Monday, September 15, 2008

Roll call II: We're counting laid-off managers

Updated at 2:02 a.m. ET, Sept. 19. First, we tallied the number of editorial and other newspaper workers laid off last month. Now, we're assembling a paper-by-paper list of the approximately 100 senior managers given the boot on Tuesday at Gannett's 84 U.S. community dailies. We've already accounted for 97 of the laid-off managers -- at a mere 64 of the papers. That lends credence to speculation that the total laid off may have exceeded 100 managers.

Please post figures for your newspaper in the comments section, below, using the following format: city and state of your paper, followed by the number of laid-off managers.
To repeat: In the comments section, below, please post the city and state of your paper, plus the number of managers laid off earlier this week. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.

86 comments:

  1. Asheville 4 plus the open Marketing Director position

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  2. Asheville Citizen Times lost:

    HR Director
    IT Director
    Circulation Director
    Production Director

    Marketing Director is an open position. Like they will fill that. LOL

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  3. Cherry Hill: Marketing and Circulation directors.

    Our HR director was let go at Christmas and our Production Director already was over IT.

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  4. Green Bay, WI: 1 (circulation)
    Sheboygan and Fond du Lac, WI: 2 (circulation)
    Wausau, Stevens Point, Marshfield and Wisconsin Rapids, WI: 2 (HR and marketing)

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  5. Louisville, KY
    Production Director

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  6. Pensacola:

    NONE! we fired or consolidated several senior positions a long time ago- and our clueless publisher Doyle states" we are now being "rewarded for our vision." LOL

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  7. Port Huron, Michigan - PD, Controller, HR. Sad day when people are terminated without considering their value to the operation! Wondering when my time will be up.

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  8. Reno Just for the record the best CD in the business!

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  9. Cincinnati: 2 VPs, Circ and IT

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  10. Indianapolis: General manager of community newspapers (Story here)

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  11. Montgomery: 3

    HR
    Circ
    Controller

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  12. Salisbury:
    Production Director
    Circulation Director
    Controller

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  13. Bridgewater:
    IT Director
    Circulation Director

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  14. Pensacola didn't lose anyone either? Has anyone noticed that the Florida papers AREN'T making money but none of them lost people other than Tallahassee, and one in Ft. Myers? Fort Myers has so many layers of managers it's a joke!! How can this be justified?

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  15. Congratulations...15 posts and NOT ONE followed Jim's example.

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  16. Lafayette, IN: 2

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  17. Poughkeepsie, NY: 3

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  18. Fort Myers has so many layers of managers it's a joke!! How can this be justified?
    and
    Has anyone noticed that the Florida papers AREN'T making money?


    Really? You KNOW this to be true? Can you show us the money?

    FM lost more than one mngr, we've had several no-fills and lost by retirement or leaving. And what do you mean by layers? Give some examples?

    Be sure of your info before you go spouting off.

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  19. Burlington, VT: 2

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  20. Lansing (Mich.) State Journal: 1
    Regional manager of market development (i.e. marketing)

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  21. 12:24, I can tell you got an 'A'in Follows Directions in grammar school :)

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  22. Piggybacking here on 3:23: I thought it was the fact that we color outside the lines that makes us good journalists (wink)

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  23. Salinas, CA 1
    PD

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  24. Nashville, TN: 0

    That's right, ZERO.

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  25. Asbury Park Press: 1

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  26. Glad to hear they kept their VP of circulation at APP. She's a good person.

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  27. Iowa City: 3

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  28. Rischmond, IN 5
    Shreveport, LA 1

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  29. 5:15 PM Everyone who lost their job is a good person. That is what is wrong here- some bloggers want to make this personal. As for her performance - she is not better than anyone else. Check out the rankings. In fact her performance is a lot worse than many who were laid off.

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  30. Bridgewater: 2 down, 2 to go!!

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  31. Wilmington: VP of IT lost his job.

    Today, a longtime hard-worker was promoted to IT manager.

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  32. 6:06: My condolences!

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  33. 5:57 who said she was better than anyone else? I merely said she was a good person - do I detect a little bitterness?

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  34. Lafayette, La.: 2

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  35. A lot of really good people lost their jobs. And this thread is about an accounting of those that were let go. But speaking about APP, if the VP was so good why do they need a Sr. VP?

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  36. Wow, 5:57, for someone complaining about getting personal, that was pretty mean-spirited of you to put that person down.

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  37. St. Cloud: 1

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  38. Binghamton, NY: 1

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  39. which positions in Burlington lost their jobs??

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  40. I will be masterbating for week when they get the management in phoenix!

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  41. Fort Collins lost three ...

    HR director
    Advertising director
    Production director (in Jan. once he retires)

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  42. Jackson, TN ...2 (HR, CD)

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  43. Greenville lost the VP/Circulation and VP/Information Technology.

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  44. Do managing editors count? Poughkeepsie and Westchester lost their managing editors.

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  45. Burlington
    Controler who was retiring
    Production Director was let go.
    Both in there 50's or 60's. Too old, make too much and not worth a thing any more.

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  46. Rochester, NY Democrat and Chronicle: Vice President/Planning & Development was let go. VP of Marketing will take over Planning and Developement.

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  47. Morristown NJ: 2

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  48. Fort Myers lost 2, one laid off and one mgr spot not filled. Let's get this list corrected Jim.

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  49. The Town Talk
    Alexandria, La.
    IT Director
    HR Director
    Marketing Director

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  50. Mountain Home, Arkansas
    2 total laid off
    IT Director and Online Director

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  51. Thank god they finally went after some managing editors. In many cases, they are just wasted space.

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  52. No conspiracy. Not all newspapers had to let someone go.

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  53. Salem, Oregon - 2

    PD and CD

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  54. Hagatna, Guam 2, IT and CD

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  55. Fact correction for the Wisconsin sites. The over numbers are right, just the distribution of them is wrong.

    Sheboygan and Fond du Lac shared a Circ Director. They only lost one between them.

    Wausau not only lost the HR and Marketing Directors but also lost their Circ Director. All three of these positions were shared with Stevens Point, Marshfield, and Wisconsin Rapids.

    Both Circ Directors are staying on for a couple of months to finish out some big projects.

    Now there is one Circ Director over the entire state, one HR Director over the entire state, and one Marketing VP over the entire state (he's a VP because he's also the Oshkosh Publisher). They join the I.T. Director and the Online Director who were already over the entire state and had been for quite some time.

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  56. Battle Creek, MI: 1

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  57. Lafayette IN only lost one position, not two. Position lost was IT director.

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  58. I am checking in to find out if the last Marketing Director in Asheville had much to do.

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  59. In reference to FM, if you want to look at an extra layer that's not needed at a Florida paper, consider looking at the layer in marketing/new business development in Brevard. A position on corporate payroll like the other directors and at one time his daddy was head of the newspaper division. Is this position needed or justified and does it generate revenue?

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  60. Clarksville, Ten.; 2

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  61. Sioux Falls: 1

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  62. No doubt about layers in Brevard. There are a few that contribute nothing, except send chain religious emails.
    Does anyone have the backbone to stand up for those who should not have been let go? Or maybe moved to another position? Wake up Brevard.

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  63. I'm amazed by the number of IT executives let go. It shows that the company is out of touch. Most of the executives came to power before prior to much IT being in the workplace and it is apparent that they still have not learned.

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  64. Muncie, Ind.: 1 (controller)

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  65. Add one more to Alexandria, La. list for a total of 4.

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  66. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  67. The IT director in Ashville was saved. Thankfully. She was very much needed there. I know many others that were let go were needed but she was too and at least one was saved. All of these layoffs make me sad. A lot of these managers are extremely hard workers that put in weekends, long hours, and are basically on call at all hours. Losing all these I.T. workers seems like we are shooting ourselves in the foot. Dont they know that IT is the vehicle that takes the product to the presses and websites. If you want to cut costs, cut HR. who needs them? They add no value.

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  68. 7:18 The publishers don't golf with their IT executives so it is easier to cut them. I agree with you they are shooting themselves in the foot.

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  69. RE: 11:10 a.m.

    Lafayette, IN DID lose 2: IT Director and Circulation Director, which just happened to occur one week before. But the net lost on the OC was 2

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  70. There are layers and layers of Mgmnt in Ft Myers. Know from experience. What the hell does Ann Weinberg (HR) do anyway? Oh, thats right, she screws over the employees while watching her and other VP backs! Lets see, there is a Production VP and Director, an Adv VP, an Ad Ops Director, Adv Director and Several sales mgrs under him. A VP of Marketing who is so far up the Adv Directors A$$ she cant see daylight!! Way too many Chiefs and not enough Indians...unless you count the Indians in "INDIA" LOLOLOLOLOLOL

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  71. 9:41, sad but true. Other papers had to let go of their directors with no one to replace them and FM and Brevard have more directors than they know what to do with. I can't think of one department that's understaffed at these sites. What other papers have marketing directors? An Advertising VP and a director? How decadent. A production VP and a director? It seems like a crime. How many sites out there don't have anyone to oversee Production, Circulation, HR, Marketing, IT? Why were Brevard and Fort Myers spared? I don't think they're making more money than anyone else out there. From what I see covered in our papers, Florida is suffering more than anyone, money wise, so that can't be the answer.

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  72. 8:24, it sounds like Fort Myers has a spare you can use.

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  73. Burlington, VT, 2: Accounting and Production

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  74. Tucson, AZ: 1 - VP of IT.

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  75. Honolulu, HI., 2 - Marketing Director and Events Manager

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  76. Elmira, N.Y. and Ithaca, N.Y.: 0. But our group's marketing director was the one laid off at Binghamton.

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  77. Palm Springs, lost 2 Director positions but did not lay anyone off. They eliminated the Online Director position which had been vacate for months and they moved the Circ Director to Marketing Director and eliminated the CD postion.

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  78. In defense of Brevard, they lost their PD and IT director a year or so ago. Those positions were not filled.

    Now, if they could tell us what their marketing department does!

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  79. Wilmington's ME departed a while ago, before even the peon layoffs. They may be counting her in the total.

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  80. Visalia, CA
    HR director

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  81. Anyone know how many were from each department- how many finance directors, circulation directors, HR directors or IT directors? That would be interesting to see.

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  82. pensacola, fl lost 0; however Director, Gulf Consolidated Sales (GCS) got the axe but not until Friday when he returned from a trip to help "fix" the COEs

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  83. Tallahassee: Marketing and HR

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  84. Update on the Reno tally: Reno lost at least two senior editors in the August cuts. Not sure if there were other managers in other departments.

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  85. internet search says Pensacola Business editor

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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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