1,295
-- number of words retiring News Department chief Phil Currie spent in yesterday's News Watch honoring four Corporate executives leaving the company. (Rank certainly carries privilege: Two of these guys didn't even work in Currie's department.)
22
-- number of words Currie spent honoring the other 2,000 or so newspaper workers losing jobs in Gannett's mass layoff. ("Indeed, this week many other good people are departing, too, and their individual losses also are deeply felt wherever they have worked.")
Consolation prize!
Those other good people forcibly laid off in the worst economy since the Depression can always take CEO Craig Dubow's advice for students seeking journalism jobs:
You may not count as much at Corporate, but you definitely count here! We're tallying job cuts, paper-by-paper. Please post your figures on our list, or in the comments section, below. You may also e-mail confidentially via gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com].
Trust me: I didn't count the words; I simply uploaded the text to Google Documents, and let that software program do the heavy lifting!
ReplyDeleteI've had my Phil of Currie, and 2adpro.
ReplyDeleteI may never eat Indian food again.
OMG, did he say "themself"?
ReplyDeleteThis guy is a putz. I am waiting for him to get the ax.
ReplyDeleteI have not seen that much depth in answering a question since the Sarah Palin interviews.
ReplyDeleteCurrie's farewell to his buddies was interesting, it was like watching Bush pin medals on George Tenant and Rumsfeld all over again.
ReplyDeleteAmazing how diverse corporate is.
He reminds me of Sarah Palin trying to explain her answer to a question. How silly is that.
ReplyDeleteThe ability to communicate effectively both in words and in writing SHOULD be a basic requirement for anyone, especially the higher ups, in a communication industry.
ReplyDeleteI can barely control my weeping at the loss of these inspired leaders who have guided our business to such heights.
ReplyDeleteSob! [shudder] hiccough ...
ReplyDeleteUgh.
ReplyDeleteI didn't count the words Supreme Leader uttered, except this one:
News: Zero.
I'm a corporate lay off, too, and I don't see my name on there. Thanks for all the support, Jim and all your readers. I really, really appreciated it as I waited for my unavoidable end at Gannett. Good luck to everyone.
ReplyDeleteOf COURSE Phil Currie would devote many more words to three guys who worked with him at corporate headquarters. That has been his mindset for years: Whatever corporate thinks and does is more important than whatever the actual journalists at the paper do. He's the personification of a journalistic bureaucrat.
ReplyDeleteI'm relatively young, did all the things he said to do -- even helped lead the charge in turning a failing product into a very successful one -- one of my site's most successful products. My colleagues did too. Did that save any of us? No. The rhetoric Dubow sputtered from his mouth a couple years ago gave some of us the opportunity to do things we never thought we'd get to do in this company. Sadly, I keep hearing of more and more folks who embraced that rhetoric, made a difference and still got booted. At my former site, they didn't use this as an opportunity to get rid of the deadweight, instead they booted all the newspeople who WERE innovative and helping to make the difference. My boss said after it happened "We did a lot more than they asked and were more successful than anyone could have imagined, but that still wasn't good enough." I've said it before and I'll say it again: You can't take people who have held their lofty traditionalist positions and then suddenly tell them to "innovate" and expect results. That is setting yourself up for failure. I know that my colleagues and I will be fine. We answered the challenge and made the once thought "impossible" happen. It's those that are left who don't know how to reinvent and meet just the same old average standards who will have a tough time reinventing themselves when they get the boot. Frankly, the economy going to get a lot worse before it starts to improve. The reality is that Gannett will continue to boot more people. There must be a business agenda to setting yourself up for failure (other than stupidity), but I just can't see an advantage to doing that.
ReplyDeleteThe new Gannett (unwritten) slogan. "Help us become who we can be, so we can eliminate you, cut to prosper, and glean what we can from the dividens while the stock becomes cheaper for a sale."
ReplyDeleteOk, its no a slogan. This could explain why I no longer work for Marketing.
Dear Craig: "That" refers to things. "Who" and "Whom" refer to people. It's kind of like knowing the difference between assets and liabilities. Oh, wait. Never mind.
ReplyDeleteFascinating: One (1) sentence for all employees that were layed off and a sweeping saga about four people that received a buyout/retirement. This is a shame and coming from a top editor insulting. Instead of writing encouring words for the troops left behind (because right now they probably don't know if it was a blessing or a curse to not receive a lay-off notice) this pompous NCP glorifies retirees that received a package that most of us only can dream off given their years of service. This same arrogance is what costs Gannett so dearly!
ReplyDeleteI hope that this kind of exclusives will follow Currie out the door once and for all once he leaves (which we all hope will be sooner rather than later)!
I never had the pleasure of meeting or listening to Mr. Dubow in person. Watching him on the video I can't help but wonder how he got where he is with that kind of shallow thinking and limited power of explanation.
ReplyDelete