Regarding the TV division's new move to cut jobs by consolidating work, a reader says in a comment: "It doesn't make sense to have the level of duplication that Gannett has. While it sucks for those who get laid off, companies have been laying people off for decades and it doesn't make them the anti-Christ."
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.
That is unless you're the one getting laid off...
ReplyDeleteFYI, Jim: The "original post" link goes to a thread about broadcast graphics, not the one about layoffs.
ReplyDelete@6:40 p.m. Thanks, and sorry you were confused. But that is, indeed, the correct link; it takes you to the post where the reader's comment appears in full.
ReplyDeleteWhat surprises me the most about the stories (their clear slant) on this blog and the comments that keep flowing in is i would have thought both the blogger and readers would be more educated about industries going through a complete upheaval. You would think gannett is the only one in the newspaper sector struggling? But gannett is the only one left standing with a solid financial balance sheet if you look at it through the lens of a bell curve for the industry. Name me another newspaper pure play like gannett that is doing ok? Name me one that has not slashed the entire place to the core? Even the NY Times is laying off folks. You could argue that the company should have diversified like scripts and the washington post. These moves would have help the overall company's stock but would have done little to stop the needed retooling of the newspaper and tv business structure and resources.
ReplyDeleteCertain huge shifts in the industry cannot be stopped. The good old days are gone. Anyone working now wishes they could turn back the clock and enjoy the roaring 80's and 90's. Do we really think those people at the time were that smart and now we are so dumb because the answer is right there in front of us? The gannett company has very smart, dedicated, passionate employees that i would argue are in a lot of cases more talented than the leaders of the glory days. The problem is the landscape has changed 100% and now we must retool.
There is no stopping the train of change and complete rebirth of the category. In 5-10 years they will probably get rid of newspaper as a category of business. For those coming to work everyday with a passion for only putting out a newspaper then they need to find a new job.
The gannett company has no choice but to find scale and efficiency. We must now compete for every reader and every dollar. We need employees that want to embrace the digital space.
What bothers me the most is the blogger's slant that the comapny has it all wrong. That layoffs are way off. Revenues are down. Readers tastes have changed. You must scale the operation down to the appropriate size and try to take advantge of the scale of the company. Why don't you turn your attention and ask employees in the info center what they have done to keep their skills at a top notch level in this digital age? Same goes for the advertising executives. What have production folks done to consider new ways to generate print revenue or continue to save money? What about the IT people? How about the finance folks coming up with new ways for advertisers to pay their bills and reduce churn? When are circualtion executive going to rethink their role? There are tons of basic business examples where the employees in the gannett company need to keep pushing themselves to improve their skills. Too many people wait around for the company to do something. Stop waiting and start helping!!!
THE ABOVE COMMENT FROM A GCI MANAGER IS A JOKE, THERE IS A TALL GLASS OF KOOL AID HE WANTS YOU TO DRINK.
ReplyDeleteEveryone on this blog is educated to what is going on in the industry. Yes, most paper are facing hard times but most do not do what Gannett is doing, listen to this idiots play on words, he went through Gannett management training:
"The problem is the landscape has changed 100% and now we must retool. There is no stopping the train of change and complete rebirth of the category. In 5-10 years they will probably get rid of newspaper as a category of business. For those coming to work everyday with a passion for only putting out a newspaper then they need to find a new job"
" We need employees that want to embrace the digital space"
" Stop waiting and start helping!!!"
It should read, "stop waiting for your pink slip"
Without even looking up information I can name at least 25 newspapers that are not doing what GCI is doing. I think the Newhouse chain is pretty solid, yeah, there might be some decline in numbers but nothing like the sinking ship. It also sounds like the poster or poser is looking forward to the day when there is no more newspaper, do the remaining Gannett employees want to gamble that the web will save the day? Not that horrible looking cookie cutter website. Why do you think they made all the web sites take on that one hideous look? Yes, you are right, CENTRALIZATION AND OUTSOURCING. I can see it in 6 months, the new centralized web division in Idaho, it will be a great place to work
Yes the newspaper is facing an upheaval, a transformation. Employees might be more understanding and "start helping" if the top executives were also willing to sacrifice. Which they're not.
ReplyDeleteThe most recent bonus allocations - including the $1.75 million gift to CEO Craig Dubow in a year when the stock price lost half its value - is a clear illustration of that fact.
Had Craig, Gracia, et al turned down bonuses and taken pay cuts - certainly they can afford it - to show they feel the pain as well, front-line employees and low-level managers might be more understanding.
Until everyone from the very top down buys in to this transformation from the profit / expense / revenue standpoint, it's not going to happen ... cleanly and enthusiastically, anyway.
Are there any journalists out there or only a bunch of whiners? It's true Gannett stock lost half it's value in the past year but that is true about most major media companies. it's also true that media companies enjoy some of the highest margins among the Fortune 500 companies.
ReplyDeleteIt isn't about the corporate folks, bonuses or about the way the company is being managed ... It's about Wall street believing the product is on it's deathbed and driving down the value of media companies. As they keep driving down the stock price the company has to keep writing down it's value which causes investors to continue to devalue the product. It's a downward spiral that won't stop until some of you get off your whiney butts and protect the fourth estate.
Instead of griping about corporate leadership or lack thereof, why don't some of you journalists dig into who is really making money by betting against us?
Dear Flack@9:43,
ReplyDeleteI don't have time to start helping. We've taken on more work due to consolidation, and lost critical staff due to willy-nilly reductions designed to protect the balance sheet by any means. I have lots of ideas, but the time I might have used to explore them is spent covering for the unfilled positions, and I am not exaggerating here.
"As they keep driving down the stock price the company has to keep writing down it's value..."
ReplyDeleteThis is not true. The writedown of goodwill that is happening is not a result of a lower stock price but the fact that the newspaper being valued is bringing in less cash flow than it did when it was purchased. Stock price has nothing to do with it.
The problem is Anonymous @ 5:52 is that GCI and other media outlets haven't accepted that 30% margins are no longer possible in this market.
ReplyDeleteI admire your passion, but it's hard to protect the Fourth Estate when GCI and its brethren keep reducing the number of journalists it employs.
You must understand, in today's age of technology, people see themselves as the Fourth Estate ... in blogs, MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, etc.
If Gannett is serious about protecting the Fourth Estate - and not profits - it would snub its nose at Wall Street (much like Al Neuharth did when USA Today was launched) and re-invest in its people and infrastructure and, thus, move the business forward.
Sometimes the truth hurts, even if you consider that whining.
Gannett is in the content business and now everyone is in the content business. Many produce content for free and do it for free because the tools are easy to use and the web connects us all. The make up of the company has to shift or there will be no more company.
ReplyDeleteI am a Gannett employee of 20+ years... I don't have a problem with the Centralization of jobs. I look at it this way... If I owned a company and I could do the SAME QUALITY job with fewer people then that is my right to do so. We can't blame a company for wanting to cut cost.
ReplyDeleteBUT...
what makes upsets me is when we find out that some of these jobs are going overseas to non-american companies... That's where I have a problem... And I would say that about ALL "so-called" American companies that have started to offshore their jobs. One day when these companies wake up and realize there's no one left to buy their stupid products because we're all out of jobs then perhaps they can sell their rags to people in India or elsewhere.
Wouldn't that be funny... Have a Newspaper Telemarketer in India calling a subscriber in India to ask "Would you like to subscribe to our newspaper?"
I recall participating in numerous
ReplyDeleteGCI round tables with some of the top Ad VP's at Gannett Newspapers.
These brainstorming sessions were geared to new business development and ways too negate the Internet competition. Most of these ideas were ignored.
Interestingly enough, Watson and other GCI execs felt we could buy our way out of any problems by simply purchasing the internet competition.
Sure looks like a failed plan to me! GCI has always been good at burying their heads in the sand
and drinking more Kool Aid.
Anon 5:18a
ReplyDelete'I dont have time to help?'
seriously?
so what's your answer?
you don't like the direction the company is being driven (neither do I)
but you also can't be bothered to help turn it around?
no kool aid here - just tired of whiners
How can we expect corporate to stop believing in 30% profit when they foresee a 90% profit from the Internet?
ReplyDelete(How this will happen, they have yet to reveal.)