Thursday, May 07, 2009
Thursday | May 7 | Your News & Comments
Can't find the right spot for your comment? Post it here, in this open forum. Real Time Comments: parked here, 24/7. (Earlier editions.)
26 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."
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I wish most of you would quit dogging Gannett, if you DO NOT LIKE YOUR JOB PLEASE LEAVE THE HOUSE....plain and simple, this use to be a good blog....now it is full of whinners....
ReplyDeleteThanks Jim for being a good sport with most of the whinners!
6:09 do you like working in PR for Gannett?
ReplyDelete6:09 -
ReplyDeletewhiners, not whinners. Like the recurring characters on Saturday Night Live, from 1982 to 1984. Joe Piscopo, playing Doug Whiner, and Robin Duke, playing Wendy Whiner, spoke all their lines in a nasal whining tone.
6:09 Sometimes the "whiners" you refer to really do like their job, their chosen profession. Maybe it's because those, and "complainers" of which I've been known as, just want to business to do better. Maybe we have seen times when things WERE better and really do know how to make things better Maybe we actually see and hear what sells from the actual people who buy the papers, or we've actually seen a layout or news direction that has actually helped sell papers.
ReplyDeleteMaybe since you are COMPLAINING about whiners and complainers, you are one of the ones who have led us down this road to the abyss....and don't want to hear "how it used to be done" when we were successful!!!
8:16, amen. I'm so tired of being told that all the good work I did for years is meaningless because it doesn't conform to some cookie-cutter plan that the readers hate, and oh how they hate it.
ReplyDeleteWord verification: hapho
I like to read a print product.
ReplyDeleteI also read online. But I'm not an "early adopter. I'm also not willing to pay nearly $500 for a Kindle or some other electronic picture box on top of my subscription cost.
What set me off?
This from Fortune:
Fortune
With the introduction of the $489 version of the Kindle electronic reader yesterday, the question of whether Kindle will overhaul the news industry may soon be answered. The new Kindle's 9.7-inch display with auto rotation makes it possible to read newspapers and magazines in a format resembling the traditional paper versions. Starting this summer, The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Boston Globe will offer the Kindle DX at a reduced price to selected readers in exchange for long-term subscription commitments. News execs hope the Kindle DX may enable a return to the subscriber model and provide a format that is more conducive to displaying advertising.
However, some publishers take issue with Amazon controlling the relationship with subscribers and setting prices. Gannett, USA Today and News Corp. are reportedly aligning themselves with Amazon's competitors, which include Plastic Logic and the Sony Reader. Hearst is developing its own e-reader, which is expected to launch this year.
Did anyone catch Ariel's fund manager on CNBC this am talking about how they have doubled their money invested in Gannett stock.
ReplyDelete9:48 -- Agreed. The concept of a Kindle is decent, but the "reduced cost" is going to have to be awfully low to get me on board.
ReplyDeleteA) We're not talking about a one-time $500 fee. Electronics break, so you can figure on replacing these things occassionally. I'm on my second MP3/iPod, and I know people who've been through a lot more.
B) The price is going to have to come down a lot because I'm not going to pay $500 for something that is only a reader, when I can buy a laptop for the same money and it will act as a reader, DVD player, word processer, etc., etc. Plus, I won't have to pay for the content I read.
C) I still prefer holding a paper. I can take it to tbe beach or wherever else I want without worrying about having it ripped off and discard it when I'm done.
8:16 -- Right on. If anything this company needs more whiners. I've found that most whiners are people who genuinely care about the profession. They complain because they are immensely frustrated and want to make a change for the better yet get tired of banging their heads against the walls of poor Gannett managers.
The people who run around with their heads in the sand and routinely "buy in" to every GCI "initiative" have seen the rewards of their labor. Lowered circulations, diminished stock value and massive layoffs. But, hey, why complain.
8:16 you got that right about 'whiners'. The pacifist, ass-kisser just sits quietly by nodding his/her head. This is what the company likes and therein lies many of the problems now seen. Too many ideas and innovations were squelched while silencing the so-called whiners.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteRemember papers like the Hartford Courant?
ReplyDeleteWell it was developed because people needed a voice to WHINE and COMPLAIN about the imperialistic policies of Britain.
This industry was built on a place to voice one's opinion and opposition, call it whining or complaining but it's the purpose of this forum.
A forum of which Gannett used to be a part of, but with the changes to focus on revenue instead of voice and being the fourth estate. It has made blogs and alternative forums necessary to voice dislike and opposition to tyrants, which unfortunatley Gannett now exists now as in that form like Great Britain in the days of the Hartford Courant.
So if you are going to complain about people voicing their displeasure, you are either a corporate goon or a hypocrite. Either way this blog is meant to provide a forum for that.
Keep it up Jim. Throw some USA Todays into Fisherman's Warf!
Gannett is a likely survivor as well. In the long run, its flagship national daily, USA Today is probably going to benefit from the wave of closings we have been seeing. Without a local daily, readers will turn to the national paper for news. In addition to the papers, Gannett has 23 network television stations and a new online division. It is by no means exempt from the problems facing the industry, but I believe it survives and emerges from the recession in a strong position. Although the stock has tripled off its March lows, it sells for less than 10% of what the shares fetched just two years ago.
ReplyDeleteblocking me on twitter last night wasn't very nice
ReplyDeleteNews Corp to start charging for web site content. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/may/07/rupert-murdoch-charging-websites
ReplyDelete1:12, USAT might be OK, but the community newspapers and their website will fail. So the company will not emerge strong from the recession.
ReplyDeleteThe newsroom whiners are often people who cannot do their jobs and who feel they must blame management.
ReplyDeleteTheir layoffs are imminent, as is company improvement.
Dear 3:44---What flavor is the Kool-Aid today?
ReplyDeleteRupert Murdoch expects to start charging for access to News Corporation's newspaper websites within a year as he strives to fix a "malfunctioning" business model.
ReplyDeleteEncouraged by booming online subscription revenues at the Wall Street Journal, the billionaire media mogul last night said that papers were going through an "epochal" debate over whether to charge. "That it is possible to charge for content on the web is obvious from the Wall Street Journal's experience," he said.
Asked whether he envisaged fees at his British papers such as the Times, the Sunday Times, the Sun and the News of the World, he replied: "We're absolutely looking at that." Taking questions on a conference call with reporters and analysts, he said that moves could begin "within the next 12 months‚" adding: "The current days of the internet will soon be over."
Plunging earnings from newspapers led the way downwards as News Corporation's quarterly operating profits slumped by 47% to $755m, although exceptional gains on sale of assets boosted bottom-line pretax profits to $1.7bn, in line with last year's figure.
Dwindling advertising revenue across print and television divisions depressed the News Corp numbers despite box office receipts from Twentieth Century Fox movies such as Slumdog Millionaire and Marley and Me. But Murdoch said he believed signs of hope were appearing.
"I'm not an economist and we all know economists were created to make weather forecasters look good," he quipped. "But it is increasingly clear the worst is over."
He continued: "There are encouraging signs in some of our businesses that the days of precipitous declines are done, and things are beginning to look healthier."
Dear 4:42----You're really not going to compare the WSJ to any---and I mean Any Gannett paper, are you ??????????// I suggest that you drink the Arlington Kool Aid and come to reality.
ReplyDeleteAnd by the way---Krista Mueller to the Rescue!!!!
ReplyDeleteThere has been a lot of discussion about whiners today. The truth is the folks that whine here can’t help themselves. They cry about every aspect of their lives. It is not about how much they love their profession it's about waking up every day and blaming someone else for the misery in their lives. Little to they know they generate their own misery. These are the folks that naturally gravitate toward this profession. Just like some people become doctors, and some become police officers and some join the Navy. Folks gravitate toward professions that utilize their special skills. Whiners gravitate to journalism. You can’t help yourself. So embrace who you are and whine away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteCool, thanks for the actionable and friendly advice, 6:32! I hope that you have a lovely day. Signed, Whiner in the Newsroom, who tells YOU what is going on in the world
ReplyDeletetodd said...
ReplyDeleteDear 4:42----You're really not going to compare the WSJ to any---and I mean Any Gannett paper, are you ??????????// I suggest that you drink the Arlington Kool Aid and come to reality.
5/07/2009 5:09 PM
Actually, that was a quote from an article in today's Guardian. Free, of course. Where did you get that I was making any comparison to anything?
8:02, you are the perfect example of what I meant. Anyone who disagrees with you is stupid. Anyone who isn't a "journalist" is less enlightened than you. Anyone who has an opinion different from your own isn't qualified to be a"Journalist." Your big problem is the bloggers are eating your lunch and you just can't stand it. You have a nice day now, while I go drink some kool aid!
ReplyDeleteRupert Murdoch expects to start charging for access to News Corporation's newspaper websites within a year as he strives to fix a "malfunctioning" business model.
ReplyDeleteEncouraged by booming online subscription revenues at the Wall Street Journal, the billionaire media mogul last night said that papers were going through an "epochal" debate over whether to charge. "That it is possible to charge for content on the web is obvious from the Wall Street Journal's experience," he said.
Asked whether he envisaged fees at his British papers such as the Times, the Sunday Times, the Sun and the News of the World, he replied: "We're absolutely looking at that." Taking questions on a conference call with reporters and analysts, he said that moves could begin "within the next 12 months‚" adding: "The current days of the internet will soon be over."
Plunging earnings from newspapers led the way downwards as News Corporation's quarterly operating profits slumped by 47% to $755m, although exceptional gains on sale of assets boosted bottom-line pretax profits to $1.7bn, in line with last year's figure.
Dwindling advertising revenue across print and television divisions depressed the News Corp numbers despite box office receipts from Twentieth Century Fox movies such as Slumdog Millionaire and Marley and Me. But Murdoch said he believed signs of hope were appearing.
"I'm not an economist and we all know economists were created to make weather forecasters look good," he quipped. "But it is increasingly clear the worst is over."
He continued: "There are encouraging signs in some of our businesses that the days of precipitous declines are done, and things are beginning to look healthier."
This post will probably be deleted by the blog administrator - again.