Saturday, June 20, 2009
Saturday | June 20 | Your News & Comments
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35 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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A MUST READ....
ReplyDeleteGo to Google News, enter Gannett,and read the article in "THE NEW DEAL".
This will really make you think!!!
8:36 AM
ReplyDeleteCORRECTION: should be
"THE DAILY DEAL"
Are you talking about the article about Al Neuharth and Gannett in thedeal.com? This one: http://www.thedeal.com/newsweekly/features/gannet-default-option.php ... ?
ReplyDelete9:36 AM "YES"
ReplyDeleteTime do do some serious thinking,
don't you think???
whoa--that's too damned complicated for me! Thank God I've never tried to become a financial whiz. Wish Matore hadn't either.
ReplyDeleteThis from NAA article, December, 2004-
ReplyDelete"Karen Crotchfelt is finding the "sweet spots" in Phoenix's competitive, fast-growing market. As vice president of business development at The Arizona Republic, Crotchfelt has launched five community magazines that will generate more than $1 million in net revenues in their first year."
Great, she came from Reno to a newspaper 10 times larger. More of these magazines followed and I don't think any exist today. Plus, the million in revenues were for the most part from existing accounts. Account reps were instructed to tell existing advertisers they have a more targeted product for them, essentially minimizing the value of the core revenue generator- The print paper. The magazines failed and the advertisers didn't return to their prior levels if at all. This was 5 years ago preceding the economic situation most often associated with a large part of the newspaper's issues. Yet Karen got credit and now she's the Senior VP, "Senior" VP, not too many layers in Phoenix. Plus, under her guidance, distribution of free publications and specialty publications have all failed and been eliminated or hidden under other's responsibilities. Plenty of fingers got pointed and people lost their jobs, yet one person didn't shy away from credit in December, 2004
Oh, my!
ReplyDelete8:36; 9:16 and, 9:36 - thanks! I just read the article.
The below statement from the article sticks out like a sore thumb:
"Bondholders are saying that they're hedged and that they basically want the company to die."
I truly hope the workers that are still there, and also reads the wisdom offered on this blog, will seriously consider taking the advice of past bloggers, and that is - to start making other plans.
The Daily Deal article really hits the nail on the head. Gannett shockingly thought the good times would last forever. It borrowed money to buy newspaper chains, it bought back large amounts of its stock at peak industry prices (naively claiming they were "undervalued") and it bought into questionable Web ventures and tech platforms that many users don't like. Even without the implosion of the newspaper industry, economies and stock markets are cyclical, and the highly paid financial wizards at Gannett should have braced for the downturn. The best companies, ones that have been around for 50 or 100 years, do.
ReplyDeleteJeez, that's even scarier than the layoff reports making the rounds (and puts them into perspective)
ReplyDeleteThat Daily Deal article is spot-on, and is what I have said before in these columns. The dumb b's who run this company have taken on debts that are going to throw the company into default. There is one response which the story doesn't discuss, and that is to refloat the bond offer at interest rates so attractive that holders can't resist going along. But the consquences of this will be a higher debt load that will be taken out of revenues, and so less money to run the papers, so more layoffs and cutbacks.
ReplyDeleteThey could have seen this coming and they didn't have to do the stock buyback. So why the stock buyback? Because it boosted the price of the stock, and so triggered their options so they personally got huge payments in addition to their lavish salaries.
The bottom line is that this July 8 cutback is not going to be the last, and the next one later this year is going to have to be the mother of all layoffs.
You are duly warned: Save money, cut back on your personal debts, and prepare for massive job losses that could be your job.
GCI used to pride itself on its management expertise. Now the chickens are coming home to roost. If Dubow isn't out, there is going to be a stockholder rebellion because the stock is headed towards zero under this scenario the Daily Deal details.
ReplyDelete(message to daily deal: please get an editor because that story, while quite good, clearly needs help.)
Karen Crotchfelt is part of the legacy of the departed, not-lamented Sue Clark Johnson. She brought in so many people from Reno that it was mind-boggling. And they all had the same small-town attitude that just did not serve the Republic well. What Johnson did to the Republic is a travesty and the damage is irreparable.
ReplyDeleteThe magazines were a joke. Slick, pretty, but no substance; they were AWFUL. And now they are all gone, as is most of the staff who worked on them. A complete waste of money, and you are right, the person most responsible is still in power, wins president's rings, etc. Could things be more effed up?
12:16 - Do you have a crystal ball telling you there will be more layoffs before the end of the year, or are you just assuming? Because you know what happens when you assume ...
ReplyDelete1:25...there are still two magazines....Az Society and the "new" AZ Magazine. Az Style is gone.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, and I know this is REALLY immature but ... Crotchfelt!!?? Really?? That's her name? Crotchfelt??
ReplyDeleteAHH hahahahahahahahahahaha.
Ok. I'll go now.
To: 2:22
ReplyDeleteSounds as if 12:16 is on top of things and staying in touch with what is happening. Not living under a rock. Sorry....
check this out.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.gannettlayoffs.com/
12:58:
ReplyDeleteGannett did pride itself on its management as did other companies recruiting from Gannett ranks. But much of that talent is gone -- left, properties sold off, retired, etc. A few talented, devoted people are left but not many.
The top talent in the exec ranks also had strong financial leaders with good stock market acumen. Dubow was never among the top talent; nor was his name even considered close to exceptional.
He was at least the third person for the job he eventually got. They sought someone else.
2:22 No, I have no crystal ball. I have just an economic analysis showing that GCI faces a major cash crunch coming by the end of the year that it is going to be very troublesome in handling. They can file for bankruptcy, which probably will result in the heirarchy losing their jobs, or they can fight by trying to cut expenses more from revenues that still will be diminished from the recession. That means more layoffs, and a lot. Take my analysis with a gain of salt, if you wish, but I still think it is valid. Maybe you are counting on the tooth fairy showing up and magically waving a wand and ending the crunch. I don't.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't just GCI that screwed it. Look at LEE, buying the Pulitzer papers at the peak and now in the same boat as GCI. Or Tierney buying the Inky and now bankrupt. The whole newspaper industry binged and now is paying the price -- or the employees are.
ReplyDeleteWhen your flagship is rotten the whole fleet tends to sink. The Stepford people in Tysons are surrounded by pristine glass and lush landscaping. But the core of USA TODAY is as corrupt and incompetent as it gets in any business. Work ethics there are horrendous. Hiring and retention practices are flawed beyond comprehension. From the clerk level right up to the publisher's ranks there are people without basic values or even fundamental know-how who are cemented into position because other equally horrible people protect them. A sinking ship that needs a total overhaul if it's going to remain a player. Not only does the digital side need a makeover, but the print side also needs bolstering after losing so many hard-working, talented staffers. The digital employees aren't getting it done either. They don't seem to want to work at a pace necessary to compete with other media. They have technical skills but are lacking the editing and a sense of urgency in their approach. Ironic that the web site is often as stale as the paper. That has to do with the digital staffers having flown under the radar (when print/digital were separate) for too long. They appear to have gotten use to taking their sweet time with everything.
ReplyDeleteAnd, Ms Crotchfelt has a staff under her who parrot her every move. It’s amazing to watch in meetings, they smile after she smiles, if she’s pensive, everybody’s pensive. I’ve seen her direct reports agree with and approve promotions and ideas and turn around and throw people under the bus if Ms Crotchfelt disagrees. The magazines mentioned sent a clear signal to advertisers that there were better options than the paper. The Marketing department has always been viewed as favoring online and the glossy magazines over the paper. The amount of wasted time, money, effort and client relationships is astonishing. The marketing department can’t find support for promotions because they have no clue how to approach clients. A couple years ago, they ran a promotion with a local furniture store where buyers of a certain amount of furniture get a subscription to the newspaper. An unbelievable amount of advertising was given to the store in support of the promotion which failed miserably. People actually refused the free subscription (listed as a value far more than you would actually pay!). Instead of acknowledging what everybody knew was a failure (and it’s okay, not every promotion works), the Marketing department submitted the promotion to Gannett and NAA as a “Best Practices” entry!
ReplyDeleteThere’s so many examples similar to this, but the point is she was awarded a ring sending the most amazingly mixed signals to her and everybody in the building.
Sorry if this has already been reported here, but the Indy Star on Friday discontinued its magazines and fired three workers. Two were in the newsroom and one in advertising. The magazines are off indefinitely, but could come back when the market returns. So our leaders say anyway. The mags were high quality and were published in two of the area's more affluent communities.
ReplyDelete3:02, Not fair to judge a person by their name, judge by their actions. Ms Crotchfelt took great pride in letting people know she openly cried when discussing and announcing people who were let go. Apparently bragging about tears is easier than ever actually knowing what a person did, their contributions or talent that could be beneficial going forward. If you're not part of her little support group (and ideally a female) you're probably in trouble. Think I'm wrong, look at the staff under her in the Marketing department.
ReplyDeleteJust read the "Deal" article which while describing certain financial doom within 2 years mentions the "thinly staffed dailies". If observers simultaneously see both pictures, the rumored July layoffs may just speed up the process as you can't meet financial obligations while dismantling the very mechanism that supports them.
ReplyDeleteIf jobs and the economy start turning around in 2010 whatever remains will be completely decimated as the remaining employees find work elsewhere.
What makes you think the economy is going to turn around in 2010. If you read some economists's projections, they are predicting a flat no-growth economy next year because of the unsold housing overhang, the decreasing spending as the FED begins to withdraw all the loans it made, and tax increases. So what we are seeing now is likely to what we are to be seeing next year.
ReplyDeleteThe economy will NOT turn around until the summer of 2013. HERE'S WHY:
ReplyDeletehttp://photobucket.com/albums/f53/midtowng/optionarm.gif
The subprime resets (which everyone has heard of) are on a downturn, BUT two other classes still have to reset. And as you can see, they spike higher than the subprimes.
Expect two more summers of discontent, which will sow the seeds for REAL CHANGE.
Meanwhile, stock up on canned goods, fellow journalists, and I'm not kidding.
And you can mark my post for reference in the future.
Seriously, who really think that anybody's going to be hired back, or jobs recreated, once the economy does turn around? Gannett will see that as a means for much larger profits, which is what they want. Newspapers will continue to run too thin, and will eventually die because nobody at corporate can conenct the dots between quality work and profits.
ReplyDeleteSent these comments to this blog in Feb, 2009. Sending again.
ReplyDeleteTo all you employees left – just hoping that you will receive your severance – wake up because you won’t. The company will not pay when it is your time to go. So don’t think you will have a 6 month paid vacation to look for another job!
Layoffs will continue and the demise of the newspaper industry will topple Gannett. For those of you who are wondering about Google – why would they want to spend their money on a company they have no need for? Google is not in the news business! Wake up! They are in the connectivity business. Something that Gannett does not understand along with every other person who is looking for that proverbial “white knight’ to save the day!
Change must happen – businesses cannot operate in a “non-internet” world anymore. Very few industries will remain untouched in the future by this new mentality. People must accept that or suffer the consequences of being left behind. Connectivity by every device imaginable will eliminate paper products. Think about how many people today who have never touched a newspaper. Why should they? By the time they get to page 2, they are reading old news. Paper products will be obsolete within a few years!
Gannett’s management has proven that it is far behind the times. It has been left behind and is trying to play catch up by flailing its arms in so many directions that it is strangling itself. 20 years ago, businesses flipped their paradigms and believed that the “little” people – employees on the front lines and yes even a receptionist could contribute in helping a business succeed. Using ideas to brain storm and become innovative is not a new business idea. But it is to Gannett management. The people at the top did not want to give up control in the past; they didn’t need to because they had a commodity in which people saw value and were willing to pay for it. Gannett’s management still wants to be in control today and it can’t. There is now a “free” world of information out there and the Gannett upper echelon seems to think they are immune and don’t have to pay attention.
When the news of consolidations and layoffs, was “leaked,” damage control consisted of numerous emails and meetings held with employees to talk about “open door policies.” Those doors in reality turned out to be revolving – open for employees’ comments and then hitting them in the derriere as they were led out of the buildings. The ideas and feelings expressed in this blog by Gannett employees, ex-employees and others are clearly being ignored. That’s great CRM! It would appear that management thinks this will all just disappear by ignoring what is actually going on – which is that “free” world of information being shared. You can’t stop it and you can’t ignore it – you have to deal with it! Comments will not stop at this blog. They will blog to another and another. Soon that “free” information network will spread – all paid for by Gannett’s advertisers found on other sites! This is reflected in Gannett’s stock value today.
No one is immune to losing his or her job today. Not the journalist who can render pictures with words, not a security guard whose greeting can make you smile, not a manager or director who cannot survive the day without an assistant - no one can say they are indispensible! Gannett’s upper management should understand that this applies to them also.
This industry will not recover! It can’t because its business model is obsolete! Any business worth anything today understands this and will not waste money on ads that get no results – no matter what the discounted price! Just because it’s on sale doesn’t mean it has any value – in fact usually it doesn’t!
Here are the leaders of the future – craigslist, digg, daily beast,. cnn, and all your local news stations.com
For all you people that are working for Gannett – get out while you can!
does the reno "crotch" somehow connect to des moines?
ReplyDeleteby way of tucson?
This is getting really tiresome. We still have people posting anonymously to rip on named people.
ReplyDeleteJim, you're a waste of sperm for allowing this stuff. All you have done the last few months is enable a lot of unstable people to take potshots at people who, unlike them, have job skills.
Many of the people here have no skills. They are unemployable. They will never work again. They cannot adjust to that, so they point the finger and blame.
When this blog disappears, we all will be better off.
End it now, Jim.
2:22 -- Not to be mean, but we all have a crystal ball telling us there will be more layoffs.
ReplyDeleteI understand that it's unpleasant to think you might lose your job. Believe me, I'd rather be in a more stabile position. But how could anyone in this company -- hell, in the newspaper business -- realistically think we'll make it through the rest of 2009 without layoffs?
Advertising revenues are down, the company has massive debt, and salaries are one of the few expenses the company has control over.
Will you lose your job? Will I? Those are questions that I can't answer. Will more people within Gannett lose their jobs? Of course.
The only crystal ball one needs is the trade papers and internet sites covering the publishing industry.
I work for Gannet. I also follow the markets. Yes I could lose my job and more layoffs may come... I read that DEAL article. BUT it must be put into context! Their are bears & bulls in the market. GCI has a current short ratio of 7. which means it would take 7trading days at average volume for all the shorts to cover their short bets on GCI stock. Industry is having huge issues obviously with an awful recession on top of that. I also know the recession will not last forever and GCI may get some of that AD Rev back when recession ends. Which BTW I am predicting will be over by the end of 2010 based on the last 8 recessions going back to the great depression. GCI cut that Dividend way too late and should have been paying off debt instead of buying back stock. GCI may even file for chapter 11. But this assuming the company is a goal post. I know GCI has some large debt notes due in 2011 & 2012. HOWEVER Moody's recently quoted that with the dividend cut which is saving around $250 mil a year and other cost cuts. GCI may be able to refinance that debt load despite the article in DEAL. GCI has made alot of mistakes but punch up yahoo Finance and it shows GCI actually has around $4 Bil in debt BUT has $650 + million in cash on hand. A year ago that number was like $150 mil in cash. Whatever the accuarate numbers it's obvious Gannett is hoarding cash which the layoffs are part of that unfortunately. LOOK around... Tribune is under Bankruptcy protection but they are still producing newspapers & products. So is Philadelphia paper. Some posters here sound like the company is liquidating if it files Chapter 11, which is not the case. It would be for protection from creditor's. I know GCI is still in better shape financially then most newspaper companies. GCI is making money but showing large losses due to write down of it's asset values. Which obviously is hurting it's debt leverage. But fact is their are bulls and bears. Roger's ARIEL management is a deep value play company and it increased it's holding in GCI stock at around an extra $40 mil. My point being that as I stated their are bulls and bears. I just want people reading this blog to understand where that DEAL article is coming from. It's a bearish article in financial news. It could be right. But it could be wrong in it's predictions. GCI has some debt due within next couple years. So their are opinions floating around bullish and bearish. Please understabnd that!
ReplyDelete5:14, the mags in indy were NOT high quality. they were printed on slick paper, with nice layouts and pix, but mostly were written by mediocre freelancers. making their stuff readable was a huge battle for the editors and copy desks.
ReplyDeletei've wondered, ever since they were started, what would have happened if the effort that went into those and other "byproducts" had been put instead into improving the primary product, both on paper and online, and then SELLING it to advertisers and subscribers.
quality: what a strange, un-gannett-like concept.
We've been down the non-daily niche publication route at my medium-sized southern paper. We just started the magazines last year, so fortunately we didn't get cranked up with a bunch of them. I think come July some, if not all, of the niche pubs will be history. Management accused us newsroom rank and filers of being doomsayers when we critized the niche pub idea, but dammit, we were RIGHT.
ReplyDelete