The Battle Creek Enquirer's nearly 50% job loss is pacing all all papers in this layoff round. The paper, which Gannett has owned since 1971, is shutting down its printing press and moving all production to its sister paper in Lansing, Mich. "The reduction affects 18 full-time employees and 32 part-time employees, with four of those cuts taking effect immediately and the rest during the next two months,'' the paper says today in a story.
The presses go silent Jan. 4. How many communities are even aware that Gannett is shutting down printing presses for the last time?
Building a list, checking it twice: Our growing paper-by-paper tally of layoffs and other job cuts. Is yours included?
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
24 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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I can't conceive working a job for two months as a layoff looms.
ReplyDeleteIf you're in a community where the presses are being silenced, do something. Share that profit margin that those presses (and all the people running them) helped support. Tell the local chamber. Tell the city officials. Make calls to the local radio stations. Tell the story. Somebody has to do it. Who knows, you might even make some job contacts while doing it! Think local local local.
ReplyDeleteSounds like the PD in Lansing is at it again. She seems to be building her own little empire. I hope she appreciates it while it lasts - because we all know it won't last for long.
ReplyDeleteAnon 12:39 p.m.
ReplyDeletePlease do not blame this change on the PD in Lansing. This is a corporate decision - that's all.
Whether corp made the decision, or whether she suggested it, is not the truly the issue. Don't kid yourself - she is foaming at the mouth over this little addition of power to her resume. When she came to Lansing, she dismantled production and the design services department - recommended layoffs and forced 2adpro - only to hire back all the same folks she originally claimed weren't worth a darn. And now claims to be against 2adpro. In Gannet-land management, it's all about how many bodies you oversee.
ReplyDeleteThis is another nice feather in her cap, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that she encouraged the conversation to move Battle Creek ops to her watch. That's just how powerful and thoughtless execs do business.
You are right about the Lansing PD. She loves power the more the better. Her day will come right along with the Advertising Director. I'm a firm believer in what goes around comes around.
ReplyDeleteAmen to that. The PD is out to take on as much as she can, I guess it means job security.
ReplyDeleteBUT---The Advertising Director has serious issues and needs to be at the top of the layoff list. She is the source of a lot of the problems in Lansing and the loss of revenues can not be solely blamed on the economy. Please, Gannett, take a hard look at this position and what would be best for the people in Lansing. Her integrity is called in to question on a regular basis, how can people be motivated to grow revenue in that kind of environment?
Tryin' really hard to avoid personal attacks here - and believe me, there are days when it ain't easy with this Lansing upper crust crowd.
ReplyDeleteBoth PD and AD are guilty of less than desirable rhetoric. But let's face it, they didn't get there by baking cookies and singing in the church choir. have you seen/heard the knocks they take at each other? I expect that kind of behavior from 5-year olds, not corporate suits.
If they are allowed to continue acting like this - it will only have negative effects on their respective department performance. They perpetuate the "us versus them" mentality of advertising versus production. As thy say - the shit rolls downhill - and unfortunately, it shows here.
The Ad Director also feels she is above everyone and does not have to follow the LSJ Smoking Policy. She and her assistant smoke where ever they want and HR is to scared to approach her on it. Her day will come.
ReplyDeleteWow, didn't realize LSJ was THAT dysfunctional. Should be a very interesting sales meeting (the next one) as PJ and KH eyeball the room to see who has been throwing daggers - sounds like the whole crowd! Good luck peeps, I can remember when LSJ was one of the golden papers with Kane and Hollingsworth.
ReplyDeletehaha, the AD Director and her assistant should get fired. They do nothing all day while all of her sales reps working their butts off. Btw, this ad director likes to blame other people on her mistakes and that is why she is not out yet.
ReplyDeleteI hope she is getting fired soon!!
11:32 - that is a "Gannett Thing" - I have been shocked at the lack of leaders taking any responsibility.
ReplyDeleteHey outside sales reps in Lansing - nobody is innocent here - I've seen plenty of you take 2 hour lunches and spend your afternoon shopping at the mall. Make "appointments" with "clients" in Detroit only to find it was really a family day at the zoo.
ReplyDeleteNah - you are not responsible at all for the mass layoffs and low revenues. I saw a check pass my desk one time for more than $8,000 for a single monthly rep BONUS not so long ago. Working hard for that, eh? Talk about nauseating. As a manager, looking over your lazy-butt shoulder, it would take me 4 months to earn that in my REGULAR pay. Please don't bite the hand that feeds you until you can be a leader yourself and show them how it's done.
Leadership in Lansing is at an all time low, no doubt. But as we can clearly see, it has had a horrid trickle down effect to the staffs.
It is so true about the smoking part. I have seen her shopping and buying coffee during work time, too. This lazy woman is such a pig. Anyway, GREAT COMMENTS. Her day will come.
ReplyDeleteHow true all this is, yes they will soon have their day. Btw... the PD's assistant is NOT the friendliest person to approach! She does not "touch everybody" as the AD seems to think. She is one of the rudest people I have ever met. Have you ever seen her smile in you tenure?
ReplyDeleteHello??? There must be someone in power reading this blog. Can you please help this Lansing staff? We're begging you.
ReplyDeletePeople don't come here to talk about this stuff because it's fun to lie about our supervisors and managers. Good leaders get their kudos from their staff; do you see any kudos here? The only leaders that ever got kudos from their staff are now long gone, thanks to the "vision" of the great Lansing State Journal leaders.
Can someone in power please address why it is that the people who are charged with "leading" are allowed to lead into the ground, yet it's always the assistants, librarians, front desk people, copy editors, designers and basically all those that have very little to do with the real 30,000 foot vision of the company that wind up paying the price for the ineptitude of the people in charge. And the people in charge, amazingly, still collecting the paychecks. How does this company justify this behavior? It truly confounds my soul.
Hey Priester, when you came to Lansing, you claimed to be a hands on Publisher, walking department floors. Haven't seen you once in mine. In fact, you would have absolutely no clue who I am. How sad.
Somebody, anybody, please help us. We love our jobs in Lansing - and I'm scared to death I'll be the next to get it taken away.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteWow! Even the Battle Creek Gannett Blog posts are morphing into the Noise of a Lansing rant fest. Hmmm... I see a pattern here.
ReplyDeleteI just removed a comment that was posted twice.
ReplyDeleteWith all the layoffs over the last year or so has the LSJ cut any of its heavily bloated management staff? My wife left there a year ago and the were four or five llayer of managers above her. That a lot for any business that size.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI just removed a comment that referenced an employee's child. Please do not post comments like that; children should not suffer because of decisions made by their parents.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the cuts in BC have been in the works for at least 3 years. They were being discussed and bantered around long before the current PD was there. (MK had them on the table before he left.) This is a terrible loss, moreso because the paper is not being allowed to be the community newspaper it once was. It's become a joke in the community w/such small sections and little coverage. The people at the paper want to do a better job but someone higher up is pulling the strings.
ReplyDeleteI have heard from a reliable source that Lansing will cease printing classified Monday through Wednesday within a few weeks. Hard to believe that the company would cut revenue like that for no reason. Perhaps the road to cutting home delivery to 3 days a week is being paved.
ReplyDelete