Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Wednesday | Sept. 17 | Got news, or a question?
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26 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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Jim thanks for the open forum comments relief of my broad shoulders!
ReplyDeleteBush was not a good president. But let's be fair, Clinton started the Mortgage crisis that led to Wall Street's collapse when he announced and pushed for home ownership for all Americans....including the deadbeats who should not have been given these sub-prime loans.
ReplyDeletePhoneix was the mecca for these homes and feels the housing crunch worse than most. Trickling down to main Street USA now.
We can play the blame game as much as we want. It is only natural to blame anyone but ourselves. If an individual buys a home that they can't afford, they bought the home. Maybe they should have gone to college instead.
ReplyDeleteAs a Democrat I do blame the current administration for many things, but we have to also blame ourselves. Some of you did not vote.
And some of you are sitting on your hands instead of looking for another career or job before it is to late.
Garry Trudeau must have been a former Gannett employee. Or he's just keeping tabs. Check out yesterday's Doonesbury strip: http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.html?uc_full_date=20080916
ReplyDeleteLatest USA TODAY rumor: Changes are coming after the presidential election. The rumor is that the newspaper wants to get through this newsy period (Olympics, hurricanes and election), then will make additonal staff adjustments in the newsroom and elsewhere. I talked to one editor yesterday who said he isn't making any plans for 2009 until he sees what happens around Thanksgiving. Another colleague recetly said something similar. And these aren't "the sky is falling" types of people, so I presume others have concerns. Not sure if cuts or just more musical chairs is in the works, but production/tech coworker said an even bigger digital push is coming. I am not putting this out there just to spread rumors, but am interested in what others are hearing. In the business climate these days, it's hard to trust a company that says we shouldn't be overly concerned about things. One other question...Does anyone know if our pensions (while frozen) are protected? Is there anyway we could lose that money?
ReplyDeleteHaven't heard anything solid at USA TODAY, other than the old "can't make any guarantees" line from the top, but we've all seen red flags and the thirst to hire more web-savvy peeps (at the expense of print jobs, that is). Has anyone actually seen any improvements on the web site since the big web assault began a year or so ago? I am not trying to be a smart ass...I just really don't see what great new content is on there beside the occasional splash for the biggest events. Day in and day out, it seems pretty much the same as it's always been. Maybe it just takes longer to get things online versus into the paper, which is kind of ironic since this is suppose to be the high-tech, info future. Oh well. Hopefully the site makes money and we can all co-exist.
ReplyDeleteI have heard that some folks have postponed retirement. I guess if the economy ever rebounds, many will leave on their own and retire early, then the paper can hire more of whatever it is they are now looking for in employees.
These are bad times with few options and all sorts of speculation that isn't eased by empty speeches from people with golden parachutes.
They will never get the loyality they once had in employees! The loyality that built the brand back when people risked their careers to come work at USAT. Short-term dedication is about all they can hope for in most of these new hires, 12:43! These are different times. Not knocking young folks. Just sayin' that companies that act disloyal tend to attract folks who aren't in it for the long haul. And few companies have ever succeeded with high turnover rates.
ReplyDeleteSome churn is good, but I see a day coming soon when USAT will be lucky to keep people five years and when the paper will see a lot of folks heading for the door all at once. Open up buyouts, as another paper recently did, to the whole company and see what happens. Then tell me how happy people are there!
Another 9 postionions going away in Tennessee.
ReplyDeleteAs recent changes in department structures have demonstrated, our continued success requires us to create new ways of doing business and improve efficiency. To continue that progress, we will begin consolidating our Advertising design staff for all Gannett Tennessee newspapers later this month.
Specifically, we will create a centralized team of designers by moving 22 positions from our newspapers in Clarksville, Jackson, Murfreesboro, Gallatin, Dickson and Franklin to Nashville. Designers at those newspapers will be given the opportunity to apply for these 22 positions. We will still have at least one person remain at each of the respective newspapers to coordinate the flow of ad material from the newspaper, to Nashville and back to the newspaper. Overall, this change will result in the elimination of nine positions.
Centralizing our design services will allow us to make the best use of the skills we have at all locations, as well as standardize procedures and improve work flow. Additional benefits include better sharing of technology and a more effective proofing system, which directly benefits our customers.
For the sales staff, we will provide training so they understand how to submit ad materials in this new structure. For other departments, there should be little or no affect. The transition will be done by newspaper, and be completed before the end of the year.
I quit my Gannett newsroom job (of 15 years) more than 3 years ago to work as a flak journalist in higher education. I saw the writing on the wall then; the downsizing by attrition; followed by combining jobs and piling the work onto the remaining staff; working for spineless, scared-s--less managers; and I don't regret leaving for MUCH better pay and a stable, secure job -- even though I gave up a lot of perks of my old job.
ReplyDeleteI only wish I'd sold, traded or rolled my stock into something else. It was gangbusters then.
I appreciate your comments about the CEO gutting the company. What will be left? Will anyone left with a job or recently pushed aside be pissed off enough to blow the whistle on this tragedy?
Layoffs have continued this year (2 rounds so far) at my former paper and its two sisters in the "group" which has consolidated further and further ever since before I left. . My suspicion is that the two smaller entities will no longer be newspapers - just storefronts with a total news and ad staff of 2, maybe 3 tops, and the larger paper (where the press isn ow located) will print zoned pages passed off as their own newspaper. They're already running the same features page in each. So much for News 2000 and the real people, real news approach of local, local, local, Idiots.
No wonder they're losing readers (and nationwide, it must be the same)- they've certainly lost credibility along with accuracy by not replacing reporters and copy editors! It's more than a slippery slope. It's certain doom.
8.22 yeah you are right clinton is the blame for everything after being out of office for eight years when you open your mouth you show your republican right ignorant mouth.......I am sick and tired of people like you and your kind is what screwed this whole country up and also the people that didn't vote the current "clown " in office not once but twice you deserve the depressed economy you dumb idiot!
ReplyDelete@12:49: To play devil's advocate, is it possible that young people have been raised in a world in which corporations do not reward loyalty, and therefore they have never known reason to trust said companies? For many people who were teenagers when Enron imploded, that was probably their initial and lasting impression, and companies haven't given them reason (publicly, anyway) to believe any different. Just a thought.
ReplyDelete@8:22: Now, now ... you're only proving your perceived opponent's point.
1:19 Do you know if any of the TN papers have been experimenting with 2Adpro? If so are they going to try and follow a similar model with this centralization of their designers? Seems like they may be.
ReplyDelete2:03 Here is your boy Robert Reich's comments on Clinton and the mortgage mess.
ReplyDeleteREICH: In the latter years of the Clinton administration -- when I was not there any longer, I should add -- there was an attempt by Alan Greenspan and Bob Rubin and a few others to deregulate financial markets, and they did. They split commercial banking off from investment banking. And many people say, "Well, that was the beginning of the problem," and then, of course, in 2003-2004, Alan Greenspan reduced short-term interest rates to the point where every single bank wanted to lend money. I mean, if you could stand up straight you could get a bank loan because there was so much pressure to get that money out the door. Money was so cheap. So, yes, there is some responsibility on Democrats, some responsibility on Alan Greenspan and the Fed.
Urgh, I'm 3:21 ... my second comment was aimed at 2:03, not 8:22. Sorry 'bout that.
ReplyDeleteWhat this thread illustrates to me is the blatant disregard for actual REPORTING while pressing for a certain political agenda that has pervaded our daily print media.
ReplyDeletePerhaps if reporters returned to reporting instead of editorializing, without undue bias, the subscriber base would not be abandoning the medium in such droves.
6:03
ReplyDeleteAMEN! I realize that the economic downturn (not a recession like the media hs tried drumming into our heads-dictionaries should be used more often in a newsroom but I digress)has taken a major toll on the newspapers as far as advertising revenues go but has anyone that has gone to journalism school ever thought that America on the whole is tired of having holier than thou "reporters" write opinions into their stories rather than relaying facts and letting the reader make up his own mind.I work in PHX and I know a few guys who have integrity in the stories that they write but they are outnumbered by the anti Bush/Republican voices whose open bias is plain to a seventh grader.My ten years with Gannett has shown me an upper echelon of management that were/are so smug in their belief that there is no way in the world that print media would go by the way of the dinasaurs.It is a slow process and unfortunately they wouldn't get on the internet bus til it was too late and now they will be playing catch up for a long time.They canned 37 people in PHX yesterday including housekeeping personel but none of the big money players and that my friends is where the problem lies.Businesses from time to time need to reorganize and streamlime but it is always on the workers backs while some smug 6 & 7 figure ivory tower dwelling suit worries about tee times and what AJ's is delivering for lunch. Rant over.
6:03 PM
ReplyDeleteI noticed so much stenography going on when I worked for Gannett. Seemed that hardly anyone had a bullshit meter that was running even half speed. Heard tons of complaints from readers about how the paper believed---and printed---exactly what offials said to print. Where I worked, management enouraged that, and that made me sick.
QUOTE "Latest USA TODAY rumor: Changes are coming after the presidential election. The rumor is that the newspaper wants to get through this newsy period (Olympics, hurricanes and election), then will make additonal staff adjustments in the newsroom and elsewhere. I talked to one editor yesterday who said he isn't making any plans for 2009 until he sees what happens around Thanksgiving."UNQUOTE
ReplyDeleteFine. And then don't plan for Christmas. And if nothing happens then better keep your head down to the spring. Gee...the summer looks bad, too.
This is all crazy nonsense. Things are as they have been described -- touch and go as USA Today tries to get through the downturn. If there will be more bad news, there will be more bad news.
But there is no grand plan that top editors know of to "get through this newsy period and then..."
Really bad office babble, and people who post or gossip like that are truly not much more than psychological pyromaniacs, with a rumor instead of a match.
Every single company in America is trying to "manage through this economic downturn". Gannett and USA Today are doing what they can, given the extra burdens on them. I know its not a popular thing to try and be positive on this blog. But I like my job and I am rooting for the best during this difficult time. There are really good people at my paper and I'm rooting for all of us. Jim says he wants more than just the complainers so here I am.
ReplyDeleteDid Gannett fix all those incorrect pension statements?
ReplyDeleteI'd love to know which Gannett property has "really good people" there.
ReplyDeleteDo you mean managers? Or co-workers?
8:33: Where do you work? If you have really good people there, unveil the site (not your name) so we get all sides covered. Your comment was generic enough that if you name the site, no one will know who it came from to compromise your "anon" label.
ReplyDeleteFor 11:44 am: You asked if frozen pension money is protected. Here's some pension news you should know. Wall Street wants Congress to allow "frozen" pension funds to be sold off to ... speculators. And the companies are eager because of accounting changes that are going to make underfunded plans an issue in their bottom line starting in 2009 or 2010. Read the Business Week piece (URL below) and form your own opinion about the security of frozen pensions. The title is "Now Wall Street wants your pensions, too." Published Aug. 5. Maybe this collapse will slow it down.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_33/b4096000769608.htm
Oh rats, the URL cut off. Trying again .....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_33/b4096000769608.htm
And just in case, here's a tiny url to the article:
http://tinyurl.com/4yqr8f
I've worked at, and with, a number of Gannett sites in Wisconsin, and almost across the board you meet people in all disciplines who are eager to help, know their jobs, appreciate that we serve our communities and our stockholders, and are decent people to be around.
ReplyDeleteSure, we have some folks that have been hired or promoted to jobs outside of their talent limits. And we have our share of the ladder-climbers who are biding time til they get their call to the 'bigs'.
But the majority of our staffs help produce the newspaper that their own parents or grandparents read each day. We don't have huge turnover. There is pride attached to saying you work for the Sheboygan Press, or the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Our staffs don't poop on the floor.
In Wilmington, the niche Spanish-language publication is reportedly being folded soon, and the weekend entertainment magazine is being merged into the Friday features section. There's also been talk that the TMC product will be shut down.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, it looks like all the local "Moms" Web sites sites are being folded into a gigantic "MomsLikeMe.com" site, with regional spinoffs.