Monday, April 06, 2009
Monday | April 6 | Your News & Comments
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84 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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First!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteWestchester will be laying off about 1/3 of staff by end of second quarter.
ReplyDeleteGannett donates $15K to victims' fund in Binghamton
ReplyDeletehttp://pressconnects.com/article/20090406/NEWS01/904060369
Hello troops, things are starting to look up for us. I just got my large bonus and we are "streamlining" printing facilities with furloughs and lay-offs. I really don't see any reason why you should waste your money on a full page ad about my measley bonus? 875,000 is peanuts compared to my other yearly bonuses. Plus I had to take a furlough down the bahamas and got sunburned really bad! Save your 30 dollars each for a christmas gift for me maybe later on! Best regards, yours truly troops! Craigie!!
ReplyDeleteCheck out this executive compensation listing of 198 CEOs in today's NY Times. Our hero, Craig, is near the end of the list, however, it's very enlightening reading who's below him -- especially the really profitable company's CEOs who make a pittance in comparison.
ReplyDeletehttp://projects.nytimes.com/executive_compensation?th&emc=th
Any word on who might fill the vacant position of USATODAY.com editor?
ReplyDeleteIN THE KNOW SAYS...
ReplyDeleteGet ready folks! D-Day has arrived. I've been saying for 2 weeks that April 6 is the day massive layoffs would be announced. 4:00, mark my words!
New Terminology for our age.
ReplyDeleteC.E.O. = Chief Embezzlement Officer
C.F.O. = Chief Fraud Officer
The Star-Gazette has been gutted and pillaged to prop up Binghamton. The first Gannett newspaper is a shell of its former self, a glorified newsletter, while all its best writers, copy editors, designers and editors have either been scared off, laid off or consolidated into Binghamton. A once outstanding institution, a key part of the Elmira-Corning community, is all but gone.
ReplyDeleteThe memo might be a hoax, but it accurately describes the situation in Elmira. The first Gannett newspaper is a wreck, and the few good people who still (for now) have jobs in its newsroom have no resources to make it any better.
I would think that there is at least ONE former graphic artist that reads here that could put together a spec ad, send it to Jim. He could post it, and we all give feedback.
ReplyDeleteI'd send in $30 for an ad bashing the bonus. Wouldn't put my name to it, but that would be to priceless not to use some of my unemployment money on.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't Gannett sell it's way out of this? With so much unemployment can't they hire 500 salespeople nationwide turn them loose and drive revenue?
ReplyDelete2:38 a.m.: Do you know this for a fact or is this just more hype designed to freak everyone out?
ReplyDeleteI agree with last night's poster who said that the point of our full-page ad would be to say "enough is enough" and create a little buzz. I hope that we move forward with this idea- I really think it has legs. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI doubt that the ad idea will be do-able for the simple reason of rates. You can buy a local paper for $9000 a page or a banner ad for less but if memory serves me when you start to talk about USAT or WSJ you are in the $80-90k range and higher. One problem is a one time ad falls into the open rate category which is crazy expensive.
ReplyDelete2:38--While your statement could certainly be true, given the current state of things, it would be more than helpful if you could back it up with any details or some hint of sourcing, rather than some offhand rumor or speculation among colleagues over a beer.
ReplyDeleteHaving once worked there -- left on my own volition, but still have friends toiling there -- I know it's a sorry place, but it would be good if you have any solid info on whether it's about to get sorrier.
Talk about ways of saving money. Why doesn't Gannett go on ahead and euthanize USA Weekend. It was only about 10 pages yesterday, and the content was all canned tripe. Do any non-Gannett papers pay to carry this rag?
ReplyDelete"New Terminology for our age.
ReplyDeleteC.E.O. = Chief Embezzlement Officer
C.F.O. = Chief Fraud Officer"
That is just too clever. Are you writing for some brainless sitcom right now?
"It was only about 10 pages yesterday, and the content was all canned tripe."
ReplyDeleteAnd yet you seem to have read it. So it must not have been too awful!
(Nothing like turning the illogical stuff back onto the "wits" who originate it!)
"EL NUMERO UNO!!!"
ReplyDeleteTonto.
12:20 -- I didn't write that the comment you responded to, but it doesn't mean much that somebody who works in the newspaper industry looks at a publication. He/she probably got the USA Weekend in his/her local paper, picked it up then glanced through it. That's all it would take to make the assessment presented.
ReplyDeleteAnd, reading a few lead paragraphs to determine that something is crap doesn't mean you read it. For a regular reader, one instance like that might mean they don't pick it up again for weeks.
Personally, I don't have much problem with USA Weekend. It is what it is. But I can say that I've only read about five full stories from it in the last 10 years. Just doesn't grab my attention.
My point is, let's not call people hypocrites when they very likely aren't.
The Journal News in Westchester just redesigned their front page for the fourth time in nine years. The paper has shrunk once again, I guess they figure they can save a lot of money on newsprint. They will actually save a bunch of money on newsprint because no one is reading it or advertising in it.
ReplyDeleteThe Journal News has shrunk the size of the paper and increased the size of the type. What does that tell you? They are planning on having a lot fewer stories.
ReplyDeleteI just got an e-mail from the editor who hired me for my first job telling me she is now unemployed. She's in her 50s, has a 10 year old son and her spouse doesn't bring in much income. What is she supposed to do now?
ReplyDeleteShe is a wonderful editor and a great human being, funny, smart and full of life. If she can't make a living in this business, no one can.
I just don't know what's going to happen to us. When I started in my career in the early 90s, I could never have imagined that my entire INDUSTRY could go away. It's not even being outsourced to India, it's just disappearing. This negates the value of what we've done with our careers. If the public doesn't miss it, why did we do it in the first place?
I had no idea that at the age of 40 that I would be facing a change of career. If this were only recession-related, I could deal with it, assuming that jobs would be opening up once the boom times come again. But this is not only economical, it's seismic. I am saving as much of my paychecks as possible because I am waiting for the day WHEN, not IF, I lose my job.
Will the last journalist out turn off the lights please?
If anyone can follow up on 8:32AM's post about massive layoffs being announced at 4pm, please do.
ReplyDeleteI think you can ignore 8:32 for now. His very tone was smug and condescending. I, too, think there will be layoffs this week for a variety of reasons, including that we had layoffs all last week at GCI papers.
ReplyDeletePlus, Jim has reported that trusted sources confirm more layoffs are coming.
But 8:32 was reporting with a sort of "I told you so" glee, making him sound more like he wants to fire people up than offer any real facts.
If there's some sort of notice at 4 p.m. we'll get the details then. If there's not, we can hold our breath and see what comes next.
9:00 AM wrote: "The Star-Gazette has been gutted and pillaged to prop up Binghamton."
ReplyDeleteJust to clarify: Binghamton does not need "propping up."
You can see the urge to consolidate operations all over Gannett. Unfortunately for Ithaca and Elmira employees, Binghamton is the biggest site and consolidation will happen there.
Binghamton employees neither need it nor asked for it, but would like to keep their jobs (at least for now).
Sorry if you're one of the Ithaca/Elmira employees affected by this plan, but don't blame Binghamton people for it.
My manager told me during lunch that bad news was coming at 4:00. I don't want to say what paper I'm at because he is one of the good managers and I don't want to get him in trouble. He told a few of us that we can expect big time layoffs, but wasn't sure what to expect here because they were considering at the last minute to offer more buyouts to see what happens, but he thinks they will do layoffs because buyouts won't get people off the books fast enough. They need to layoff right now. Crap. When I asked about my job, I'm a designer, he said we are the first to go as they have been training copy editors to do layout. Double crap. He said if the layoff happens, you'll see security swarm the floor to escort people out. Geeze, nice.
ReplyDelete12:55. I feel for your friend and everyone else in this situation. I too am in my 50s and was laid off for no apparent reason. I got good to excellent reviews at a newspaper that was making a profit. I was respected by my coworkers in the newsroom and had a wide range of skills that should have kept me employed until retirement. But apparently I ruffled someone's feathers because here I sit, unemployed for yet another month, with no prospects whatsoever. Personally, I think the industry is in self-destructive mode now and using the economy as an excuse to get rid of people. I think CEOs and publishers are panicking, which has led to some awful decisions and the tragedy of letting good folks go. Worse yet, some managers and supervisors used the Gannett layoffs to get rid of people they simply didn't like. These were people doing the job, smart folks with a lot still to offer. Folks who are at an age where options are extremely limited regardless of what the most optimistic people think. These managers who used the layoffs to settle petty differences should be fired and every one of those folks who got laid off for illegitimate reasons should be called back to work! Everyone knows who those managers are and who those highly competent employees were. I sincerely believe that until some wrongs are corrected, things will continue to spiral out of control at Gannett newspapers, big and small. You can't throw 50- and 60-year-old people out into the worst economy at such a vulnerable age and without more of a reason than some editor didn't like some other editor, and expect good things to happen for your company. The cosmos don't work that way.
ReplyDeleteThe good news is that it's just a little over 2 hours until 1:27 is exposed as the latest lying douchebag on the site. Please come back and confess when 4 p.m. comes and goes with no layoff or buyout announcement
ReplyDeleteWe should be talking about hiring back folks who were laid off last year rather than a new round of layoffs!!!!
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that at least a quarter of the people let go in December were still highly functional and productive employees who made the mistake of getting on the bad side of some petty manager(s).
Look around, does anyone believe those jobs were lost because they weren't needed or because those employees weren't competent? Pleeeease. Those jobs were needed and are needed now more than ever. Those people, with the institutional knowledge and skills, are dearly missed.
If there are future layoffs, I sure hope they select people more carefully and don't just base it on age or who doesn't like whom. A great disservice was done by editors who weren't more prudent in who they let go last December.
The stock is on fire and no news from Jim? When the stock falls we sure hear about it. Both sides please jim. Thanks
ReplyDelete2.80 is "on fire?" Whoop dee doo.
ReplyDeleteThe stock is up 11% on a day when the market is down 1.5%. Yeah, that *is* on fire. And no published news to explain it that I see. Somebody thinks they know something.
ReplyDeleteI am buying up as much stock as I can!!!!!Can't wait to see craigs new golf clubs and vacation lodge!
ReplyDeleteIf you accept a buy out you can get unemployment can you?
ReplyDeleteHe told a few of us that we can expect big time layoffs, but wasn't sure what to expect here because they were considering at the last minute to offer more buyouts to see what happens, but he thinks they will do layoffs because buyouts won't get people off the books fast enough
Sorry , meant to say ”you can't” get umemployment.
ReplyDeleteIf you accept a buy out you can get unemployment can you?
It's official, big news at 4:00. Everybody is getting a huge raise and we are going to hire more people.
ReplyDeleteJust heard: At 4 p.m., Frank Gannett himself will appear, via satellite, to newsrooms across the country, announcing his bold new plan to reenergize GCI.
ReplyDeleteSorry if these sites already have been linked here, but I found these to be good resources for lots of things:
ReplyDeletewww.canmybossdothat.com
http://www.nelp.org/site/issues/category/enforcement_of_workplace_standards/
I wonder if the Employment Law Project would take on Gannett?
2:10---stock is on fire??? When it gets back above $10, then get back in touch with us and we'll talk then. Until then, go back to watching your cartoons.
ReplyDeleteI just heard at 400p.m. today that Craig Dubow is stepping down as C.E.O.=Commander Embezzlemnet Officer! He will be replaced by George "Dubya" Bush the ex-court jester! ~HAPPY ~DAYS ~ARE ~HERE ~AGAIN.......can you hear the band playing?
ReplyDelete3.07 thats super funny!
ReplyDeleteTo 1:33 PM -- There is hope. They eliminated my job secretly and I got the call a week before Xmas on my cellphone. I was 56 at the time and w/GCI for 15 years. If I tried looking for the same job I lost, I would still be looking. But when I decided to match my skills against job openings, I found work. I have a 90-10 health insurance plan, get paid 46 cents a mile, no damn performance reviews and no night or weekend work. You have to mingle and network and look folks in the eye. Moping around at home is the worst thing you can do. Work is out there.
ReplyDelete25 minutes until the fake "layoff" announcement!!!
ReplyDeleteHey, is that gonna be 4 p.m. Eastern time? :-)
ReplyDeleteCrap, it's 04:02 Pm and I missed it.
ReplyDeleteWhere's the announcement? I'm so disappointed!
ReplyDeleteCorporate probably decided to wait because of this blog. It would spoil the surprise.
ReplyDeleteThought ”my boss said” layoffs would be the end of June.
ReplyDeleteCincinnati considering 10.5x15 page size:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.newsandtech.com/dateline/04-06-09_date.htm
"Speaking at last week’s Great Lakes/Midstates Newspaper Production Conference, Enquirer Vice President of Operations Dave Preisser said the Gannett Co. Inc.-owned daily has already printed prototypes and conducted focus groups to gauge reader acceptance of the possible new format."
655 people were laidoff today all across Gannett.
ReplyDeleteFacts, if you expect us to consider you creditable:
ReplyDelete655 people were laidoff today all across Gannett.
wow, probably the quietest 655 people i've ever heard. not even 1 of them came here to tell their story.
ReplyDeleteor maybe they were killed. let's just blame management. that seems like the cool thing to do!
Yes, they are all being held prisoners in the crystal towers.
ReplyDeletewow, probably the quietest 655 people i've ever heard. not even 1 of them came here to tell their story.
or maybe they were killed. let's just blame management. that seems like the cool thing to do!
So what's the word, Jim? Any inside info as to when this will or will not happen?
ReplyDeleteTrust Jim. Most on here just try to cause fear and discredit Jim.
Ignore them.
True or not true I don't know ... but if I was just laid off at the end of the day ... after being escorted out of the building by security and thus not able to get to a computer ... there are many other folks I would have to inform before I rushed here to post.
ReplyDelete@ 4:34:
ReplyDeletenormally, it's the people's co-workers still employed that spill the beans that someone else was laid off.
4:26 and all: The following isn't based on "insider" anything; it's just a general observation on my part.
ReplyDeleteI'm not expecting a single, big "announcement" about layoffs or job cuts today or anytime soon. That means no press release, or companywide memo. Instead, I expect a series of memos from individual sites this week and next.
Gannett has been laying off employees, mostly in the newspaper division, since at least late last week. I believe these layoffs will continue this week, and possibly into next.
By "these layoffs," I'm referring to a specific round driven by the start of the second quarter.
Finally, I apologize for the frustration many of us feel in dealing with these frequent, unsourced claims of layoffs. But at this moment, I have no easy way to separate the wheat from the chaff. As always, I am open to your ideas.
And ... if I just saw my co-workers laid off I would be really afraid to use the company computers to update this blog.
ReplyDeleteJim, if you're not sure it's wheat, don't let the post go up. Pretty simple. But then, that would kill your traffic, wouldn't it. Bogus Binghamton memo, bogus posts about 4 p.m. layoffs. Probably got you lots of traffic, added nothing constructive to anyone's life. But it probably helped a few douchebags feel better about their own pathetic states, so I guess you accomplished something.
ReplyDelete@12:55 p.m. - you have put it well - the whole industry is going away. The Orlando Sentinel, newsroom cut in half in the past four years, is about to get chopped another 25%.
ReplyDeleteI am sick of hearing that it is just the debt these media companies have laden on them - otherwise would be sustainably profitable. It is NOT true.
Hope you can retool for something else. Do you have a master's - you could start teaching part-time and build up experience. Classes in PR and speech communications are bursting at the seams, look around. They are hiring instructors for those at comm. colleges and some colleges.
I'm in the same boat as many of you. 40+, almost 50 and out of work in an industry I made my career in. But what I can't, for the life of me understand, is HOW you can be so shocked??
ReplyDeleteChanges in technology have been doing this to various careers for years. How many Mom and Pop retailers went under when Big Box came along? When is the last time you saw a TV repair shop? Do you get ice delivered to your house? Technology has changed the way many, many people make a living. Just like the internet hurt businesses such as news, it created many NEW careers. It's called "evolution" and we really can't be surprised by it. Now companies need IT departments and employees...something that didn't exist 20 years ago.
We chose a career in an industry that just happened to get squeezed out by the evolution of business. It's time to stop being shocked and in denial. Sadly, we need to adapt or take a vow of poverty. It's OVER.
Just ignore the layoff postings. They have lost any impact, and someone is eventually going to get tired. If there's no reaction, there isn't much in it for them.
ReplyDelete4:58 pm:
ReplyDelete"You just printed that story to sell newspapers.''
"You just broadcast that story to raise ratings."
"You just posted that story to boost page views."
5:09 PM wrote "Just like the internet hurt businesses such as news, it created many NEW careers. It's called "evolution" and we really can't be surprised by it. "
ReplyDeleteI'm shocked, absolutely SHOCKED by the downturn in news gathering organizations ... but I live in Kansas and they teach creationism here.
"You just printed that story to sell newspapers.''
ReplyDelete"You just broadcast that story to raise ratings."
"You just posted that story to boost page views."
-----------------------
Irony accepted.
But nonetheless, ALL THREE are the wrong thing to do if it is just rumor or a hoax without anything to back it up.
5:56 pm: This is very helpful. You wrote: "But nonetheless, ALL THREE are the wrong thing to do if it is just rumor or a hoax without anything to back it up."
ReplyDeleteAt a minimum, what would you require in terms of back-up?
I wonder if anyone here has an opinion on whether the photo that ran on page 4B of my copy of the April 6 edition of USA Today was manipulated. It appears to have a foreground and background in sharp focus, while people in between are blurry (as if they had been intentionally blurred). No photo credit appears with the image, nor is there an explanation for why the photo would have needed such manipulation prior to publication.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure this photo would have been rejected by my community paper, or we'd have run it with an explanation. So why is this image OK to run in USA Today without an explanation?
In case page 4B is different in different parts of the country, the picture goes with a story headlined "In Japan, more CEOs share the pain".
2:40 PM.... Can you get unemployment if you take a voluntary buyout? This is the question that will not die because no one can get a straight answer from HR anywhere. In many locations, it all depends on the way you word it, whether your job was actually not replaced, and how the people at unemployment feel that day. If they deny you, fight it. Just don't bother with HR because they give answers which amount to "we don't care"!
ReplyDeleteIt wouldn't surprise me one bit if that photo was manipulated, Gannett ethics are long gone. I see Gannett papers in the northeast that have staged photos, and captions that were not true. A few weeks back a Gannett paper in NY ran a high school basketball photo of two players slapping hands as they were being introduced before the game, but the caption stated that it was a post game celebration. They were clearly desperate for a celebration photo that the photographer didn't have so they published a lie instead.
ReplyDeleteIt wouldn't surprise me one bit if that photo was manipulated, Gannett ethics are long gone. I see Gannett papers in the northeast that have staged photos, and captions that were not true. A few weeks back a Gannett paper in NY ran a high school basketball photo of two players slapping hands as they were being introduced before the game, but the caption stated that it was a post game celebration. They were clearly desperate for a celebration photo that the photographer didn't have so they published a lie instead.
ReplyDeleteOn a different subject, people might be likely to shift their current monthly internet provider payment to include online content if services/content were bundled. I'd subscribe to Gannett online if that subscription was tied to general internet access, at bundled price similar to what I now pay for access alone. ATT is looking at offering a cheap laptop ($50) bundled with other ATT services -- what if such a laptop were bundled with the New York Times and general internet access, so I could sit in my living room with my laptop and read? (Assuming the NYT returns to charging for its online content-) Journalism might not be dead -- perhaps this layoff carnage will result in a shifting of resources to reporters and a different editing/production model.
ReplyDelete"By "these layoffs," I'm referring to a specific round driven by the start of the second quarter."
ReplyDeleteWell, Jim, I challenge you to substantiate that claim. What's so special about the beginning of the quarter and who whispered this special news into your ear? Do you think Moon was laid off??
it's a taxing situation - buyout lump sums generally do not have federal and state and local taxes withheld - be sure to check with a tax pro before counting on every red cent.
ReplyDeletesorry....at least they don't take FICA.
This post is from a response to a Las Vegas Sun MGM story today. But it sounded so famailar, just change the names and the game's the same.
ReplyDelete----
Ya, poor execs.
They are the ones who brought the industry to bankruptcy. Everyone in the casino is now doing more for less. The difference is the people at the bottom do not have a "buy out" or some golden parachute as they get kicked out the door.
Add the biggest fraud of them all. Terri Lani to your list of execs who narcissistically thought they reinvented Vegas and deserved huge compensation packages, then when it began to unravel he ran off and left the mess to be paid for by MGM workers all taking pay cuts and all having to pay more for health insurance.
All salaried workers at MGM have been forced to take a pay cut and pay more for health insurance.
And this scum lives it up in So Cal with his millions in stock options he cashed in. I read a few days ago about another MGM exec bailing out on the company and going to Nevada Power. Too bad the selfish scum at the top doesn't have to give back all the millions they earned running this company into the ground. No, it is better to nickle and dime the employees than to hold the lying scum management accountable for the falling profits.
---
Ummmm. 5:56...the #1 listed definition of "evolution" is "gradual development."
ReplyDeleteYour religious beliefs are personal but I will say this much. Since you are surprised by these changes, I think your faith may come in handy. I don't say that with sarcasm. I'm just saying that we all need a way to cope with unemployment. Mine was changing careers at 46, realizing I was employed in a dying industry.
Not to beat a dead horse but...ask photography friends how digital has impacted that business. (Remember Fotomats?) Or even how the internet affected the adult entertainment industry.
Life is change and we better get used to it. We're not alone in this. This type of change (evolution), is hitting all kinds of industries.
Can you get unemployment if you take a voluntary buyout? asks 5:51.
ReplyDeleteDon't ask HR, they have nothing to do with it. You need to ask your local unemployment office because it is the state that rules here. Each state has different rules. So there is not one answer that works everywhere.
"who whispered this special news into your ear?"
ReplyDeleteThat's probably not a question you want to ask Jim. I'd avoid asking him anything that has to do with orifices.
10:13 PM
ReplyDeleteWow. THAT was a tacky comment.
How mature of you.
Jim, I'm not 5:56, but I can't believe you asked the question, "At a minimum, what would you require in terms of back-up?"
ReplyDeleteHow about even the slightest bit of evidence that the person isn't just making it up? It's sort of reporting 101. Your activity on this blog has demonstrated you weren't the best business reporter out there, but surely you had some minimal standards when you were reporting before you'd publish something? Or would you just publish it if it was something that fit your personal agenda? Because that's precisely what you're doing in publishing, and in some cases promoting, pure bullshit on this site.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteah... good old Gannett... I volunteered for lay off in December from Reno Gazette... I got out as unscathed as possible. Now all of my friends are getting axed one by one. I really hope these heads of Gannett sleep well at night. I think a group of intelligent and creative people could turn the newspaper industry into something bright and innovative. Instead, these idiots continue to let the ship sink, while telling us there is no trouble ahead... oh, and me... i found another job with a hospital where my work is appreciated and in the scheme of things I am helping people who are not greedy.
ReplyDelete