Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Tuesday | June 16 | Your News & Comments
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67 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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When you monitor comments ahead of time it often make it difficult to follow what people are saying since the comments can actually appear in a disjointed fashion.
ReplyDelete1. Ms. Martore has order layoff's across the board from US Community Newspaper, USA Today, Corporate, Broadcast
ReplyDelete2. On top of layoff's, salary reductions will happen in the Broadcast division. 10% salary reduction.
3. No new furloughs for the rest of the year.
4. Layoff massacre will occur on July 8th. Estimated to be 4,500 for US Community Publishing.
I had heard this would be done on a property-by-property basis... is this not true anymore? Our company laid off nearly 100 recently. How many more can we lose!
ReplyDeleteUSA TODAY Advertising and Marketing has been ordered to cut 30% of staff by July 8th.
ReplyDeleteI for one will miss the information this blog shared and for the forum it allowed for one and all to see that they were not alone in their concerns for this company. And, for those who think Jim went too far, I think the following link to a site hammering Journal-Register and it’s now deceased CEO will show that he clearly did not.
ReplyDeletehttp://jrcbites.blogspot.com/
Nothing is across the board. Why? Some Detroit employees have to furlough third quarter. Layoffs happened there in second quarter (and no furloughs).
ReplyDeleteWe can only hope and pray that yesterday's announcement means the board has finally woken up to the fact that there is NO PLAN to regrow this company. Where is the strategy? Where are the ideas? Where is the new venture? This company is committing suicide by layoff. Readers are quitting in droves, not because they discovered the Internet last week, but because their bill came in the mail, and they saw no reason to pay for junk. Meanwhile, the Internet side is not growing nearly fast enough, and the technical issues are hurting.
ReplyDeleteContinuing the current path with the current regime is an admission you're planning to be out of business by end of 2010. Is there a retired and successful CEO out there who might want the challenge of guiding a turnaround as one last hurrah? We can only hope.
Jim, what's going on? Please let us know.
This is all s-thouse speculation, so take it for what it is worth. But no one comes out of major back operations without a severe addiction to morphine, given in considerable doses because of the pain. I don't see how Dubow can return under these circumstances or, if he does, the Fairfax County police will soon be sniffing for illegal drug use in the Crystal Towers. I wouldn't wish this outcome on my worst enemy, and I know someone who went through this and is addicted.
ReplyDeleteIf 4,500 people are getting terminated in 3 weeks, it seems to me that would be a clear violation of the WARN Act, which requires a 60-day notice:
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worker_Adjustment_and_Retraining_Notification_Act
If this happens as predicted, I hope everyone that's laid off calls their regional Wage & Hours office to turn Gannett in for this violation.
Here's the latest installment on how the other side lives. Here is a link to a house up for sale in the community where Joseph and Gracia Martore live. It is NOT their house.
ReplyDeletehttp://franklymls.com/FX6944756
P.S. Funny isn't it how GCI execs cluster together. Gracia lives in the same Great Falls, Va. community where Dubow lives.
4500 layoffs is about 11 percent of the current GCI payroll, and is in the ballpark of what our rumor circulating today . But I understand that this round is going to be apportioned much differently, and I haven't yet figured out how that works.
ReplyDelete10:25 am--
ReplyDeleteThe price on that mansion is dropping as fact as GCI's total circulation!
I wonder if the upcoming rumored layoffs will take into consideration staff being cut because of consolidation, like what is slated to happen in Poughkeepsie by the end of the year. News graphics and the copy desk is being eliminated and the work is being sent to Westchester.
ReplyDeleteThis could be bloody.
About WARN. Numerous people have said that Gannett is able to skirt this law because a lot of the individual papers are set up as private corporations. If this isn't true, we should hammer them. But it sounds reasonable.
ReplyDeleteAfter the layoffs and furloughs of 2008 and what already happened this year, layoffs around 10% will be devastating to the morale and products. There is unfortunately no other way of putting it, management still has given no quality direction or vision. Layoffs and furloughs appear to be the extent of their "vision". A pending 10% layoff means cutting products, if these products were expendable, why weren't they cut earlier?
ReplyDeleteI'm still convinced after a rumored 10% layoff, furloughs will still take place as each paper is accountable for not increasing expenses over last year and offsetting the continued drop in advertising and circulation. Furloughs balance the furloughs and the cuts address the ongoing slide. If the rumored cuts effect the quality (value) of the papers it will further decrease the value to advertisers and readers speeding the declines at levels not yet experienced.
I hope I'm wrong and would appreciate any specifics as to why I would be.
10:28 am - In the December Massacre, the firings (do NOT call them layoffs) were not done at all divisions. Those numerous but little community papers in Ohio, for instance were spared in December.
ReplyDeleteNow the circulations at these papers - because quality is so poor - has plunged - and the staff size is WAY out of proportion to the circ numbers. That means some papers will have more firings than others.
Some of the Michigan and Indiana papers may be in the same boat as Ohio.
So some groups will get more than 11% this time, such as Ohio and maybe Indiana, while others who took the brunt of the firings in December, will have fewer this time.... I think!
In reference to the WARN act, it does not apply because the number laid off at individual plants don't trigger the tresholds. Here is the provisions of the law that apply, and note the weasel verbiage: "employment site:"
ReplyDeleteMass Layoff: A covered employer must give notice if there is to be a mass layoff which does not result from a plant closing, but which will result in an employment loss at the employment site during any 30-day period for 500 or more employees, or for 50-499 employees if they make up at least 33% of the employer's active workforce.
11:09: Good point.
ReplyDeleteThere's some funky name on my W-2 every year, and I always wondered about that. Could they really skirt the law with that scheme?
That's just plain wrong!
Gannett stock -
ReplyDeletePrice per share in April 1980 - $4.50
Price per share today - $4.05
Wow! Has this company ever come a long way in 30 years!
What a legacy to be proud of.
11:29am - You think that's bad?
ReplyDeleteMcClatchy stock:
$13 in 1988
$73 in March, 2005, and
66 CENTS today!
I could go on with Lee, GateHouse, Journal Register and NYT, but you get the idea.
They don't have to give you 60 days advance notice of firing under the WARN Act. They have to either 1) give you the notice or 2) pay you through the period that the notice covers.
ReplyDeleteMy wife, who worked in the subprime industry, was fired in 07. She got up one morning, signed on to her office email and was told to return her laptop. But in order to fulfill the terms of WARN they paid her for the 60 days (or whatever it is) WARN requires.
Jim,
ReplyDeleteWe have a bean counter running the company now. You thought Dubow was bad (broadcast suit, low IQ), it is going to get worse for everyone with the finance geek running a media company!
Do you think Dubow will come back?
What ever happened to the rumor about Saradakis leaving Gannett?
11:09 -- Your reasoning is solid, but a couple of things are worth pointing out. I don't know which property you work at but at my mid-sized daily ...
ReplyDelete1) Morale is already remarkably low.
2) The product is already half as good as it was just five years ago.
Will further cuts make the products even less valuable to readers and advertisers? Absolutely.
But I believe GCI is in a holding pattern. Advertising revenue is already so low that it isn't worried about creating value for customers, it's just worried about surviving the financial downturn. And it seems to have made the decision to do that by cutting as many expenditures as possible.
Readers will flee to be sure, but the company doesn't have any competition in most markets, so I'm sure strategists are hoping they simply cling to the die-hards who won't do without a paper. Then, the company can try to re-build its customer base later.
As for morale, mine can't go any lower. I'm making plans for another career and am already thinking about what I'll do if the layoff notice comes. If it doesn't, I'll have more time to get my ducks in a row. They've already lost me as an employee, as my work with the company is secondary to everything else in my life.
I don't think GCI is concerned about morale because all high morale does for a company is translate to better products and a more stable workforce. We've already established that quality products aren't a concern, and Gannett has destabilized its workforce by choice through multiple rounds of mass layoffs. So ... morale is of no concern.
This is myopic thinking to be sure, and there's no question that it will hurt the long-term health of the company, but this isn't unusual in corporate America.
"So ... morale is of no concern."
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised at this. There's one paper I know of where several key people with years of experience have left on their own accord. When you start seeing your top talent walk away with no benefits/package/severence pay, you'd better start thinking about morale.
Furloughs are bad, and mass layoffs are the best of several lousy alternatives. Here's why:
ReplyDeleteFurloughs hurt morale for everyone and are a temporary fix. Layoffs suck for those who lose their jobs, but then they're gone and the remaining workers feel relief and possibly a sense of gratitude for being spared.
As a reporter with Gannett for more than a decade at multiple sites, I believe many of our newspapers are still overstaffed given the current advertising climate. And since advertisers are far more important than readers in terms of revenue, I see similar cuts being made again and again until we reach a point where expenses fall in line with revenue. Newsroom staffing will be at maybe 50 percent of the present level in five years. There is no magic bullet to avoid it, no amount of special glossy magazines or 'progress' editions or other genius ideas to bail us out. Plain and simple, the business model is changing. The sooner we reach the end of the slide the better.
Rumors have circulated that Mr. Dubow is not coming back and that this is the most "graceful" way for him to depart Gannett.
ReplyDelete12:21 Thanks for the response to my earlier post. I was at The Arizona Republic, the largest Gannett daily. I think you have a healthy attitude and wish you all the best. I would suggest showing your resume to a friend to make sure it doesn't include the Gannett/newspaper industry baggage mine did when I first wrote it.
ReplyDeleteAs for advertising and morale, yes, it can get worse, is and will continue to slide. The rumors of pending layoffs/firings and furloughs has decimated the hard working people. And the circ drop will inevitably result in a dramatic drop in advertisers and the rates that can be charged. As the economy slowly recovers and jobs return, there will be a mass exodus. I'm willing to bet circulation drops at least 20-35% by the end of 2010.
Yesterday, someone posted the following, in part, "Heyyyyy what about the CP? Don't they have a few players that approached the big wheels about voluntary layoffs? " The word is that there have been people who've asked to get out. One of them, a real pile of deadwood in the advertising department whose been there for over 20 years and has been getting away with doing next to nothing for year after year. supposedly this person was offered a buyont during the last round and refused it. If there are plans to get rid of middle management at the courierpost's advert department, here's a suggestion list of who could go and no one would miss a beat: Melissa, Tom, Stephanie, Adam, and if they need to cut more, the AD should go too. The place is a joke.
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine the bounce the stock might get if a seasoned, business-savvy journalist was named to run this company?
ReplyDeleteMs. Martore is just a hatchet man. I believe I will be out of work in July. I am a good employee but I know the axe will fall. Gannett has never been fair to there best employees, they will lose many of us in the next round of layoffs.
ReplyDelete12:21 - I am with you.
ReplyDeleteLong before I quit Gannett, I had turned the "loyal employee" switch to "off."
I was just hanging on for the ride, resentment growing for the miserable treatment by a misreable publisher.
I did just what I had to, with no flare or creativity. What was the point? Gannett did not value me, and I did not value Gannett.
We were fixing to get a divorce.
I just filed the paperwork first! I quit.
And it was amazing what a wonderful burden was lifted! Of course, I quit with another job already for me with another company - back in the good old days of prosperity.
Jim wrote yesterday: "I started Gannett Blog without knowing how dangerously mean some readers can be."
ReplyDeleteAwwww ... paranoia is a bitch, isn't it?
Just shut down this blog now.
1:33 There would be no bounce in the stock as the direction of the company is clearly set and there is no turning around.
ReplyDeleteThe current trends, coming layoffs, results of these layoffs and year over year ad revenue as we cycle over last year's political campaigns will surely make 3rd and 4th quarters among the worst yet. The value of the company will drop accordingly as will the stock price.
Whats up @ HNT /CN? Read the 'engagement' column this week, again the same childish gibberish.
ReplyDeleteAnd now for some terrific news from the Center of Excellence, which handles subscriber calls for many Gannett papers across the eastern United States.
ReplyDeleteNew Hours for the Center of Excellence will be:
Monday-Friday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM (Previously 6:00 AM – 5:00 PM)
Saturday: CLOSED (Previously 7:00 AM – Noon)
Sunday: 7:00 AM – Noon (Same)
Gannett is looking more and more like a Mexican company everyday.
ReplyDelete1:40 I know the feeling, quitting that dump was the best thing ever....better job, new company, less bs, more $$.....screw gannett, screw dubow, screw them all.
ReplyDeleteCenter of Excellence?? give me a fucking break, how the hell can anything Gannett related be called excellent???
ReplyDeleteHell the damn newspapers can hardly pass for a saturday mailer anymore, but they still burn well.
Alternaitve fuels is a booming industry there Martore!
jodete Gannett!
USA Today is taking a hit in the horse industry because of its unfounded (and poorly researched) horse slaughter articles. Sloppy reporting is being used by the U.S. Arabian Horse Association to justify its policy of lobbying to repeal the ban on horse slaughter for human consumption.
ReplyDeleteThe "Fugly of the Day" blog has called out the "nation's newspaper" for giving the pro-slaughter people a lie to stand on.
http://fuglyhorseoftheday.blogspot.com/2009/06/well-someone-sure-drank-kool-aid-over.html
Any rise in this stock would be considered a dead cat bounce. I never want anyone to lose their jobs, but Gannett is so poorly run-did anybody expect anything different ? I guess if you are an investing savy person, I would not be sending Ariel Investments a Christmas Card--they have to be the stupidest investing company in the world.
ReplyDeleteI more or less stopped reading USA Today a couple years ago when it became obvious that no significant journalism, fact checking or editing was taking place there. The paper began looking bland, and when I occasionally see it now, I can't believe how dull it looks and reads. I assume that this was caused by all the talented people who left there, on their own and otherwise, and other belt-tightening measures. I actually think better journalism is happening at some of the smaller Gannett papers. The one in my town seems to make a big effort to get things right and to present the news in an appealing fashion. Must be good editorial leadership. Still, no one touches The New York Times for credibility and news judgment. USA Today reverted into a moronic publication, filled with mistakes and lackluster judgment. Piss poor publication that no one should take very seriously in print or online.
ReplyDeleteIt WAS a "massacre" of Baby Boomers. Plain and simple.
ReplyDeleteQuestions have been posted about what's happening at the CN/HNT in NJ. Read today's edition, and the answer is clear- NOTHING! A winded declaration of self-praise by the big shot editor, and another immaturely worded diatribe by his (frighteningly) second in command. The paper gets worse, and no one seems to care at all-- except the thousands who have stopped their subscriptions in the past year or so.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see that the Center's of Excellence new service hours better catering to the unemployed.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant. Not!
"It WAS a "massacre" of Baby Boomers. Plain and simple."
ReplyDeleteMany of them were unemployable. They needed to be let go for the good of the company.
The "Center of Excellence" cost The Arizona Republic millions! I suspect other papers as well. Someone should look into the actual performance and see what it cost the papers "supported".
ReplyDeleteAnother brilliant Gannett idea with credit accepted long before performance was evaluated!
Nothing you do will prevent the axe from falling. They know no loyalties except to those above. Your managers, the ones you think are your friends will turn on you like rabid dogs once their own asses are threatened. Take a cut in salary to keep you, forget it! Sure, like that's going to happen. No, they'll keep their salaries and bonuses and turn you loose regardless of how talented you might be. It doesnt matter.
ReplyDeleteWhining won't help. Nothing will. It's a lost cause. The funny part is that Gannett actuallyn assumes that going "digital" will be their salvation. What they fail to realize is that readers won't pay for something they can get free? Hey Gannett, ever heard of "the Drudge Report?" Just how stupid do you think the public is anyway? My God, are you all blind? Dubow is old news, forget him, he's gone. Putting some managing editor in charge is a dead end road too.
Face the facts Gannett, you're too late! And your brain children in their crystal cribs are just riding along for the fun of it.
Sheesh!
Any Plans????
ReplyDeleteAttention Managers, VP's and Publishers, do any of you have a plan other than layoffs?
The quality of writing in print and online is clearly suffering- Any plans?
Advertisers are questioning the cost of advertising and their existing contracts given the falling circulation- Any plans?
Retailers are more hesitant to provide space given the drop in sales and revenue as the paper price goes up and store profit margin goes down- Any Plans?
In addition, your price increases are becoming a nuisance to the stores who complain of late deliveries, collection issues and a lack of contacts with whom to deal (or clueless new contacts they inherited through layoffs)- Any plans?
Home delivery is suffering and who likes reading a paper they paid for filled with ads saying you could receive the news quicker and free online- Any plans?
There's more and I don't mean to be overly sarcastic or negative with the "Any plans" comments but the reality is it would be nice to have actual, business plans addressing these issues. Just as Managers expect performance from their employees, employees have a right to expect direction for the Managers, (unless of course, there really is no plan).
7:26 is correct plus I worry Gannett is banking on online being the future based on the content that built online from the past. When the online components were seeing dramatic growth (years ago), it was based on the quality and depth of content and the ability to leverage what was then the readership in print. Current writing, editing and proofing is far from what it was a few years back and with circulation down substantially from 3-5 years ago the driving engine is really no longer there.
ReplyDeleteThe print product is fading fast and will likely take the online components with it. Think I'm wrong? Count how many times the respective online components are mentioned in print on the highest circ days and you'll see how much online counts on circ readership.
To further make the point, newspapers succeeded in large part because they were the only game in town. Converting to online and all papers are available to me from home. The dummies in most online departments thought they were competing with their respective print products!
Anon 6:44 - I've never posted any misinformation as my view was too good. And, given your less than professional language, I suspect it was far better than yours as well.
ReplyDeleteDear Co-workers:
ReplyDeleteThis 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.
---------------------------------
Do you believe Gannett has chosen you for its past or future terminations because of your disability or health related problem? Your responses will remain private and completely anonymous. Write here or to: gannettblogwanderer at email dot com.
To 6:49 p.m:
ReplyDeleteI cannot wait until it is your turn. I left my Gannett paper long before December, for another journalism job. But I can say without a doubt, that most of the people let go in December where I worked were among the best, including one senior editor.
Like I said, what goes around comes around, and you have no idea what your are talking about.
I hope you get it this time, and then you might have some sympathy. Well, on second thought, probably not, as you seem too full of yourself.
Whatta jerk.
The only planning done at the CP is for lunch. Otherwise it's a dead issue. Has anyone seen our paper lately? It's a disgrace. If Gannet were smart they would replace the management with some educated people who hold a record for success. Instead of a director who acts childlike in every regard of the business sense. Anyone ever work with obnoxious cackling? A person who can't seem to look beyond one's self for ideas? Egomanical behavior is a hindrance in our business. Rule of thumb is surround yourself with smart people-listen to them don't be self rightous. You only shoot yourself in the foot. Martore, take a serious look at the CP.
ReplyDeleteIf the rumored July 8th cuts come true, I hope newsrooms across Gannett feel the pain other departments have suffered during the past six months. Our Circulation, IT, and Accounting staffs have been devasted, while Editorial has gone virtually untouched. Newshole has been so severly cut, readers ask in our community when the last day of publishing will be.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, we have dozens of newsroom staffers and their collective efforts don't equal the product hitting the streets each morning. These are good people, for sure, but if cuts are coming, it's time for all departments to make the same sacrifice.
I am embarassed to say that I work for the PNJ - a gannett owned paper. I believe this piece of poo operation we have going down in Florida is by far the worse of any daily Gannett paper. I pray for layoff's - I need a job and all but I have far surpassed that point months maybe years ago where I simply hate my job and going there every morning makes me physically ill. Never have I ever encountered such a lack of good journalism, customer service and employee morale. I know it didn't start there - it came from the higher ups in corporate who havent got a clue.
ReplyDeleteWill be interesting to see what happens in Westchester. They can lay off 95 percent of the editors and still have way too much dead weight.
ReplyDeleteWith all the cutbacks the Journal News has had to cut back on the scores of anger management sessions the high maintenance sports editor has been ordered to take through the years.
ReplyDeleteNo, the December layoffs were not a "massacre" in the strictest context of that noun.
ReplyDeleteBut let me tell you, as someone laid off in December, the phrase "hell on earth" is most appropriate for what all of us have been going through.
Unemployment in my state? Laughable.
Medical insurance? From whom?
Jobs to match our skills sets? Where?
So until you've been laid off, and it sounds like more of you will be, don't write anything here or in your little Tweets or iPhones or Blackberrys about what it must feel like to lose your career, your income, your medical benefits, your morale, your hope, your dreams of retiring with grace. Because you don't know shit about it.
10:40 -- I work at a different paper than you, but I echo your sentiments almost exactly. My paper has been decimated, I get headaches just thinking about going to work and the thought of leaving is becoming increasingly pleasant (even if it does mean decimating my already hard hit retirement funds).
ReplyDelete11:11 - Ohio small papers did have layoffs in December. Most are part of groups, such as NNCO, and the layoffs happen per group rather than per paper. So, it is possible that some papers did not have layoffs at their site. However, we did have layoffs. I wonder if this recent wave of layoffs won't come from the consolidation of copy desks. Thoughts?
ReplyDelete12:42 is right.
ReplyDeletei agree completely with 11:51 pm; until you have lived through a layoff after giving life and soul, it is pointless to comment on the subject.
ReplyDeleteIf Gannett is planning layoffs they need to get rid of people like the Publisers wife in Reno.
ReplyDeleteYo Robert, I mean 11:42 am. Get over it already dude. Move on with your life.
ReplyDeleteDo you think these departments will be affected at sites other than USA TODAY?
ReplyDeleteUSA TODAY Advertising and Marketing has been ordered to cut 30% of staff by July 8th.
Gannett Sucks! I'm glad I choose my lifetime career to be here!
ReplyDeletehave not been on the blog in months. Same old crap. leaving again for a very long time this time...such speculation and BS here. I'm not in management. Just don't want to hear all this BS with no real facts.
ReplyDelete