Comments are already rolling in on the huge 2007 bonuses Gannett just disclosed for senior executives. "That is OUTRAGEOUS,'' one reader says. "I'm so glad I resigned from Gannett this year for a company with a healthier bottom line. It truly angers me. Gannett stock plummeted almost $50 a share inside of a year and [CEO Craig Dubow] gets a $1.75 million bonus? And reporters and editors are making due with less staff, less resources -- I'm beyond shocked, but not surprised -- no wonder people in Cherry Hill are literally crapping on the floor! Wake up folks! There is something truly wrong with this picture."
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Reader: Pay to top brass 'truly angers me'
Comments are already rolling in on the huge 2007 bonuses Gannett just disclosed for senior executives. "That is OUTRAGEOUS,'' one reader says. "I'm so glad I resigned from Gannett this year for a company with a healthier bottom line. It truly angers me. Gannett stock plummeted almost $50 a share inside of a year and [CEO Craig Dubow] gets a $1.75 million bonus? And reporters and editors are making due with less staff, less resources -- I'm beyond shocked, but not surprised -- no wonder people in Cherry Hill are literally crapping on the floor! Wake up folks! There is something truly wrong with this picture."
6 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 want to see a vote of no confidence in Craig Dubow. How can we make this happen?
ReplyDeleteThey may be large amounts of money, but it looks like every top executive took a pay cut, both in base salary and in total compensation.
ReplyDeleteI think you need to look again. The few that got a lower bonus got a raise large enough to more than offset that loss
ReplyDeleteYou're kidding 7:30, right? What pay cut? I'm sorry, but in the real world inhabited by most people, nearly $2 million in bonuses -- for ONE PERSON -- IS a LOT of money to Gannett employees -- many of whom make less than $50K a year AND are EXPECTED to work overtime without getting paid and without complaining about it. These guys need to be investigated by Congress if you ask me. And those who sit up at corporate with access to Benzs, BMW's and Jaquars with GCI tags on level 4 of the parking garage, free tickets to sporting events, private jet rides, and country club dues should be ashamed of themselves. People at the papers are really struggling - a LOT. How can one person get THAT much in compensation when you've got people working on outdated and broken equipment? And since when are journalists who act as watch dogs over everyone else expected to turn a blind eye to the obvious wrong in their own industries? Furthermore, what's he going to do with that $1.75 million bonus? Is it going back into resources at the papers? Is it going to rightfully pay people for time worked, time away from families, time away from their lives? No one signs on to be a journalist for altruistic reasons. Why should people suffer trying to do something they love?
ReplyDeleteMy mistake. Ouch! Total compensation down, but not base salary and bonus. Those were unchanged for Dubow, I think. By the AP's own counting, Dubow got a 36% raise. Either way, an unchanged base salary and bonus seems interesting at the very least, when you consider the change in Gannett's market value during the past year. Perhaps they should just eliminate the bonus for executives until the ad revenue decline reverses itself. I'd say wait until the stock price changes, but there are too many variables in play.
ReplyDeleteThis stuff has been going on for years. How many times have the local property been given a corporate mandate not to exceed 3% in total newspaper pay increases. It happens every year and then we get the annual report and see the big wigs getting enormous increases. It happened all the time with Gary Watson.
ReplyDelete