Thursday, February 12, 2009
Thursday | Feb. 12 | Your News & Comments
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117 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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first!
ReplyDeletewoo-dee-hoo, all.
Hmmmm. Seems like the first comment spot is -- a profit center! Just got to figure out how to make the software behave.
ReplyDeleteNew Jersey Papers Rock !!
ReplyDeleteJust realized that all the efforts we make to reduce churn in circ and advertising (churn is replacing old readers/advertisers with new ones)....
ReplyDelete...is totally the opposite of what we're trying to do with the company - encouraging the churn of old expensive employees with cheap ones!
"you agree to relinquish any claims against any persons associated with Gannett Blog."
ReplyDeleteJim, this really does sound like you are about to give up all the source i.p. addresses to the Crystal Palace and you don't want us to sue you when we get fired.
BOB THE SLEEPER TO THE RESCUE!
ReplyDeleteNEW JERSEY RULES! ALL YOU HATERS PUT THAT IN YOUR PIPE AND SMOKE IT!
To the "investor" from yesterday who said "I doubt many investors in GCI know about this blog."
ReplyDeleteBut yet, you do, and read comments and post on this blog. Interesting.
Headline of the day, from USAT:
ReplyDeleteRecession seems to put people in the mood for condoms
"With a crippled economy forcing millions of cash-strapped Americans to entertain themselves at home, it's not surprising that one particular product is seeing a sales increase — condoms."
Um, when I'm "entertaining myself at home" I don't use... oh never mind. :)
Anyone have a publisher that shows OBVIOUS favoritism to one or two newsroom worker bees? (I use the term worker bees lightly as the favorites do very little) Talking about to the point others in the newsroom have noticed and are angry
ReplyDeleteWhat is the deal with Bob Dickey and his henchmen, Michele Krans and Evan Ray? What are they up to? Has anyone heard from them?
ReplyDelete7:19 Your quote: Anyone have a publisher that shows OBVIOUS favoritism to one or two newsroom worker bees?
ReplyDeleteHahahahaha welcome to Gannett...their might be more too the workers bees then you might know.......
Morning Jim, I thought you said you were changing your mug daily?
ReplyDeleteAfter reading a comment yesterday, I got curious and called two brokers I know and asked them if the morale of the rank and file factors in to their decision to recommend a stock purchase. The answer from both was "NO."
ReplyDelete9:02
ReplyDeleteIf morale was a criteria, stock purchases would come to a halt worldwide. There are very few companies where the rank and file are not running scared right now.
New Jersey!insted of SMOKEING lets just stone them (JUST THOES CHOSEN PHEW)and and put it to bed with somthing to Suck On for the night
ReplyDeleteHas anyone bought stock in the company this year (2009)?
ReplyDeleteA while back, a blog post said that Asbury Park Press eliminated its op-ed pages two days a week. Is that true? Have any other papers op-ed pages been reduced?
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know when the next GCI board of directors meeting is going to be held?
ReplyDeleteCan anyone on the ad side speak to rates and how much papers are discounting? I've heard advertisers are upsizing 1/4 to 1/2page and 1/2 to full page ads at no additional cost!
ReplyDelete9:33
ReplyDeleteI've bought stock 3 times. I buy a 1000 shares at a time and sell on the spike of 1/2 to 1 point rise. I don't let morale affect where a buck can be made. Morale aside, Gannett is still at or near the top as far as newspaper companies go. I wouldn't touch News Corp, Lee, McClatchy, and Washington Post is too expensive.
Hi, my former boss in Phoenix, Tom Callinan, isn't getting any response to his Facebook invitations, so let's help him out. He hasn't made any true friends in Cincinnati since the company shipped him there five years ago. Here are Tom's reasons for you to be his friend:
ReplyDelete25 Things About Me
25. I really miss Minnesota and that feeling of my mustache freezing up.
24. I miss my pool in Florida and sleeping outside under the stars in Arizona.
23. I am a weather schizophreniac.
22. And so am I.
21. I miss living in small towns.
20. I miss living in big towns.
19. I love Cincinnati because it is in the middle of all of above
18. I work too much.
17. But I dream of taking time with buddies and going on a golf junket.
16. But while I try I don't really like golf.
15. And I really don't like to get off my ass and travel.
14. And, with due deference to my pals, I'm such an introvert I really don't like being with people that much.
13. Unless it's my job, which I get paid for.
12. That's why one of my best friends ever was Morris in New York.
11. He had a hearing problem and couldn't hear a damn thing.
10. But he liked to play craps.
9. So we'd drive the hour to the casino and have a great time.
8. He couldn't hear. I didn't want to to talk anyway. What a friend.
7. I always bet on 7. Mickey Mantle, Hedge of 8. Yogi Berra.
6. I am very proud to be a Vietnam veteran.
5. I love Maureen and my family. I got very lucky in life.
4. I am a newspaper guy trying to remain relevant in the new media world.
3. Some people may think I am trying too hard.
2. OK, I am obsessive. I love this stuff.
1. It's cool to connect with friends from long ago and make new ones. I really, really love social media. I may even tweet or Facebook my friend Morris. Just don't ask us to talk, OK.
Investors ignoring morale isn’t surprising. Why? Few, if any, had the opportunity to look inside companies beyond what leadership told them.
ReplyDeleteWell, that was until blogs like Jim’s began populating the web. And, as more and more reputable blogs like this do, the more investors will take notice in what they provide. And, anyone listening to the info that's unfolded here, and on other related blogs, learned about this company’s failed leadership in real-time, well ahead of Dubow’s excuses.
Still above rolling up your sleeves here? Well, good luck with that and good luck in keeping your cuff links off your tray at America’s new high-roller power lunch spot - McDonalds, if you don’t.
Investors look at corporate metrics, or the numbers. There are companies that had great employee morale (Starbucks) that are in deep trouble, and companies with lousy morale (HP) that are doing okay given the economic troubles. There is one measurement often used for company morale, and that is unscheduled sickday rates which are double the normal rates in companies that have big morale problems. People just wake up and feel so miserable or beaten down they don't want to go to work, and so call in sick.
ReplyDeleteUp-sizing ads where? Discounts in Gannett? Where? The approval process takes to long, then we miss the business.
ReplyDeleteInvestors will never use blogs as a basis for stock purchases. The information contained on them is not verified and in the majority of cases is inaccurate. Any commenter can just put out fabricated information. If facts were verified first, the usefulness of the blog would be greatly enhanced. Even Jim Hopkins tells you the comments are not verified as accurate and could be a total fabrication.
ReplyDeleteLookie and congratulations. GCI today just sunk under a valuation of $1 billion. We no longer work for a company that is in the billion dollar ranks.
ReplyDeleteHey, Dubow & Co.: Look at the valuation of GCI today, and tell us again that you have a workable business plan. It is a disaster, and you are dragging this company down. SO when are you going to admit that what you are doing isn't working, and either resign or come up with a new and workable plan?
ReplyDelete9:59
ReplyDeleteI have owned McDonald's stock for sometime, I eat there all the time. I also buy USA Today.
Is the Courier Post a little bigger today?
ReplyDeleteIf Jack Welsh was going to spend $1 Billion for the Boston Globe last year maybe he'd like to buy a whole company? Or is that a company full of holes?
ReplyDeletePointRoll Press release as of an hour ago.
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/bt73x2
NEW YORK, Feb. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- PointRoll, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gannett Co., Inc. GCI and leading provider of rich media advertising announced expanded distribution partners to run its rich media ads on the Apple iPhone
Stocks, schmocks. The essence of the problem in our economy is that people who have money aren't spending it, the banks who GOT bailout money aren't lending it, and the continuing layoffs are putting more people into credit card and home mortgage default/banktuptcy.
ReplyDeleteIf I were an advertiser, what customers would I be targeting in a newspaper ad?
That's what newspaper bigshots have presumably been trying to figure out. Because until they do, advertising is going to keep shrinking.
As for GCI's stock price, take a look around the market. GM was trading at under $4 the other day. The company that just got billions in bailout money.
Until people can start spending -- and as a Gannett layoff I know I can't -- this global economic nightmare is going to continue.
So stop laying off people, will ya?
To all of you folks who are still employed by Gannett and trash talk it constantly....don't your realize you are trashing yourself. You ARE the company. If that statement isn't true, and you do not consider yourself to be “the company” then you aren’t taking the initiative to make things better. Every big company has problems. What are you doing to fix it other than bad mouthing "the bosses" and upper management? Real change starts with you! Take the initiative to make it better to leave.
ReplyDeleteAs a former Gannett employee and OC member I was proud to work for Gannett with its problems and all. To all you whiners I say....lead, follow or get out of the way.
11:02. Are you kidding? That's a nice theory, that we are the company, but it doesn't hold much water here. There are some companies where that might be true, and those companies usually make the "best of" lists of employers by various publications and organizations. Ever see Gannett on any of those lists?
ReplyDeleteWe do what we are told. Those who don't usually get laid off or cast aside in some other mannner. We smile when we don't feel like smiling because some manager somewhere is judging who is "happy" and who isn't.
This company is far too large and far to corroded for the bulk of employees to feel any ownership. Gannett is a despised company by most. Has been for years. People work here because they either are hoping to make small changes or just don't care about fighting city hall. They accept their paychecks and do the work, but rarely get that warm and fuzzy feeling that comes from a job where one really has a say in things. Where one doesn't have to pretend to be happy or engaged in their work.
Gannett is horrible. It's the reason this blog thrives. So, it's clear that you are in the minority, and maybe even a coddled manager or employee who lives to kiss ass and to write idealistic PR statements in this blog.
11:02 AM
ReplyDeleteDo you miss working for Gannett?
I'm wondering why you think anyone on here wants to hear a lecture from you?
Hey, 11:02, would you like the names of folks who have been treated horribly by GCI? There's no shortage of them. Plenty are collecting unemployment checks or have been silenced by fear. People with good intentions get crushed in this company. So don't give me this bull about employees being able to make the workplace better at GCI. It doesn't happen here, particularly at the larger papers where there are simply too many layers of morons and territorial, power-hungry assholes. The larger papers are toxic. You can't get anything done. Red tape galore. Incompetence rules the day. Diversity hiring is abundant but no one seems to have a problem with age discrimination. GCI is a joke in the industry for good reason. You my friend, are either a liar or were one of the few who left here with your pride and self esteem in tact. The numbers overwhelming disprove your theory.
ReplyDeleteHi, 9:53:
ReplyDeleteCincinnati editor Tom Callinan also uses LinkedIn to send his staff members requests to write recommendations for him. Most people don't want to participate but are worried about ignoring his requests. People were so uncomfortable about it they were talking about going to HR to ask him to back off. Don't know if they did.
Ha! 11:02 is either naive or in denial. The environment at most Gannett properties is stifling and parochial. The talent level is mediocre at best, mostly because talented people leave, get thrown out for speaking out or never apply to work here in the first place. Gannett has a horrible rep in the business, and if you deny that then you just haven't been around long enough or aren't listening.
ReplyDeleteGannett betrayed countless loyal employees in December and distanced itself from the layoffs by pointing to economic conditions. Please, you can't tell me every one of those layoffs was critical to the survival of the company. Plus, they blew the chance to get rid of people who don't pull their weight by showing the door to those who were highly proven and qualified.
Gannett honors kiss-assing employees like no place I've ever seen. That causes huge morale problems. It also caused logistical hassles and cuts into creditability.
USA TODAY in particular has become a depressing place to work, despite the nice surroundings and some of the more chipper young'uns that have taken the place of my old and extremely competent friends who have been lost or thrown out in the last three years. Ironic, because these young'uns aren't likely to be as loyal for as long as the old guard. They've seen what happens when you hit age 50 around here.
11:02
ReplyDeleteRight on! Everyday it's the same old shit on this blog. At the rate we are going all of us are going to be out a job very soon. Then this blog will be absolutely worthless. And Jim, you'll be out a job.
We all need to start helping out and quit all the negative stuff. We all know the problems we face, we don't have to be reminded each day.
Jim, One question, do you think it's possible that this blog could actually contribute to layoffs?
Constant bombardment with negative comments can only led to a lower moral. And it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know low moral costs corporations millions of dollars each year. And if it costs the company money then more layoffs are to follow. So are you helping or adding to more layoffs? Sure the company is doing it's part in the low moral issue, but so is this blog.
11:44 I am not going to lift a finger to help a company that has devaluated me and my work. When I first came here, I tried to recommend concrete changes that would have brought in more business and more revenues, and I was ridiculed. Then I saw some of what I proposed implemented and the execs took credit. Why should I now pitch in? I could care less if this company lives or dies. In fact, I am happy with the decline in the stock and the valuation of GCI because it points out how atrociously managed is this concern.
ReplyDelete11:44 am: No. Indeed, there's a theme on this blog I find very interesting:
ReplyDeleteFor decades, employees were forced to take shit from a relative handful of crazy top managers. Now that employees have turned the tables, all of a sudden, we're supposed to be all warm and fuzzy.
You, for example, have reverted to Gannett management tactic No. 43: Manage by fear. You say: "At the rate we are going all of us are going to be out a job very soon. Then this blog will be absolutely worthless. And Jim, you'll be out a job."
In other words, I better behave or you're going to punish me. I control my own career now, thank you very much. And I'm no longer afraid.
You had your chance. Too late now.
We have been beaten down, laughed at, had our paychecks cut by furloughs, seen hard-working colleagues laid off and required to do more work as a result. We have been helping out, 11:44, and it does no good.
ReplyDeleteOK, 11:44, you have a platform. Tell us what you would do? Helping out isn't a plan. Wall Street is telling us what we are doing is not the right direction. What specific things would you do?
ReplyDeleteLet's be serious . Has anyone from the December layoff found a fulltime job with benefits?
ReplyDeleteJesus, 1102 and 1144, get your heads out of your asses. Meet me (or any other of dozens of us) for a private chat about how many do-nothing, CYA-ing, beard-stroking, bullying, credit-stealing mental cases systematically and deliberately ignored good ideas, personal initiative, journalistically sound input and sheer common sense and logic to protect their cliques. I will say that I had a good career at Big G, but it could have been a hell of a lot more gratifying and less insulting. The injurious nature of the in-vs.-out crowd mentality is damn near immeasurable. And I'm sorry, but for most of us, one's membership (current or former) on an OC hardly conveys credibility and a clear vision of reality as it exists in Gannett newsrooms.
ReplyDeleteSo what you are saying is that this blog in no way contributes to lower moral for any of it's viewers. I beg to differ, I know fellow employees who state they feel depressed after reading the comments on this blog and it has contributed to their low moral.
ReplyDeleteI could care less if you behave. I hope you don't.
I have always taken control of my career. If I don't like my situation I change it. I'm not beholding to Gannett or any other company. I am not afraid, nor have I ever been. I am not in management and I do not take shit from anybody. Never have, never will.We all control our own destiny. By your comment you have found that out.
And hear, hear, Jim. You took the words right out of my mouth. It's the "do as I say not as I do" BS that's the most laughable example of the incredible hauteur that's being repaid in spades. Gee, let me count the number of private meetings in which I was called in to my manager's office to give him reams of highly valuable advice, years of hard-won journalistic acumen, only to see him and his cronies undermine me to the newsroom at large, to the point where my contributions were made seemingly invisible. And when you pay them back with the scorn they so richly deserve, they simply use the power they've so diligently carved out and preserved (at the expense of doing their journalistic duty) to make you out to be the bad guy. Fuck 'em. Post-Gannett, I've witnessed companies with class, CEOs with integrity. They're out there. It's a hell of a shock to the system, believe me, after you've absorbed years of this bullshit and had to put up a daily struggle to mentally cope with the comedy of errors at GCI.
ReplyDelete12:16, it's "beholden," not "beholding."
ReplyDeleteJim:
ReplyDelete"For decades, employees were FORCED to take shit from a relative handful of crazy top managers."
Ever heard the words, "I Quit"
You were forced because you ALLOWED them to force you. You had options you chose not to take.
You do not know what you are talking about.
ReplyDelete12:20
ReplyDeleteThat's why I'm not in management.
Your words, not mine.
ReplyDeleteSo we are supposed to be helping out. But you and I both know what is happening in the Crystal Towers today. Plans are being hatched for yet more layoffs and cutbacks. They will not affect the malfactors who made this mess, who will continue to draw six-figure salaries. These cutbacks will again hit at those of us on the lower rungs of this operation. So I am supposed to help out with a program that is going to lead to me being laid off? Think again.
ReplyDeleteExactly, 12:28. The last ones out the door will be the ones who said "yes" the most, for the longest time, to the most daft ideas. They'll be the ones who obstructed, for the longest amount of time, good employees, couldn't treat them humanely to save their lives.
ReplyDelete"Has anyone from the December layoff found a fulltime job with benefits?"
ReplyDeleteMy heart goes out to you folks who got laid off in December.
I got laid off in August after 11 years with the company and it was pretty devastating. My wife got laid off just three weeks later.
We didn't understand it then, but we do now, that it was a blessing in disguise. We've both found terrific jobs with better pay, better benefits, and are both being treated, well, like I never was at Gannett. My wife now loves going to work as do I.
Starting over was scary for us - we're not that young anymore (both of us in our 50's), but we both quickly found out that in our new roles we're actually and truly valued. I've had more genuine accolades from co-workers in two months than I did in my 11 years at Gannett and my wife has become a valued and trusted employee in just three short months. It amazes me when my boss or coworkers rally around a project to help each other out, offer up advice, pitch in when we have a problem that needs solving, or just stop by to say "great job" now and then. I walk down the halls and everyone says "good morning" and they're all SMILING! Can you believe it? I'm still adjusting.
I hope all you folks that worked overtime and never got paid for it and went above and beyond because doing a quality job was important to you at a personal level all find great new opportunities in 2009! You are the ones that kept everything running and you're damned sure the ones that deserve all the best!
It's too bad that Craig has not been called before congress to be questioned about the decline in the value of the Gannett stock and how he justifies his salary, bonuses and perks along with the other empty suits in "management" in this sorry company. What would congress members say about the outrageous dividend coming out of this company now worth less each day. $4/share, here we come! Will it be this week or next?
ReplyDeleteBless you, 12:43. I can't tell you how glad what you say makes me feel. Best of luck to you and your wife. Live indeed begins after Gannett.
ReplyDelete12:04. To answer your question, no I haven't found a job of any kind in or out of the business. I am a December layoff victim, living in what is suppose to be a relatively decent job market area. But I haven't been able to find even entry-level work in any sort of publishing-related field.
ReplyDeleteI am older, which probably hurts my chances, and is all the more reason Gannett should have watched out for folks like me -- those who have been loyal but are entering an age where it would be hard to find a job under normal circumstances, let alone this bad economic time.
I hate to sound like I am wallowing in self pity, but gosh, how does a company on one hand pretend to be a family that values loyalty/hard work but on the other hand get rid of so many older folks, who were still doing a good job, during a time like this? Kind of like taking your older pet to the shelter to be adopted just because it's not convenient to have him/her around anymore. Not many folks adopt an aging pet, even though those pets might still be healthy and deserving of a good home. Everyone wants a puppy or kitten. Well, Gannett, you took us to the shelter and waved goodbye, without any notice or decent severance. I gave you years of dedication and was embracing the future, but you allowed for some nut job managing editor to send me to the glue factory for no justifiable, let alone humane reason.
And you people in the towers actually sleep at night?
There are economic realities that are bringing out the worst in Gannett and other companies. The layoffs are becoming self perpetuating and the criteria for being laid off are faulty to say the least. Older workers still have another 10-15 years to retirement, and we are spending all our savings on survival. We won't have anything left to retire on. There will be no time to catch up. Does Gannett ever think about this stuff and what it does to people? I am not saying younger or newer hires should be first to go, but there should be some protection of older, competent workers during these times. We don't have the time to reinvent ourselves, to retrain or to rebuild our 401k plans. We are cashing out our pensions just to eat while our job searches are largely fruitless. I know I was doing the job. I know that from my coworkers who dearly miss me. That garbage about "positions being eliminated" is just that, garbage. Humans were eliminated, not positions. And I know this human writing this comment was a very solid employee in every regard. Just because one man with questionable character/judgment didn't see a future for me where I worked is no reason for me and people like me to have our lives turned upside down at this stage in life. There had to be better options.
I remain optimistic that I will find a job one day that perhaps will pay half of what I was making before. I will never be able to retire. My life, and those around me, will never be the same after the December layoffs. I continue to want to scream from a mountain top that Gannett did not oversee those layoffs properly. Besides myself, I know of at least two other people who were laid off at other Gannett properties that were very good employees with jobs that were still crucial to operations. I guess, like me, they just didn't suck up to their bosses enough. Horrible, horrible reason to get laid off.
"What would congress members say about the outrageous dividend coming out of this company"
ReplyDeleteProbably not much, but they would more than likely find it hard to funnel any newspaper bailout money Gannett's way seeing as the financial shenanigans of Dubow and his cronies have come into question.
"I am not saying younger or newer hires should be first to go, but there should be some protection of older, competent workers during these times."
ReplyDelete12:54 PM
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act offers the very kind of protection you're talking about. I hope you call the EEOC and get started right now.
"I am older, which probably hurts my chances, and is all the more reason Gannett should have watched out for folks like me..."
ReplyDeleteYes, ethically they should have, but unfortunately ethics plays no part in corporate economics.
If you look hard enough, you will find something. For every 10 companies that value kids fresh out of college who'll work for a song, there's at least a few that value the work ethic and professional maturity that us older folks bring to the table.
The great part is when you find a company that holds these beliefs as part of their core values, you'll be rewarded and treated like you're truly part of the family. A sure sign is that no one will actually come out and say "it's a big family here" - they simply won't have to.
Gannett doesn't have to watch out for anybody. But the company is supposed to follow various laws to make sure people in certain protected classes are treated fairly in hiring, firing, promotion, training, etc.
ReplyDeleteI hope more people call them out on what I consider to be blatant age discrimination.
11:02 and 11:44, I would like to say that I don't feel the abuse you are getting for your comments is needed. We all have issues with our jobs, we all have problems with management, we all work too hard, and we all have bad feelings about Gannett and many of the decisions made at corporate each day.
ReplyDeleteHowever, some of us out here, bad feelings aside, actually like our jobs. I would be one of those people. Do I feel comfortable that I work for this corporation which gives me absolutely NO real chance to make things better? Well, no. But I do like my job (the job, not the company) and I pray everyday I walk into work that it's not going to be my last with Gannett.
I feel the days go a lot quicker and I feel much better about what I do and the paper I work for if I try to have a good attitude about it. Is Gannett great - heck no. Is Gannett the company I've always dreamed of working for - heck no. Now that I'm here do I hope I get to stay - oh yeah.
So I just have to say this - in my months reading the comments on this blog, I have come to the conclusion that there are a good number of very smart people out here that are just fed up with the corporation they happen to work for. It feels to me like we should be able to make a difference. We are smart, most of us I believe like the job that we do (the job again, not the company), and I assume that most of us would like to be able to keep doing the job that we do. So how about instead of whining all day long about everything that is wrong - we try to be positive about something. You have a job, you probably get paid at least a decent wage, and you are part of an industry that has the power to change the world.
With the negative energy out here everyday - I have to say I wonder how this company has gotten where it is. If we could all find one thing to be positive about each day - perhaps that will roll down the hill or up the hill to different folks in our papers. Perhaps we, "the company" (as 11:02 puts it), do have the power to change the things we whine about? Perhaps we just need to think more positively, stop pointing fingers at the department, the management, whatever is bringing the complaints on and instead smile at a co-worker, tell someone they do a good job, brag about people who do a good job. Bad morale cannot be good for any of us.
I give Jim great praise for keeping us all informed about what is going on in our corporation (golf outings, buildings being closed and sold, etc) – Lord knows corporate doesn’t share that information with us. Jim – please keep up the good work as far as that goes.
And no, I am not a manager of any sort. I'm a worker bee like many of you. I just hope I can continue to be the worker bee I enjoy being each day.
BILL ALBRECT TO THE RESCUE!!!!!!!
ReplyDelete1:10 PM
ReplyDeleteYou're wrong. This is not an ethical matter at all. It's a legal matter.
Workers 40 and older fall into a protected class.
1:23, I like you. But I think that people like you forget about the people like me, who also liked our jobs, worked our asses off, and still got laid off on 12-3. 11:02 and 11:44 seem to forget about us, too. Excuuuuuse us for being bitter and coming to this blog to vent. If you don't like the negativity, start your own "I love Gannett" blog.
ReplyDelete1:23
ReplyDeleteWell said! Get ready to be blasted by those who hate positive attitudes. They can't stand the thought of someone actually liking their job with Gannett. I too like my job and get this, even my manager.
"1:10 PM
ReplyDeleteYou're wrong. This is not an ethical matter at all. It's a legal matter.
Workers 40 and older fall into a protected class."
Go see an attorney and let me know what they tell you.
I did already, so I know I'm not wrong.
12:04
ReplyDeleteI too was laid off in December and have not found another job yet. I was a person who had ideas and shared them often. My manager didn't like that, therefore, I was let go. Thank God for my working spouse. I can be added to his medical benefits when my severance ends.
I have only had one call back from the dozens of applications I have sent. While there, they spoke of wanting long term employees and to be a sort of marriage and hopefully a calling. I sat in disbelief...I had NEVER heard those words before in my 20 years with Gannett. I am 50 yrs. old and most of the employees I saw there were my age or older. I have passed to round two and have another interview this week. Everyone, please say a prayer. I would love to work for a company like this.
God Bless to all who are still looking for a job.
12:54 you are in my prayers.
Jim,
ReplyDeleteThere are a bunch of us that manage money at a large investment house and we have been interested in taking a position in Gannett for the past 12 months. We are usually long investors in distressed companies. Meaning we take a bullish position in companies we believe have the greatest potential to grow, has a great leadership team, product differentiation and market diversity. Furthermore, and most importantly, we take positions in companies that have a loyal and dedicated employee community.
Over the past twelve months we have been tempted to buy GCI, but have always referred to your blog for true insight into the company. Your information has confirmed many of our concerns around the CEO and the CFO's ability to turn around Gannett in this challenging marketplace. It also revealed a very bad management-employee relationship.
We joke around the office that our firm would have lost over $450 million if we actually did make the investment 9 months ago.
From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for the hard work you do and indirectly, our investors thank you too! We also thank the employees and other members who post to this blog as you too continue to play an important role.
Keep up the good work. I too will send you my $20. Wish it could be more, but Obama has capped my salary :)
Good lord! The new NewsWatch is up, and Kate Marymont appears to be actually boasting about the demise of Gannett News Service. Quite the spin job. Read it and weep.
ReplyDeleteMy hopes are fading that Marymont is going to be an effective force in the Crystal Palace for the preservation and promotion of journalism in the real world in which the rest of us live.
2/12/2009 2:23 PM
ReplyDeleteReally, Marymont an effective force? One doesn't go from mid-level manager at mid-level newspaper to top news exec in less than 10 years being an effective force. Someone in lockstep with the corporate view is more like it.
Amazing that people with "positive attitudes" almost always think that people who criticize Gannett are just grumpy old folks. There is a reason for the complaints. With this company, they date back decades. Some of the best professionals and decent human beings I know can't stand this company. And your positive attitude isn't going to change the opinion of the majority of people who believe this company is something less than noble and fair. I like to think that most people who have a problem with Gannett are just being realistic and reporting on their experiences, and many of those experiences have been horrendous. Granted, we are a passionate group of cranks. Some of the things Gannett has done really stings, so we react. But if your experience is positive, count yourself as lucky. All the positive thinking in the world isn't going to change the reality of what many of us have experienced. Talk to some of these laid off folks. They are the ultimate victims of this companies sloppy, deceitful and inhumane ways. I know one person who was laid off who just a year earlier received an outstanding review, was told that he was essential to the paper and took on numerous new responsibilities to help out a diminished staff. In the blink of an eye, less than 12 months later, he was gone.
ReplyDeleteYou're happy in your job? Great. Wave the Gannett flag, have a party, but don't tell me I am just being negative for the sake of it. Gannett has screwed people in ways that would cause your little positive head to spin if you chose to see it. Probably a lot easier to just keep the blinders on and dismiss the masses as cranky, pessimistic people.
If you few positive people think that by being cheerful and giddy about Gannett that that will save your job, think again. Any number of things can do you in with this company. Hero today, goat tomorrow. Age discrimination alone is something that has been talked about for decades concerning Gannett. And you will get old.
The numbers of people on this blog and elsewhere who blast this company should be evidence enough of the problems that exist. Statistically speaking, you wouldn't have this amount of criticism for any company if that company treated people professionally, honestly and fairly. Even taking into account that some employees will always have a beef, the number of people here and on the street who hate Gannett is staggering.
Where there is smoke there is fire. And Gannett has been burning people and careers for a long time. It's only through this technology that there is finally a gathering place for all those who have be victimized. Those victims come from the smallest papers that work folks to death to the flagship, USA TODAY, that runs so inefficiently that its truly amazing it survives.
I am glad folks are shining a light on this company's ills. I wish we could do more to tell our horror stories. I don't condone the absurd posts that obviously are written by some unstable folks, but the majority of what is said here needs to be said. This is a company that is not only suffering from an economic downturn, but from its own negligence, oversights and abuses.
Most of the employees don't care enough to do thier jobs. Employees that do get trashed and blamed for doing their job so others don't look bad. In reviews they make up something you do wrong because they don't want you to feel deserving of a raise. They manipulate reports so can never get a feeling of acomplishment. The more work you do the more they give you and expect it to get done.
ReplyDeleteI know I am complaining but what else can you do. The people who say you can quit are right. But don't think it ends there. Often they give you an exit interview. They say it is to learn from there mistakes so they can improve them. Then you start wondering why no one is calling you for job interviews. Could it be that they are sharing what you say in the exit interview with prospective employers? trashing you even after your gone, that's Gannett.
Perhaps we just need to think more positively, stop pointing fingers at the department, the management, whatever is bringing the complaints on and instead smile at a co-worker, tell someone they do a good job, brag about people who do a good job. Bad morale cannot be good for any of us.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing wrong with being positive, just don't keep your head stuck in the sand. You have to look beyond the world you see as safe and step out of that realm and try to find a company that will appreciate your positive outlook. And please have a plan B. What are you going to do if you are next? Have you saved money? have a part-time job to fall back on? Can you get health insurance from your spouse or companion? This is not being negative, it's being smart and realistic.
Jim:
ReplyDeleteHere's a story suggestion....
A product-by-product examination of GCI's web strategy and that strategy's success/failure vis-a-vis other newspaper companies' strategies or efforts. You've done this in pieces over the past couple months. But an in-depth examination as a "body of work" would be interesting.
How about a letter grade for each product or brand execution:
-- CareerBuilder......D+
-- Cars.com...........B+
-- Metromix...........C
-- DPC................?
-- InfiNet............?
-- MomsLikeMe.........?
-- ContentOne.........?
Jack Williams and company are largely to credit/blame for the state of GCI's web affairs. Does their past performance inspire hope within the company for their future web endeavors? Which GCI web sites are the traffic leaders in their market? Input from GCI web folks could help paint an accurate picture.
Constant bombardment with negative comments can only led to a lower moral. And it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know low moral costs corporations millions of dollars each year. And if it costs the company money then more layoffs are to follow. So are you helping or adding to more layoffs? Sure the company is doing it's part in the low moral issue, but so is this blog.
ReplyDeleteIt's called Freedom of Speech. If you don't like the blog go somewhere else. We live in the USA, we are not chained to read this blog. What an insane idiotic thing to say about the layoffs! How in the world would a blog decide what corporate has already decided months ago. Wow Jim — you must have more power than you realized!
As far as low moral costing $$$, maybe Gannett might of thought of that years ago when they took away even small things that helped to improve moral. The employees nor the blog is the reason for poor moral. It because everyday something else is taken away from Gannett employees. Wake up and smell the coffee!
Fact= Gannett is the 36th worst place to work for in the USA. It was in a previous article.............I think they are trying for number one!
ReplyDelete2:43 Perhaps you don't feel the frustration that the rest of us feel for a company that once was...Which is now run by a bunch of idiots who are not falling on their swords.
ReplyDelete2:55PM You are a wise old coot! Using the word MORAL in place of MORALE wasn't an error on your part, was it? You know something about the drinking and the bed-hopping in the NJ Group. It's just amazing that the new offices for the CN are just across the street from a seedy hotel. Sooo convenient!
ReplyDelete11:31 I, too, know of people in the Cincinnati newsroom that were unnerved by Callinan's "invitation" to be his friend. I mean how weird is that!! If you turn him down, you go on the short list for layoff. It's almost like he's polling his employees to see who's loyal to the company, part of the team so to speak. What's really weird is that Callinan RARELY says hello as he slinks through the newsroom and he RARELY or NEVER compliments someone for a good well done. He might in the editors meeting, but that isn't the same, is it? How can he expect people to be his friend when in person he doesn't even acknowledge that they exist?
ReplyDeleteIf people don't like the negative comments on here they should go spend their time somewhere else. Complaining about this blog is just dumb.
ReplyDeleteAs for 12:54: I too was laid off in December. I too am "older" although I don't feel it, and was competent. i too worry about my retirement, about finding work, about paying bills and about not being able to catch up.
BUT, I don't blame Gannett for not looking out for me. I chose to work at a corporation that has a bad reputation of not treating its workers well. I knew the risk and I took it and I got burned. It's sad, I wish things were different, but I don't think it is/was gci's job to look out for me because I am old and gave them years of service.
If I wanted that kind of treatment I guess I should have gone to a small, family-owned business or a self-employment or something else.
And, to think that corporate America hasn't been laying off old timers since its existence is naive. My dad had the same thing happen to him and he worked for Mobile Oil. He warned me when i came to Gannett that corporate America will never look out for me and that I should look for work somewhere else. I didn't listen and I made the choice to do it anyway.
Now, I am paying the price for my choice.
i get so tired of people thinking the world owes them severance for their own choices, their own mistakes, their own misgivings.
You made a choice to work for Gannett, despite all of its bad qualities. Now you, like me and so many others, are paying the consequences.
That's my two cents. Flame away.
3:47 Good point. I knew Gannett was the dregs of the business, but I tricked them into paying me a higher salary and I stayed just long enough to qualify for the pension. When they let me go, I instantly rolled over my 401K into an IRA money market fund while GCI shares were still in their $50s. I did the same with Gannett's pension, before they could mess with it. I don't miss working for those fools at all.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteWhat is the deal with Bob Dickey and his henchmen, Michele Krans and Evan Ray? What are they up to? Has anyone heard from them?
2/12/2009 7:40 AM
Answer:
They are out on the ship that was stuck on aground in Hawaii. They are hitting hundred dollar golf balls off the back into the sea. The problem is Dubow is driving the ship and most likely that ship is going to sink. Hope this helps.
I know it's not Gannett, but I just loved this job ad on journalismjobs today:
ReplyDelete"Turley Publications, Inc., publisher of 15 community weekly newspapers serving more than 120,000 readers throughout western Mass., seeks an experienced newspaper editor with intimate knowledge of the people and places in Agawam."
Seems to me there'd be a pretty small pool of people to draw from.
I've never seen a more bizarre, antisocial newspaper manager in my life than Callinan. If he had a nickel for every word he spoke to anyone outside management at the Republic, he still couldn't buy one share of GCI stock (until maybe April).
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteHi, 9:53:
Cincinnati editor Tom Callinan also uses LinkedIn to send his staff members requests to write recommendations for him. Most people don't want to participate but are worried about ignoring his requests. People were so uncomfortable about it they were talking about going to HR to ask him to back off. Don't know if they did.
2/12/2009 11:31 AM
Gannett doesn't have HR that can stand up to a publisher. Just ask Jean Healy at the Argus leader. Gannett could cut all the HR and nobody would even have a clue they were gone. Just send a note of what you really think of him. That will teach him not to send those out to employee's.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteLet's be serious . Has anyone from the December layoff found a fulltime job with benefits?
2/12/2009 12:04 PM
Yes, better job better benefits and double the pay. In a company that is running much better than gannett. I was an employee who was beaten up and made to be scared and I'm not scared anymore i control my own destiny. It was all for the better. The job are out there you just have to really work to find them and most are not published it is all word of mouth.
BILL ALBRECT TO THE RESCUE!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhatever. He couldn't walk in from out in the rain if someone told him how to do it. He is a jerk.
2:10pm,
ReplyDeleteYour comments, as an outsider, were very refreshing. As a former employee, I'd like to say thanks - and please get the word out to others in your industry and continue making donations/written contributions to this blog.
There's bed-hopping in New Jersey? I SOOOO have to get out of Wisconsin.
ReplyDelete12:43 -- glad u found a new job and are happy in it. I have to assume that it is not a newspaper job. So, did you land in PR? Marketing? Academia? Here in the Northeast, a lot of ex-journalists (fired,retired, or just quit)have landed jobs as gov't agency spokesmen/women.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he knows something, or maybe it is a negotiating ploy. But the company negotiator at the Indy Star is urging unions to get on board with a new contract quickly, before something really bad emerges from the Crystal Towers. A hint, perhaps, of something really bad brewing?
ReplyDeletehttp://einkling.wordpress.com/2009/02/11/update-on-contract-negotiations/
Also note the stuff about having editorial writers do advertorials. ContentOne expands?
Hey 9:59: Investors don't give a rat's ass about what's inside a company - they just care about the numbers.
ReplyDelete10:57: you are spot on.
11:02: you are very wise.
Hey 2:10: you are relly good with the BS. CApped and can't send more...hillarious!!
11:02 sounds like one of our former OC members. The Orangutan was dangerous.
ReplyDeleteSo put you money where your mouth is and do something about it. What you said wasn't worth the time to read. Just more of the same, angry drivel.
ReplyDeleteLOL.
ReplyDeleteTom Callinan is a gas bag...or a bas gag.
That makes him golden in Gannett Land.
Another egomaniacal Gannett editor.
World Cup qualifier last night: USA 2, Mexico 0. The match kicked off at 7 EST and was over well before the C-N deadline. You would think a qualifying match involving the US national soccer team would get into the C-N sports section.
ReplyDeletePick up the C-N today and there's nothing on the World Cup qualifier. There is room for a half-page on how the recession is affecting high school sports ... in New York state.
It's well beyond time for the sports editor to get sent off, given the number of stories the C-N sports section has missed over the last 6 months.
5:32 pm: You assume a lot. Among other things I have not held any debt whatsoever since spring 2000.
ReplyDelete5:41 - Investors like you may not, but savvy ones sure as hell do as they seek all sorts of info – blogs like Jim’s, news stories about expiring expanded facilities options, what vendors share, etc. But hey, if you’re comfortable waiting for spoon-fed numbers from people like Dubow, then please keep doing it as others profit more from it.
ReplyDeleteOh yes 7:34, you are so self-righteous. I rely on many things but I wouldn’t waste time wading through this blog to find out what is going on. There are far easier ways to get under the covers than to read what pops up on these pages.
ReplyDeleteAnon 11:02 – You’d actually be offering great advice were it not for the simple fact that Gannett’s created a culture whereby it fails to listen. In fact, many would argue that there’s a disincentive for people to act as you suggest. And, from the OC perspective I gained at a top five paper and the broader view it afforded, I'd agree.
ReplyDeleteHence, few dare question anything from the top and unfortunately many steer clear from sharing any ideas, let alone divergent ones, for fear of being perceived as not on-board. And, frankly, you’d have had to be blind in your OC role to not have witnessed this occur, let alone fail to understand that the risks are higher for those who do so now.
It seems that everyone who comes in contact with Callahan comes away with the impression that they just met an empty suit.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I hear from folks at Cincy, he is another typical Phantom Editor who rarely mingles with the commoners.
Sad really.
I have seen publishers at some smaller papers get into the trenches with staffers and get their hands dirty, fill in in different places, lead by example. HOWEVER - I have never seen that with a Gannett editor. Ever.
Certainly not a publisher
I'm in Fort Collins and we had in my opinion, the best publisher anywhere in Gannett. Her name was Dorothy Bland. She was pushed out in a very nasty questionable manner in 2006. She would come in at night during Thanksgiving and Christmas, to help insert papers in the mailroom. She knew everyone's name and the name of all their kids. She was great. She now teaches journalism in Florida.
ReplyDeleteyou know why I'm worried? because Gannettoids like Callahan could be running USA Today, which is still without a leader since Ken "I'm not bailing" Paulson left.
ReplyDeleteResponse to
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
It seems that everyone who comes in contact with Callahan comes away with the impression that they just met an empty suit.
From what I hear from folks at Cincy, he is another typical Phantom Editor who rarely mingles with the commoners.
Sad really.
I have seen publishers at some smaller papers get into the trenches with staffers and get their hands dirty, fill in in different places, lead by example. HOWEVER - I have never seen that with a Gannett editor. Ever.
Certainly not a publisher
2/12/2009 9:12 PM
It is not a publisher it is
President/Publisher remember that.
I have to comment on another blogger, 3:47 p.m., who didn't heed a warning from his/her father about joining a big corporation like Gannett. I had the same experience.
ReplyDeleteMy father practically begged me not to leave a safe, comfortable and interesting position in a university office to return to journalism after a hiatus. I didn't listen to him. When I left that job, I was making almost as much as I was when Gannett laid me off in December. And that was in 1990. I also get a monthly pension check from that university.
Then in the late 1990's, I spurned community journalism and went to work at a magazine in a big Eastern city. I was raking in the bucks and doing really well and had a social life and lots of friends. But a former newspaper editor offered me a job, and what did I do? I went back to community journalism again. And took a $9,000 drop in pay to do it. Some would say, boy are you stupid! I'm sure my dear departed dad was spinning in his grave over that decision.
Why did I go back to newspapering? Because it's in my blood, it's what I loved most. Because I loved reporting and writing.
Because working in a newsroom is the ultimate. And I believe there are lots of newspapers out there that can still provide that atmosphere. Most likely they are not owned by Gannett.
And now, to answer questions tonight, I just got a part-time job. I hope all of you struggling after layoffs can find something, anything, even if it's part-time, so you can begin the healing process, like I finally have.
And all the talent you have, the multi-tasking acumen and the sensitivity to detail and nuance and command of our wonderful language, well, there are places to put that to good use. Those are things no one can take from you, not Gannett or any company.in
Jim:.. I love your comment at 11:44. Warm and fuzzy my ass. Many managers beginning with the year2000 really started taking a turn for the worst. The bullshit that took place was disgusting. It was simple you were either in or out and your days were numbered then. It's just now the opportunity exsists. They can get rid of who they want to. The open whispering taking place the under-handed play. It's what they've been waiting for. I know one thing you couldn't pay me enough to lower my standards as a human to do what they've been doing. It's one thing to do what you have to, but these people actually seem like they're getting off on it. The laughter the remarks, just lowering themselves completely.
ReplyDeleteI think we need to say good luck to them. They need it more than we do. As for me I've never been happier getting away from such a disturbed group of individuals in my life.
I'm a December layoff in the Southeast. No job. Two call backs, one face-to-face interview out of dozens of aps in two states. Got my first unemployment check yesterday. Depressing. Thank God for a husband with a job and A LOT of patience. We have four kids between us, one of whom is 15 weeks old.
ReplyDeleteBastards.
Thank you 8:58 for your honest perspective.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, lately, the posts have been rather boring. Does anyone have any juicy rumors they would like to share?
ReplyDeleteIt appears all of Gannett corporate and managers are now on facebook and that is how they communicate so no emails can be intercepted.
Come on — give us some dirt!
That's why we're here!
Are most condoms still made in New Jersey, or did that manufacturing move to slipshod China too?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.niemanlab.org/2009/02/pension-funding-gap-looms-as-another-newspaper-problem/
ReplyDeleteInteresting stuff on Gannett's pension situation.
Shout out to Jim:
ReplyDeleteRead that pension report 11:28 posted a link to, and you will discover another executive perk I knew absolutely nothing about, involving a SERP (Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan), which is unfunded. I thought pension laws required execs to have the same pensions as the rank and file, so what is this SERP all about?
Investors will never use blogs as a basis for stock purchases. The information contained on them is not verified and in the majority of cases is inaccurate. Any commenter can just put out fabricated information. If facts were verified first, the usefulness of the blog would be greatly enhanced. ...
ReplyDelete2/12/2009 10:28 AM
Thanks for the belly laugh. You really are funny. I just substituted "Dubow and Gracia" every time you wrote "blog" and with that change, you really hit the mark.
If you're an investor, as you claim, can't you tell that Dubow's statements and Gracia's numbers are fabrications? When is reality going to hit you if the under $1 billion mark hasn't yet, while Dubow still throws around "restructuring" and "digital" and expects y'all to believe he knows what he's doing? ROTFLMFAO
12:11
ReplyDelete"If you're an investor, as you claim"
You just proved my point. I never claimed I was an investor. You fabricated that.
You also can apply the same thinking to corporate statements. Corporations try paint a good picture even in the path of the train.