Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Tuesday | May 26 | Your News & Comments
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58 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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I am very sad that this blog might be ending. Jim has provided a forum for all people who have worked at a Gannett owned property over the years. It has given a voice to people who have been burned by the company, as well as those who support it. As for name calling, and hiding behind the famed " anomymous " label---well, I guess intelligence and courage are two qualities these cowards lack. Jim, Thank you for this blog--you did well my friend !
ReplyDelete"Hi, 12:30 - this is 10:32. I enjoy your suggestion that I get some friends, but honestly, who can understand the "Gannett Way" better than other Gannettoids? And who else can share the GCI info that I want? The funny thing is... you're probably the friend who everyone rolls their eyes about behind his back because you won't shut the f up about work. So, go on thinking you're higher and mightier than I am because I found a little free online therapy here. But honestly... your snark is not cool. or cute."
ReplyDelete5/25/2009 8:30 PM
Grow a pair and get some friends IN THE COMPANY! Do you not have anyone at work that understands what you deal with? Are you the only one dealing with your things at work? Stop finding excuses and do something.
As for my friends at work, there are just a small handful I discuss things with and they begin conversations as frequently or even more often than do I. And we roll our eyes to each other's faces.
I don't think I'm higher and mightier but I must I must be smarter than you if I can create balance without a virtual, anonymous therapist. You get what you pay for.
Man, aren't you the odd one!
"todd said...
ReplyDeleteAs for name calling, and hiding behind the famed " anomymous " label---well, I guess intelligence and courage are two qualities these cowards lack."
5/26/2009 6:39 AM
Todd, huh? And what do I find when I click on your profile? Nothing but Todd. Might as well be anonymous. How's that for intelligence? And I'm the coward?
Kvetching about the ins and outs of class warfare just doesn't pay.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, Jim, just end the blog already if you're ending it. You're dragging this out like an "All My Children" plot.
ReplyDeleteSay goodbye, move on. Can you not do ANYTHING without being overly dramatic?????
Todd - we have yet to see your name in its entirety.
ReplyDeleteYou are quick to call others coward - how about showing us your bravery and post your first and last name. As I have posted a few times now, I have worked in Westchester for many years. I don't believe for one minute that Todd is your real name.
Prove me wrong.
Jim,
ReplyDeleteDid they pay you off so we wouldn't have any place to hear how massive the new layoffs are going to be and who is affected? Did Gannett get to you and offer you big bucks to back off this blog since the worker bees were finding out info before hand?
Just wondering down south.
Jim,
ReplyDeleteCan't give up man.
If you do, they win.
This blog has been both silly and serious, irreverent and relevant.
ReplyDeleteAs a Gannett casualty of the December '09 Massacre (after more than 20 years of righteous service), I would frequent this site as someone would a support group. Afterall, with Gannett, it's like there are only recovering addicts and practicing addicts. Certainly some codependency issues, as well.
Most times, I was silent, but enjoyed the group's chatter, banter, stories, raves and rants. I learned much. (For instance, I had no idea there were so many closeted homophobes and haters in the newspaper biz. So much for liberal, elitist media.)
But today I wanted to speak up and wish you all the best. Although we've never met, you've opened up your life and I feel I've come to know you.
You did it (Gannett blog) when no one else did. Perhaps somebody will pick up the torch, perhaps not. But you provided some light in some very dark times, and for that, we thank you.
Peace.
As they used to say, "See you in the funny papers."
RE: 9:28 AM
ReplyDeleteNicely put. I share much of the same sentiments (and observations too).
It's time for all of us to move on and reinvent ourselves beyond the diminshing world of newspapers.
ReplyDeleteThe enlightening thing I found here in countless visits was to see the way GCI hosed me was not atypical. I was stunned to learn the management style and shortcomings I felt were sadly unique to my floor were in fact systemic and intentional. The company which so arrogantly executed the SMSA stranglehold has lost its grip. Ye reap what ye sow.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't blame Jim for shutting this down ... if he decides to do that.
ReplyDeleteThis place has become a haven for misguided hostility. I read half as often as before. I'll read less often next week. And so on.
The most important thing I have learned from Gannett Blog: The worker bees aren't as valiant as I thought they were.
This is coming from a worker bee, btw.
7:15 - we already established that I've been laid off from Gannett. So, while you're posting on company time, you d-bag, I am making the most of what I have. Suck it.
ReplyDeleteAnon7:15am - I don't think you're being fair. Honestly, what is the harm if people treat this blog like a support group? What makes you so angry about this fact? People are exchanging ideas, rumors, suggestions and banter here. Why does that anger you so?
ReplyDeleteQuitter!
ReplyDeleteTaking your toys and going home because you don't like the fact that a substantial voice of opposition has risen on your blog.
The company will be fine without you, or your blog.
"Quitter!
ReplyDeleteTaking your toys and going home because you don't like the fact that a substantial voice of opposition has risen on your blog.
The company will be fine without you, or your blog."
I want the drugs you're taking.
What substantial voice?
Is the company doing fine?
Have you looked at the stock price lately?
I liked this blog because it provided a daily glimpse into the high illiteracy of allegedly professional writers, as well as a daily exhibition of the insanity of Jim Hopkins.
ReplyDeleteWe also got to see full-on morons like 7:17 a.m. and Dumbir show their stuff. Somewhere in some coffeehouse, mosque, or al-Qaida hideout, Dumbir is retelling -- for the millionth time -- the tale of how he was fired because he worked on someone's farewell page while he was on the clock.
We also saw again how chickenshit most of the journalists are. They won't post with names. They won't use facts. Hard to believe these people are destined to be chronically jobless!
OK, someone's going to start a new gannettblog right? No offense to Jim but we don't need him to continue to have a platform for sharing news and rumors, do we?
ReplyDeleteAh, yes, 11:15 - you are the reason that Jim must leave us. Amir's name must mean he's a terrorist, huh? Clever, clever poster you are. You discredit all of your goon posts immediately with that crap.
ReplyDeleteWhere is my post from yesterday? You didn't approve of it. All I said was that I couldn't do what you have done. Who could read all of these posts. I hope you keep this blog going. I believe it does far more good than harm.
ReplyDeleteThe loss of Jim's dedicated blog leaves us in a mess. We will never really know anything except what Gannett wants us to know. But we had one man doing everything for us, and we can never thank him enough. Jim was sent to us when we needed him most, but it's very clear that we are now really going to be in a boat without sails.
ReplyDeleteTHANKS FOR ALL YOU'VE DONE AND ALL THE CRAP YOU HAVE TAKEN!
"7:15 - we already established that I've been laid off from Gannett. So, while you're posting on company time, you d-bag, I am making the most of what I have. Suck it.
ReplyDelete5/26/2009 10:40 AM"
Sorry, I missed that you are laid off. Sorry. I am on furlough and I can't go back to work until next week so I'm posting on my own time.
I'd leave you with a few expletives to join the ones you dropped but I don't think that's neccessary.
Anon7:15am - I don't think you're being fair. Honestly, what is the harm if people treat this blog like a support group? What makes you so angry about this fact? People are exchanging ideas, rumors, suggestions and banter here. Why does that anger you so?
ReplyDelete5/26/2009 10:50 AM
So you think I'm angry? From what? Maybe you are a little overly sensitive? You wouldn't like me when I'm angry. Being on furlough and not getting paid this week could get me there.
12:06pm - Thanks for the clarification. You're right - I should not have written those unnecessary things to you. I apologize. I guess I didn't take kindly to you suggesting that I don't have friends, was odd, not smart and 'needed to grow some'. I am sorry you're on furlough, too. Gannett sucks, not you. Good luck with everything. Friends?
ReplyDeleteRomor has it that Jim got $50k to end his blog. Truth?
ReplyDeleteTake your toys and go home Jim. Gannett will be here long after you skulk away with tail between legs. Good riddance.
ReplyDelete(And I hope you leave this post up instead of just leaving up posts that praise you, unlike my last post)
Jim, did Gannett pay you to end this blog?
ReplyDeleteIf they did, what a disgrace to fellow bloggers and Gannett employees. I can't see you taking the money from them. Please respond to this. If you don't post an answer, then we know you took the money.
It's a bummer.
ReplyDeleteSorry to see this happen.
But, with the spewage of vitriol, I can see where one guy would have a tough time keeping this place in order. It's pretty obvious that between the corporate ass kissers, and the homophobes (some of which fit under both categories), the openness of this blog was also part of it's downfall.
So best wishes Jim. Many thanks for your hard work. We all learned something here.
I would like to see a new Newspaper discussion group rise from the ashes of this blog.
I personally don't have the time due to many other commitments.
But if there truly is strength in numbers. A multi-company oriented discussion group might be the way to go. Multiple topics, open 24-7.
Damn, Jim.
ReplyDeleteWish it wasn't so.
Jim found out after the shareholder meeting exactly how useless this all was and how meaningless he was to Gannett at large. After the dismal performance there, that was hyped for weeks before, he decided to go hide in a hole. Good idea.
ReplyDeleteShould have stopped while you were ahead.
Find someone else to do this blog!
ReplyDeleteJim, thanks to your blog, I found out many things about GCI before managment "told us". I came here everyday to get some insight on when I may return to work. Thanks to you, my 5 month furlough sucked just a little less. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteInteresting.
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't see is anyone saying: "Hey, Jim, thanks for the opportunity. I see that you can get tired so I will be picking up the baton and starting a GannettBlog 2 to take over when you retire."
If a forum for Gannett information is so valuable, step up and start one. It's time consuming, but with all the places that allow blogs, it can't be that expensive.
And before anyone tries to pass the buck or shrug off responsibility by saying "Why don't you start one?" I'll tell you I am looking into it.
It's worth noting that by Jim's own admission, he worked his way up the Gannett editorial ranks and paygrades for 20 years. That in itself means that he has, at the very least, passively enabled the culture that's created this ingrown perversion of a company that Gannett has become over the years. Being a "Good German" surely takes its toll on a man; I view this blog as Jim's attempt to atone for his sins of passive acceptance and enabling of a creeping culture of evil. It's almost effective.
ReplyDeleteI think Dickey gave Jim a President's Ring to quit....
ReplyDeleteJim--
ReplyDeleteThanks for a great resource. I've contributed by Paypal the last three quarters in a row. It is sad that if the folks who are spewing forth the soul-deadening comments in such volume you are pointing at, were also all contributing financially to the blog it might still be here. You've regularly said what your (quite reasonable) financial goals are and how much you've actually collected. No talented person should be expected to have to survive indefinitely on the pittance you've made from Gannett Blog.
Anyway, God bless, good luck, and thanks for a wonderful resource. Kind of like internet newspapers, eh? Great; and no way to make money from them commensurate with the resources required to keep them going, so they just die. . .
Look at all these cowards calling others cowards. Impressive, truly. Way to flex your internet muscles.
ReplyDeleteI've found other employment that pays better and takes less of my time and effort.
I'm saying goodbye to Gannett and to the GBlog.
Good luck with the PR trolls. Jim really should "out" them, it wouldn't be difficult.
Suggestion: to the periodic poster who contends his layoff was unfair, and says he has been unable to find another job. Here is a solution to your problem. Look at the money Jim makes from this blog, and you will see there is money in turning your complaints about GCI into a new career. This could be your golden opportunity.
ReplyDeleteTime to bring the rumors and innuendos and personal attacks to a close -- and everyone get back to work doing what you are PAID to do.
ReplyDeleteJim, everyone who ever drew a check from Gannett owes you a thanks. I am a laid-off reporter, one who did, and still does, believe in the virtues of journalism. To all the folks who bashed the host of this site, especially the ones who made your attacks personal, know this: You had zero influence in ending this important blog. Jim's true love for finding the truth will always be a more powerful force, more real, than any of the spew you create in response. That's what your corporate whitebreads and know-nothing editors will never understand. And, in the end, we on this end enjoy knowing the simple fact that you'll never get it. Thank you again, Jim. Good luck in whatever you choose to do.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sad few days! Jim announces that the blog will close-and Prop. 8 wins. Is there something in the California water?
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed reading over your shoulder. Independently from you I started a blog (11/07) called freefromeditors.blogspot.com to cover the ongoing dissolution of a privately held company - Booth/Newhouse/Advance Publications.
ReplyDeleteCertainly not at your volume, but at times I have had thousands of hits on days where I posted news about pending cuts, layoffs, buyouts etcetera and some very negative comments coming back.
I wish you well and I hope some newly departed Gannetoid will pick up the slack.
Like you, I have learned that management is basically out to protect management, not the paper. Over at Booth/Advance/Newhouse the incestuous leadership has take nearly every wrong turn, even when the signposts all pointed to a better way.
I guess I always knew it from the inside, but there is no more secretive, less transparent and anti-whistle blowing corporation than a media company which makes its living exposing others.
Good luck
Jim
can they give overtime while people are on furloughs ?
ReplyDeleteI do not know a lot about Gannett corporation but I do know Jim Hopkins. He is a man of integrity and honesty with high principles. I have read a lot of things here about Jim, a lot of them ugly and just plain wrong. I assume most of you are journalists. with all the accusations and insinuations flying around about Jim, where is the evidence?
ReplyDeleteGAME OVER.
ReplyDeleteI don't blame you, but I can't express how disappointed I am with this decision. For many of us, this blog has been the one line we have had with reality. I vividly remember reading here last year about company-wide layoffs, and then went to work to find the smiles, the pats on the back, and the smooth talk from management as the cuts they had already approved were implemented. This blog saw through the duplicity, and made management posturing transparent. You should take pride in creating something that I am sure someone else will pick up and continue. The insanity of working at GCI these months would be impossible without the corrective this blog provides.
ReplyDeleteSomeone else will do a blog about this company. There are just too many disgruntled ex-Gannettoids out on the street with a lot to say for another blog not to sprout up. I have never seen a company with so many angry ex employees. Virtually no one ever has anything good to say about their former employer and a blog is a great place to let the world know what goes on in this awful company. Just USA TODAY alone, and it's institutional abandonment of so many good staffers and editors, could supply a year's worth of blogging material.
ReplyDeleteI would add that USA Today has a knack for betraying top-shelf, senior journalists while sheltering some of the most amateur staffers you can ever imagine. Staffers that shouldn't be working at weekly shoppers let alone a national publication. The managers that protect these incompetents should be fired. Their negligence and poor judgment has weakened the brand.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I would love to start a blog myself, just about the ugliness and mismanagement of this national newspaper/web site. Want to join me Jim on a scaled down project?
USA Today has no credibility. You can't report on the world's ills when in fact your own house is in such disorder.
A USAT blog may not be enough. A kiss and tell book is highly in order. McPaper sounds so innocent, doesn't it? But there is nothing innocent about the gross incompetency, blatant favoritism and chronic lying that goes on at nation's paper. The weeding out of senior employees through deceptive means and the promoting of unqualified staff is really something the public deserves to know about the paper that they have grown to trust.
Here's some interesting operations news that will have a profound impact on Gannett's earnings in the third quarter and could save thousands of jobs... I am surprised that it hasn't been reported here.
ReplyDeleteWord is out today that the price of newsprint has dropped as much as forty percent in the past 10 days.
The situation is a little bit of an issue for Gannett since the company tends to carry high amounts of raw material inventory on its books. Typically, this has been a way for Gannett to hedge against rising prices for paper. Gracia was run over on this one, however. This high priced inventory will cost the company about $20 million a month... one could argue, however, that by carrying more inventory, Gannett actually helped create the over-supply situation.
But a complete collapse in the price will be very good for Gannett in the long term, potentially saving the company as much as $80 million a quarter based on my back of the napkin calculations.
I have already heard that some newspapers are using the savings to relax the news hole restrictions that have made papers so thin. Some independents are trying to do things to make the newspaper more valuable by adding great content and bringing back some employees who were laid off.
With 90 days+ of inventory to burn off, Gannett will not see the impact immediately, but look for the stock price to go up at least 30% as this news sets in... it's very good news for those of us in the news business. My guess is that the stock will be at $6.50 by the end of June.
I wonder how many papers will start reporting on these numbers... the Gannett dailies in Louisiana have the most to gain since the DeRidder, La., paper mill has led the price slashing.
There's a great story here for newspapers... that is, if there are any of us left to report on it.
How about USA Today blog, or some variation of the sort?
ReplyDeleteLet's think of great ideas and off-shoots. How about USA Today confidential?
News print has gone down drastically. However Gannett will find a way to screw it up.
ReplyDeleteAs a former Gannett employee (Montgomery Advertiser 95-97), I've followed this blog on occasion for its insights into the news industry and a bit of inspiration. Jim isn't being overdramatic when he talks about the pressures of running a blog like this one. Every comment can eat away at you but I digress.
ReplyDeleteI'm with the other commenters. Why drag this out? The symbolism of the two year mark is notable but has lost all significance now that you've made it clear that you plan to quit. Part of your exit strategy could have been to find a successor before you made this announcement. But I digress again.
I wish you well. Thank you for your hard work. It was not for naught. You've empowered your readers who now know what's possible. Maybe, they'll do something. Maybe they won't. That's not your problem anymore.
(AP) Mclean, VA: This just in from Gannett Inc, via the AP wire...Gannett was anticipating rising stock prices with the drastic cut in news print over the prior months. In common Gannett fashion though, they hired a pricey consultant to check into the actual savings of the news print price drop. Gannett hired a company called NewsPrintOne, which was formed for this sole purpose. The CEO was a runner up on the hit FOX tv show "Are You Smarter than A 5th Grader" and therfore well qualified in Gannett's eyes to do the numbers. Actual findings after the cost of the consultant and the price savings actually left Gannett in the red as Gannett flew 20 executives to Honolulu for the corporate presentation on the findings, and to watch the rerun of the Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader episode of the consultant. The price of Gannett buying this story about itself for itself from the AP was not figured into the numbers.
ReplyDeleteJim, I am a Casuality of Gannett from September 08. I read your blog regularly while employed with Gannett. You were right on the money 90% of the time. We read your blog and got information before it came down the pike. I will really miss this blog. I Wish you would re-consider. Thanks anyway. You really helped alot of people out. Good luck with all you do.
ReplyDeleteJim,
ReplyDeleteThank you for looking after us all these months. I have to say I had become somewhat addicted to the blog originally but have found the content in the last few months very disheartening. I just cannot believe how many bitter and hateful people are out there.
I think if everyone had kept to the subject of Gannett and not other issues, you may still be interested in continuing.
But you made the right decision. Why should you have to endure such horrific comments about your sexual preference or about your motives. I found recently that I could barely find any true posts related to Gannett.
It's really ashame, because this site has been extremely informative in the begining.
We must all move forward — and I wish you the best in your new endeavor. I'm sure you will do great and so much better now you have left all the negative comments behind you.
Thank you for your effort, experience and being a top notch
journalist.
Best of luck.
Jim,
ReplyDeleteI think you should stay until October. I think a lot of interesting things will happen in the third and fourth quarter and Gannett employees will need this blog to get them through this time period.
You made your decision, now stick with it. We need you through these trying times.
Just delete the crazy insane comments and lets move forward these last few months with real comments about Gannett. That's how your last few months on this blog should be spent. Just Gannett related. That's it, all the rest are toast and they can go somewhere else. I think all of us will find things much more helpful and less disruptive.
I just read 6:51 p.m. and it was spot on! Thanks for what you wrote.
ReplyDelete