Regarding yesterday's board of directors meeting, a reader says in an e-mail: "It was great to see the Gannett board gathered at Corporate headquarters today. It is nice to know in a time of cutbacks, layoffs, cost-cutting and financial crisis, the money could still be found for drivers and a shiny black Mercedes to drive each board member to and from the building. It's also nice to see those chauffeur-driven cars sit in front of the building all day long so everyone inside had the chance to see that really important people must be in for a meeting. . . . Do these people not understand that appearance matters?"Earlier: Is it normal for publishers to buy luxury cars? Plus: Publishers getting free gas from company pump?
Pop Quiz: What do execs drive?
Identify the cars driven by CEO Craig Dubow, Chief Financial Officer Gracia Martore, and newspaper division President Bob Dickey. Send your response from a non-work computer by writing to gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.
[Photo: Mercedes Benz 600 Pullman, by Flickr member Nickphotos]
NPR has a story this morning on the company that makes Crocs sandals. Stock has lost 90% in a year, young people think they're stupid, product line hadn't been diversified fast enough.... give it a listen to see how they are trying to save their company.
ReplyDeleteProbably on NPR.org too....
All Wal-Mart execs on the road must share a room in a cheap motel.
ReplyDeleteThe bottom line, the real bottom line, is that GCI still doesn't get it.
It's sad that they just don't understand... It's not that we're upset that they have nicer toys and nicer things... It's just that when you hear "We don't have $500 to buy that software" like you're asking for the moon... THEN you hear this crap... Its just stupid... I realize they're going to have meetings and banquets and their little awards... but be SENSIBLE...
ReplyDeletemaybe the company car should be a Prius instead of a beemer, maybe they should eliminate the housing allowance for the publisher, maybe they end the country club memberships for the OC and only allow one vehicle to be filled with gas a week instead of them driving every family members' vehicle a different day to fill up - or maybe that's just Pensacola
ReplyDeleteIn the early '90s in Westchester, all of us were required to take off two unpaid days a month because of an economic slowdown.
ReplyDeleteA couple of days before it was announced in the newsroom, publisher Gary Sherlock rolled up in the parking lot in a brand new Cadillac. That old one of maybe a year or two was just so passe.
The club memberships for the OC's was was eliminated years ago. Only the Publishers have had memberships for quite a while. I've been to a number of Gannett papers and if the OC in Pensacola has company paid club memberships that would be news. Only possible exception would be if the Publisher had a "company membership" that applied to more than just one individual. With a dearth of currently qualified and potential publishers available cutting bennies would just result in more good pubs bagging it and leaving. Everyone who rags on their pubs doesn't understand the crap they are regularly dished and what the majority are going through. More than one has told me they are in a living hell right now and that this (the current Gannett environment) isn't what they signed up for. Being in charge of a Gannett newspaper isn't what it used to be.
ReplyDelete