"We maintained our usual fiscal discipline throughout the year."
-- CEO Craig "Former Atlanta TV Ad Salesman" Dubow, in his 2007 Annual Report to shareholders, who are represented by Gannett's pampered board of directors.
Friday, August 01, 2008
11 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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uhhuh, their usual fiscal discipline consists of perks for the drones who are driving gci down the tubes while cutting costs by driving out the creative young people that some of us boomer-types saw as the last, best hope for attracting readers under 30 with content that . . . wait for it . . . interested them instead of patronizing them.
ReplyDeletealso, graphic arts/design talent: spend a bunch to recruit em and then stick em on the night shift, laying out inside pages to fit around those gawdawful freeform ads. yeah, that'll make them wanna do journalism.
and for those who think these rookies need to pay their dues, they already HAVE paid a big part -- they learned the cutting-edge skills that gannett won't invest in teaching us old farts.
the rookies will be paying off the college loans that got them those skills for years, maybe even decades. so if they get a chance to do cooler stuff for more bucks, why stay where they're not appreciated?
mike royko always said chicago's motto was "i got mine." unfortunately, that also seems to be the gci power structure's motto.
I love the perk that GCI upper managers get lunch delivered to their desk! For free! WTF? Get your fat ass down to the Breaking News Cafe like everyone else! Things like this piss people off! When are you going to realize this Craig? Wake up! Show you have skin in the game. show you are making sacrifices like everyone else. GET REAL!
ReplyDeletebut he DOESN'T have skin in the game. if he does well, he gets paid. if he screws up, he gets paid. and if he gets FIRED he gets paid millions!
ReplyDeleteand there's no such thing as a free lunch. if he's not paying for it, you are. and so am i and every other gci employee. executive perks and excessive salaries come straight out of the overall amount available for compensation, leaving less for the people who produce the product.
Ratbastards.
ReplyDeleteWho the hell hires someone and says, "BTW, if you REALLY suck at this, we'll just pay you millions anyway?"
I'd like to have that sort of incentive.
Meanwhile, we can't get a free cup of coffee.
It makes me sick to my stomach. They are so out of touch! They have no idea what it's like to work at hte local business units. I have to bring in my own copy paper becuase we have no money left in the office supply budget! It's the freaking truth! But these fat cats get free lunch delivered to their office? OMG!
ReplyDeleteI love the paper and the company but they aren't giving me any reason to continue to do so. If you want to break up just tell me! and it's you not me and no I don't want to be friends!
@10:53am: As a member of the under-30 Gannett crowd, I really appreciate your sentiments – it was refreshing. I wish more of our colleagues saw us as integral, vital members of the team like you apparently do.
ReplyDeleteMany people seem to equate our age with inexperience, not seeing the value in a young, fresh perspective and having been formally trained in many of the skills necessary for future journalism.
I really do believe that we're trying to do things to help, trying to infuse some new ideas into the ICs, and because of the top-down culture, we're rarely heard, easily stonewalled, and it's hard to get much accomplished.
I'm envious of some newspapers that have developed internal task forces of their young newsroom employees. They brainstorm about how the paper covers stories and presents them to their readers.
Long before this rash of layoffs and buyouts, it was really no wonder why the industry was beginning to have trouble attracting true talent...
I don't think anybody's attracted to journalism for money. Money has never really been part of the equation.
I think most are attracted to journalism for love. Love of reporting, or writing, or photographing... Or love of the chatter of the newsroom, or the noise and smell of the pressroom... Or the flow of ideas and creativity. When all of that is gone, what's left to attract people?
This is definitely not the same industry I planned on joining when I began college. There are many things I still like about the job... but many more I'm concerned about. My peers and I want a voice and some power to help steer this industry. I fear if we can't have any influence we'll eventually jump ship.
You know what makes me sick? Misinformation. It says right in the proxy the lunches are paid for. BFD. Instead of complaining about each and everything someone "gets" how about doing something that makes a difference. Come up with something new? Figure out a way to save. Geez.
ReplyDelete@12:10: I'd say that the folks who work unpaid overtime (I include myself here, but I'm getting better), buy their own pens, and bring copy paper from home ARE saving the company money, despite the apparent lack of role models in the leadership ranks.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's tough to come up with "something new" when we are constantly told that "Everyone in the company must do it this way", but that doesn't mean we don't try. Being unhappy with the direction of the company and doing creative, productive work can and do co-exist, but it's usually due to the passion and work ethic of the people, not because it will please the corporate mucky mucks.
How about coming up with some real suggestions for improving the company, rather than insulting thousands of employees by assuming they only complain because they are lazy and wasteful? The lazy and wasteful people don't really have anything to complain about.
Sorry, @12:10. I meant @5:30.
ReplyDeleteBut as long as I'm looking at @12:10 - I've worked with several under-30s in my current position who were, as you suggest, creative, passionate, and hard working. Those people, unfortunately, are either gone now or looking for a way out. I miss them and the potential they had.
One of them went to some task force about reaching Gen X/Y readers with new technologies. On breaks, she would ask me to explain things to her, like "What's a blog?" It makes me wonder if we are limiting ourselves by thinking in terms of AGE instead of TYPE of readership. I've known a lot of young parents (at the paper) who just didn't have time to read it, in print or online, because their lives were filled with family and work.
I agree 12:50 PM. Age doesn't mean anything, especially with the boomers (born 1946 - 1964) being the least homogeneous cohort ever. Never did quite get Gannett's need to stereotype. I especially don't get it when it comes to layoffs and buyouts based on age rather than performance. People 40 and up are in a protected class, like it or not. From what I'm reading, age discrimination claims are on the rise everywhere.
ReplyDeleteI think different cohort groups have one thing in common---an appetite for accurate, compelling and timely news that helps them make sense of their world. Gannett, it seems, is going for gimmicks rather than what readers really want, I think.
12:10 PM
ReplyDeleteWith all due respect intended, I'd say people who work for free and buy their own pens and paper are working for idiots who care nothing about their employees OR labor laws violations!