Thursday, April 16, 2009

Thursday | April 16 | First Quarter Earnings Day

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53 comments:

  1. Jim, I love you and think you are so courageous! Don't let the haters get you down, it is just that they don't have the heart, patience and organization to do what you do! You'll go down in journalism history one day...

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  2. Guys, we have a long way to go but as you can see we have made some progress. Good work guys.

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  3. Orlando Sentinel lays off 28 employees: reporters, editors, designers, some being there more than 30yrs. Most blaming it on the internet. And they are hearing that there will be several more lay offs today.

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  4. Jim,
    I think it is interesting that Saridakis responded to you directly and not through Tara Connell. Have you ever received a direct response from Craig Dubow or Gracia Martore? What about other Gannett executives? It seems like they would hide behind the Gannett spokesperson.

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  5. 7:17 am: Good observation! (But I can't say anything more, because it would get into questions about sources.)

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  6. "Most blaming it on the internet."
    Isn't it about time newspaper people stop blaming the I-net? How about blaming a product that people stopped believing in? A product, at least in my neck of the woods, can't get out early enough for people to get it before leaving for work. A product that makes good spelling and grammar obsolete. A product that either doesn't get the facts straight or twists them to fit an agenda. A product that raises it's price AND at the same time, reduces content.

    Newspapers have lost their way long before the internet, yet there still is a want and a need for them that newspapers themselves deny and/or ignore.

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  7. Sergio Non to the rescue.

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  8. good work on earnings, Jim.
    keep us posted. I am panicked.

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

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  11. April 16, 2009


    Dear AbitibiBowater Customer:

    Abitibibowater and its subsidiaries announced today that they are filing for court protection in Canada and the United States to conduct a financial restructuring for the long-term interests of the Company, its customers, suppliers and employees.

    Your business is important to us and for us it is business as usual.

    In this regard, AbitibiBowater has, through its subsidiaries, secured by means of debtor-in-possession financing and the continuation of an existing receivables securitization program, a total of approximately $410 million in financing to provide you and all our customers with reliable, quality service, on a business-as-usual basis.

    The prudent action we have undertaken today and the vote of confidence represented by the new financing means that we will continue to operate on a normal basis as we restructure for the future. We will now work on developing a reorganization plan to address our capital structure and will keep you apprised of progress.

    Despite the difficult economic conditions in general and those of the credit markets in particular, AbitibiBowater continues to have a positive cash flow, expert teams of experienced employees, valuable performing assets and an impressive roster of customers.

    We look forward to justifying the confidence you have placed in us and will continue to strive to provide best in class products and service. Thank you in advance for your patience and support as we work to achieve the outcome that serves the best interests of all our stakeholders.

    Sincerely,


    David J. Paterson
    President and Chief Executive Officer

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  12. I listened off and on to the conference call, and what I got is that what we've got now is what we are going to see for the rest of this calendar year. They don't seem to be looking for much of an improvement.

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  13. Hey Jim, can you give us a 'thumbs up/down' sign under each post? Like I completely agree with 4.09 on the Jersey post yesterday & want to let him know...just my 2c.

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  14. The trouble with businesses advertising with Gannett newspapers is that they are perceived to be a losing product the way the newspapers are. They want to align their advertising dollars with products that are increasing rather than dwindling.

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  15. Do you think our FEARLESS LEADER had an optimistic tone in his voice?
    What about Marcia?

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  16. North America's largest newsprint manufacturer just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy:

    http://tinyurl.com/cs5wdr

    We now return you to the freefall of your industry.

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  17. It seems no one has mentioned the carriers taking a pay hit in order to increase profits to the company. when you take$45.00 per one hundred customers you throw it does not leave much.I am sure the circulation depts. will continue to take hits to the point it will be difficult to get the papers out each day.

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  18. It seems no one has mentioned the carriers taking a pay hit in order to increase profits to the company. when you take$45.00 per one hundred customers you throw it does not leave much.I am sure the circulation depts. will continue to take hits to the point it will be difficult to get the papers out each day.

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  19. If I read the story correctly on www.marketwatch.com, negotiations are underway for more furloughs.

    Another week of unpaid relaxation during Q-3?

    At least, the weather here in the northern climate will be conducive for doing things outdoors.

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  20. 11:31 -- Of course there will be more furloughs. As someone much smarter pointed out a couple of weeks ago, once they have that money, they're not going to give it back. You'll see furloughs, pay freezes, et. al., for the foreseeable future, and most folks will gladly accept it as the price for keeping their jobs.

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  21. Just a guess but Gannett will probably be nearly alone among publishers that actually had an operating profit in the 1st quarter, traditionally the weakest for newspapers. Earnings down compared to last year but better than expected in the toughest economic environment any of us have ever seen.

    While no longer with Gannett (or the industry), I would think that most current and former employees realize that all performance is relative and that Gannett appears to be better positioned financially than most traditional media enterprises and that shared sacrifices (furloughs, FTE reductions and generally tight expense controls) are helping GCI survive the economic maelstrom.

    While new business models need to be fashioned for long term growth, survival is the first requisite of any business. Lots of smart, hard-working employees at Gannett, I believe give the company an edge over all of its peers.

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  22. "Isn't it about time newspaper people stop blaming the I-net?"

    I completely agree. It wasn't the internet that caused the demise of newprint - it was Gannett's failure to recognize and utilize the power of the internet to the company's advantage that greatly contributed to the current situation.

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  23. 12:08 -- I'm not disagreeing here, just sincerely curious: What should they have done differently? Unless it involves charging for content, I'm not sure how acting earlier would have solved much. The big problem was that they decided to give away the product for free on the Web.

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  24. @12:21 - thanks for your calm tone. in reading all the posts about this ("newspapers missed the boat") all I could think was - online classifieds, beating Craig to his list.
    If we'd owned it, he would not have had carte blanche.
    that's for starters.

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  25. Nothing can save us now.

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  26. What should they have done differently?
    1. How about starting a web search engine with a USA tag, permitting searches of all GCI and the content of other newspapers willing to participate? Then, GCI could insist on its proprietary rights and stop Google from cashing in on Web searches. A USA Today web search would have expanded the USAT brand, and raised new revenues as advertisers would want to join in.
    2. How about launching a simple Web page like the Drudge-report, allowing people to see all the original stories in GCI properties and TV? Drudge makes a few million off his efforts. Not much, but it's all gravy and there's no heavy lifting.
    3. Fire the troglodytes.

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  27. @12:48 - all good ideas.
    fla. today alum

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  28. If you think 3Q furloughs are bad, take a look at the "deal" that Indianapolis is being offered:

    http://einkling.wordpress.com/

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  29. "I was on furlough and came back to the greatest news. Bendheim is moving on to Asbury. I felt bad for the Courier crew when they arrived but it gave her some new ears to make bleed with all the whining and bitching – one bad apple and all. Yippeee! Feel free to share in the joy. And of course we wish her the best."

    4/14/2009 7:36 PM

    Reply to: Oh wonderful. What did we do wrong at APP to deserve that? I'll trade you a pet rock instead.

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  30. Wow, that is some powerful union!

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  31. I get the feeling that 90% of you think management and/or corporate is incompetent. If you still work for them what does that make you?

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  32. Who is Bendheim?

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  33. In response to "I get the feeling that 90% of you think management and/or corporate is incompetent. If you still work for them what does that make you?"

    Answer: They are and I don't

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  34. 12:45 Nonsense. Sergio Non will save us.

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  35. EDITOR AND PUBLISHER

    'Indy Star' Asking for 12% Guild Salary Cut in 2009

    By Joe Strupp

    Published: April 16, 2009 10:10 AM ET

    NEW YORK Newspaper Guild members at The Indianapolis Star, who have already agreed to two Gannett company wide furloughs for this year, are being asked to approve another 12% salary cut between now and October, according to a guild memo to members.

    The memo from local guild president Tom Spalding states that the union leadership is neither supporting nor opposing the management request, which would be part of a new contract, but merely presenting it for rank and file approval.

    "As you are all aware, the Indy News Guild has been involved in contract negotiations with Gannett since January," the memo reads, in part. "The labor process has been slow and frustrating, and it’s been complicated by the recession and economic free fall of the newspaper industry. You all have voted twice to approve furloughs that cut your paycheck by 1.94% each time. You have done your part to keep the company afloat.

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  36. OK, so I was skimming the Lansing State Journal's (Michigan) Web site today for news. There was a lot of interesting stuff there, like the local country club being foreclosed on and the owner of a local mall in foreclosure as well. Then there is a big promo to a Web graphic about what a firefighter wears (seriously). The artists did a great job with the graphic, but it made me wonder what editor would think it was more important to waste a ton of time on a cool-looking web graphic about a firefighters uniform than some sort of graphic about the local economy and the business impact. When a prestigious local country club is on the auction block it means things are pretty dire in your neck of the woods. I just don't understand why Gannett is dishing up such stupid coverage when cities are melting down and there is more than enough indepth graphics that could be created on those events.

    Craig talks a lot about "transformation" but I'm not convinced that it contains substance. Real news is news. Period.

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  37. The problem with furloughs and pay cuts that when profit goes back up the salaries never do just the corporate profit.

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  38. What's with the Rumor that Google is looking to buy Gannett?

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  39. 4:13 - It's a load of BS.

    Oh and guess what else? Gullible is written on the ceiling.

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  40. Billionaire investor Sam Zell made what is acknowledged to be one of the best-timed investment decisions ever by selling his real estate empire at the peak of the market in February 2007. Now he says he made one of the worst 10 months later by purchasing Tribune Company. "The definition if you bought something and it's now worth a great deal less, you made a mistake," Zell said in a Bloomberg Television interview. "And I'm more than willing to say that I made a mistake. I was too optimistic in terms of the newspaper's ability to preserve its position."

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  41. Ted Power for President.

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

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  43. I think 3:01 p.m. has a finger on the essential pulse of this whole sorry mess that Gannett (and others) are in.

    NEWSpapers selling anything BUT news are not long for the world. An editor without the guts to tear up the front page or main-local page or whatever page and put in something fresh, with a beating heart, about the essential news of that community right NOW doesn't deserve the title or the job.

    Lansing deserves better ...

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  44. Where I work we don't have have a local page anymore. We have half a local page. The other half is ads. At least the ads are on the bottom half of the page :)

    But even if we did have a local page, we would barely be able to fill it since corporate has just cut us down to bare bones.

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  45. I heard Google is looking into Gannett Blog, not Gannett Inc. Gannett Blog is a better product and a better run organization.

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  46. 2:14 -- Management is incompetent. We're simply desperate.

    As bad as management is, there's not much of anywhere to go these days. So, you can live in frustration and hope to keep a paycheck until the economy rebounds ... or you can quit in frustration and struggle to pay the bills.

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  47. 8:48pm
    Working or not all of us struggle to pay the bills.

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  48. I just got to read Chris' note to you. I guess now that Gannett has bought all the digital companies he has had an interest in it's off to Europe...meanwhile if I take a gift of more that $25 from a customer I have to declare it. And I'll be substitute teaching on my furlough "week off".

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  49. I'm 3:01: I'm pissed, to be frank. I am a local citizen who made it through journalism school and is now a biz guy. My local community is floundering but the Gannett positioned EE is not focused on the pulse of the community. "The" local BIG DEAL country club going belly up is not a big story regardless of your the way you view news. It says a whole lot about the local economic climate that the prestigious country club is on the auction block. Where is gaynet? They are hiding in graphics about firesuits. I must add that the folks who did the story about the fire suit are extraordinary! I eventually hope to steal them for my team! The bottom line is that the only upper level editor in Lansing who would stand in the fire is the AME. Executive Editor Mickey Hirten should be sent to a senior citizens home. The ME Stephanie Angel is too easy going. I love Stephanie, but she has really given up way too much of her integrity to be fair. Stephanie is the type of woman who should be playing in the "pro" league but knows she is playing in a junior league. Lots of missed potential.

    If Craig DuBow were my employee, I'd terminate him for not knowing his audience --- and losing tons of money!!!! Where did this guy come from?

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  50. 9:51:

    How brave of you to post those comments about specific people while you hide behind anonymity.

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  51. @12:08
    What should they have done differently? Let's talk about Pluck, the Digital Production Center, 4INFO, GO4 standards, and highschoolsports.net for starters.

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  52. The problem with furloughs and pay cuts that when profit goes back up the salaries never do just the corporate profit.

    4/16/2009 3:09 PM
    _____________________

    You don't understand the difference? Furloughs are temporary and are over when they are over. A pay cut, on the other hand, is a cut. It's the same as a layoff vs. a furlough. One is temporary and one is done. Figure it out.
    ________________________________

    It seems no one has mentioned the carriers taking a pay hit in order to increase profits to the company. when you take$45.00 per one hundred customers you throw it does not leave much.I am sure the circulation depts. will continue to take hits to the point it will be difficult to get the papers out each day.

    4/16/2009 11:25 AM
    _____________________

    Better check you math. $45.00/100 copies=.45 per copy. I think most carriers would love that amount to deliver. You must be in editorial because that is a money losing proposition for the company.

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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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