Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Tuesday | March 3 | Your News & Comments
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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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First!
ReplyDeleteContent One to the rescue!
ReplyDelete...and Joisee rules...
ReplyDeleteNEXT!!
RTC SUCKS, RTC SUCKS, RTC SUCKS!
ReplyDeleteAnother deadline missed waiting for images. RTC SUCKS! TONI YOU SUCK !!!
Gannett is just like The Bachelor-neither of them can't make up teir damn mind!!
ReplyDeleteA super-friendly reminder:
ReplyDeleteI've recently launched Jersey Confidential, a special forum for New Jersey-specific news and comments. To get there, just click on the link in the blue sidebar, to your right.
Comments posted here that are specific to New Jersey may be removed by yours truly, then reposted in the new forum.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteRTC is *such* a joke. They can't tone images to save their lives. Must be hired monkies off the street. We had to re-tone just about everything they did, which was dark & muddy, green...pathetic.
ReplyDeleteLike 2AdPro's "cost cutting" garbage, we had to do it all over again. Real savings. Sales reps cringe at it.
The Ad Production Department that KNEW how to do it right, reworking the low-cost garbage that Gannett is trying to use to replace its once good workers.
You get what you pay for.
Sorry - it's late and I'm tired. I meant to say for the...
ReplyDelete"The Ad Production Department that KNEW how to do it right, reworking the low-cost garbage that Gannett is trying to use to replace its once good workers."
was..
The Ad Production Department had to re-work just about everything that the low-cost garbage that came from 2AdPro. This is what Gannett is trying to use to replace its once-good workers that were laid off.
... I also want to add that the MANAGERS and SUPERVISORS also know that RTC toned images were horrible. And they let us - the artists - re-tone their stuff, yet still sing praises of "RTC" in the useless meetings they have.
ReplyDeleteWake up and smell the coffee Gannett!
I second what 1:16 says about managers knowing the crap work that comes from RTC. In our newsroom, it's always, oh well, not our department, not our problem. Quality be damned.
ReplyDeleteI concur with the above RTC comments and it is unfortunate to be sure.
ReplyDeleteI think everyone agrees that the RTC does poor quality work. It is unfortunate that Gannett didn't care about the quality of their images "for the regular papers." A company can count how many images are done but they can't put quality on "the bottom line." You can however see how fast an inexperienced toner, who has nothing to do with the paper they tone for, can get the images out the door and if that isn't fast enough they can always throw them into Intellitune. And, since everyone that gave a damned about their images either gave up or are gone -- no one says anything about the RTC. If it isn't hideous, nothing is said. Certainly, the RTC is someone's little darling.
I am sure the "mentality" of the management at the RTC is about, doing the most with the least, and that shows in the end. The problem with that mentality is that when times are tough you end up with both no quality and late pictures. When they got rid of the local toners they got rid of the experience, expertise and that little measured quality called "give a damn." Too bad for them and too bad for all of us.
As far as missing your deadline, maybe they are all on furlough? The RTC is a perfect example of the Gannett mentality.
BOB COLLINS once said he was goin gto hold on to his Gannett stock and ride it all the way to 100......I don't think he meant 100 CENTS
ReplyDeleteDon't blame Toni & RTC - they had to pick the Amish in Des Moines and the hillbillies in Kentucky right off the street and try to train people without electricity how to tone photos.
ReplyDeleteLast week's note that they were now going to try for external customers just about put me on the floor laughing. What do you use as a sales piece, any one of the dailies? HA!
When quality was outsourced, we stopped caring how the photos looked. Not because we want our paper to look bad, but because we had to give up hours to pay for the 'improvement' RTC would bring. We don't have the bodies to redo everything they improve.
RTC was a good idea to save money....but look at the results....now everyone is S.O.L.
ReplyDeleteI am SO disappointed that the only thing we hear from Kate Marymont is the same sort of NewsWatch sap and crap that we got for years from Phil Currie.
ReplyDeleteDoes Tara have her locked in a closet, has Kate turned into a potted plant who spends her days counting her big paycheck, or what?
Where is the leadership?
Does anybody know what the heck happened in Tyson's last week after the board meeting? I know that we had high ranking people from our site summoned on Thursday. Now things are very, very quiet. Too quiet, in fact. What's going on?
ReplyDeleteI see the quality of the images we get from RTC. ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE. Do I tell my bosses, do I make a fuss? HELL NO!!!! Whatever I get back from RTC is what I put in the ads. Even for the high-end 300dpi glossy jobs. If it sucks bad enough, let the customer complain. Let the salespeople complain. I did my part. The kicker is that I know I can do the toning 10 times better and get the job out the door on time. Do my bosses care? No. All the bosses do is kiss the Gannett ass and go with the flow.
ReplyDeleteSame goes for jobs sent to 2AdPro and that other shithole in PA. If the ads are terrible and the customers complain... that is the only voice they hear. Do you think I don't care? Well, surprise, surprise.... I DO CARE, but (my co-workers and) I are not being heard. We have not been heard since Gannett took over. Sad state of affairs if you ask me.
Hey Corporate:
ReplyDeleteI'll be glad to sell you my shares at $80 if you need more from your $1.8B buyback!
RTC:
ReplyDeleteReally
Terrible
Content
Plenty of out-of-work toners in Rochester, NY. We have some of the best color correction people in the business. Rochester is home to Kodak!
ReplyDeleteWhy Rochester wasn't made the RTC puzzles me.
Why Rochester wasn't made the RTC puzzles me.
ReplyDeleteThey probably went where the cheapest salaries were.
We are constantly having issues with photos coming back from the RTC. Does USA Today send their photos to the RTC?
The revolution will be televised.Live from beautiful downtown White Plains New York.
ReplyDeleteKate Marymount is incredibly frustrated by Tara Connell. I was in a meeting where she lashed out on Content One.
ReplyDeleteI think Tara Connell needs to come clean and prove to corporate and the rest of the Community Publishing Group that she knows what she is doing and she has the backing of the Gannett Executives.
Someone posted on here a few days ago that there is some big meeting where Tara Connell is going to reveal her big plan for Content One.
She will need to make a big impression on our newsrooms as she lacks credibility among every manager.
I can understand Kate's frustration. I have been at Gannett for over 10 years and I have never seen such a weak attempt at working with the newsrooms on something that is so critical to our survival.
What the hell IS ContentOne? I am a department head and I have NO CLUE what it is other than that all our inauguration stuff went there. I took the survey asking what GNS content we regularly use (we still use lots of it), and now I have no idea what's going. Is our copy going to ContentOne to have advertorial inserted into it? Is it a sharepoint site, it is a wire service, is it a public Web site? How the hell can a company stay in business w/o communicating the most basic of changes to its front line staff?
ReplyDeleteInfo on content one:
ReplyDeletehttp://gannettblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/memo-gannett-launches-pilot-test-that_5859.html
A random observation from someone who has been at USA Today and Gannett for a fair amount of time.
ReplyDeleteA lot of folks get hung up on the big things that this company has done wrong, like not jumping on digital initiatives sooner. But the way I see it is that Gannett/USAT's problems have been equally produced by tiny little failures all strung together.
The small things that have led to a slow death:
1. A bad managing editor (or any supervisor with a lot of authority) not recognizing real talent and integrity on his or her staff while promoting all the wrong people for all the wrong reasons. Over time, that can become one very flawed staff. Multiply that by however many bad managers there are at however many properties Gannett has, and, well...
2. Company lawyers and HR departments making it difficult to get rid of low-character, low-producing staffers.
3. Wastefulness in the form of things we simply don't need.
4. Hiring someone to make up for someone else's deficiencies.
5. Paying way too much attention to gimmicks and silly awards to boost morale and not creating an environment where one can flourish and be happy without getting a magnet to to display on the fridge to justify their good work.
6. Not creating an even playing field for all employees by eliminating the grotesque favoritism that seemingly gets worse by the year. Never seen such a have and have-not newsroom as I have at USAT. Never seen such cliques.
7. Not paying enough attention to work ethics. Some work 10 to 12-hour days without a break while others work 7 hours and spend two of those in the gym or at lunch or countless breaks.
8. Not encouraging enough open and honest discussion. In fact, those willing to put their necks on the line by speaking out when something is wrong should be rewarded. Instead, they are often punished or, at the very least, cast out of "the loop" by people who don't want anyone to raise any red flags. Of the "small things" this is probably the most serious, cultural flaw in this company and it will take many years to undo because most employees do not trust managers enough to speak freely. Managers need to be more secure and encourage frank dialogue and debate. Period. If they just want yes-men/women around them, they shouldn't be in leadership positions.
9. If the company feels it's a dire necessity to have buyouts or layoffs, then they have to make sure they don't lose the people who are the backbone of the company, the folks who make the trains run on time. During the the last two rounds of staff reductions, too many qualified, hard-working professionals were lost while some very questionable employees remained. That's a double whammy in terms of productivity taking a hit.
10. Hire high-character people and let them do what they are best at instead of forcing them to do what doesn't come natural. This company expects people to wear too many hats, therefore the quality of work is diluted, morale sinks and the decay continues across Gannett. And during the hiring process, character, talent, skill and thoughtfulness should be the main criteria for choosing an employee. Skin color, ethnicity and/or sexual orientation should have nothing to do with selecting who works here.
Gannett has struggled with these "small things" for as long as I can remember. When they thought they were being progressive, they were actually causing other long-term problems. Managers in this company seem to not think things through. When higherups were negligent and let rogue department managers run the show for decades, damage was done that will take years to mend. The new generation of employees coming into Gannett don't seem well-equipped to right the ship and are likely to leave sooner rather than later out of frustration.
In essence, it's time Gannett start sweating the details. And at the same time, the entire culture needs to change. In some way, old-school values that still work in the best companies need to be reinstalled at Gannett. In other ways, new perspectives need to be blended into the old culture. Don't throw out the baby with the bath water, but be open to some fresh approaches. Some things at Gannett actually do work, but they are becoming fewer and fewer by the day.
It might sound petty, but I see a culture at Gannett where people don't shut out the lights when they leave at night, keep TVs on 24/7 regardless if anyone is there watching, don't show enough responsibility to their coworkers to not abuse privileges like extending their dinner breaks 20 minutes whenever they feel like it. This kind of permissive environment and thoughtless little acts of waste have to go. Why aren't managers on top of this stuff? This needs to be a company that is consistent on all levels and in all ways. It needs to run a business that appeals to people who have a desire to work hard and to be treated fairly.
This should not be a business that deals only in perceptions and ignores realities. This should not be a business that harbors selfish people or promotes or protect unqualified employees. This should be company that has a place for older and younger workers. Gannett properties should be comprised of people with solid values, good character and relative sanity. This should not be a halfway house for people with severe emotional problems or a school for employees who didn't learn the basics in high school or college. This is a company that should embrace people who are aware of world events and not a company that hires folks who have no idea what's going on in the news. The news is our business, regardless of whether you're a reporter or ad sales person or marketing designer.
I truly believe that the company got so big that it lost sight of all that might seemed like it was being taken care of by someone else but wasn't. Managers became less accountable. There was no checks and balances system in place, so a lot of these managers brought in some very corrupt people and lost some honorable staffers.
This is a lot to digest because the failures reside in every nook and cranny in and out of every newsroom in this company. My experience has mainly been at USAT, and it is highly disturbing to realize that if things are as bad as they are and have been at the flagship, what must they be like now in Asbury Park or Westchester. The problems are so many that I often think the entire company needs to just start over. It appears lately that investors agree.
I nominate 9:59 for president of Gannett.
ReplyDeleteRTC from day one is a prime example of why G is a screwed up company. Why they didn't set up this operation under the guidance of USA Today is beyond more than me. Granted, USA Today might be overkill in many areas, but you can't challenge the reproduction quality and consistency. It would have been good synergy, albeit an acknowledgement that they have to merge the Community Newspaper Group with the more-independent USA Today folks. That they continue to operate separately is beyond belief ...
ReplyDeleteI was watching "Vanilla Sky" last night and it suddenly struck me that Gannett is Tom Cruise's character in that movie: he doesn't know he's in a coma; he's horribly disfigured; he kills the ones he loves most; he's stuck in a nightmare of his own creation; in the end, he choses to jump off a building to finally end it.
ReplyDelete"I'll tell you in another life, when we're both cats."
Gannett stock is in free-fall today. Down to $2.47 as of this writing and still dropping.
ReplyDeleteSomething BIG is going to happen soon - it has to. Be it ousting Dubrow, Bankruptcy, Acquisition, Merger, etc., there is now escaping this reality. The day of reckoning is just around the corner.
You'll love this, especially if you're on furlough:
ReplyDeleteSTAMFORD, Conn., March 3, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The Advanced Marketing & Media Group (The AMM Group) announced today it has been selected by Gannett Co. Inc. to develop an advertising performance measurement system that the media company will use to offer its advertisers an opportunity to measure marketing ROI across Gannett media assets, including newspapers, television stations, websites and mobile properties.
The AMM Group, a Stamford, CT-based marketing technology company, is a leader in providing marketing performance management systems to marketers, agencies and media companies. The company's AMIS(TM) platform, a marketing intelligence solution that is customizable for every brand, is the tool that powers the MIMS program for Gannett.
AMIS will enable Gannett's MIMS to capture marketing intelligence and reveal the return of marketing investment for the media company's advertisers, enabling them to quickly respond to today's ever-changing marketing environment. It accomplishes this by measuring marketing's impact on sales, brand and consumer value. Data can be viewed in near-real time on a user-friendly, dashboard customized for each participating Gannett client. Initially, Gannett will deploy MIMS in partnership with a select group of pilot advertisers.
Gannett has money to hire expensive consultants??????????? I'll bet this contract value is north of $100,000.
what's with this Jersey Confidential blog? Do you think that what happens in Jersey stays in Jersey? No, it spreads throughout the comapny like a disease. Jersey has been used as a beta site for years.
ReplyDeleteYou can ignore what goes on there, but that would be the same as burying your head in the sand again.
About that advertising performance measures----why does Gannett hire and pay analysts and thinkers and innovators if the company needs to farm out this kind of work?
ReplyDelete9:29 am - I could not agree with you more. However....
ReplyDeleteWhile this miserable company has allowed many, many "little things" to ball up into a poor work culture, Gannett ALSO has screwed up what I think are the big things -
Poor hirings - worse promotions. Traveling publishers and managing editors have ruined this company. Rotating mindless publishers/editors around every couple of years has really hurt the community papers.
These tend to be the pitiful brown-nosers and Phil Currie grovelers who got promoted over and over again. They ruined many a good paper. Look at Callinan in Cincy and that Leslie whats-her-name in Indiana - bad leadership.
Gannett also allowed the best and most creative to be hired, then drove them out.
Too many ex-employees HATE Gannett with a pasion like nothing I have ever seen!
I have personally prevented several good people from going to Gannett papers when they asked me about the jobs.... I did it for THEIR own good but even more because I feared that MAYBE they would be great for Gannett! Ha!
How can a company surive when ALL its decisions, large and small, are wrong, and everyone hates them? Former employees and apparently according to this blog, most existing employees?
The end is near! Horray!
9:29 am - I could not agree with you more. However....
ReplyDeleteWhile this miserable company has allowed many, many "little things" to ball up into a poor work culture, Gannett ALSO has screwed up what I think are the big things -
Poor hirings - worse promotions. Traveling publishers and managing editors have ruined this company. Rotating mindless publishers/editors around every couple of years has really hurt the community papers.
These tend to be the pitiful brown-nosers and Phil Currie grovelers who got promoted over and over again. They ruined many a good paper. Look at Callinan in Cincy and that Leslie whats-her-name in Indiana - bad leadership.
Gannett also allowed the best and most creative to be hired, then drove them out.
Too many ex-employees HATE Gannett with a pasion like nothing I have ever seen!
I have personally prevented several good people from going to Gannett papers when they asked me about the jobs.... I did it for THEIR own good but even more because I feared that MAYBE they would be great for Gannett! Ha!
How can a company surive when ALL its decisions, large and small, are wrong, and everyone hates them? Former employees and apparently according to this blog, most existing employees?
The end is near! Horray!
I meant 9:59, I could not agree with you more....
ReplyDelete9:59
ReplyDeleteI agree with you too. I'd love to know what position you hold now.
What rang so true were your examples of the gimmicks (whether they are HR iniatitives, or and individual department--I DEPISE doing something just so a BOX can be checked off)
and not listening---I can't tell you how many "Planning" meetings where an idea (and not necesarily by me) was presented, but it was IMMEDIATELY dismissed. The folks in charge already knew what they wanted to do, but had to have a meeting under the guise of getting input. What a f-in waste of time, and HUMILATING. I don't expect all (or maybe any) of my ideas to be used---but at least entertain a real discussion.
thanks for letting me get that off my chest.
by the way my word verification is: scewin
By the way, it will not be long before Gannett stock is officially ------
ReplyDeleteWorthless.
Bob Collins and his $100 dollars a share prediction? Oh my. How pathetically typical of the losers at the top of this company. Currie... Marymont... Callinan, Silberman....and of course, Fearless Leader himself morons all.
9:59:
ReplyDeleteYou left out a big one: Too many lazy, untrainable people hanging out in the newsrooms.
You can blame management for a lot, but not everything. At some point, you have to look in the mirror.
Jim has no reflection because he is a gay vampire. But others should look at their own flaws.
9:59 You hit the nail on the head. Corporate executives are rewarded for selling their ideas not or their ideas actually working. They will make a big deal out of the idea and then short change the implementation. None of the ideas that GCI has implemented are bad its that no one took the time to do their homework to do them properly. RCT, COE, DIG. consolidated financial centers all failures!! Why? Because Gracia was in such a hurry to get the savings she did not let people implement correctly. I hear there is another major cluster coming up that will make the screw ups of the past pail in comparison.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, Jim thank you for segregating the New Jersey stuff todays thread has been the most readable and most informative in several weeks.
With all due respect to those who comment about Callinan, just remember who he works for in Cincinnati and how she runs it.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, she more than represents what’s been wrong with Gannett, especially in regard to item eight shared by Anon 9:59 AM.
9:59 is a genius!
ReplyDeleteHis comments perfectly describe my former employer, the Gannett Wisconsin Group.
Thank you for such a well-written analysis.
9:59 You are dead on right!
ReplyDeleteGannett evolved to where it is today over the last 10 years. I grew up in gannett in the Al Neuharth years and love him or hate him it was a very different company that rewarded creativity, praised out of the box thinking and had far more integrity.
Hundreds of those good people that built Gannett are no gone, replaced with big egos, little expertise and no vision.
I don't take pleasure in Gannett possibly going under because good people will suffer. But I do totally concur it's because of the company's own doings, big and small, and a sense of arrogance in the way they do business, particularly at USA TODAY. This company brought this on itself through sloppy management at the lower levels, over-inflated egos at higher levels, really bad hiring and retention of those who shouldn't have been hired in the first place. I agree that the small things have had a cumulative and tragic impact. There have been top editors I've known who lasted years in Gannett who I honestly believe were clinically and emotionally unbalanced. Every one of their faulty decisions will linger for years. The current crop of supervisors, some of whom were groomed by these mentally ill con artist managers or yesteryear, seem to be following in similar footsteps. It's really a disaster, and the fact that such a disproportionate number of former employees simply hate that company is proof enough of its failing on the smallest and grandest of scales. This is just your typical disgruntle ex employee stuff. This is deeply cemented into these former Gannettoids, many of whom were actually pretty damn good employees while here. If I worked at the top in corporate or was on the board, I would review everyone who has left this company in the last two years and see if mistakes were made in how or why they left. A lot of answers to current problems could be found in those former employees.
ReplyDeleteKudos to 9:59 in breaking it down.
11:03
ReplyDeleteYes, stated perfectly---why is it so obvious to us and not to those in charge?
Interesting read, and looking at the fresh faces, it seems like this is the plan to replace older talent.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.gannett.com/leadershipanddiversity/talentoverview.htm
A lot cheaper than offering us old timers training.
10:35 - Jersey a beta site? How so? We're worlds ahead of you in Wisconsin.
ReplyDeleteAll media will go down. People DO NOT PAY for LIBERAL propaganda!!!
ReplyDeleteNY Times
NBC (GE)
Gannett
Washington Post
CBS
Doesn't matter the medium, liberalism and socialism does not sell. Also, you are all being punished by voting in the biggest socialist as president.
Don't blame Dubow, blame Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, Chris Dodd and Barney Frank.
All you reporters all cover them with a blind eye. You are creating your own problem. Get ready for the bread lines!!!
11:12, I agree with you, except for the part about good people suffering if Gannett goes under.
ReplyDeleteI think that many good people are already suffering because they work for this company, which never met an abusive tactic it didn't like.
I think the humane solution for the good people of this company is to end the misery. Gannett should cease to exist. The papers should be sold to local publishers that actually know and care about their communities. Gannett has no business operating the way it does. The reading public, the advertisers and the investors are all casting their votes right now and seem to agree with that sentiment.
If all the rest of Gannett's papers are acting like Brevard it isn't any wonder why Gannett is failing. In trying to shore up home delivery they are beheading single copy. As someone said earlier, 10 percent returns, which is as sad as it is ludicrous, and now putting them at the very end of the production lineup, after ALL home delivery is loaded. Isn't single copy an unsold paper until it hits the street?
ReplyDeleteIs this a Gannett edict or the output of the local head honcho who doesn't look like he knows newspapers from Charmin? We went from printing 71,000 something to 69,000 something in one day and this is in the middle of our "season". Wonder how many of those are reported to ABC as sales?
We need help down here. Gannett.....hello.....is anybody still home? Does anybody care anymore?
11:16
ReplyDeleteI don't see how Gannett gets by with offering training that clearly bypasses a whole protected class----those 40 years and older. Someone will call them on it someday I hope.
Gannett was twice an employer of last resort for me. I preferred my time at KR and AP; tho I will say Gannett was better than working for an independent paper. That was a real screw job.
ReplyDeleteLet's not over-glamorize Gannett days. There were clueless affirmative action hires, marooned and unskilled, corp. butt kissers and deadwood. Plus, Frank Vega!
Sorry hard-working people will lose their retirements but really - there is life beyond Gannett. No to Pumpkin Center!
RE: 11:16
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to note that only 5 out of the 13 positions are for traditional jobs, all the rest of the positions are in Online (digital initiatives.
The application even states in BOLD:
"Strong consideration will be given to candidates who are technically proficient with job-related software applications including multimedia and web-based skills."
Sure reads to me like they're looking for new hires instead of offering current employees these types of training opportunities.
I'd say I'm surprised, but nothing this company does really surprises me anymore. I am however, always in shock at how easily Gannett discounts the people that have proven their worth through the years by hiring younger, cheaper replacements. I am also rather surprised they'd do this in such a highly visible fashion. The Gannett attorneys must have found some pretty effective ways to circumvent the federal age discrimination laws.
12:31 PM
ReplyDeleteMaybe nobody bothers to call Gannett out on obvious age discrimination. It wasn't even subtle where I worked.
"The Gannett attorneys must have found some pretty effective ways to circumvent the federal age discrimination laws."
ReplyDeleteI think I just figured out how they're getting away with this. Looks like you just wrap up your new hire/replacment strategy in the flag of diversity...
http://www.gannett.com/leadershipanddiversity/message.htm
Unbelievable. I hope a firm with deeper pockets than Gannett has starts a class action lawsuit. This should not be allowed to stand!
Gannett creats a hostile work environment every time someone talks about "young" this and that. Can you imagine what would happen if the talk was about "white" this and that, or "Catholic" this and that. Yep. Age discrimination will catch up with Gannett some day, but it's going to have to take some effort on the part of people whose livelihoods the company impacts----just because they are a certain age.
ReplyDelete"Maybe nobody bothers to call Gannett out on obvious age discrimination."
ReplyDeleteWhen I was let go, I tried. The problem is if it isn't a clear-cut violation of federal law, even a good attorney won't take the case. Management does a really good job at lining the ducks up (and covering their butts) before someone's let go. I didn't have a legal leg to stand on.
However, given this recent brazen and transparent initiative, along with the sheer numbers of +40 people that have been let go, it might be enough for someone to begin looking at a larger, class-action lawsuit.
A large initiative like this (I would think) makes the documented reasoning for letting people go a lot more open to scrutiny, since it is so blatantly age-biased.
Let me give an "amen" to 9:59. And the skeleton crews we now operate with really make the problems you listed more pronounced. Even before the layoffs, my paper for at least two years didn't fill newsroom positions when they came open. Now, with so few people around, it's crucial that everybody has the intelligence, ability and work ethic to pull their weight. Instead what I see are editors that have no news sense and no ability to train, who are only concerned with getting ANYTHING on the website and filling the next day's paper; reporters that are too green, too dumb and/or too lazy missing big stories and not even trying to do beyond the bare minimum that their also-inadequate editors expect. The few remaining people fighting the good fight and going down swinging are getting overloaded. Because incredibly, the "solution" is to steer work away from those who can't, don't or won't do it; not to get rid of them.
ReplyDeleteThe EEOC, I found, is a great place to start. You just write what happened and they notify the company, investigate and present the findings so you have that to take to an attorney. I can't believe how simple it was. I'm generally not so keen on government agencies, but I'm sold on the professionalism and promptness of the EEOC.
ReplyDelete(No, I don't work for them and haven't even set foot inside an EEOC office.)
Spot on 11:03 a.m. "On another note, Jim thank you for segregating the New Jersey stuff todays thread has been the most readable and most informative in several weeks."
ReplyDeleteWhat a relief!
9:59: And the New York Times is in the same trouble because ....?
ReplyDeleteDitto on the EEOC. Having been on the employer side of these (once while at Gannett) I can tell you that they are taken very seriously. Every EEO Complaint must be investigated and the company must prepare a response. Only if they prevent sufficient evidence countering the claim is the case closed. Make no mistake, they're very hard for the employee to prove and the majority of them are summarily dismissed.
ReplyDeleteAt the least it's a lot of hassle for the company and forces someone in authority within the organization to look at your case.
But it obviously will burn any bridges if you have illusions of being re-hired.
Is 1 PM in Wisconsin?
ReplyDeleteThe sky is falling. The sky is falling. Te sky is falling. I now know how Enron employees must have felt at the end. Are there any cardboard boxes around?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteYes - anyone can go to google finance or yahoo finance and pull up the Gannett's stock price.
ReplyDeleteYes - the stock price has been going down.
What has been going up? How about the short interest in the stock. Almost 1/3 of the float has been sold short.
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/shortinterests.aspx?symbol=GCI&selected=GCI
It's a pretty easy way to choke a stock...
Don't buy the hype - the company is not going bankrupt - it was well within its covenant compliance in 2008 and should be in 2009 as it continues to repay its debt.
This will save us. A gaming site on USA Today. Not.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003947080
9:59 a.m. -- Wow!! What a brilliant analysis. I can bet there are many others at Gannett papers all across this country that agree with every point you've made.
ReplyDeleteI have worked at two different Gannett papers, and saw the same things you describe at each.
Thank you for a very astute observation.
While 9:59 a.m. makes great points, 11:52 p.m. illustrates the real problems with newspapers.
ReplyDeleteBecause he probably doesn't even read them. The myth of the "big, bad liberal MSM" has been disproved over and over. (Judith Miller certainly had a major hand in killing it.)
But people who only get their information from Fox News and radio talk shows continue with this delusion.
Then newspapers started becoming part of these corporate conglomerates and tried pandering to the same political extreme.
Trouble is, that audience doesn't have the attention span to read stories that examine issues and events scrupulously.
So newspapers tried to just be a print version of the conservative Wurlitzer machine. Newspapers alienated the people who want in-depth coverage and analysis.
See The American Media Misdiagnosis for a take on this.
JesseBall (2:16p)...Take a hike and get the hell off of this blog. Nice picture freak!
ReplyDeleteBravo to 9:59, I've worked with someone for almost 3 years and they have creatively not worked a full 5 day work week yet! Brilliant!, and I'm sure I'll be on the unemployment line before that person!!
ReplyDeleteReply to 8:28 -- You say Kate Marymont is "incredibly frustrated" by Tara, and that you have seen her "lash out" against ContentOne during a meeting.
ReplyDeleteWell, why aren't the troops in newsrooms seeing some of that from Marymont?
And why is Tara able to trump her so effectively. Marymont's title is Vice President/News, after all.
I am just stunned at the lack of apparent journalistic leadership in what is supposed to be a news outfit!
3:55, Plenty of the type you described have existed in GCI Crystal Palace well over 3 years, barely working a 3-day work week.
ReplyDelete11:12A
ReplyDeleteNever thought I'd see the day that
"Al Neuharth" and "far more integrity" would appear in the same sentence.
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ReplyDeleteBravo, 9:59!
ReplyDeleteThere were so many people I knew who had expressed interest in, or had genuine talent for, certain beats and were pigeonholed instead into ones they could care less about. Had these people been allowed to follow their dreams, perhaps they would have been truly happy employees. What a concept!
Y'all may think it's a good idea to put all of the NJ news in one place so that you can ignore it, but this is really foolish. What happens in the Gannett Armpit of NJ will very quickly be happening in the rest of the country. The rest of the country needs to know about potential toxic poisoning, employees defecating on restroom floors, uneducated management people ruining entire departments, incompetent publishers and totally superfluous editors.
ReplyDeleteYou have the choice to ignore the situations in NJ, but don't act surprised when they occur in your newspaper in Podunk!
Hopefully, a few NJ people will still be around to advise and support you.
Good lord, Jersey folk, the posts are still there for everyone to look at. But you all seem to have some insider baseball things that you really like to taunt each other with. We can all still see what you write, so we are still paying attention to you. You are just in a more organized place. Get over yourselves.
ReplyDeleteIf we want to read about what happens in Jersey, we now know where to find it, thanks to Jim. It's not foolish -- his readership is much broader than Jersey. The rest of us, the vast majority of us, don't want this blog to be overrun with musings about scandals in Jersey.
ReplyDeleteI'm a NJ person and have no problem with what Jim has done by implementing a NJ place. And yes, it is so that what happens in NJ either is happening or will happen in the rest of Gannettland. Hats off to Jim and remember to support this blog financially to keep it going for all of us.
ReplyDeleteSO SICK AND TIRED OF THE GOOD OLD BOY'S MENTALITY AND GANNETT CULTURE. MANY GREAT EMPLOYEES AND SHAREHOLDERS HAVE BEEN TAKEN ADVANTAGED OF BY MANAGEMENT OF THIS "COMPANY"
ReplyDeleteVERY SAD....
It's a crap shoot now. The company can't pay a dividend. Bankers holding $600 million in debt that matures this year will not allow Gannett to remain insolvent. Gannett may have been in compliance with creditor covenants last week or last month, but this economy is going away at light speed. Be aware that any Gannett property has substantial exposure through Involuntary Chapter 11 and that every property is a subsidiary of the parent. That chapter gives any group of three or more creditors, holding debt of $10,000 or more, authority to drag Gannett or any subsidiary kicking and screaming into any federal bankruptcy court. The creditors who hold the heavy notes will be at the front of that pack. Every single Gannett property and the parent company will pay its bills. When insolvency is imminent, Gannett will close and liquidate properties one by one as each one fails. Bank on it.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone heard any updates on the Hammer/Ihne lawsuit?
ReplyDelete3:47 Chill, my friend. Your life isn't that bad you need to get on someone's case like that.
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ReplyDeleteSeriously 3:47. Take anger management and focus on the real enemies. Sheesh!
ReplyDeleteThanks, 5:25 pm; it's a pleasure to work with the New Jersey Group workers!
ReplyDeleteThings are bad. But that's no reason to make comparisons to Nazi Germany.
ReplyDeleteBeat on GCI all you like, it's a free country after all. But, please take off your blinders and look at the stock market.
ReplyDeleteThe economy is in shambles and the financial markets are getting crushed. You can't blame GCI officers for that. We're all victims of the worst recession since the Depression.
Don't hate the player, hate the game.
Someone asked if USAToda uses RTC, nope, we use Claro, an automated program. started it a week after laying off the imaging department.
ReplyDeleteTake off your blinders 7:14, GCI has been shitting on their employees way before this recession started.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if now is the right time for NJ to complain about the air or the building $2.21 OMG
ReplyDeleteDon't have blinders 7:26. I'm a realist. In life, you get out of it what you put into it. Same thing goes with the company you work for. You contribute and you're rewarded. You don't contribute and you're out.
ReplyDeleteYou contribute you're out, you don't contribute but kiss enough ass and you're rewarded.
ReplyDelete@7:14, You are a realist but you use the phrase "Don't hate the player, hate the game" to describe employee reaction to Gannett. I'm not sure you really know what you are
ReplyDeleteForgive my use of the phrase. Didn't know my language was being analyzed for consistency. I know what I am and I'm not disgruntled.
ReplyDeleteHave a nice evening.
"Have a nice evening" must be off to shoot more Metromix photos.
ReplyDeleteExactly What Point does stock have to reach before DUBOW, MARTORE, et al at taken out?
ReplyDeleteTalk about f*cking gall and cluelessness. If I was doing this bad governing a company, I would feel like the front man in the movie CASIO that got one behind the ear.
All the best from Jersey!
When I laid off, You'd better have my F*CKING PENSION MONEY Craig......If not, I be at your front door to collect!! Get it from the college scholorship...your kids piggy bank....I don't care.....just have it ALL!
ReplyDeleteOK, so I agree with the person who said, don't hate Gannett for what is happening here. They have certainly been a strong, strong player for many, many years. And they would still be if the whole world wasn't falling apart. Newspapers are a thing of the past, and it is not Gannett's fault, it's a sign of the times and it just so happens they own most of the US newspapers. It's ashame for them, but those people who keep saying "Gannett is strong and nothing will happen to them", has to get a life and face reality and better start making plans for themselves, because, they just may not make it. I use to think the world of them, but I work in an office where they layoff good workers and keep workers who are known alcoholics and people who still, after 8 years there, cannot transfer a phone call or know how to work their computer. Now that is something to think about.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the changing of the guard is going to do much for this company. The problems this company face are as much at the mid-management level as they are at the top. Sure, the top created the mid-level, but the mid-level then proceeded to screw everything up with bad hiring, awful planning and policies, petty infighting, permissiveness, favoritism and selfishness. Entire departments have been ravaged or otherwise ruined by this army of MEs, DMEs and others scattered about this company. If Dubow is canned tomorrow, does that in anyway improve the fact that to the right of your cubicle sits a lazy, incompetent do-nothing, to left is a "diversity" hire who hasn't a clue as to what it means to work at a newspaper, in front of you is the ego-maniac who has mastered the art of ass kissing. You see, the company is rotten from the bottom up just as much as it is flawed from the top down. But identifying the insecure, talentless managers on lower levels is going to be a difficult task. The paper where I work has changed top editors and publishers several times, and none of them took on the housecleaning job that needed to be done to really improve the working environment and the product. They were naive, small-thinkers and happy to be collecting a decent salary. And now, after years of losing competent people, we have a sea of dysfunctional policies, inferior employees and a future that looks pretty bleak. I honestly don't see a way out of this without the company being sold and someone essentially starting over with new faces, more progressive thinking and respect for those who are still getting the job done despite being handcuffed and beaten down by Gannett's army of really bad managers at dozens of declining newspapers.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of pension money, I still haven't seen mine. I am a December layoff victim who has tried every which way to extract this cash from Gannett. They seem to have some built-in stall tactics in place, and I am not sure why. But now it's been more than three months and the payout still is not in my checking account. Makes me wonder if the money even exists. I am not alone in waiting. Others in worse off shape are practically pleading with Gannett to get their payouts to them. Yet, Gannett keeps dragging its feet. Truly makes me wonder if this company is even capable of performing the most basic administrative tasks anymore. Also makes me wonder if a year or two from now any pension money will be left for retirees. By failing to meet the most basic expectations people have of their employer or former employer, like getting one's pension payout, Gannett just continually sets itself up for more criticism, more speculation and more bad news that apparently makes its way to Wall Street.
ReplyDeleteHey, Gannett, do something right and maybe people will ease up a bit. Keep screwing people on matters as important as their retirement funds and you're going to take a lot of heat here and elsewhere.
Please! Get us our pension money!
I find it amusing that after all these years, nothing has changed. Everything old is new again? HA! In Gannettland things have always gotten smaller...smaller workforce...smaller papers...fewer pages...smaller ads...smaller wages. You can't blame the RTC for all of your woes. Slashed budgets where plate/camera and pressroom maintenance is practically nil...and the people that are supposed to keep things calibrated are so stretched to the max with other duties, it wouldn't really matter if the RTC WERE giving out perfect images...they would still be a muddy mess. Sure, the photos you toned yourselves looked better...because you learned how to compensate for those non-calibrated pieces of garbage. I find it hilarious that there are Gannetteers out there whining about RTC quality when the RTC is already producing images for McClatchy and they are raving about the quality.
ReplyDeleteI think it's time to put some money into the quality at the newspapers...just like they do with USA Today...or used to anyway.
I'm an EX Gannettoid by the way...working for a successful private newspaper group where priorities seem much more in line with realism than the fantasy world many of you seem to be living in.
Hey pension guy comment. Get a life. It's retirement money. Not checking account money. I got mine in less than 100 days. You left in December. When you get to six months or so then gripe. Paleaase.
ReplyDeleteGot word from managers here today that the meetings they had at Corporate last week will bring on more furloughs, more layoffs and more consolidation across the board.
ReplyDeleteUSAT is losing another really good reporter, someone who covers her beat extraordinarily well and knows how to break news. The brain drain continues ...
ReplyDelete9:13
ReplyDeleteI've been hearing these rumors but nothing has been substantiated. Being a reporter, I know you can't just blurt something of that magnitude out and then not give documentation. It isn't fair to those of us who are working our asses off and still have no clue if we're going to have jobs a week from now.
Pony up. Where did you hear this? Specifics?
8:24 PM - I'll be right there with you.
ReplyDeletejim, you need to do a post about Marquis Cooper. he is one of the NFL players missing off the coast of florida. he is also the son of bruce cooper a sports anchor for channel 12 here in phx az. channel 12 is a gannett station so bruce is one of us.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.azcentral.com/video/?type=mavenfull&id=videopage&videoID=1051189813
az pressman
I am so tired of people spewing unsourced rumors. We are a news company and we all know better.
ReplyDeleteHey 7:40 p.m.--plenty of the people laid off during the past several months made major contributions and accomplished plenty and still lost their jobs. Ice runs through your veins to reduce this situation to such an either-or.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, I think the problem is that Gannett corporate and the people who approved the layoff lists define "accomplishment" much differently than a lot of us.
If it's an accomplishment to spend decades as a journalist, surviving and thriving during all the techological revolutions, trying to survive on the low pay and long hours all those years, well then there are a lot of people who have accomplished plenty. And still lost their jobs.
3:45 great post and thanks for taking a tool like 11:52 to the woodshed!
ReplyDeleteYes, 9:13, we already know that. What we need now are specifics and the who, what, where, when of this story.
ReplyDeleteRight. We know that but is it imminent? Is it next quarter? Will it be furloughs, layoffs or both?
ReplyDelete10:19 PM -- That's funny, that's what I want from my newspaper and/or newspaper's website. Don't get it from my local Gannett paper.
ReplyDeleteI find it amusing 9:02 that someone that does not work for the RTC or Gannett is getting so upset that 4 or 5 people on this site stated that the quality of the photos coming out of the RTC is poor. That is plain and simple and no whining involved. If you took a poll of the folks who send their pictures into the poor old RTC would tend to agree.
ReplyDeleteI also find it amazing that you also know that they do work for McClatchy (and that they think they are fantastic) -- most of us Gannett Whiners didn't know that. Thanks for the news flash you ex-Gannett person who has nothing to do with the Gannett or the RTC! All us Gannettoids appreciate your unbiased opinions.
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ReplyDeleteRe 9:59 ... "A random observation from someone who has been at USA Today and Gannett for a fair amount of time ..."
ReplyDeleteHoly Cow. You nailed it. There are no words to express how accurate your observations are, and I am amazed that those sorry conditions you describe exist not only in the two mid-size dailies where I worked but also at USAT.
When, WHEN will somebody start listening????? I can't tell you how many times I told friends and family that I loved my job, but hated where I did it. I used to come home and cry almost EVERY SINGLE NIGHT over all those things you mentioned ... the 12-hour days with no breaks, the mysogenistic, megelomaniacal section editors, the IGNORANT and skill-less exective editors, the hiring decisions based on skin color, the aggressive opposition to inginuity, creativity and (what?) editorial standards; the naked favoritism; the 60 minutes of psychological Judo and intimidation they called "news meetings."
At one of my sites we used to wish and pray every day that Gannett would step up, appear at our door and FIX the hostile and insane environment we worked in. Gannett finally removed the publisher about six months ago, but the damage was done. The number of talented people who quit without even having another job lined up, just to get away, is staggering.
Why didn't our turnover rate ever raise an eyebrow?? Why did Gannett look the other way when these once Pulitzer-prize winning newspapers became embarressments in their communities?
And for anybody who says poor conditions exist in any business, I left twice, and trust me, you could not get away with this type of behavior in ANY OTHER INDUSTRY! The only reason I stayed (and came back) is that I loved newspapering. But it is appalling that an industry that calls itself a watchdog needs itself to be monitored!
If this company would take the time to FIX these local level problems, they could turn the ship around. People will follow and work hard for someone (a company) with integrity, vision and leadership -- something maybe Gannett has NEVER had.
Please, 9:59, continue to speak out. I have friends and former colleagues who still work with the company, who love their profession and work hard at it, and who deserve to work for a decent employer.
I am a December casualty still looking for work, and if 9:59 decided to open his or her own paper, I'd work there for peanuts.
9:59 - you said it all and you said it best....now if only the right people would read it and respond to it...
ReplyDelete