Thursday, February 05, 2009

Thursday | Feb. 5 | Your News & Comments

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114 comments:

  1. I will enjoy a better day today than I did yesterday.

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  2. Several layoffs in Detroit today

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  3. Anyone know the final tally on those let go in Detroit today (Wednesday)?

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  4. If Gannett goes belly up is our pension fund safe ? Protected under federal law??

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  5. These Detroit layoffs. Does anybody have confirmation on this?

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  6. how many is several?? did it make the wire?

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  7. Carolyn Washburn is wielding her scythe through the Register, and heads are rolling again.

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  8. Two layoffs at Army Times Publishing today.

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  9. I heard that two community newspapers owned by Gannett in Indianapolis were recently shut down. The following week a new community newspaper popped up with employees from one of the closed newspapers. A second newspaper could be opening to replace the other. Rumor has it the Indianapolis Star management is unhappy with the turn of events. Not what Gannett expected. I'm wondering what is happening. Anybody got any answers?

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  10. There was around 100 layoff's today. Some have the option to apply for other jobs, but the vast majority, which includes whole departments got cut. From what I know circulation, sales, client solutions, training and a few other departments were hit. The Metro Council of unions vote Feb 22.

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  11. 11:04: Newsroom? I have an old enemy there :)

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  12. Rumors of a big shakeup in upper management in editorial and sports in Westchester ...

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  13. On USAT's Web site this morning, main page: Following the death of Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta in June, the NHRA shortened aces in its two premier classes from 1,320 to 1,000 feet.

    I had a pair of shortened aces with three queens once. It was an apartment-sized full house.

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  14. You know what? I understand people are pissed because of furloughs, but do your work before leaving, I have been burned 2 times and co-workers have been burned as well, you think you are getting back at Gannett but you are not, you are pissing off the people you work with and not for....I am going on furlough in a week or so and they will have to cover me....I just can't screw them back, it is just mis-directed angry....if you would like to be angry as a group lets have at it, just don't screw each other....just pick one day and we all can be pissy all at the same time..... : )

    The Ganner

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  15. 11:56 PM has an accurate accounting of Detroit's layoffs yesterday. My department lost some people.

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  16. Detroit unions are lazy a$$ b*st*rds, they should kick them all out and hire real pressman that want to work. Not some knuckle heads that can't run the press, all they know is I set black on page 3,4 21 & 22 thats it, or I do color on front and back pages only or I put paper in unit-2 only the next is I run the folder only, I plate up unit-6 only......well I hope you are on the street and not as an only...but all the pressman....TO RUN EACH OF YOUR PRESSES ONLY TAKES 5 TEAM PLAYERS TO RUN INCLUDING SAT. NIGHT.....THATS WHERE GANNETT SOULD START!!! I WOULD BE MORE THEN HAPPY TO BE A STRIKE BREAKER.....I DID IT BEFORE AND WOULD LOVE TO DO IT AGAIN : )

    BTW I am still a Gannett pressman..lol

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  17. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  18. My advice: get your pension now. I did back in the fall and I'm glad I did.

    It takes several weeks for the process so don't delay. Get it now before Craig gives it to a college.

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  19. Jack Roth to the rescue!

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  20. 10:39 PM - No, it is not safe. We become unsecured creditors.

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  21. Should we all be afraid to go to work today? I suspect the next round will be no notice at all, although I thought more than 50 people required 60 days notice....

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  22. 11:19 I heard two community newspapers from Florida Today were shut down as well. Can anyone confirm all of these closings? I think they were using freelancers for those papers anyway, but still, another journalist with no job.

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  23. Martore has got to go NOW. Send in Larry St. Cyr.

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  24. I'm very confused about Content One and what it will do for the local papers (we've been told nothing)

    will it replace the washington correspondents who cover our people in Congress?

    Will it be a wire service perhaps a replacement for AP ?

    will it produce news - or are they going to write ad copy ?

    if anyone knows specifically what Content One is supposed to be doing and how it might benefit local papers, please share

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  25. I seek advice from my brothers and sisters in Gannett-land, especially those who have left the company voluntarily or otherwise in the past two or three years. I know many of you personally and wish I did not have to post anonymously, but circumstances dictate otherwise. You are good folks and I've enjoyed our relationship. I am very sorry to see what is going on at many of your newspapers.

    I am a manager in another media company that is cutting staff through attrition and layoffs.

    I don't know whether I would be one of those let go. I'm a good worker and have worked to expand my skills and take on new responsibilities. But I know there are times when that is not enough. I am in my upper 50s and have been with this company 30 years. Right now I feel a huge target on my back.

    In the event I am on someone's "disposable" list, before I get called into an office and asked to sign papers I would like to be prepared. For those of you who have been through this before, what advice would you give? What things do I need to know going in regarding my rights? Entitlement to my pension? 401(k) plan? If I can, should I be taking steps to protect those two programs (pension and 401(k)) now?

    As a management employee we worked without a contract, although the company generally gave us the benefits of the union agreements covering a portion of the company's workforce plus some additional enhancements. Do I need to be aware of the current and post union contracts going in?

    I have thought about getting the advice of an employment lawyer in the state in which I work. Did anyone else do that?

    Thank you in advance for any tips, advice, etc.

    And best to you as you personally navigate through these difficult times.

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  26. Re: 10:39

    I'm not sure on that.

    Contact HR and see if the plan is covered under the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). Most large plans are insured under this federal program.

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  27. 11:19 - The answer is simple - don't be so stupid to close two financially-successful weeklies in strong markets just to save on expenses and then NOT expect someone to come along and fill your void with a - surprise! - success weekly product! That is the answer for the clueless Gannett folks at Indy!

    I suspect that is going to happen in many of our markets - key advertisers already strapped will look to alternatives to our shrinking Gannett papers and poor service. Newsletters, smaller dailies and weeklies popping up by LOCAL people giving LOCAL news and content the communities are not getting from OUR Gannett papers that have cut and cut and cut!

    It is a nice business model for Gannett failure.

    That is why Indy folks are so surprised! ha (Sorry... did I ramble??)

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  28. Jim,
    Wait, then were you taking a vacation day instead of a sick day?
    As a contributor, I don't mind if you take a sick day when you are sick!
    Hope you are doing well.

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  29. 10:29 yes your pension is guaranteed by the feds, but only to the extent that it is fully funded. In the event that GCI went belly up and left an unfunded pension plan, the feds would take it over and recipients would get a reduced pension. This is not a little issue, since if you read Friday's discussion with stock analysts, you will see Martore acknowledged the pension plan has taken a big hit in the stock market. The federal pension plan only guarantees you get at least a partial pension, not all of it.

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  30. There's some good information on the Pension Rights Center site.

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  31. This probably a little too simplistic, but federal law requires companies offering private pensions to keep them funded at a certain level. The math is complicated and not of much interest to us, except that it now shows Gannett needs to put more money in the pot. The Crystal Towers have other uses for their funds at this point (golf trips, subsidized cafeterias, etc. etc.), and they say they are not going to put money in the pension pot right now. They have seven years to do this, and the fed regulators are historically a sleepy lot.
    So, if GCI goes belly up as in filing for bankruptcy, then a federal bankruptcy judge would probably order GCI to continue funding the pension at the current levels. But if GCI goes out of business, then the pension is frozen at the levels of the last day of business, and that is all there is to be distributed.

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  32. Jack Roth to the rescue!

    2/05/2009 7:39 AM

    Are you flippin kidding me?
    Jack Roth will be the first one in the lifeboat with the women and children!

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  33. 8:57a:
    Content One is a made up fantasy of Craig Dubow. Supposedly, Tara Connell is in charge of it, but there has been no announcement and none of the senior managers or newsroom people has even seen the plan for Content One. I do know that the Usa Today people are upset about it. My boss came back from a meeting a few weeks ago about Content One and she said it is a waste of time, and that we should not focus on it.

    It sounds as though Tara does not have the confidence of the higher up's in the GMC and that Dubow is stumbling through the meaning of Content One.

    Almost everyone is asking what is Content One and what does it mean for Gannett papers and we hear some crap about some dashboard that corporate IT is building.

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  34. What is this about Westchester? MORE INFO PLEASE!

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  35. Soon after Gannett acquired us, I was told to place all remaining content from our various newspapers online, for free – info few would likely find anywhere else. Yet, despite explaining that and a digital strategy not that dissimilar from the WSJ, one that was already delivering six figures in revenues for us, I was told to “just do it” anyway.

    Well, given Gannett’s failure to better monetize its newspaper content since then, let alone deliver any real, organic online revenue growth specifically for its newsgathering efforts, I’m more convinced than ever that the continued surrender of analog dollars for digital pennies is a total mistake.

    Yet, Dubow and others still expect everyone to “just do it.” Dumb.

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  36. I'm a December layoff victim and have said for more than a month that the clues pointed to an underfunded pension.

    When does the full 2008 pension report come out? I'm fearful that Gannett lost a dangerous sum in stocks last year, and that our pension fund is at risk of coming under federal oversight.

    Gannett has been stonewalling us on rolling over our pensions. The local paper and McLean point fingers at each other, I think to gain them time.

    What you need to know is that Gannett has 90 days to hand over your pension from the day you tell it to. Don't wait for them to send you their stupid forms.

    On the day you are laid off, send a return-receipt mail to your local and to McLean instructing them to roll over your pension. The 90-day clock starts ticking on they day they receive your letter, a lawyer told me.

    Gannett lied to many (maybe all) of us about a Dec. 15 letter that some (maybe all) of us didn't get until we asked. The letter we were waiting for was supposed to tell us how to go about rolling over the pension, but it doesn't say anything you don't already know.

    McLean will say they can't do anything until your local paper sends them your employment data (my paper didn't sent it until I learned about this phantom letter and gave an ultimatum); then within 60 (or did they say 90?) days McLean says it will send a form to fill out to request release of the pension; then it has 90 days to fulfill it.

    I still haven't received any forms to fill out, but Gannett's 90-day clock for me started ticking a month ago, so they are cutting themselves short on time. I doubt they think that's so, though. I think they've designed an ETA to keep the December layoff pension money through at least second quarter 2009. In about another month, I may be talking with a lawyer again.

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  37. If you are a former employee and haven't got your hands on your pension money, you are a fool. Read the Seeking Alpha transcript of last Friday's GCI report, and you will see the pension plan is precariously funded.

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  38. http://seekingalpha.com/article/117736-gannett-co-inc-q4-2008-earnings-call-transcript

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  39. Something to keep in mind that I didn't know... if you have an outstanding loan from your 401K and you leave voluntarily or not, the balanced owed is considered income and you pay taxes on it in your upcoming filing like I will be doing this year. Ouch!!!

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  40. 11:19, I am particularly curious about the Florida Today closures. That affects me. Can somebody give some details on this asap? Was it one of Tom Clifford's projects or one of the other ones?

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  41. Hey 8:47

    Larry St. Cyr is a piece of S&^% as well. He is another kiss ass that should have been gone years ago. I got my pension and 401k out in 2007 and I saw the writing on the wall then. The balance has got to be close to 0.00 with all the pulling out in the last 2 years. Good luck if you have not gotten your money yet.

    Happy in MI

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  42. 11:39 Yes, and if you withdraw money from your 401K, there is a 10 percent penalty on top of the taxes...more than ouch.

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  43. This has probably been debated to the bone, but I'm wondering if any other journalists are having philosophical problems with the unpaid furlough. This journalist is recognized as a journalist everywhere he goes. Ninety-five percent of my conversation is work related. It's impossible for me to stop being a journalist, even though the company sends me away from my workstation with instructions not to "work" for no pay. This is a sentence to barricade myself inside my home with the lights off and the telephone off the hook. How do you stop? (Joni Mitchell) Abbreviate my work week, but don't tell me not work.
    Class-action lawsuit? Anybody?

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  44. What's going on at The Register? Are they hitting the newsroom? Yepsen knew he was next, he was smart to get out before they gave him the slip. I bet more columnists are on the chopping block today.

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  45. 12:24 PM

    Your point is kind of silly. You are being paid not to think about story ideas -- which we all do -- but to report and write them.

    Didn't you ever take a vacation? When I am at an amusement park or museum, I might think of the spark of an idea, but I am NOT WORKING. I am having fun.

    You don't get paid just to think, you get paid to execute your idea into something tangible. Try telling your editor you plan to spend the day thinking or just randomly talking to people hoping it will spark a story idea. Please. Such silliness.

    Obviously, I will read magazines and news web sites during this week off, and I just might come up with a story idea. But will I then open a text file, take notes and develop it? No. The latter is the part you are paid for.

    And moreover, what about all the hours you "think" when you are off the 37.5 hour clock?

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  46. I usually stop thinking once I clock in. Only way I can get through the day with a minimum of screaming.

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  47. 8:39 AM - Yes, Florida Today killed 2 community products. The Bay and Melbourne Times.

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  48. 11:56, you said 100 jobs were cut. What newspaper?

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  49. Who got court martialed @ the Army Times today?

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  50. I don't think 12:24's comment is over the top. I think the rationale is why someone on another day posted the company is aware it could be in trouble if it mandates salaried employees to furlough often. It's because some jobs are 24/7, and not 9-5.

    Reporters are a bit of a gray area, I suppose. But having worked in small towns, I see a reporter may be perceived as Gannett's employee 24/7 everywhere he/she goes and is approached that way by the public. Too many furloughs could, indeed, end in a lawsuit.

    Could furloughs be Gracia's strategy for managing rollovers of pension cash by layoff victims?

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  51. 12:34 PM
    My very best story ideas came as a result of listening to common ordinary community people. That was before Gannett.

    At Gannett, I was way too busy taking orders from editors who, I guess, somehow thought they could take the pulse of the community by sitting in planning meetings and barking out silly assignments.

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  52. The two that were cut at Army Times were the Assistant Director of Photography and the Assistant Art Director.

    The photo person is a military reservist, and had been required to be out of the office on two occasions due to war and training.

    The art person is pregnant and was about to go on maternity leave.

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  53. Are Army and Air Force Times looking to fill those positions they posted for MEs a while back, or are they filling from within?

    Verification word: "ventswi" Yes ... vent, we.

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  54. 1:25 - You could not be more right. A good friend who works at an Ohio Gannett paper (poor fellow) told me recently that his editor knows nothing about the community, lives 60 miles away from the town and has zero interaction in the community.

    Yet, he gets these dumb assignments that are completely irrelevent to this small town. Just some story seen on the wire that MIGHT be localize-able. (Ouch!)

    That is the problem (one of many) with gannett and their parachutted in publishers and editors who, no matter how long they stay in a local community, remain clueless because they NEVER become part of the community.

    That is mainly because Gannett just shuffles them along to the next unsuspecting town in a couple of years ....

    and the cycle of damage and cluelessness goes on...

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  55. These rumors of layoffs, are these at papers that are issuing furloughs? That would be a huge worry. Were we assured that there wouldn't be layoffs in the first quarter since the furloughs were to save so much money? Or not? I don't remember now.

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  56. Hi Gary! Hi Sue! Man do we miss you! Still got your boys around though...Dickey, Evan, Mark M, Zich, Krans (oops not a boy but you know what I mean). The two of you ran the company in the ground and it all started about 10 years ago when you ran the talent out of the company and left us with the worthless people that are running the papers today....it's fun to bitch at Dubow but even a nutjob like that would be doing better if you wouldn't have left him with a shell of a company. Yep..the TWO OF YOU..all yours. Hay, Give us a buzzword or two for ole times sake!

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  57. 12:24

    I don't believe that thinking about your job even when you're not on the clock is something only the Journalists (cue angelic hymns and heavenly shafts of light) do.

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  58. 12:24....time to get a life.

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  59. METROMIX to the rescue !

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  60. Jim, Where is that handy GCI stock widget? It was so convenient to check rather than logging on to gannett.com.

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  61. For stock prices, you can go to CNN.com. There is an area on the right side where you can type in GCI and get the current price, as well as a feature that will let you create a graph showing the downhill slide over the last three years or so. (Sorry, Black Diamond experience skiers only on that hill.)

    Also, I saw an interesting article on Time.com titled How to Save your Newspaper, which discusses what papers should be doing to create revenue in the new online environment.

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  62. Gary Watson was (and I presume still is...) a monumental douche bag.

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  63. 2:16, your point underscores 12:24's point.
    2:29, it's clear 12:24 has a life. It is what it is and that's the problem.
    12:34, don't you think that when 12:24 took his job he did so with the presumption there would be days and hours when he would not produce like he does during that 40-hour clock week?
    Now the company is saying we're not working on our furlough days and they're not paying us.
    All I hear 12:24 saying is his life is tied up somewhat in his work as is the case with any journalist who is connected to his/her beat. It's wrong for Gannett to pretend that any of its employees who are engaged in a vital public service don't work or add value to the product just because the company isn't paying them and the employee isn't at his/her usual workstation. Gannett employees should be offered an abbreviated work week. Those who don't like it can leave the company. New rules. The company can't pretend to know that what it's people do away from the newsroom isn't valuable to the company, just because a day is called a furlough day.

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  64. Westchester having a shake-up in editorial and sports??? Give me a freakin break---they should cut loose the VP of Operations and ALL the Directors who do not have a clue! And I mean ALL the directors because they have been there awhile and this newspaper ( Journal News) HAS BEEN DRIVEN INTO THE GROUND. IT IS CONSIDERED A JOKE AND THE WHOLE COMPANY SHOULD BE ASHAMED. But what the hell---Krista Mueller to the rescue!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  65. 3:35 PM

    Your argument doesn't jibe with reality. They call it a furlough or whatever, but you are LAID OFF for that week.

    If you were permanently laid off, the next day you'd go get coffee and the old guy behind the counter still would be telling you the dirt about the city councilman and you know what you could do with it? Nothing. (unless you start a web site, that is.)

    There is no one saying you can't THINK on your furlough week, you just can't work. If you hear a tip, squirrel it away in your head and do it when you get back. JUST LIKE YOU DO ON VACATION.

    And even if your furlough were one day a week versus 5 in a row, the same rules would apply.

    And if you are saying that you work 7 days a week, that is your choice. No question, we all get story ideas on Saturdays, if that is our day off. But we are not obligated to work on them until Monday. If you do so in your spare time, you are not being paid for it. So, what's the difference!

    Gannett is not the thought police. They aren't saying, don't think about ideas. They are just saying, don't go calling people and reporting stories or doing your actual job.

    I don't understand why this is so hard to get. I think it must be because people work so much on their days off now or something.

    Tell me, if you spend $3,000 to go to Paris with your wife, are you wasting your time writing down story ideas instead of seeing the sites? Think of this as a week in Paris -- at least it will cost less.

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  66. In Wilmington, the editors apparently manipulated an Obama inauguration image - the one that the photog rigged from the feet looking up - to superimpose text over the sky. A few other papers apparently did as well. Did yours?

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  67. Westchester should start with eliminating Fisch the publisher. It continues to amaze me that so many people here think he's a "nice guy"...actually everything he touches gets worse. He's a big no nothing...sorry. All talk no substance...

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  68. 12:24

    Reporters get the best of both worlds. You get paid to write a story. Get your name noticed, then work for a number of years. and sucking info out of the newspaper. You then take all of your old stories, contacts that you made while writing for the company. You then write a book(s) and make a fortune, or start a radio show and earn a ton of money and draw a pension at the same time.

    Don't you find it odd that you get to do this and the company does not get compensated for earning on stories you wrote for the company to begin with?

    The real ones screwed are the the one putting the paper together, getting it out everyday and paying the bills and the writers outragous salaries.

    MI ex gannetiod

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  69. You are too funny!!! Thanks for the good laugh, whomever wrote:

    "I usually stop thinking once I clock in. Only way I can get through the day with a minimum of screaming."

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  70. OK, to those who are knowledgeable about the pension: I am getting the runaround from my former HR rep on the pension - so I have a certain number of days from the first day I contacted her that she has to honor my request? Am I reading that right?

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  71. Newsflash to the person who wrote:

    "Don't you find it odd that you get to do this and the company does not get compensated for earning on stories you wrote for the company to begin with?"

    I wrote stories for the PUBLIC, not a company.

    However, I was PAID by the company to write those stories, because the company ostensibly cared about the public service a newspaper provides (right, and sweet love birds might fly out of my butt).

    The shoe-leather journalist who works his or her way up in the business and graduates to a million-dollar book deal is a very rare breed indeed, compared to the thousands upon thousands who quietly go about doing their work and who never ascend to quite those levels of notoriety.

    I made less than $30,000 when I left my newspaper, and I'm in my 40s! My dear brother, a bartender and bouncer, makes twice as much for working half as many hours.

    Not that I minded - I loved my job, I believed in it and was grateful while it lasted.

    However, I'm a bit worn out with the cliched pitch of "let's bash journalists because they all belong in that same ol' overpaid, liberal, elitist melting pot."

    I was certainly none of those things - I've got the voting record and the poor white trash background to back it up.

    Much like any profession, you will find in the journalism field a bit of the good, the bad and yep, even the UGLY.

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  72. Our Pensions are in trouble? !!!!!Does anyone know for sure if they can stop payment on your pension if Gannett Bellies up ?What protection from federal goverment do we have if pension funds are underfunded and Gannett cant make deposits into fund .

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  73. 4:03

    The furlough rules don't jibe with reality.
    Our reporters generally don't work on Sundays, but no one hesitates to call one if there's an event that needs to be covered.
    I find a list of rules on a bulletin board here regarding furlough days. No one at this property can call a coworker who is out on a furlough day. We are forbidden to visit the workplace on a furlough day. We are not to check our company e-mail or phone messages remotely. (The company is tracking that.)
    The threat of termination for those who break these rules is unmistakable.
    That's the furlough day reality and it's a lot different from a vacation day reality.
    I don't understand your parallels between paid vacation days and unpaid furlough days.
    Yes, there is such an animal as a journalist (cue angelic hymns and heavenly shafts of light) who is still a journalist (cue louder and brighter angelic hymns and heavenly shafts of light) even on vacation in Paris (Texas).

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  74. I began doing a little research on pension plans and have come to the
    conclusion the current Gannett pension plan is not covered by the
    Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation safety net.

    It appears to me it's not because the vast majority of Gannett
    employees are NOT in a "defined benefit" pension plan. Gannett's old
    plan, from which they moved everyone whose age and years of service
    didn't add up to 75 in the late 90's, is a defined benefit plan. That
    is where you knew what you would receive when you retired because it
    was calculated on a known formula.

    As I understand it, the current plan is a "defined contribution"
    scheme where a certain amount is credited to your account each year
    but what you actually end up with when you retire or leave is based on
    investments and contributions (that's scary) etc.
    And since once you are vested, if you leave at even a young age, you
    can received the money, so it's more of a deferred pay plan than a
    "retirement" plan.

    Here's some pertinent cut and pastes:

    In the United States, the legal definition of a defined contribution
    plan is a plan providing for an individual account for each
    participant, and for benefits based solely on the amount contributed
    to the account, plus or minus income, gains, expenses and losses
    allocated to the account.

    A traditional defined benefit (DB) plan is a plan in which the benefit
    on retirement is determined by a set formula, rather than depending on
    investment returns. In the US, 26 U.S.C. § 414(j) specifies a defined
    benefit plan to be any pension plan that is not a defined contribution
    plan (see below) where a defined contribution plan is any plan with
    individual accounts. A traditional pension plan that defines a benefit
    for an employee upon that employee's retirement is a defined benefit
    plan.

    And most significantly from the PGBC web site:

    PBGC is a federal corporation created by the Employee Retirement
    Income Security Act of 1974. It currently protects the pensions of
    nearly 44 million American workers and retirees in more than 29,000
    private single-employer and multi employer DEFINED BENEFIT PENSION
    PLANS.

    I'm not an HR critter nor a lawyer, only a retired Gannett employee (I
    hate the word Gannetoid and have always used it as a term of derision)
    but it appears to me the current "pension" money is nothing more than
    an owed bill just like them owing the utility company or a paper mill.

    So IF Gannett were to file bankruptcy, employees would have to stand
    in line with all the other creditors in hopes of some sort of
    settlement. Bankruptcy settlements can take years for large
    corporations.

    Us older folks under the old plan would continue to receive a monthly
    check but it would come from the PBGC rather than Gannett if there
    isn't enough money in the plan to pay it.

    If I were a currently employed person working for Gannett (Thank God,
    I'm not) I would be plenty worried and not sure what I could do about
    it.

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  75. 4:14

    Some would argue that the ones putting the paper together and getting it out everyday are the only ones in the industry who can call their work "finished" for the day, clock out and go home until such time ad reps and journalists (not necessarily in that order) find something more for them to do.
    They would, of course, be wrong.
    Stay in the business for just a little while and it's clear, no one in news clocks out.

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  76. The Pension should be covered by the federal entity - PENSION BENEFIT GAURANTY CORPORATION. If Gannett goes Chapter 11, the short fall should be covered.

    Although with the Federal Debt closing on $11,000,000,000,000.00 (11 Trillion) at a rate of $2-to-3 Billion Per Day, I'm not sure who will gauranty the Federal Gauranty if the government goes bust....LOL.

    I'm in my mid-40s 10+ years at Gannett. I'm not sure how it would affect a lump sum people like me would roll over into an I.R.A.

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  77. Current GCI employees: don't forget what happened to Enron employees, whether or not they owned its stock.

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  78. The PGBC does not "top off" pension plans to ensure recipients get what they would have received if the plan were fully funded, which GCI's is not.
    GCI's pension plan is (was) a defined benefit pension plan under federal law, and is covered by the PGBC

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  79. I thought I would never get my the money they owed me for my pention. It took almost 4 months and I had to call several times to get it that fast!

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  80. Since the Pension Plan is frozen (NOT the 401K) is it possible to roll it over NOW rather than wait for one's departure from a Gannett property?

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  81. My boss told me she was yanking my access to make sure I wasn't going to take any work home on my furlough or check my email.

    I like doing what I do. I've found other ways to do it. If some Indian guy can do it without stepping in the building, goodness knows I can.

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  82. 9:21 AM writes: "I seek advice from my brothers and sisters in Gannett-land, especially those who have left the company voluntarily or otherwise in the past two or three years."

    Sounds like we were in similar positions and I was blindsided by layoff in December. In hindsight should not have been but was shocked nonetheless. Best advice I can offer is to immediately start copying and/or deleting any emails, files, etc. you want to take with you or would just assume no one else see. I had several non-work email and other files on my desktop that I lost because I got the news very late in the afternoon and my computer was shut down almost immediately.
    Check with your financial planner now and have a Plan B ready to put into action if needed. Start social networking on Linked In, Facebook, etc. Make sure your computer skills are up to speed (and take advantage of any training you can get in-house while you still can).
    Good luck.

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  83. So what is wrong with Jack Roth?

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  84. People, WAKE UP. If companies across America have underfunded their pensions and/or go bankrupt, there is no way the PBGC can guarantee all these pensions. There is simply not enough money. I foresee lawsuits and endless distress over this pension issue at GCI and elsewhere. If you have been laid off or took the buyout, persist and get your pension out as soon as you can. If you are still employed, put as much in your 401K or other retirement savings as you can. Do not count on this pension for your old age. It will be great if it survives, but like everything in journalism, don't assume anything.

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  85. I like you, 5:59.
    I hope you find your way to a good place.

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  86. I have a friend who left a journalism career several years ago and has become a private investigator. My friend is extremely busy and makes over $80 an hour.

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  87. It has been my understanding that you will have to quit Gannett to get your pension funds. Your 401K funds don't belong to Gannett and the company can't touch those funds. Am I wrong?

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  88. 6:05--Sound advice on pre-layoff computer sweeping etc. But training, at Gannett? There wasn't any where I worked.

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  89. I received my pension check from Gannett the other day and rolled it into an IRA. I didn't breathe easy until I checked with my financial institution to make sure it had cleared. I no longer have any ties with Gannett.

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  90. It seems to me that if a plan is frozen and therefore no longer adding contributions, but simply sitting in an account somewhere and making or losing money, shouldn't be up to each individual whether to leave it there or not?

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  91. 9:21 a.m.

    Yes, I'd bet your days are numbered,not because of your age or your time with G, but because I'm sure you make enough for them to tell you goodbye and eventually hire two right-out-of-school with the same money. It's a sad fact, but true. As a manger, you know it,too. (I was one)
    Network, get on Facebook, reconnect with people who have left before you, especially if they are working elsewhere. I freelance write but I also decided to go back to school. That's another option.
    My advice is put those years to good use, seek out others you know, reconnect. Get the word out you're looking.
    I'm not a "happy ending" yet -- but I'm working on it!

    good luck!

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  92. sadly, there are NO "happy endings" for those whose careers were ruined by this miserable company by little dictator publishers.

    When I saw the handwriting on the wall at my gannett newspaper, I slowly (but not toooo slowly) began emptying out my office, taking home little by little all the "personal stuff" on my desk and walls.

    After about three months, my office was bare and emply other that the actual "work stuff" there. Nothing mine remained.

    My computer files were all gone... all my evaluations were at home....

    In other words, when the day came for my firing... all I would walk out the door with was my pride.

    No sad, pathetic, pitiful cardboard box full of personel stuff in my arms for me - nope.

    And the day came when ... in digust... I quit the miserable paper and the miserable Gannett...

    So for all you about to be laid off... clean your desks out now... take the personal stuff home.... don't be one of those sad pitiful people shown the door with box of your crap and sad look on your face!

    In Gannett, you can be fired for no good reason on any given day. Just be ready for it.

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  93. OK folks - here's what the deal with the pension stuff is, from a former HR person.

    1) Gannett's frozen pension IS a Defined Benefit plan.

    "A traditional defined benefit (DB) plan is a plan in which the benefit on retirement is determined by a set formula, rather than depending on
    investment returns."

    Your pension benefit is based on a formula, and the funds for that are pooled into a single account administered by the Northern Trust company.

    2) Your 401(K) is a defined contribution plan:

    "...defined contribution
    plan is a plan providing for an individual account for each
    participant, and for benefits based solely on the amount contributed to the account, plus or minus income, gains, expenses and losses allocated to the account."

    In other words, your 401(K) account is completely separate from everyone else's account.

    3) The pension plan is covered by the PBGC. Gannett is legally required to pay your pension amount unless the company is in Chapter 7 liquidation.

    After I departed, I received my check about 4 weeks after I submitted my paperwork.

    As for just letting your HR department know that you want your check - that doesn't start the clock, especially if you are married. The IRS requires that your spouse sign a form that indicates that they know that you are rolling the pension money over. That isn't a Gannett thing.

    As far as being worried that your check won't clear - grow up. The company isn't bankrupt, and it is still making a profit.

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  94. From 2/05/2009 7:17 PM

    It has been my understanding that you will have to quit Gannett to get your pension funds. Your 401K funds don't belong to Gannett and the company can't touch those funds. Am I wrong?

    Yes, you have to leave Gannett to get your pension. I was laid off a few months ago, filed to get my pension just before New Years Day. My request was logged in the Pension dept on Jan 19th, and I received the check today, Feb 5. About 5 1/2 weeks, start to finish. With that said, I really question all these people who continue to say it took four months and a lot of calls.... bull.

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  95. By the way, I took the pension and have rolled all of it into my own new company. You can legally do that .. check with Guidant Financial or Benetrends. It is complicated but you can use your pension and your 401K tax free, that is, if you do it right.

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  96. Someone asked if the Air Force Times ME slot was to be filled.... it was filled about two weeks ago by a Gannett ME from a daily

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  97. 7:21 training? How right you are!

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  98. To all Gannett Employees layed off: Get your pension money. Roll it over. Stay on corporate until you get your check. The writing is on the wall. If you are still employed by Gannett make phone calls to insure your money is safe. DO NOT LISTEN TO YOUR MANAGERS ! They are not skilled in area's as is it. They are certainly not skilled when it comes to your money!! They are liars! Take it from one who knows

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  99. Once again, one of the Kool Aid drinking kids, said I was being “negative” because I suggested there will probably be more forlough days in our future. Mind you, this guy, is up the behind of our VP. They drink and party together outside of work. He also does pretty much nothing all day but be loud and obnoxious and let the other guy he is friends with, do his work. He calls in sick, but that's ok, because his VP is his bud. In the meantime, myself and his buddy, bust our butts to get our work done.

    If I am let go, they are going to have a serious lawsuit on their hands. It will be sexual and age discrimination. I have documented every word and I am not afraid to speak the truth about this issue. It is so sad to me, that just becaue this lazy loser drinks and partys with the VP, that he gets to keep his job and my other hard working co-worker could lose his, because his so- called buddy will throw him under the bus the first chance he gets. This VP even moved this person into our department so he wouldn't lose his job and alerts him to everything that is happening. It appears this guy is an “untouchable”. Gannett politics once again. I'll be positive as soon as lazy people who think they have a leg up because they drink with a VP are out of this company.

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  100. 9:42
    It took over 4 months to get my pension money. No bull.

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  101. What is with this company and pension payouts? Other places I've worked have offered payouts immediately or certainly within a couple of weeks of termination. I have been laid off for two months, and filled out all the paperwork four weeks ago and still haven't gotten my check. I am told it takes five weeks from the time they receive the paperwork back. It better come next week. I mean first they let you go for no damn good reason, and then they don't give you the money owed to you so you can live on it while you search for another job. It is things like this that make this company hated within the industry. Constant flow of adding insult to injury.

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  102. 4:14 pm: What freaking world do you live in?

    "You then take all of your old stories, contacts that you made while writing for the company. You then write a book(s) and make a fortune, or start a radio show and earn a ton of money and draw a pension at the same time."

    While that may be true for, oh, .05% of reporters, and really only those who work for the largest newspapers, I can tell you that the vast, vast majority of us do not cash in our contacts and old stories. Who would read a book about zoning board meetings?

    Geez, get a dose of reality, will you? Is the air that thin in Michigan?

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  103. Document everything! I have years of documentation. Plenty of it. Corporate is aware!

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  104. I hope Gannett Corporate does read these blogs. Maybe they will gain some insight into the “little people“ who work for them. To understand that the employees who were once loyal, no longer are. They have to make extra income to pay the bills and put a roof over their heads. They have to start new careers and have part-time jobs to survive. My boss gets angry with me because I have to leave on time, even though I am told OT has to be approved, to go to my part-time job. Do you think I really want to work two jobs? I HAVE to work two jobs because my main source of income, my job at Gannett, could be gone in a blink of an eye. I see the real picture. I'm not drinking the Kool Aid. I'm called a “black cloud” because I am a realist. I see things for what they are and take Craig Dubow's word for fact. He stated there WILL be more furloughs and possibly more layoffs. His favorite words are “nimble” “lean” and “mid teens”. Any idiot with half a brain would be moving forward and trying to find something other than working their ass off for a company that is on it's way out. I love my job, but I can see the writing on the wall. It is so sad that that most don't. Don't wait to be eliminated. Be proactive and move forward with your life. There are jobs out there, I found one with training. No, it doesn't pay the bills, but with time and training, it may. Don't let them brainwash you into thinking Gannett is the end all. It isn't. There are still jobs where your loyalty and expertise account for something. You don't have to be young and work for Metromix to matter. Most employers actually are thrilled to have a seasoned, loyal older worker who actually does a day's work without joking, laughing, wasting time and talking about their facebook or myspace page. In the real world, hard work pays off. Only at Gannett does the latter behavior win you points. It's time to wake up Gannett and see the reality of what the workers you are retaining are really doing with their time. I hope they axe me, then maybe then they will realize how much work I really did.

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  105. Isn't it grand these managers allow these Koolaid kids to get away with murder? Document it all!! This company won't have anything left after they have to deal with all the lawsuits pending.There is serious complaints out there and we're not talking age discrimination.

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  106. 10:57 sounds like my plant CH.

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  107. Just getting caught up. 5:23 p.m. you are right on. "No one in news clocks out." It's in our blood, man.

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  108. 10:29 pm
    If you are serious about suing for age or other discrimination....file your complaint with the EEOC NOWWWWWWWWWW! Don't wait. You will have more leverage in keeping your job now because federal law prohibits them from firing you due to your legal complaints. The EEOC will handle all the legal details for you.

    GOOD LUCK! The Gannett bastards deserve to pay.

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  109. 9:09 PM, thanks, but I think I'll take a lawyer's word for it over a Gannett HR employee, even if you are "former." The current HR at my newspaper consistently gives misinformation. Gannett even has the audacity to put separation misinformation in writing!

    The clock started ticking when I told Gannett, and Gannett acknowledged receiving, my decision that I want my pension rolled over. I can't believe you that Gannett has the legal power to wait 6 months to give me a form to fill out before it allows me to make that decision to start the 90-day clock. Gannett's forms are not an element of the law, I would be willing to bet.

    And I don't have a wife. Does Gannett have any more excuses for not rolling over my pension?

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  110. To 9:09 former HR almighty. Regarding the comment to "grow up" about being concerned their check would clear. That is exactly the response I would expect from a Gannett HR person - asshole.

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  111. wah wah wah. Even if you're not in the newsroom, some of you don't have the sense god gave muskrats.

    Hey dumbasses, you are obviously on the web. Google pension benefits or 401(k) or whatever subject you swear you're being lied to or misinformed on. As long as you're unemployed anyway, read as much information as you can until you feel comfortable that the answer you hear most often is correct.

    Then, when it's not the answer you actually LIKE, go somewhere else and whine that no one is telling you the truth. I'm sure you can find a lawyer who will tell you what you want to hear for a couple hundred an hour...'til a judge tells you different.

    Goodness almighty, people here try to help by providing the best information they have. In three paragraphs, they try to give you and everyone else a sense of where the full answer may live. We don't all operate in the same country, state, city, site, financial or family situation.

    The h.r. person above provided several CORRECT answers to common questions. If you don't think they're valid, go talk to your lawyer.

    And when someone tells you to grow up, do it. Thinking adults realize that individual people make mistakes or don't have all the answers - the constant beating on h.r. folks here is as unreasonable as every member of your audience calling you when you use the wrong 'their' in a story.

    And no, brainiac with the great comebacks, I'm not corporate, h.r., Craig Dubow or anyone important. Just a customer service rep who reads a lot.

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  112. NEW RUMOR FROM PHOENIX GANNETT WILL BE ASKING EMPLOYEES TO TAKE ONE FURLOUGH DAY PER PAY PERIOD FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR.

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  113. To the KNUCKLEHEAD who says Detroit Unions are lazy b*st*rds:

    Have worked in Detroit pressroom 30 years & have NEVER known any local pressman to behave like this.

    HOWEVER, the REPLACEMENT WORKERS
    HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO BE LAZY A$$ B*ST*RDS.

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  114. To the IDIOT who says Detroit Unions are lazy b*st*rds:

    YOU'RE NOT QUALIFIED TO RUN GEOMAN PRESSES !!!

    As of Mar.30, 2009, Detroit Media Partnership will be running their
    presses WITH A 2 MAN CREW.

    GOOD LUCK GETTING A JOB TO RUN
    THESE PRESSES !!!!

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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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