Monday, June 15, 2009
Monday | June 15 | 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.)
49 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 am hearing this morning of a 10 percent layoff. Wow. The good news is the furlough days are ending, but the bad news is going to be layoffs now being considered by the Crystal Palace. I hear USAT is also going to be hit hard. Chalk this down to rumors if you want, but I can't say how I know this.
ReplyDeleteI heard that the properties in Michigan are facing at least a 20 percent reduction this round.
ReplyDeleteSpent some time with friends currently employed at The Arizona Republic. Yesterday's Sunday paper featured at least 6 ads promoting getting the news faster via azcentral. While there was the reoccurring ad bragging about Sunday readership being up, there was also an ad announcing of the ability of getting many of the Sunday ads and coupons online. The question raised by the employees was with the expectation of big layoffs and probably furloughs in the future, why does the paper continue promoting it's own demise and theirs!
ReplyDeleteRe: The Arizona Republic.
ReplyDeleteThe promotion of coupons to sell the paper has long been a sticking point with me. While I am definitely a coupon clipper, that is NOT why I get the newspaper. I want info I cannot find anywhere else and to learn about my community. It is very sad that the Republic does not emphasize its position in the news world, and promote its journalism.
At the local grocery store, whenever there is a booth set up for the newspaper, the person there invariably touts the coupons, not what a reader can learn from reading the newspaper. That, friends, in a nutshell is the problem.
Oh, and the paper can promote those Sunday circ numbers all it wants. We all know they're bogus.
I'm not in the know, but I'm hearing a lot of chatter among middle managers here about July layoffs in the 20% range.
ReplyDeleteI don't worry about this stuff because I have spent a lot of time broadening my skill base. I'll find work.
Start devising an escape plan. Even if you don't use it, you'll sleep better at night knowing it's there.
If they cut staff by 20 percent, we'll all be better off working somewhere else.
ReplyDeleteJim, Glad to see that anonymous comments are now allowed again.
ReplyDeleteAt least until you close down this site in October, we have a forum.
Most people are very concerned about idenifying themselves for the obvious reasons that Gannett is probably quite intersted in finding out who is communicating here so they can formulate their next layoff list.
Rumors are swirling about an upcoming reduction and on the Gannetoid site there are suggestions that this time they are going to go after middle management and "advertising sales #2's." As far as I'm concerned there are way too many "middle management" types who do little if anything especially in the advertisng departments which are bloated with incompetence and laziness. At one NJ paper there are at least 3 or 4 of these so called managers/supervisors who have no clue what they are doing and should have gone a long time ago. Now that Gannett has gotten rid of so many salaries of very good and productive people, it's high time they meet their bottom line objectives by cleaning house of the idiots they've kept around way too long.
Can anyone provide verification of dates for announcement and implementation? I'm hearing June 29 announcement, with changes effective July 8. But this is mostly idle gossip, and I am not -- repeat NOT -- in a position to know.
ReplyDeleteOne inane ad director once told a group meeting that her 60/40 ad to news content is a work of art...crazy drunk on the gannetaid
ReplyDeleteThanks Jim! I look forward to reading the blog and was afraid it was on life support with the new comment policy.
ReplyDelete20 percent? I am at a Michigan property, and I don't know how much more thinly we could be skinned. God - or whatever Being you happen to believe in - help us all.
ReplyDeleteOne of my best sources gave me the same July 8 date. This source has been close to 100% accurate so far.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm coming to believe this round could be at or above 10%. I've got doubts about 20%, although Michigan, Nevada, Arizona and Florida are perhaps at greatest risk because of the auto industry and real estate industry crashes.
Also, this might be the board's best opportunity to elevate Chris Saridakis to an even more senior post. Ditto for one Gannett board member, if that person could be persuaded to accept a non-executive board leadership post.
@11:47: Under my agreement with Gannetoid's publisher, this blog now shuts down far sooner: July 10 -- in less than four weeks. It's time to say goodbye, folks.
ReplyDeleteAnyone hear any specifics about NJ group? We are barely even functioning now at APP... I don't see how we could get cut further.
ReplyDeleteLol... you are right 1144. If they cut any further...
Jim, Thanks for all you've done! I think shutting down in July will be a perfect transition time to the Gannetoid blog. The pending layoffs everybody seems to know about will position the Gannetoid as the new "home" for information and whatever comfort may be found. If layoffs are in the ranges mentioned and include the middle managers previously deemed "safe", the consequences will be the most dramatic yet. Nobody would any longer feel immune providing a whole new level of anxiety and odd behavior and those already overworked will just see their worlds get worse.
ReplyDeleteThere's also another element to this saga, Gannett won't allow YOY expenses to increase, hence the common thought furloughs would continue matching the previous year. The question might be whether any coming layoffs are intended to offset YOY furloughs or the continued drop in circulation and ad revenues. It almost makes sense to think both will be necessary this year to match the layoffs and furloughs in 2008 and offset the revenue declines.
Gannettoid will never prosper in delivering information that's been as openly delivered and highly welcomed by all on this site given its current forum registration.
ReplyDeleteWhy? It's far too easy to take a number of comments made by people and piece them together to discover who shared them...even easier given shrinking employee ranks. And, one need look no further than what’s happened on this site recently proof.
Too bad.
Jim,
ReplyDeleteDetroit is wrapping up their layoffs on June 22. Do you think they would be part of yet another round in July. I hope not, this layoff is going to really hurt staffing and losing more would be horrendous.
Goodbye, Gannett Blog. Goodbye to many colleagues who were or are about to be prematurely forced out of this company. Goodbye to the newspaper biz as we know it. Maybe it's not all bad.
ReplyDeleteI hope the mom-and-pop operations can survive, maybe even thrive, now that Gannett and other monster media companies have gutted so many once proud newspapers. Gannett was never a fair let alone honorable competitor. But now with such newspapers as USA Today weakening, perhaps the return of grassroots journalism can occur.
There is no longer any great appeal for most journalists to aspire to working at the big papers. The big papers are self destructing. The working conditions are poor and job stability is zilch. You're lucky if the editor knows your name. There is probably no chance the publisher has a clue to what goes on in a newsroom.
The more rewarding jobs will be at the family-owned publications, where the publishers care more about people and don't drive their newspapers off a cliff at the first opportunity to unload debt. That's the silver lining I am hoping for as Gannett does not deserve to survive. Gannett created some bad karma, and there appears to be no way out. More layoffs are not the answers, particularly since the wrong people are often let go.
This blog served many purposes. One of the ones I appreciate the most is in how it demonstrated to the journalism/publishing world what a rotten company GCI is, with corrupt leaders, unhappy workers and thousands of betrayed former employees scattered throughout the country. Maybe that wasn't Jim's intention, but the employees got to express themselves. It wasn't pretty. It should have been a wake-up call.
If you picked your way carefully through the juvenile comments made here, you could see the common threads, the unhappiness, the slimy tactics, the unethical behaviors that caused so many of the current problems. It appears to me that Gannett has learned nothing from its mistakes and is well on the way to being extinct. Would be nice to read about it here, but it's also understandable that Jim needs to get on with his life. Gannett didn't grow overnight, and probably won't die anytime soon. But within the next decade, this will go the way of other horrendous chains, such as Thomson, and implode. You can't treat thousands of people as badly as Gannett does and expect the universe to keep rewarding it. The small things matter. Every person matters. But GCI lost its way somewhere along the line and the current economy exposed all of the company's weakest points.
Goodbye, Gannett.
Yay, Gus!
ReplyDelete2:09 pm: I must disgree. Gannettoid's publisher has way more guts than I have. After all, I started Gannett Blog without knowing how dangerously mean some readers can be.
ReplyDeleteI've done investigations that exposed a prominent attorney for complicity in bank fraud in Arkansas. I sent a convicted murderer and other violent offenders back to prison in Idaho. I reported on shockingly abusive jail guards in Jefferson County, Kentucky. (In an extreme case, an Idaho Statesman reader threatened to put a bullet into my right temple.)
Yet I've never felt more threatened than I did in April, in the run-up to the annual shareholders meeting, when a concerted attack campaign on this blog led me to believe I needed to hire a bodyguard.
Gannettoid's publisher and I spoke at length about what he might experience if he accepted a redirect of my traffic. I questioned him closely, to make sure he really had the stomach to deal with crap like this.
What's more, unlike other bloggers who have come and gone, he has stuck with his site for seven months, with no encouragement from me until just recently. And he did so, even as he was attacked early on by Gannett Blog readers who compared him unfavorably to me.
Although I'm moving on, I believe employees and other Gannett stakeholders will need a forum more than ever where they can share information freely, without fear of management reprisal. The upcoming layoff won't be the last.
Give Gannettoid.com a chance.
DUBOW BACK SURGERY: 4 MONT LEAVE:
ReplyDeleteDear Co-workers:
This morning, I underwent surgery on my back. I am pleased to report it was successful and I’m doing fine. I am beginning a leave of absence to recuperate.
During the time I am on leave, the Board of Directors and I have asked Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Gracia Martore to step in as our principal executive officer. She will work with our management team to seamlessly continue operating the company as I recover.
This was major surgery, with all its potential for complications, but it is not rare. I have a great medical team and I hope to make a full recovery. My doctors have predicted I will need about a 4-month leave, but the exact length is unknown at this time.
As a result, I wanted you to be aware of the situation before a press release goes out. The announcement is expected shortly to make shareholders aware of my absence.
Be assured, Gannett is in good hands. We have the strongest management team in the business and they have my complete confidence.
Thank you and I hope to see you soon.
Gracia takes over:
ReplyDeletehttp://finance.yahoo.com/news/Gannett-Chairman-President-bw-15529439.html?.v=1
Goodbye, Old Friend. Will miss this Gannett Blog. While many comments were nastier of late, there were still a lot of valuable views from lots of dedicated workers. I gained a lot of insight before I left Gannett. Have visited Gannettoid.com & will it check out from now. But I really liked this format, which was simple, easy to read. However, life goes on. Thanks, Jim, for providing this venue, your hard work & sharing your knowledge. Good luck to your future ventures. And to all those still @ Gannett: Hang in there...The best piece of advice seems to be: Develop your other skills. I wish you all well.
ReplyDeleteWell just got the letter from Dubrow..
ReplyDeleteDear Co-workers:
This morning, I underwent surgery on my back. I am pleased to report it was successful and I’m doing fine. I am beginning a leave of absence to recuperate.
During the time I am on leave, the Board of Directors and I have asked Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Gracia Martore to step in as our principal executive officer. She will work with our management team to seamlessly continue operating the company as I recover.
This was major surgery, with all its potential for complications, but it is not rare. I have a great medical team and I hope to make a full recovery. My doctors have predicted I will need about a 4-month leave, but the exact length is unknown at this time.
As a result, I wanted you to be aware of the situation before a press release goes out. The announcement is expected shortly to make shareholders aware of my absence.
Be assured, Gannett is in good hands. We have the strongest management team in the business and they have my complete confidence.
Thank you and I hope to see you soon.
Anyone else just get this e-mail:
ReplyDeleteDear Co-workers:
This morning, I underwent surgery on my back. I am pleased to report it was successful and I’m doing fine. I am beginning a leave of absence to recuperate.
During the time I am on leave, the Board of Directors and I have asked Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Gracia Martore to step in as our principal executive officer. She will work with our management team to seamlessly continue operating the company as I recover.
This was major surgery, with all its potential for complications, but it is not rare. I have a great medical team and I hope to make a full recovery. My doctors have predicted I will need about a 4-month leave, but the exact length is unknown at this time.
As a result, I wanted you to be aware of the situation before a press release goes out. The announcement is expected shortly to make shareholders aware of my absence.
Be assured, Gannett is in good hands. We have the strongest management team in the business and they have my complete confidence.
Thank you and I hope to see you soon.
First with the note @ 4:26pm, yeah!
ReplyDelete(Even if I couldn't speed-spell MONTH!)
3:51 pm - You could not have said it any better!
ReplyDeleteAnd by the way, since when did Dew-Bow ever view the peasant-class under him as "co-workers"???
Anyway, yes, Gannett will thankfully fall.... and I am delighted. The true measure of a company is in how its ex-employees view it. With Gannett, it is universal hatred and distain.
I could go newspaper by newspaper and point to the butt-kissers and incompetents in charge at many locations - not all - but many. But it is pointless to point out the obvious.
However, there are some notorious sites such as a couple in Wisconsin and several really poor papers in Ohio, where the publishers and top editors are dangerously incompetent.
Gannett has ruined many people over the years. It's mentality has also ruined many good "hometown" newspapers by dropping into them publishers and EEs who hang around a year or so and destroy any shred of local viability.
People in these towns HATE the Gannett paper there. There are many examples, and some I have already seen pointed to on this site.
So Gannett is going to lay off more baby Boomers (if there are many left) and keep the kids.... just like the December Massacre, the buildings will be left with know-nothings and butt-kissers.
But those people thrive with Gannett, don't they?
Good riddance, loser.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, when I quit this awful company, I sold all my Gannett stock ... at $80 a share!!!!!
ReplyDeleteSo you may call me a "loser", but I got out at the right time (actually forced out).
So who is the real "loser??"
July 10th, huh?
ReplyDeleteThank you for effort you put into this blog.
Much success to you in your future endeavors.
And since it sounds like a bunch more of us will soon be ex-Gannetters...much success to us, too.
And by the way... all you Gannett managers who view ex-Gannetteers as "losers" and "good riddence" ...
ReplyDeleteHow are all those Gannett stock options working out for you? Getting a lot of return on that "bonus" stock you got?
About ready to retire with all that money you got invested in Gannett stock???
Did I miss it or did USAT still not name an editor? Oh wait, yes, now I remember. Hillkirk, right? Has he done anything tangible thus far? Righted any wrongs? Or is it just the same old, same old act? Pretend to listen but rarely act. Rarely take a bold action to restore some justice or to innovate. Just a pitiful newspaper management team content with mediocrity. No charisma. No balls. No sense of right and wrong. Just warm bodies heading a newsroom that is hanging on by a thread.
ReplyDeleteThe reason Gannett lays people off on Wednesdays now is to have an impact on when an enemployment claim begins. Anyone have any other info./thoughts on that?
ReplyDeleteSorry, to clarify, I meant good riddance to Jim Hopkins,loser.
ReplyDelete5:57 p.m. - Oh, sorry....
ReplyDeleteNever mind then. LOL
I have never been happier at Gannet since my former boss took a buyout. It was no loss to the company. As far as furloughs go I love them. Time off and I get to keep my job. Also no pay cut. Keep the furloughs coming. I will miss posting here as Gannetoid just doesn't seem to compare to this site.
ReplyDeleteHeyyyyy what about the CP? Don't they have a few players that approached the big wheels about voluntary layoffs? I guess Mr Wheeler over there is holding these employees at bay, or in his back pocket kinda like a trump card, so he can unload them and count it towards his revenue number for layoffs. Gotta admit the guys' a killer, even for an irish dude.
ReplyDeletewhy is camden allowed to have people sitting around doing nothing-and how can I join that club? the AD is a sight for sore eyes.
ReplyDeleteRE: Camden
ReplyDeleteWhat do you expect when a AD has a high school diploma. Most times I can't understand her command of the English language.
Why? because there are too many middle managers.
ReplyDeleteThey're there to play ring around the rosey with the AD. And this company wonders why they are losing money? Come-on please wake up.
Has anyone heard any specifics about the layoffs? Is it for the whole company, or just the newspaper division, or just the broadcast division? I thought I heard middle managers, but what does that mean exactly?
ReplyDeleteoverall more like 20. very strong internal and high sources.
ReplyDeleteCall me crazy, but I didn't mind the furloughs. It sucks to lose a week's pay, but 1) it's better than losing a job and 2) it's better than an across the board pay cut without cutting hours. So it figures that corporate would say no more furloughs. I would rather have another week's furlough in each quarter than be unemployed.
ReplyDeleteOhio has some good Gannett papers. The Newark sports section is pretty good.
ReplyDeleteDo you believe Gannett has singled you out for termination because of a disability, surgery or health related problem? Your responses will remain private and completely anonymous. Write to gannettblogwanderer at email dot com.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete"MAJOR" surgery in the morning, on e-mail in the afternoon, and a 4 month leave..right..must have really thrown the back out picking up those heavy pens to sign the layoff notices.
ReplyDelete"Do you believe Gannett has singled you out for termination because of a disability, surgery or health related problem?"
ReplyDeleteI believe Gannett has singled out people who had no skills and who never should have been around.
Many of these people will never work again. They have nothing to bring to any company, and they have serious personality deficiencies that make them hazards to their co-workers.
Jim Hopkins fell into the latter categories. He refuses to post his personnel evaluations, which likely indicate his inability to perform his job and to stop being a threat to the well-being of his co-workers.
Thanks Jime you did a great job.. Good luck in the future.
ReplyDelete