Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Tuesday | Feb. 3 | Your News & Comments
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115 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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I had a good day on Monday, and I'm going to have an even better day today.
ReplyDeleteYesterday someone said GANNETT stock was approaching it's 52 Week Low of $5.00 Per Share. That is not the correct way to view the current price of $5.34 Per Share. Look at a chart going back to 1980.
ReplyDeleteIn NOMINAL (non-inflation adjusted) Dollars GANNETT'S share price is at an approximate 27 YEAR LOW. Adjusted for inflation (rough estimate) it's at a 30 YEAR LOW.
To those who believe the is a corporate strategy, there is, however it is based on an INCORRECT view of the nature of the downturn we are in and they will not be able to reconfigure the company to survive as a going unified concern.
South Korean exports are DOWN 32% for January on a year over year basis; Japans manufacturing is collapsing, England's banking system, currency and Sovereign debt are on the edge of collapse, China's migrant workers have face 20 Million lay-offs since summer; Iceland's economy imploded, the governments of Ireland, Spain Italy & Grece are have their DEBT put on CreditWatch (like Gannett); worker protests are springing up all over Europe and Asia; economically motivated violence and crime is increasing dramatically; credit accounts of all types are falling further into delinquency and constaining lending (that we are addicted to) the United States is about to HyperInflate its currency our of exsistence; and on and on and on.
My point is, the BEST, BRIGHTEST, MOST INNOVATIVE & HONORABLE MANAGERS will barely be able to save strong companies in strong industries in this Depression; GANNETT'S Special-Business-Olympics crew of thinkers, with a weaken company in a dying industry have NO CHANCE.
My advice to the rest of you worker bees, cut your expenses drastically/radically (to make your life more sustainable)AND plan for a career/business where you can use your talents fueled by you passion. AND prepare to be un/under-employed for a long long time.
Way to go Jim, did you ever say that while working in Gannettland? LOL I use tooooooo :)
ReplyDeleteYou made $1233 so far this quarter are you going to take a furlough if you reach $6000? Well I hope you make your goal!!
ReplyDeleteThat's right, the power of positive drinking...I mean thinking...
ReplyDeleteThe Moody's rating yesterday gave the board an out. They should have no problem suspending the dividend in order to maintain the cash we need to do business.
ReplyDeleteIf we can't borrow enough short term cash to run the company, we go into bankruptcy. Except for us, unlike the automakers, bankruptcy isn't salvation. We have no huge union contracts to bust, no long term pensions to fund, no lifetime healthcare to ditch. The best we could hope for would be to ditch a couple JOAs around the country, and even that's wishful thinking.
The dividend MUST be suspended. To not do so would be irresponsible of the board.
If anybody is looking to get out of the journalism business and into PR, I have a spot open for an online media specialist. Deadline for applications is Feb. 20.
ReplyDeletewww.nwtf.org and search the "job opportunities" link.
I'm a former Gannett reporter and editor and know how hard journalists work. The NWTF is a really good company and treats employees well. (I posted this once before, but wanted to get it at the top of listing so everybody would see it.)
Thanks and have a good day.
I was just catching up on yesterdays comments,of which many concerned USAT. Isn't much of their circulation from third party sales (Hotel in this case)? I believe ABC rules are changing on reporting third party effective this spring or fall. Not sure if this will reflect negatively for USAT or not.
ReplyDeleteThat was my experience, also.
ReplyDeleteToday is already on its way to being a stunner.
And I'm excited to know what tomorrow may bring.
Yippee! Looks like I have the first post!
ReplyDeleteyesterday, I found a quote from Department of Labor spokesperson saying that if managers are furloughed too often they may lose exempt status and qualify for OT. Has anyone else heard that, and how many times do we have to be furloughed for that to happen?
Sorry should have said I'm the first (besides Jim). Guest that technically makes me second, but you get the idea...
ReplyDeleteTo those who claim to "know'' and "have seen'' GCI's plans, when are layoffs going to be announced? Jan. 20 came and went. Late Feb.? Late March after all the furloughs have been fulfilled? If you ask me, sooner would be better than later given the shedding of available jobs across every sector. If you think the job market is bad now, imagine 6 mos. from now. Even hospitals are cutting staff. Sad to say, it might be better to be booted out now with some hope of getting the pension and 401K rolled over before water hits the ballroom.
ReplyDeleteThe "fight back" against reality/perception campaign has started. Any Gannett people in these efforts?:
ReplyDelete1. http://news.newspaperproject.org/
2. http://ph.news.yahoo.com/ap/20090203/tbs-newspapers-fighting-back-f8250da.html
3. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003936789
Continuing the USA Today discussion, I want to add that of course every Gannett newspaper is struggling with small staff. I did not mean to imply only USAT is short-handed.
ReplyDeleteBut the perception oon this angry blog that USAT is a perk-filled luxury box with overpaid and underemployed people is just flat wrong. It has become quite grueling, the expectations remain high and the staff, some high-paid, most not, are working very very hard.
Finger-pointing gets no one anywhere.
This is interesting, especially because Gannett seems to have no role in any of it:
ReplyDeletehttp://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_newspapers_fight_back_02022009.html
... In a full-page advertisement in The New York Times, The Washington Post and other newspapers, a group called the "Newspaper Project" made the case that news on the printed page is not on the verge of extinction. ...
Any word on how much 2AdPro has cost or saved the company? Management is constantly on our backs to send more and more to them, but we just don't have the workload to meet our commitment. Then come the threats that if we don't get our numbers up, more graphic artists will be let go. I suspect that is going to happen anyway because ad count has not been going up. It makes me wonder what's the point in trying to do a better job when that job is destined to go to India? I just don't understand what is Gannett's long-term plan for us.
ReplyDeleteThere are so few jobs for graphic artists in my area. I'm young(ish) and can start over, but I've been in newspapers for so long I'm not sure how my skills would translate into another industry.
I keep hearing this rumor that Dubow took his family to the Carribbean, or on a Carribean cruise or something like that, for some weeks in December.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know if there's information on the record anywhere about that?
If it's true (and I have no way of knowing), it seems like the ultimate Nero fiddling as Rome burns.
That, Mr. Jim, is the ONLY attitute to have.
ReplyDeleteToday will be a great day. Despite furloughs and cutbacks and layoffs and stupid Superbowl job ads for jobs that aren't there! Ha.
It would be nice if Gannett publishers everywhere would have a positive attitude today, and treat their employees with the respect and support they deserve.
Wouldn't that be novel?
And there she goes...
ReplyDeleteThe stock just dipped below $5/share, which is the last stop for many institutional shareholders.
Look out below now.
McClatchy, here we come.
It's @$4.95 in early trading. The street is really embracing GCI's management.
ReplyDeleteGannett dipped below $5 / share today. A new low ...
ReplyDeleteAre Craig and Gracia ashamed?
10:18 a.m. and the stock price is $4.98.
ReplyDeleteGCI at $5.030 at 10:30 a.m. EST
ReplyDeleteWhy haven't we heard about the board of directors making some big moves before stock gets any worse?
For pension-holders, best get out your paperwork and read the fine print about guarantees.
GET RID OF THE DIVIDEND!
ReplyDeleteSooner we dump investment houses as our owners and buy back our stock, the sooner we get breathing room to last out the recession.
Hang on, everyone, GCI just hit 4.82. The chart is a ski slope! Wheeeeee!
ReplyDeleteHere we go with the dividend again. Trust me, that dividend is the third rail for Dubow and Co. Touch it, and they are dead. My expectation is they will maintain it at the current level, and launch new rounds of across-the-board budget cuts. I am not saying the dividend should not be cut, but I am saying that knowing Gannett and its history, the dividend is sacroscant for this company.
ReplyDeleteDid Cherry Hill let any body go yesterday ?.
ReplyDeleteCheck the EE's office at Cherry Hill are the lights on? Is he there yet?
ReplyDeleteWhere is the Publisher in Cherry Hill? Out to lunch?
ReplyDeleteHas Craig announced that he is not accepting a bonus this year?
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it where is the AD at Cherry Hill? Certainly not out making a sales call?
ReplyDeleteWould anyone notice if we all left? We could call it a day of reflection.
ReplyDeleteIf you have ANY Gannett stock these days you're working for FREE!
ReplyDelete11:10 thanks for the laugh out loud!
ReplyDelete4:48
ReplyDeleteYou have nailed it. This is a worldwide economic panic, crisis, disaster. Even without this crisis, our product, which is essentially information, had already lost its value. Why should anyone pay for information when they can get it free on the Internet? I don't see how news organizations can fix that in any economic world.
A few bright people are working independently in my community to create monthly neighborhood newsletters with local news. And yes, they have advertising. Their advertisers are those small locally owned businesses that can't afford or don't need the broad reach of the Gannett paper in town. The newsletter editors are everything rolled into one: editor, paginator, ad sales rep, but so what? They're working like hell, but they're working for themselves and not answering to an empty suit in Virginia who doesn't know their name. Sounds good to me.
The full page ad you mentioned from The Newspaper Project is a last minute effort forced on us by our publisher (house ad) to publish. Our pages had to go up last minute to get this free ad in. Nice savings. Not!
ReplyDeleteI don't know anything about if anyone is gone at Cherry Hill, but it would get great if the EE and AD were both gone along with a large group of others!!! Maybe the AD is meeting with her "idiots" planning the lunch menu or even putting a plan together to sell more girl scout cookies.
ReplyDelete"Here we go with the dividend again. Trust me, that dividend is the third rail for Dubow and Co. Touch it, and they are dead."
ReplyDeleteYup - it's about the only reason anyone's holding onto the stock now. If they get rid of that, the next time the stock rises to 6.00 it'll flush out.
I just happen to pass a VP and a manager on the stairs and they both had a sullen look on their faces. Must have come out of a meeting, I wonder what's up...maybe more layoffs and furloughs coming?
ReplyDeleteMy W-2 has still not arrived,(ex-Gannett) but my partner,(still gannett) same address, received it yesterday. WTF??
ReplyDeleteHas anyone else ever put a pencil to how much the twice-daily planning meetings cost the company in salaries and paper alone? Do all the sites invest time, and usually the resources of its highest paid people, in those meetings? A budget is a budget. Budgets reflect the news. What's there to talk hours about, and is the expense worth the cost?
ReplyDeleteThe publisher in Lafayette, La. is now making sales calls. A 180. Wonder why?
ReplyDeleteThank you, 1:02 p.m. The ego-stroking and posturing that goes on at those budget meetings is enough to make one gag. Spend less time talking about the news and where YOU think such-and-such story or photo should go, and spend time doing the big-picture stuff. Let the hands-on people, you know, do the job you're paying them to do. Or, grab a tube and start editing something. Of course, this kind of dawdling, beard-stroking and overwrought "decision-making" is umpteen times worse in the weekly world. Here's a tip, people: The longer you've been in the business, no matter the format you're working in, the less time it should be taking you to make sound critical decisions. If you've been doing this for a decade or more and you're still hemming and hawing over the simplest decisions in the name of "quality" or "massaging" or simply JO'ing to your own "wisdom," please do something else that doesn't require fast-on-your feet leadership. You've long passed the point of your usefulness...you're not putting out enyclopedias or anything else with that sort of "shelf life." It's called ephemera.
ReplyDeleteUS CREDIT-
ReplyDeleteGannett may face downgrade, dividend or not
NEW YORK, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Media group Gannett Co (GCI.N: Quote, Profile, Research)
may need to eliminate its dividend to reduce its debt load and generate more breathing room in its bank loan agreements, though the move is unlikely to save its high grade ratings.
Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service both said they may cut Gannett's credit ratings into junk territory after the company reported a 26 percent drop in profit for the fourth quarter.
The rating agencies cited concern that the company's revenues and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) will decline at too fast a pace to maintain its high grade status.
Credit analysts have cited the need for Gannett to cut its stock dividend in order to repay debt and reduce leverage as its earnings decline. Leverage was measured by comparing a company's debt relative to its EBITDA.
"If Gannett were to eliminate its dividend and focus on repaying debt, it appears to us that the company could prevent debt leverage from rising too far," CreditSights analyst Jake Newman said on Monday in a report.
It may be too late to save its ratings, however.
S&P "did not mention the possibility of a dividend cut or suspension until the very last sentence of the rationale," Newman said. "This suggests that if Gannett cuts its dividend, it might not help its case at S&P." S&P said a "fast turnaround," would be needed to prevent revenue and EBITDA declines pushing the company into junk territory. This language is "pretty much assuring, in our opinion, that the company will be cut within the next three months (regardless of the dividend policy)," Hale Holden, credit analyst at Barclays Capital, said in a report. Moody's said it is concerned about Gannett's ability to
stabilize its revenues, but added that it will evaluate
Gannett's dividend policy as part of its review.
Gannett executives said the company's board would meet in
February to evaluate its dividend.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/marketsNewsUS/idUKN0258613720090202
So, as a stockholder, if the dividend isn't dropped, can I sue for fiscal malfeasance for the board?
ReplyDeleteWould that be a civil or criminal charge?
Shout out for New Jersey: Read the Jersey Journal story saying they will close in April if they don't make the revenue figures they just got. You think GCI is any different than Newhouse?
ReplyDeleteso i guess this next reound of layoffs will make the previous ones look gentle. but hopefully you're not one of the few who are NOT looking for another job. good luck everyone, you'll need it!
ReplyDeleteHere's a good one! Just saw on the national network news that the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News have asked the state of Pennsylvania for a bailout. Imagine that. Three of the bigshots at those papers came from the Courier Post in Cherry Hill NJ. No surprise those two papers are going down the tubes too.
ReplyDeleteRather than nickel and dime every paper into unprofitability, let's shitcan the metros that are just dragging the rest of the company down with losses every month. Close them down.
ReplyDeleteWhy in the world should a 42% profit margin paper like Green Bay face cuts because Detroit can't figure out how to make money? Why should Springfield suffer because Cherry Hill's competition is kicking their ass?
Rather than take a couple of hits from all 84 dailies, shutter the 'we print when we feel like it' Detroit paper. In fact, pull the plug on all our Michigan papers, their economy will never be any better than it is now.
That's gotta be 10% of our workforce cut, and 10% of our losses will go away too. What's another hit against 'goodwill'? We only have about $37 left there anyway.
1:02 p.m. the twice daily planning meetings are a sham. Everything tends to fall apart at night after the "planners" leave anyhow. It's a joke.
ReplyDeleteWhen will the news on paying or not paying the dividend come out?
ReplyDeleteI probably shouldn't, but I honestly am enjoying seeing this company go down in flames.
Some rep from Franchise Xpress is here in Nashville looking to us to help him bring in more sales for his division. What's up with that, we are having a hard enough time making our numbers and now we have to go out on sales calls with this guy. With the Gannett stocks falling below $5.00 a share you would think money could be better spent then sending someone here to help with sales for his division.
ReplyDeleteThe board of directors would have to approve any change in the dividend. They are meeting this month.
ReplyDeleteAmazing to me how fast this is all coming to a head. I see Dubow's job now very much on the line with the dividend question. I agree with someone earlier who said he would have to go if it is cut.
ReplyDeleteSkip lunch today! Buy a share of stock.
ReplyDeleteWatch it - The three former executive from Cherry Hill are all better than what's here now!
ReplyDeleteAre any offices in the Company buying stock as a vote of confidence?
ReplyDeleteBig Al to the rescue...
ReplyDeleteIs tomorrow the deadline for GNS folks to decide on voluntary severance?
ReplyDeleteAs Crystal Palace clears out, perhaps Hilton Hotels headquarters (moving from CA to metro Washington DC) would like to move in.
Has Walt Lafferty gone home yet?
ReplyDeleteAs employees are we allowed to short the stock?
ReplyDeleteIt is true that even the "best and brightest" in the American media - both at the corporate and newspaper level - will have a hard time coming up with solutions to the present economic turmoil. And the person who said that in this case, Gannett is in REAL trouble because there are no more "best and brightest" at the corporation level or at the newspapers is absolutely correct.
ReplyDeleteThat is the sad thing. At Gannett, all the innovators, the risk-takers and quality journalists and managers have all quit or been fired. Period. It is that simple.
What is left at the Crystal
Pal-alice are stooges and idiots. At the community papers all the publishers and EEs are butt-kissers and phantoms (invisible managers).
Of course, the smart move for any company now is NOT to make these cuts, NOT to damage the quality of product, and simply ride out this temporary storm by taking a CUT in profit margin! That is the SMART move.
I would gladly settle for a 15% profit margin - net income - even if the budget calls for a 30% margin. To attempt to maintain the 30% margin and profit on the backs of extreme expense cuts is suicidal.
It always has been, is now, and always will be.
Gannett and the other companies should just suck it up, get a smaller profit, and be in a strong position for grwoth when the economy turns around - which it WILL do.
That is why the person who posted the item about the "community newsletters" springing up all over is so frightening. These "little guys" are getting ads, they are putting local news in .... how soon will it be before Gannett realizes that they have lost their "local franchise" to local independents who are not beholding to some hack in Virginia?
As Bill Paxton said: "Game over, man! Game over"
Has anyone heard about more layoffs and whether they will happen for sure? This stress of not knowing what's up is giving me an ulcer.
ReplyDeleteLafferty and his water boy went home early today. Snow day.
ReplyDeleteNow more than ever---Krista Mueller to the rescue !!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThat Franchise Express rep has been to our paper many many times over the years. It is always a waste of time because we have a lot more products to sell than just his divisions, who is he?
ReplyDeleteLayoffs will happen, 3:01, for sure. Gannett News Service is currently going through theirs, and others are expected but not yet announced. See a doctor about the ulcer because they now can treat it with a combination of antibiotics.
ReplyDeleteHey "DUMMIES" it's ???? to the rescue !!! And who is this Kruize guy you all keep talking about saving us?
ReplyDeleteThe Franchise Xpress reps here in Westchester late last year. Made us go out on sales calls with him to a bunch of local businesses, but never saw any results or orders placed.
ReplyDeleteWestchester is a joke on all platforms. LoHud.com is too slow on breaking news, usually beat by News12 and CBS radio. The daily newspaper is a shell of what it use to be, when you see the 1A front you have no desire to pick it up. You will see about 20 unsold copies at every convenience store in the area. The free weekly Express papers are great for wrapping around a bunch of store circulars but thats about it.
ReplyDeleteI'm laughing at a prior post regarding the 3/bigshots that went to the Philadelphia paper. You call them "bigshots"?? What goes around comes' around in spades.
ReplyDeleteAnother week of snow in the Midwest surely can’t be helping the Interstate Group’s revenue numbers….let alone delivery of papers being printed hours away.
ReplyDeleteCan any one name the three big shots that came from the courier post ?.
ReplyDeleteSome guy from Franchise Xpress used to come out to Phoenix a few times each year. We used to laugh and roll our eyes each time he came because it was such a waste of our time to spend any time with him listening to him talk up the insert program, because we were selling a better insert at a better price.
ReplyDeleteThe 3 big shots who went to Philadelphia Inquirer/Daily News are Marc Frisby (was publisher at Cherry Hill), Jim Gregory (was circ director at CH) and Tom Geonotti who was AD. There were also others who went over theretoo.
ReplyDeleteHere I come to save the day! that means that Jim Kroeze is on the way.
ReplyDeleteGawd, a trip to the drive through for lunch on my 12 hour shift now costs more than a share of stock. That sucks.
ReplyDeleteWill the last reporter (probably editor) at the last Gannett paper please blow out the candles?
ReplyDeleteGannett's long love affair with Wall Street is about to end in divorce.
And the last of the children are about to become orphans.
The 3 bigshots at the Philadelphia papers are.
ReplyDeleteMark (superfly -smells like donkey ass) Frisby, Jim (he likes em young) Gregory and Tom (unsurpassable party-hardy boy ) Geonotti.
Challenge: Can anyone name even one employee left at the Courier News/ Home News Tribune who has any caring, personality or integrity? Be careful....because if there is one he/she will be gone in the blink of an eye.
ReplyDeleteI know at least one very sincere and qualified reporter at CN and I hope he survives, because he is an asset to the organization. But he is young, so if he has to reorder his priorities it will be CN's loss, not his own. Good luck, you know who!
ReplyDeleteI just read the comments by 10:21 from Sunday night, and I have to ask ... have you been reading my mind?
ReplyDeleteSo many of my non-newspaper friends and relatives have asked me what the heck is going on, and I've boiled down Gannett's crash to exactly what you said: Instead of truly delivering LOCAL coverage, they try to apply a cookie cutter approach to every property. I'm in NJ and can tell you the managers they brought into the APP blew it bigtime with their recent moves on the fishing section. The community is up at arms over it, and because of how piss poorly they handled it, they've lost a significant portion of that sector's advertising -- which was a nice chunk of change, especially in this economy. The decision-makers don't understand the community they're supposed to be serving, and worse, they don't even try. The end result is they have slit their throats in one area that was lucrative for them.
Local only works when you understand the locals. And Gannett has proven that it is clueless about serving the community. And it's a damn shame.
5:42, I know a few of them, hard-working worker bees who don't deserve the fate they're receiving.
ReplyDeleteI read the Moody's/S&P thing posted earlier in this thread.
ReplyDeleteThis part was the best:
"Credit analysts have cited the need for Gannett to cut its stock dividend in order to repay debt and reduce leverage as its earnings decline. Leverage was measured by comparing a company's debt relative to its EBITDA.
"If Gannett were to eliminate its dividend and focus on repaying debt, it appears to us that the company could prevent debt leverage from rising too far," CreditSights analyst Jake Newman said on Monday in a report.
HELLO, CRAIG, GRACIA AND THE BOARD ... ARE YOU LISTENING???
"Local only works when you understand the locals. And Gannett has proven that it is clueless about serving the community. And it's a damn shame"
ReplyDeleteThis is true, especially in Westchester. Whoever is left in Westchester with some knowledge and history of the community should make questions about the community and the coverage area and give a quiz to the Higher ups, EE's, AME's. The results of the quiz would be laughable. They only know where their houses are and the walls within that depressing building where they work.
@8:22 a.m. -
ReplyDeleteNearly 1 in 5 of USA TODAY's circulation numbers are due to one hotel account. You get a bible and one other (more important they think) book when you check into rooms in that chain, if you know what I mean. Oh, and you get USA TODAY. If that account disappears, goodbye #1.
By the way, USA TODAY has never been even close to the most profitable newspaper in Gannett. They never made a dime until the early 90s and lost over $1B before that. (I mean, were subsidized by the other newspapers.)
They were also not profitable in several months in 2008.
6:58--Thank you for your post. All politics is local, and all newspapers should be, too. BTW, I'm from N.J., and I hope the Jersey bashers cool it on this blog sometime soon.
ReplyDeleteTo hell with stuffing pages from the wires. Put that crap up on the Web and let people read the headlines because that's all they're probably reading anyway.
Get the local news up there, too, but charge people something to read all the local news, the sports, the local features and yes, the obits. Reporters and editors are still out there trying to dig up and write and edit local news. There's plenty more than I think a lot of them can or are willing to write, but all that takes is a grounded, community newspaper-experienced managing editor to turn that around.
How the hell else can putting all the news up on the Web hours before the paper even prints make any money? I just don't get it. Will someone PLEASE explain to me the free handout paradigm?
6:58pm
ReplyDeletePlease note that the circulation numbers go up significantly in the summer when many New Jerseans head for the shore. All those folks vacationing need to know what's going on and where.
Nice job APP!
Detroit started another round of layoffs today.
ReplyDelete5:38. Wow, what a surprise (not). Frisby, Gregory and Geonotti are now running the Philly papers into the ground much like they destroyed Cherry Hill. What kind of brain trust would hire these three. Is Bobby Collins on the Philly board of directors????
ReplyDeleteRe: circulation numbers of APP go up summers at Jersey Shore. Ever seen The SandPaper, published on Long Beach Island. It's fabulous and it's free
ReplyDeleteRe: Circulation numbers APP. I think that person needs to take their head out of the sand. Don't bank on this summer.
ReplyDelete8:34
ReplyDeleteBrian Tierney's "light" should go on soon. He isn't a dummy. He's being bamboozled by their bullshit.
Brain Trust????? It's obvious Tierneys' been kept in the dark too long.
ReplyDeleteAh, the Sandpaper. Jay Mann was a heck of a reporter back in the day -- hope he stayed in the biz.
ReplyDeletewe haven't seen the good franchise express folks in Louisville, but last week we saw someone shilling "Advergames" to our team. On the day of the beginning of the snow and ice storm. No notice from our illustrious digital team to set up calls in advance - the group of them popping around to different sales teams with the digital folks begging to go on calls to anyone who would see him right away. To buy puzzles on our website.
ReplyDeleteRe: Frisby,Gregory,Geonotti will destroy Philadelphia like Cherry Hill. Nailed the coffin & left behind their Nafka to kick in dirt.
ReplyDeleteLooks like some of my Cherry Hill colleagues are miffed the "bigshots" didn't bring them with when they crossed the river.
ReplyDeleteIf Lafferty is a good publisher? as you say.
ReplyDeleteWhy would people shit on his floor? You haven't been around to long you don't know what a great publisher is made of.
Is there confirmation of Detroit layoffs?
ReplyDeleteNothings been confirmed in Detroit. Where's the confirmation?
ReplyDeleteI've worked with Walt Lafferty, and he is one of the most knowledgable managers I know. He grew up in the business, has been there is the good and bad, and actually cares about his people.
ReplyDeleteIt's obvious whoever you are your not a working journalist. You call Lafferty a knowledgable manager? His title is a publisher. He needs to act like one.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.brightscope.com/401k-rating/59387/Gannett-Co-Inc/
ReplyDeleteThis is a link to a relatively new website that tracks and compares various co.'s 401K plans.
According to Don Solin, who wrote the article, Brightscope "crunched 401(k) plan data from public resources and compiled an extensive database of information. Using over 200 data points, including plan costs, amount of matching contribution and quality of investment options, it assigned a numerical rating to each plan. It then compared the rating to the lowest, average and highest rating in the peer group. It also calculated how many additional years an employee in a given plan would have to work, and how much was lost in retirement savings, compared to the highest rated company in that peer group."
Kind of eye-opening, and somewhat depressing.
Look at this stock. This company should be ashamed of themselves. They blame this on the economy?? They have short changed this industry for the past 20 years in everyway possible. They never took the time or effort to expand and always played catch up. It shows. Forget the web Gannett your done. You shot yourself in the foot x's two
ReplyDeleteYeah !!! They just need to give CRAIG the bullet and send him and his golden paraschut on his way.
ReplyDeleteAre any managers or directors receiving bonuses usually handed out this time of year?
ReplyDelete8:12, re app summer circulation: A massive bump happened every year when the fishing section returned. That won't happen this year, not with Geiser kicked to the curb. Try this on for size: 40% readership numbers for males 18-44. And they threw that away.
ReplyDeleteYes, more lay-offs are definite. Between now and the end of April. Some will be due to the 'consolidation' as Dubow put it. Regionalizing everyting possible. (Takes LOCAL out of the equation altogether!) In other words more layers to keep the right hand from knowing what the left had is doing! Around here glorifying your manager is the only surefire way to keep your job...hard work and skill have absolutely nothing to do with it!
ReplyDeleteTo 1:02...
ReplyDeleteEvery daily I've been with (7; this is my first Gannett) has had two-a-day news meetings. Yes, they are necessary.
Beyond fishing news at the APP, the Cincy castaway running the show there kicked three of the paper's best women specialists to the curb, too, wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am: food editor, movie editor and troubleshooter.
ReplyDeleteI agree, the APP nailed its own coffin by failing to recognize the value of the talent it had. I hope all four of those stellar professionals landed somewhere better.
11:58 PM
ReplyDeleteAt what cost and what do you see are the benefits to justify the cost?
"Whoever said lafferty left early is an idiot he left after six. I don't understand why people bash him he's a good pub".
ReplyDelete"I've worked with Walt Lafferty, and he is one of the most knowledgable managers I know. He grew up in the business, has been there is the good and bad, and actually cares about his people".
ha. your nose is brown.
10:40 PM - Yes, at my site but much smaller than previous years.
ReplyDelete10:24 PM - Plan data used is from 2006. Could use some updating. Company match has increased and new investment options since then. However, it could look even more depressing. :(
ReplyDelete