In a comment, a reader says: "I only wish that this blog had existed back in the mid '90's. All the nasty game-playing, backstabbing, foul nonsense may have been stopped or thwarted. The cast of current characters, in part, is as a consequence of the past regimes of fear. The regional top players always took their demeanor from the top."
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."
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.
There were and are hundreds of ex newspeople who routinely found themselves at odds with the new regional VP's and President's. The regional person had powers to punish,force turnover, dashed hopes, and careers. One bad report, bad presentation at a Corporate onsite visit...and the person was banished.
ReplyDeleteIts a wonder, putting money aside, that Gannett and the industry was able to maintain any stable of professionals.
And the numbers do dwindle.
Have you seen the 'stable professionals' left behind? They hide. Stay under the radar. Do as little as possible that could get them in trouble. "Fear. Fear will keep them in-line." And it will bring results that are consistent with the inbred management style that has perpetuated within Gannett.
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous at 5:11 p.m.:
ReplyDeleteThis probably sounds terribly simplistic and naive, but I'm going to say/ask it anyway.
I can accept that canning incompetant and lackluster employees is necessary, perhaps never more so than now.
But have you ever understood Gannett's basic need to be so savage about it -- about all of it?
Have you EVER understood its blunt-force treatment of its most talented reporters, writers & photogs? Or its vicious indifference to its workers in general, its shameful managerial style and its ghastly corporate reputation?
Has ANYone ever understood this -- even fleetingly?
Please, someone: What IS at the core of this behavior?
It's not new, it's not a fluke, it's not some temporary panicked response to extreme market condtions.
It is to GCI what the peacock is to NBC: The brand.
But God in heaven, why?
As Dubow & Co. continue to ride the stock price straight down into to the ground, who or what can possibly be telling them that the only way to survive and thrive is to continue treating its readers like simple-minded children and its workers like barn animals?
Any former or current editors and management types who've been through the training and the life and lived to tell, please, for God's sake, tell.
Anon@11:34,
ReplyDeleteAnyone who's been around GCI long enough knows the source of that mindset: Big Al himself. The seedlings of fearmongering that he planted 30 years ago have taken over the fields and choked the vibrancy out of the company. Dubow and crew aren't doing anything different, they're merely harvesting the crop Al sowed.
Yes, Al certainly knew how to be a dick. But he also had others not of that ilk around him. How do you explain John Quinn, who had an amazing capacity to motivate his newsroom leaders. I personally witnessed moments of amazing compassion by Quinn regarding low level employees dealing with serious personal issues. And over the years I heard people say more than once that Quinn never left his wounded on the battlefield. Quinn and Neuharth had an interesting relationship and played off each other in public to foster the impression of newsroom independence. But it was my experience that Quinn had little tolerance for abusive managers.
ReplyDeleteI was at first astonished, but am now just depressed, by Gannett management's propensity to throw long-time staff members to the wolves.
ReplyDeleteIn other professions, there's a a tendency to circle the wagons to protect "members." With Gannett, it's the opposite. Cruel treatment of subordinates is seen as a sign of a strong manager.
I have witnessed long-time employees
smeared, their careers destroyed, in an effort to make a manager look tough. Not even a quiet dismissal will do. It has to be a very public, very visible humiliation.
The corporate culture in this company is sick, sick, sick.
John Quinn was the real deal.
ReplyDeleteAbout two years into Gannett ownership of our newspaper, we had a Gannett publisher but were just making the transition from homegrown to imported newsroom leadership. The longtime editor was nearing retirement, and with no obvious successor in-house (also due to age), it was inevitable that the first Gannettoid would be joining the staff.
Quinn worked quietly with senior newsroom staffers to craft a new editorial leadership structure that made the process as painless as possible. Then he showed up unannounced one day with the new guy in tow.
After introductions in the newsroom, Quinn and the import were joined by the longtime local editor in a march into the startled publisher's office. "We've got a new arrangement for the newsroom," Quinn told the publisher. "Now, how are you going to try to f**k it up?"
All laughed heartily, although the publisher's laughter was rather nervous. Message received, and mission accomplished.
??? The fast pace at which Gannett bought papers made for alot of management darlings. They had no training. They were paid for results at any price. It made an incestuous industry even worse on the business side of newspapering.
ReplyDeleteThe worse comment..."John Doe has left the company to pursue other interests. And decided to spend more time with family."
Unforgiving, a horrible taste envelops the mouth. You'd have to have been there to see executives squirm at the hot red hair of Watson, and the stony look of McCorky. Curley would just sit and read the sports page...waiting for his tee time.
Upper management. Yup.