Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Tuesday | Nov. 11 | Got news, or a question?

Can't find the right spot for your comment? Post it here, in this open forum. Real Time Comments: parked here, 24/7. (Earlier editions.)

76 comments:

  1. I'm the first to post, after Jim! Whooo Hooo! Now back to reality.

    ReplyDelete
  2. OK...how many of you volunteer for the involuntarily severance offer?

    ReplyDelete
  3. We had a few more reporters give notice this week, and we're short staffed when it comes to writers, but we still have lots and lots of editors and management that don't seem to be going anywhere.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm sick of all the New Jersey posts. Can we have a Jersey free day?

    ReplyDelete
  5. The problem with the voluntary severance is that it's no different than the involuntary.
    There needs to be a stick with the carrot: Take this benefit now or get spanked on your way out.
    There are people who need to go.
    Many posters seem to think it's a youth vs. age conflict.
    Not quite.
    It's a conflict between those who have faith in what we're doing and those who don't.
    If you don't, leave.
    You're being a selfish bastard to hang on when others would kill to be here.
    The youth vs. age conflict appears because it's clear many of the posters who hate this company and lack the skills -- the same ones that allowed them to find this blog in the first place -- are old. Or young and frozen.
    Jim took the opportunity when he left to create a popular blog. He's learning video skills. God forbid, he's marketing his site and even (gasp!) seeking advertising.
    What the hell are you doing?
    And before we get the holier-than-though responses (did someone actually write "we took down a president?"), think about this: when was the last time you purchased a newspaper (oh, if you don't get it with a discount you won't pay for it -- right, why should readers, then?); when was the last time you praised a colleague for great work; when was the last time you studied a style guide, a writing manual, a well-written magazine piece, a beautifully constructed audio slideshow?
    If you use the Web, listen to radio or watch TV, or download an interesting document but hate the direction we're heading, then your distaste for multimedia just sounds flat out, well, primitive.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This seems to be difficult to understand but the layoffs that have occurred so far have had had nothing, nothing to do with eliminating those who were stuck in a rut, had bad performances, lacked new media skills, hated the company, etc. Talented, contributing people were cut. The same will happen this time.

    ReplyDelete
  7. To 1:10 AM: Maybe we could just get rid of them!

    The Courier News is definitely one of the sinking newspapers. Look at the newspaper itself and take a serious look at the staff: a prodcution manager and her sidekick who are both in way over their heads and refuse to "work with" APP and HNT staffers, a classified manager who is never around and acts clueless, an advertising manager with the people skills of a Mafia boss, newsroom editors who cannot communicate half as well as their cub reporters, and a circulation department in which no one has any idea why they are still there. Then there is a HR department consisting of one person who originally set out to make the HR department not seem like the enemy of the workers. She also failed.

    Walking into this newspaper each day, the remaining employees should be given Lexipro or Zoloft!

    Sorry, but the NJ Group has nothing left to offer readers: and Bridgewater, East Brunswick and Morristown are always on the store shelves after every other newspaper has been sold out! Does that tell us anything?

    ReplyDelete
  8. 1:10AM... Sorry your are sick of the Jersey posts on here. It might occur to you that what Gannett tries to "pull" in NJ will be what is going to happening in your venue soon. OR maybe it's already happening and you don't have a clue!

    At any rate, NJ will still be a problem and will still bitch about what's going on until that happy day when nothing in NJ has any Gannett label attached to it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I have to laugh at NJ posts. They are so very funny. In over a year I can count on one hand the posts which are actually constructive.

    Is everyone in management a boob? Is every employee, except for the perfect posters of course, a jerk and incompetent.

    I actually believe there are 10 people who merely keep posting crap about New Jersey.

    I have found the people I met or worked with on projects there to be very knowledgable, very proud of their work and extremely competent. I guess I haven't been lucky enough to meet some of the naysayers who spend their time venomizing this blog. It's a shame, they would be fun to talk with. Not.

    ReplyDelete
  10. 2:46 AM
    I could be wrong, but it seems you have all the qualities and attributes of someone who could create a really hostile work environment. If you're a reporter,I'll bet you stereotype your sources and write accordingly.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Asheville:

    Last night a local public television broadcast announced that Gannett was "shutting down" the press in Asheville and moving the printing to Greenville. The local "host" a wacky local politico, televised the cancellation of his home subscription. Of course it took about 5 minutes for his call to be answered at Center of Excellence in Greenville.
    Can anyone verify the information regarding shutting down the Asheville Press?

    ReplyDelete
  12. You are sick of comments about NJ? I am sick of people complaining about comments about NJ. How about a day with everyone treating NJ like part of the group and "in this together.'' We have all of the same challenges as the rest of the company and we have bad managers and ok managers and hopefully still a few great managers. We have shrinking staffs, worries about the immediate and long-term future, mortgages to pay, kids to feed and educate, stress, pride in our work, a passion for newspapering (and I'm sorry, but it isn't only the writers and editors who are journalists). We are afraid. We are determined. We wish we had all the answers to right the ship. We want to see some hope here. We support the digital initiative even as we wish we had more faith in it saving us. We need the insights we (sometimes) still get here. We are here to support each other. We are here to vent, which is better than road rage or drinking too much or a heart attack. We are here to avoid being sucker punched. We are here for you. So, enough with the Jersey moratorium. You're stuck with us.

    Jersey or Bust

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ok as for the Seniority Rules issue at all the Newspapers. I have worked at a non-union newspaper for years. Because I was there the least number of years I had to always work over Christmas and the day after Thanksgiving. I never got to spend time with my extended family on the days that matter most to me. Did anyone care, maybe but nobody said anything. So I guess I will have to wait until they all die off to spend time with my family.

    Maybe this old school Seniority Rules mentality s what has driven the newspapers into the ground. Why would fresh talent want to work in such an environment.

    ReplyDelete
  14. 8:46 AM
    Don't wait for them to all "die off."
    Quit and take your fresh talent somewhere else.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I agree with 2:46 in that they should have upped the offer for voluntary - maybe a couple extra weeks of severance? And for all you NJ haters - understand that they are regionalizing and not doing it well. It might happen to you folks eventually if you are close by any other Gannett papers. It doesn't make for pleasant working conditions when you have to watch your site be slowly stripped down to nothing.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Greetings from Bridgewater! (another NJ post. Bite me 1:10am)

    ReplyDelete
  17. As a 1st time visitor to this Blog (I was curious as to what all the backroom talk was about) I do not think I can stomach another visit. The internal bickering and fighting is repulsive. Good Luck Everyone. I will seek pertinent info elsewhere,

    Just a Finance employee.

    ReplyDelete
  18. 8:37---that is great. I would love to see the broadcast of the call to the COE. Many, many negative comments locally about the terrible service from that Excellance center.

    And my only NJ comment is that we (at a mid-west site) get calls directed from the COE for a NJ paper.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I wish I had made videos of all of my calls when, for some reason, nobody could get a daily newspaper from point A to point B (my house) with any degree of regularity.

    ReplyDelete
  20. don't be coy 8:37, tell us where you got your information about asheville shutting down their presses to move to greenville. i've heard nothing about it and can find no reference to it.

    ReplyDelete
  21. 9:36 and others. I am 1:10. I have nothing against the good folks in the Garden State but they are about 75% of the posts, most of the posts say the exact same thing, and I would like to find out what is happening elsewhere without having to wade though all this stuff that has been said 100 times. Go Nets!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. 8:37

    Lets hear it. I want to know what the deal is.

    ReplyDelete
  23. To 2:46

    You are right that we're in a conflict between those who have faith in what we're doing and those who don't. But you seem to think that anyone who lacks faith in our leadership also lacks talent and passion, and you are wrong about that.

    I am a mid-career employee who has never sat on my laurels, and I have better multimedia skills than many of the employees who are younger than me. I also employ them and enjoy doing so. That said, I do not have faith in the direction we're moving because I don't believe our plan is well thought out. The company is being reactive in an environment where it needs to be proactive, which is why our strategic plan seems to change every six months.

    As for your questions, I've recently done all of the things you mention with the exception of studying a style book. I memorized much of the stylebook we use early on and reference it only when I have questions. And, no, I don't make a lot of style errors. Not that anyone in my newsroom would be concerned.

    Our leadership has taken us to the point where style errors are so minor that nobody much cares about them. We -- as a whole -- have much bigger errors in the paper and on the Web almost daily. And they aren't things that better multimedia training can fix.

    You may be in a newsroom that hasn't degraded to this point, and I hope that's the case. But don't think everyone who rails against the direction we're headed is old, out of touch and incapable of working with multimedia. That's just not so.

    Also. The reason I buy newspapers and magazines is that I like the deeper, more thoughtful reporting they offer. I will say, however, that I'm less likely to turn to them today than I was five years ago. I'm certainly more selective, and that's because we've tried to make ourselves more like broadcasters.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I would like to take the voluntary but don't know if I have the guts to do it. What will be waiting for me on the other side?

    ReplyDelete
  25. Dear 11:42, If you look at the verbiage in Gannett's most recently filed 10Q (SEC filing) it clearly states more reductions in 2009.

    Alexia Quadrani at J.P. Morgan trolls through the latest 10-Q documents so we don't have to! Here's what she found at Gannett.

    And, the following is from today's Editor and Publisher website bout Gannett:

    "2009 might be worse than 2008.
    pension expenses may increase next year
    more cuts are on the way
    it amended its credit agreements and prior covenant"

    ReplyDelete
  26. New Jersey is certainly not 75 percent of the posts. That's a wild exaggeration.

    That said, many excellent people have fled due to the terrible conditions at those papers (Bridgewater comes to mind -- that's no place I'd want to be right now, and there are good people left who are trying to deal with a difficult situation). I'm sure Asbury is still dealing with a Collins hangover, not to mention a new EE that didn't exactly inspire hope before his arrival. And the other papers -- LIKE ALL OF GANNETT -- are struggling, too.

    Isn't everyone in this together? Try a little sympathy, maybe ...

    ReplyDelete
  27. Yes, this is another NJ post...

    I work at another site and live in Bridgewater. The Courier News rarely covers Bridgewater's local government, but we get plenty of puff pieces about new stores at the Bridgewater Commons shopping mall. Frequently, spats among government officials in far flung places make front page news, while the Courier News cannot even get the names of Bridgewater Town Council members right. There is a local news coverage problem. The readers know it, the local businesses know it, but nobody at the Courier News will acknowledge it.

    The local supermarket sells one copy a day of the Courier News -- if they are lucky. Open a newsrack at Dunkin Donuts on Route 22 at 4:30 a.m. and you will find one paper -- the "window copy." Two people in my neighborhood of 150 homes get the paper home delivered, only 1/4 mile from the Courier News building. These examples of Courier News circulation speak volumes for how much the paper is wanted by the local community.

    My sister has a store in Somerville, which is to be the Courier News' new homebase (according to postings here.) When I mentioned the Courier was moving to Somerville, she laughed and said, "Well, it doesn't mean any of the businesses will be more inclined to advertise than they are now." Why is that? She said that in addition to rude sales reps who only care about restuarant advertisers in town, the Courier has had a history of low-balling ad rates for certain businesses and not others. Imagine learning that one local business is paying $600 for a full page ad, when you can't even get a break on the little "two by four" ad that costs $200. And the Courier News' local reach is grossly exaggerated. This is what local businesses are talking about.

    None of the postings about the Courier News losing circulation or having bad management are surprising.

    ReplyDelete
  28. If you're in the Wisconsin group, the departments haven given the names to HR. So please stop the ass kissing and trying to throw your co-workers to the wolves. There's nothing you can do about it now.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Are thses hybrid-looking jobs Gannett is posting a new thing? I'm talking about the positions posted for selling Career Builder and cars.com products that are popping up as US Community Publishing job postings.

    ReplyDelete
  30. 11:39 am sums up our problem with losing readers/web viewers:
    "...that's because we've tried to make ourselves more like broadcasters."

    ReplyDelete
  31. Of course 2009 will be "worse" than 2008 - the decisions by Gannett ensure that this will be the case! The layoffs, cutbacks and newshole cutting only serve to decrease revenue and circulation. You CANNOT pull out of a hole through expense cutting. Only increasing revenue dioes that. And to make money, you must be prepared to spend it. Gannett is not prepared to do that because of investors - shortsighted. The Ohio group of papers are losing circ by the thousands because of poor management at all the papers and worse morale.

    ReplyDelete
  32. @1:30 - But I like the ass kissing and wolf-throwing! My director has a really cute butt.

    ReplyDelete
  33. What do you think will happen in Westchester? Who will go? The local editor says reporters will be protected? Do you buy it?

    ReplyDelete
  34. Well everyone here we go and I mean here we go.......

    God Bless all of you and the dedication you gave to your papers. Being in the trade for 26+ years, I have to say I am proud to be part of what once was. Now, I have to accept that life will lead me to a new career. Scared? Oh yes. Older? Oh yeah. Excited. Hell yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Blessing in disquise.......Grab it!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Baaaaaaaa-d news folks: Here is the AP story:

    "NEW YORK (AP) - Moody's Investors Service downgraded Gannett Co.'s senior unsecured rating by two notches to a "Baa2" grade late Monday, citing ongoing pressures on newspaper advertising."

    That Baa2 is baaaaad news for gannett stock holders! It is down under 10 AGAIN- little good those layoffs have done!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Does any body know how many people
    will go at Cherry Hill this time ?.
    Any one that has work at Courier Post Knows they have alot of extra help if any body does.If you want names just ask.

    ReplyDelete
  37. This is an interesting article in the Washington Post. It lists yet another website acquisition by Gannett, but then goes on to say this:

    Meanwhile, Gannett has finally heeded to our call for more digital/interactive revenues disclosure, and for reporting purposes has formed a new digital segment and now separate digital revenues line in its income statement. This includes all revenues from CareerBuilder and ShopLocal beginning with the full consolidation of these businesses in Q308, and revenues from PointRoll, Schedule Star and Planet Discover. Revenues from PointRoll, Schedule Star and Planet Discover had previously been reported within the publishing segment.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/10/AR2008111002576.html

    ReplyDelete
  38. I wrote a lot about that new digital revenue segmentation when it was first announced with the recent third-quarter earnings report.

    ReplyDelete
  39. So digital is sort of officially splitting off? Okay, now it does seem like the communities really are being cut adrift.

    I guess they'll keep us around until we are bled completely dry. Nice

    ReplyDelete
  40. AND with all this cutting, Gannett is rumored to be on top of the list to buy the Daytona Beach News-Journal (circ. 100,000).

    ReplyDelete
  41. Reporters in Westchester should be protected in this round because so many left on their own over the past 2 years.

    ReplyDelete
  42. From E&P: Bruce Klink, who had been VP of financial operations for Gannett's community publishing, has been named VP/Finance for the Indy Star and controller for the Interstate Group.

    ReplyDelete
  43. This blog is depressing. The industry is depressing.
    Thanksgiving is around the corner. I will give thanks for 20+ years of a great career and hope to have a few more years.

    There is little doubt only the strong print properties will survive and the new model will be drastically different from the previous one.

    It is anybody's guess what the business will look like in 5 years. But it will undoubtedly feel more pain before then.

    ReplyDelete
  44. I thought we killed the Daytona Beach deal. Won't happen. No money, no future, no reason. Why should Gannett get into a pissing match with Orlando at this time?

    ReplyDelete
  45. In answer to Cherry Hill question, it's 233.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Moody's cuts Gannett's ratings due to ad pressure
    AP ONLINE
    Posted: 2008-11-11 12:21:00
    NEW YORK (AP) _ Moody's Investors Service downgraded Gannett Co.'s senior unsecured rating by two notches to a "Baa2" grade late Monday, citing ongoing pressures on newspaper advertising.

    Gannett shares dropped 66 cents, or 6.6 percent, to $9.37 in afternoon trading. The stock has traded between $8.49 and $41.61 during the past 52 weeks.

    Moody's cut Gannett's senior unsecured rating to an investment grade "Baa2" from "A3," but affirmed the company's "Prime-2" commercial paper rating. About $2.9 billion of debt is affected.

    Moody's said Gannett's efforts to cut costs and reduce debt are unlikely to fully offset revenue declines in 2009. Moody's said the company might reduce its dividend and investment levels to cope with further revenue deterioration.

    The ratings agency projected that Gannett's operating results will improve somewhat in 2010 as advertising trends begin to improve, but said credit metrics will likely remain weak until a definitive economic recovery.

    Moody's said it may downgrade the rating further if credit metrics remain at

    ReplyDelete
  47. Oh man.
    I feel so sorry for the young ones who have high hopes and dreams. Gannett owes them a full explanation about how journalism fits---or doesn't fit---into this transformation.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Think I saw this from another poster a couple of weeks ago, but am hearing Indy Star will definitely announce 95 layoffs on Friday.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Jim took the opportunity when he left to create a popular blog. He's learning video skills. God forbid, he's marketing his site and even (gasp!) seeking advertising.
    What the hell are you doing?


    I love it; a perfect illustration of what Gannett isn't doing to save itself.

    ReplyDelete
  50. attn 4:47 PM: any truth to that info? cite your sources, please.

    ReplyDelete
  51. 3:13 yes, you said ask for a list of eligible Cherry Hill workers and I am asking.

    ReplyDelete
  52. 4:53, where did you hear that? Or better, what do you mean "announce" on Friday. We already knew the number for Indy was 95 -- does that mean names will be out Friday?

    ReplyDelete
  53. Why are numbers are out for some papers, but other papers haven't heard a thing?
    Sorry you Jersey haters, but has anyone heard about numbers for APP?

    ReplyDelete
  54. 5:56- I heard it will be around 83

    ReplyDelete
  55. 5:53-Indy may not have the total 95. GCI is shutting down Richmond and moving their daily and USAT to the Indy. Hopefully, the number will be a lot lower.

    ReplyDelete
  56. The Cherry Hill number is absurd unless it is closing, and if it is closing, the number needs to be a whole lot higher. That number is probably something like 40 percent of the workforce perhaps more.

    ReplyDelete
  57. unions are ruining the papers... To many demands too little money.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Advertorials in the Ariz. Republic:
    http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2008/11/arizona_republic_article_on_ma.php

    ReplyDelete
  59. 83 @ APP is about 80 to many

    ReplyDelete
  60. To 12:49pm regarding the Courier News. Your sister - if she has any kind of business sense - needs to advertise. What is she counting on to keep her business going? And if she knows someone who is getting a deal then she is crazy to not ask for a similar deal.

    And if you work for a "Sister Property" such as the HNT or APP, or DR, then you should know that your position is probably on the line too.

    ReplyDelete
  61. 8:22 40 percent for cherry Hill!!!? Won't be good to go or stay if that is true. Looks like a very modest Thanksgiving & Christmas.

    ReplyDelete
  62. 7:37 am - just like an outsider to try and make fun of the NJ group. Actually, I don't think you are an outsider. I think you are someone in management who is cringing at reading all of this information which should be right before your eyes. You refuse to see it.

    ReplyDelete
  63. Excuse me regarding comment on those who would kill to be here: Gannett ain't hiring, so that argument doesn't fly too well.

    ReplyDelete
  64. I rarely post, but a series of questions posted on this site compelled me to divert from my usual reticence.

    The post asked, "When was the last time you purchased a newspaper?"

    Answer: Actually, I just purchased one earlier today and no, it didn't come with a discount.

    The post asked, "When was the last time you praised a colleague for great work?"

    Answer: I praised colleagues countless times in the last several months - not just fellow writers, but editors, and copy people, too.

    The post asked, "When was the last time you studied a style guide, a writing manual, a well-written magazine piece, a beautifully constructed audio slideshow?"

    Answer: I have done all of the above many times over the last several months; it is an insult to insinuate most of don't do these things fairly often.

    The thing is, I don't come to this blog because I'm angry or because I'm old or because I'm bitter. I come because I'm sad and grieving and communing with others is one way of coping. I suppose I come here because it gives me comfort knowing I'm not alone.

    ReplyDelete
  65. 7:14 First, where did you hear that? That's big - at least in Indiana and my paper.

    I didn't hear names if names were coming from Indy or not. Sorry.

    ReplyDelete
  66. Are Hattiesburg and Jackson combining forces, anyone know?

    ReplyDelete
  67. Anybody know anything about the Salem site? Any numbers or departments of focus for the layoffs in Salem. I know there are readers out there from the Salem site, talk if you know anything.

    All I ever read is about New Jersey, Indy, Winchester, Basically the east coast. You would think that Gannett is no other places but the east coast. Is all the bad happening there and no other places?

    ReplyDelete
  68. I will be back in the morning with my popcorn to watch the next showing of all of you hacking away at each other with your smart remarks and rude comments......priceless....

    G nite

    ReplyDelete
  69. I agree with poster 947pm about the comments... We are all in these changes together. Some will be affected more than others. I am from the Salem Site, and know we are loseing about 15 of our co-workers. That is going to suck, and the 15 that leave are going to me more upset than the ones that are staying. I myself am scared that i'm getting hacked in December and am just searching for info.
    As the popular saying goes... Can't we all just get along.
    Now about the Salem site news. I hear its at least 5 people from the Advertisement area. However I think it'll be more. Most of those losses will be from Classifieds and Realestate. Anyone have anything else?

    ReplyDelete
  70. Jim

    Hey I finally had time to watch one of your videos and it was great. I felt comforted to actually see and hear you. I agree with the person above who posted that they come here because they are grieving. That is for sure. We are also chronicling history (in between the dumbass Jersey fart jokes).

    Anyway, I already sent you $20 but I wanted to say keep doing the videos, thanks for being there, and if I get laid off, can my husband, kids and I come live in your attic?

    ReplyDelete
  71. I would bet money on Hattiesburg moving to Jackson. Look at what's going on in the rest of the company...Iowa City to Des Moines, Clarksville to Tenn., Mountain Home to Springfield.
    Hattiesburg is on the list along with Port Huron and others....look at map and place your bets...

    ReplyDelete
  72. If papers like Richmond are being consolidated, that's terrible, because that paper is one of the few that really does well, like Muncie, and that would be a big loss. PS _ I don't work there, but know they do a great job!

    ReplyDelete
  73. wasn't muncie's pub just put over richmond too? what's this consolidation mean for muncie? lafayette?

    ReplyDelete
  74. In conclusion-- why all the criticism about New Jersey? When we get up every morning, we can take our telescopes and see exactly what is happening at corporate. We're guarding Gannett for you and reporting all of the crap FIRST. And just like our beloved Sarah Palin (who once played the slots in Atlantic City) we just have to be smarter than we look! After all, we are making the Star Ledger a big hit in the Garden State!

    ReplyDelete
  75. I find the criticism of the Jersey posters interesting -- especially when it comes to the "where's all the news from the rest of the country" comments.

    Last time I checked, this blog is open to anyone and everyone posting. Jim hasn't prevented anyone from posting on other areas of the country. If you want that information or want it out there, you need to look within your own paper. Are the Jersey folks loudmouths? Probably. But no one has said those of you from other areas can't post.

    Take the opportunity to do so.

    ReplyDelete

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."

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.