 90 miles from here.
Why even post it?
2:26PM... The answer to your question is simply that the NJ Newspaper Group has turned to shit.
ReplyDeleteThe worst offenders in lack of content and poor leadership are in the CN, HNT and APP. The Daily Record doesn't even get a consideration anymore. At the CN and HNT, the reporters (sorry, staff writers) all seem fairly good when they are permitted to write. The managing editor and his assistant write absolute garbage. Reading the Grzella-Gram on Monday is just a waste. The Tuesday and Saturday columns by JJC are laughable. If anyone can find a copy of Saturday's paper, read the "sermonette" which was passed off as a column. He's done it many times before and will continue as long as it's tolerated. Michael Riley does 1000% better, and he's Reverend for goodness sake!
I'm a New Jersey native. I grew up with the Home News and a weekly owned by a company that has NOT been gobbled up by Gannett. The Tribune covered Metuchen, Woodbridge etc. I remember when the two merged and people were freaked out (I was living elsewhere at that time but had family there). They were the papers of record, but people liked the Star Ledger better.
ReplyDeleteNow I read on this site tons of comments about New Jersey papers. How come you all are so angry? Is it really that bad? How can you stay at these papers if it's that bad. I just don't get it.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeletetoday's Courierpost (Monday edition) was fairly good in size and carried a pretty impressive number of ads compared to what's been going on over recent months. Is it that today is Presidents' Day or are things turning around?
ReplyDeleteAn oldie, but describes Gannett perfectly for all those who scream...make suggestions to improve the "Company".
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning, there was the Plan:
And then came the Assumptions.
And the Assumptions were without form,
And the Plan was without substance.
And darkness was upon the face of the Workers and they spoke
among themselves saying, "It's a crock of shit, and it stinks."
And the Workers went unto their Supervisors and said, "It is a pail of dung, and we can't live with the smell."
And the Supervisors went unto their Managers saying, "It is a container of excrement, and it is very strong, such that none may abide by it."
And the Managers went unto their Directors saying, "It is a vessel of fertilizer, and none may abide it's strength."
And the Directors spoke among themselves, saying to one another, "It contains that which aids plant growth, and it is very strong."
And the Directors went to the Vice Presidents saying unto them, "It promotes growth, and it is very powerful."
And the Vice Presidents went to the President saying unto him, "This new plan will actively promote growth, and vigor of the company with very powerful effects."
And the President looked upon the Plan, and said that it was good,
And the Plan became Policy.
And this is how shit happens.
I don't understand,what is so bad about NJ group?Why all the hostility?I'v gotten a couple of Rising Stars awards,I know I do my job,do you do yours our just bitch about how bad you have it.Well it's no wonder you are so bad !
ReplyDeleteJim, I don't understand why you allow Todd to continually spew bitterness and ignorance but my posts calling him on the carpet are removed?
ReplyDeleteI don't even use foul language - can't say the same for Todd.
Where's the equality and freedom of speech?
Get ready to cut expenses, folks. Time to tighten that belt once again.
ReplyDeleteThe APP is particularly curious for its many typos and poor editing in the online edition.
ReplyDeleteI say curious because it once was very good, before Tom Donovan came. Maybe coincidence, but then the RIF started. First, the breaking news editor was booted out in the buyout. Errors spiked up. The guy replacing her in posting live copy, I think just by taking on a new additional job, wasn't doing much in the way of editing and wrote haphazard heds, but then they booted him in the August layoff. Errors spiked noticeably higher. Then the community conversation editor was correcting errors seemingly nonstop, judging by the comments readers left in the stories posted by the bureau chiefs, and they booted her in the December layoffs. Errors have been off the chart since, and the worst is they never get corrected. This afternoon there were glaring misspellings in two headlines featured in the "BREAKING NEWS: readme now readme now" box. One had been there since Saturday or Sunday. I couldn't even stand to look at our own site, I was so humiliated.
From my vantage point, it looks like the APP is trying hard to make a shitty online page. They keep giving the boot to everyone who made it good or better. The bosses sure are doing everything they can to sabotage the online effort. I don't understand how they can say with a straight face that this is how they intend to make the big revenues of the future.
What was Donovan like in Westchester? Is this just coincidence, or is he a boob? Did he replace Bob Collins are head of NJ Group when he replaced Collins as APP publisher?
I say curious because it once was very good, before Tom Donovan came.
ReplyDeleteTom Donavan NEVER had a clue! He was mentored very poorly and never truly knew the business. I have no clue how he got where he is today. He started in inside sales and somehow moved from that to retail, to classified manager and then he moved on. He apparently forgot who got him where he is today. He used to be a nice kid, but I guess corporate made him one of their zombies. He's just a good old boy who has forgotten where he came from.