She effectively replaces Skippy Haik (left), who is leaving as president and publisher, Jan. 31. I assume these general manager positions carry most if not all the traditional publisher duties -- but don't pay as much.Haik has been the American's CEO for five years. The paper last month said it would move production to the nearby Clarion-Ledger in Jackson; that wiped out 38 jobs as part of Gannett's companywide newspaper layoff in early December.
[Photo: American]
Skippy is a great person. Heck she was a finalist for manager of the year several years ago.
ReplyDeleteShe must have decided to retire.
Skippy is a class act and will be missed by the Hattiesburg community. Best of luck to her!
ReplyDeleteSkippy is a good person. I've had the good fortune to know her and work with her. Good luck to you Skippy.
ReplyDeleteSkippy is a class act and will be missed by the Hattiesburg community. Best of luck to you Skippy.
ReplyDeleteDamn. I saw "Skippy" and thought Hidlay was finally getting his.
ReplyDeleteAll the best to Skippy for her hard work in Hattiesburg. I worked with Tracie several years ago, and she'll do a great job with the staff there. I wish her well during this difficult time in a very tough job.
ReplyDeleteIt was not a good day. We felt as if someone had died. Skippy was classy about the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteJust another step in, what I think, will be a total fold into the Clarion-Ledger. One step closer to the American become the Ledger's Hattiesburg bureau.
ReplyDeleteIt is really nice to see some positive comments about a publisher on his blog!
ReplyDeleteHaving a Hattiesburg bureau certainly makes tons of sense to me.
ReplyDeleteThe New GM now gets to do her advertising job and the Publishers job. Something has to give.
ReplyDeleteThat is it Gannett! Great idea!!! Put the one in charge of the whole building that can't even run her own department effectivly. Advertising is down and they do not have a plan to impove selling. The HA will not last much longer I am afraid. This is sad.
ReplyDelete"Nearby" is a relative term. The Jackson and Hattiesburg papers are 90 miles apart. The cities aren't connected by the interstate system, and, from my former perch in New Orleans, always seemed to be in different worlds, with Hattiesburg part of southern Mississippi and Jackson not.
ReplyDeleteTracie and Skippy are both sneaky dishonest people. They are one way to your face and another behind closed doors. Tracie does nothing more than delegate. She is not approachable and acts like a tyrant. She does not help her staff with effective tools only treats them like garbage if she doesnt get her way. She stops people at her door with "I dont want to hear it!"
ReplyDeleteAdvertising has had such a high turnover. She expects too much from her staff and screams and yells. People are afraid of her. You can bet the turnover will only get worse with her running the paper.
Its a sad situation when nobody can do their jobs without getting assistance from staff members at the Clarion Ledger.
Tracie answering to the Publisher in Jackson may be the best thing that could happen.
The comment about Skippy and Tracie is so true. This is the best description of them I have ever heard. Tracie does say that all the time and Skippy will go after you to save her own tail. They both put on a front. They both could be nice people. It is a shame they have to be this way. Tracie is so sneaky. Most people do not even realized the trouble she causes them. Maybe some good will come out of this and they might become better people. You can only hope.
ReplyDeleteI agree. You better watch them both and don't turn your back on them.
ReplyDeleteRumor has it that the building will soon be sold. Lots of remodeling. Also heard 2 things were possibly going to happen. One was limiting the staff to a few sales reps and a few reporters and printing an additional section in the Clarion for Hattiesburg since they pretty much have the same content aside from local stories.
ReplyDeleteOr - still print the Hattiesburg American just with limited staff. Isnt the phone number in the phone book ringing to the Clarion Ledger already?
Of course since it is true Hattiesburg American fashion to keep the staff outta the loop until they are laying you off all the while telling you to your face all is well and the paper isnt closing - I should be reading the classifieds as well.
Moving USAT to Jackson, laying off the Production Director of 12 years, laying off the Publisher, losing the controller for both sites, reps quitting cause they are not making commissions, outsourcing all finance positions, subscriptions raised and print smaller, every request for something has to be prolonged until an answer can come from Jackson. WAKE UP FOLKS. We are all fixing to be in the unemployment line.
Reading on here too about giving up a weeks vacation! Um' NO!! I worked for that and earned that time. I already gave up my retirement and raises for this company. Whats next - my right arm?
I can tell you people are not giving there all anymore. You can feel valuable and like you are a great contributor and may actually be but that doesnt really matter and people arent humans to the higher ups. Fend for yourselves folks. Nobody is looking out for you so look out for yourself.
The people in the back who are losing their jobs since it is moving to Jackson were told they are more than welcome to apply for THEIR jobs at the Clarion. What? Jobs they have been doing - some for 20 years now they have to apply and take a pay cut?
What was real said was opening an email that said Dubow was giving up 18% of his salary and the amount was well into six figures. Plus his yearly bonus of 250,000+. No wonder Gannett is going broke. Can anyone vouch for him stuffing inserts into the paper when the inserter broke, or handling customers at the front desk, balancing the ledger, selling an ad, talking to irate customers? What exactly does this man do that constitutes this amount of money and how are we supposed to rejoice in knowing he makes this kind of money while we cant even make ends meet to stay open?
What about the lunches that the operating committee gets on a weekly basis. I can bet the OC members can afford their own lunches. Why must it come out of the papers funds especially when we couldnt "afford" a company Thanksgiving or Christmas lunch. How about McDonalds once in a while or Burger King. Does it always have to be the most expensive place? Its no wonder the moral is so bad. While most reps have taken a $20,000 a year pay cut due to loss of commissions they watch the OC members dine at the companies expense while most have learned to live on vienna sausages and ramen noodles for lunch.
Managers cell phone bills and cable bills are paid so they can "work from home". Please. I'm quite sure they can pay their own cell phone bills and cable bills. Half the time while they are working from home you can catch them at Wal-Mart or Hudsons getting a bargain. Yeah internet was cut off the phones but that was the only cut. Skippys reply to the internet being cut off was - Yeah I gotta learn to text now.
She wasnt the only person who practically lived here during the hurricane either. Alot of dedicated staff members were here BEFORE/DURING/AFTER the hurricane and stayed for many days. Lets not forget them.
So before I get fired when they track this down let me just say this - if you really want to cut some costs - THEN REALLY CUT SOME COSTS. Dont fuss at me for leaving my monitor on overnight by accident and running the power bill up - bring a tuna sandwich for lunch, pay your own cell phone bill, pay your own cable bill, cut the dead weight, stop piling more work on certain people and more on the ones that sit and play on the internet all day.
Someone needs to get the numbers and be held accountable for them. Whats the budget in advertsing monthly to meet? How many times in the past year has it been met? How many sales reps have been disciplined for not making their goals? Isnt this kinda their job? How long do you let them ride before holding them accountable for lost revenue? If people arent advertising why do you need so many reps?
AND TELL YOUR DEDICATED HARD WORKING STAFF THANK YOU EVERY NOW AND THEN!
I know how you feel. The HA does not appreciate anything. Hard work and low pay is their game.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to hide behind your computer screen and rant and rave about people that some of you have worked for for years! You act like these decisions being made to lay people off and close portions of the newspaper is coming from the local level when you all know it is coming from corporate. All these negative things said about Skippy and Tracie are ridiculous! Skippy has been the best Publisher the HA has ever had and you all know it and Tracie has been the best Ad Director. If you all remember who was there in the past. So stop with all your whinning. Aren't you supposed to be adults? GROW UP!
ReplyDeleteI worked for Skippy for two years and found her to be honest and upfront. There was no sneaking around behind people's backs. She was fair and supportive. While there were issues from the past that were being dealt with, I think Skippy did everything possible to get the paper on the right track. Keep in mind, some o the people that were there had been there way too long and needed to go elsewhere. It's not a social club..performance is expected in order for everyone to prosper. Best of Luck Skippy!
ReplyDeleteYes, best of luck Skippy. You are truly going to be missed. The paper just isn't going to be the same without you.
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ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know what Skippy is doing now?
ReplyDelete