Updated at 11:25 a.m. ET: The question appeared late last night on industry website Sports Journalists -- and the responses so far make a pretty good read. The poster wrote: "Currently working at a non-Gannett paper, seemingly stable job (but who knows right now?) and somewhat happy with things. There are a few listings at Gannett papers in communities 30-40 miles in either direction that would about double the circulation I'm currently at. Would seem to be a step up on the career ladder without having to uproot my family. So, without getting into any more specifics, would going from a non-Gannett paper to Gannett paper about double the size generally result in more money? If so, is it worth it? Or is Gannett really just that bad?"What would you tell someone considering a Gannett job? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
A related introduction . . .
Blogger Paul Oberjuerge, sports editor from 1980 to 2003 at the former Gannett San Bernardino Sun. GCI sold majority control of the southern California paper to MediaNews Group in 1999.
Got a Gannett-related blog to recommend? Please post your replies in the comments section, or send links to gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com].
If you can deal with the culture at Gannett, you'll be fine. If not, stay away. It's as simple as that.
ReplyDeleteExactly what 8:27 said. IF you deal with what comes down from corporate, unhappy, negative co-workers, MAYBE more $ (not a guarantee) and possibly more layoffs in the future, then, by all means, hop aboard the GCI train.
ReplyDeleteStay where you are, unless you like covering little league, recreation softball and shuffle board.
ReplyDeleteTo: Anonymous, 9:40 a.m.
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind that Little League baseball, rec softball and local bowling leagues have been the staple of 20K-40K circ papers for years.
Such coverage may be new to many Gannett papers (and I'm not here to debate the pros and cons of that level of coverage) but it's likely something that the person posting on SJ is already doing.
typical, everyone wants to be a big league beat writer. If you're good, you can find MANY great things to write about at the minor league level.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't mind inserting irrelevant quotes from members of the public who happen to be approved minorities into your sports stories("mainstreaming"), making sure those folks live in the right boring exurbs ("target communities") and enduring constant lectures on diversity from Gannett's white male hierarchy, by all means, join a Gannett paper.
ReplyDeleteNone of these initiatives have been shown to increase circulation, it just serves to make lively newspapers dull.
By all means, ask about turnover before you do anything. I moved from stable, non-Gannett papers to a Gannett nightmare--- high turnover, little credibility in the communities we covered, filthy work environment, subtle overtime without pay expectations, ridiculously low mileage reimbursement rate and management bullies. Gannett was not a good fit for me personally, but it might be for you.
ReplyDeleteGannett is an immoral and ethically challenged company. IF you are under 35 and don't mind being bullied, lied to, and treated with no more value than a paper clip then go for it. Otherwise AVOID GANNETT at all costs....life is too short. Your health (mental and physical) are too valuable to be wasted at Gannett.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who has worked at multiple Gannett sites and at family owned dailies, I would be cautious of tarring all of mother Gannett with the same brush, however tempting it may be. Some indies offer great work environments but lousy pay. Some papers in Gannett border on Quaker churches in the amount of Democracy and consensus-based decision-making they promote in newsrooms. Others are more top down. In my experience, pay at Gannett is better than at other chains. Staffing is leaner, but maybe in these days that's a good thing (Knight Ridder implosion, etc). If you want to work at Gannett, talk to the people at the individual paper, just as you would any other employer. Do your homework, and create your own opinion. Of course, that approach won't build blog viewership, but it will help with your job search.
ReplyDeleteGannett was very, very good to me. I came up through smaller papers and was able to raise my salary by moving to larger and larger circ Gannett papers.
ReplyDeleteIt was fun up until a few years before I took a buyout. In my experience, it is less fun at the larger circ papers than it was at the smaller ones, because managment stress tends to be passed on to the newsroom. If the publisher isn't happy because Mother Gannett is leaning on him/her, then your editor isn't going to be happy, either. And unhappy editors are harder to work for than those who are enjoying themselves.
If I were a young journalist I would explore the opportunities at Gannett. Check things out. Have lunch with people from the newsroom whose work you admire.
But make your own decision.
A very wise Gannett editor, Jack Willis, once told me "Don't buy into other people's misery." It was one the best pieces of advice I ever paid attention to.
I loved -- and miss -- my co-workers in the newsroom, but I don't miss the culture. It wasn't as bad for me when I was a drone because as such I was sheltered from much of the awful decision-making. But once I had a seat at the top dogs' weekly meetings, I quickly grew to resent the direction that they and Gannett were taking the newspaper. And there wasn't anything I could do about it. After five years -- two as a supervisor/manager-type -- I left journalism entirely. Sad to say this, but I don't miss it.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to the last comment. You don't want a front-row seat to any of the editors/managers' meetings, particularly at USA Today. The decision-making, the politics, the denial and total unawareness is awful to witness firsthand. Some of the least inspirational, most dishonest folks I have ever seen anywhere in my life! Gannett will drive out any editor who has an ounce of insight and integrity. Those who are just there for a paycheck (which is most), will remain. Even taking into account that the newspaper biz has never been that well run, the Gannett newsroom I work in still manages to lower the bar more. Yes, it's time to leave journalism because it's the Gannetts of the world that are running the show now. The editors are just brainwashed puppets on a string. They'll deny it to their deaths, but the corporate way is stamped in them so deeply that they don't even recognize what they've become.
ReplyDeleteI left Gannett, too because of the credo of doing more with less.
ReplyDeleteCut staff, increase output, increase story/online update quotas that no one reads or cares about. Write one-line traffic updates as if someone in a car is reading the Web as the drive. Waste reporters' time on updates while other stories are given little time to develop.
TV beats our asses daily. We need several days to folo because staff is so small.
They put less and less in the print product and then act like dumb asses why circulation is dropping like a rock.
IT'S THE CONTENT, STUPID!!!!
Gannettoids should have that tatooed on their foreheads so they can read it as they stare blankly at each other in staff meeting after useless staff meeting.
IT'S THE CONTENT, STUPID!!!
Instead, Gannett is counting on moronic, bulletin board bullies with crap for brains to ramp up their page count so the ad people = can go bragging to advertisers that everyone is coming to their Web site and advertisers should be there too.
BULLSHIT!! It's a sham and the company should be tried for fraud and deceptive practices!!!
here's how desperate on Gannett paper has gotten to drive readers out of the paper and onto their Web site.
ReplyDeleteThey don't have room in the print paper for six, lousy numbers. The Powerball numbers are no longer run in the paper.
They are available only online......
Nice reader service.....
"Mainstreaming" in sports reminds me of a question posed in 1995 when Gannett bought the Greenville (SC) News. Someone asked the NASCAR beat writer how he planned to mainstream his racing stories and he replied: "I guess every time I write a story I'll have to include Dale Earnhart's black Chevrolet."
ReplyDeleteJim,
ReplyDeleteI have unsuccessfully been trying to get onto the blog so that other Gannetoids who have faced my situation can respond. I hope this works!
I accepted a buyout in the NJ Group at age 61 1/2. I understand that when my continuation pay ends I will have to consider what to do with the pension. I want to take the lump sum distribution and diredly roll it over into an IRA.
Can anyone tell me if this move would disqualify me for unemployment benefits at that time? I simply cannot get a lucid answer on this.
As for the question regarding working for Gannett-- I have never worked in a more hostile manager/employee relationship. Given the recent developments with the Newark Star-Ledger (non-Gannett) I believe that journalism is simply not a workable career anymore. I am too old to retrench and find anything resembling a career, but younger people should run (not walk) to any opportunity out of this field.
@5 pm: What problems did you have getting on my blog? I've had other people tell me they had trouble -- some sort of error message -- during the past 24 hours.
ReplyDelete