Thursday, April 30, 2009
Thursday | April 30 | Your News & Comments
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.)
Which sentiment best reflects today's Gannett?
These were both posted here on the same day, April 24.
News Department Vice President Kate Marymont: "Gannett company has always championed free speech, a cornerstone of a free society."
Anonymous@7:50 p.m, writing about me: "He's a coward encouraging other cowards, and he should be punished severely. Nothing is too extreme for him."
News Department Vice President Kate Marymont: "Gannett company has always championed free speech, a cornerstone of a free society."
Anonymous@7:50 p.m, writing about me: "He's a coward encouraging other cowards, and he should be punished severely. Nothing is too extreme for him."
How technology changes workplace management
"In the future,
agitators will be aggregators."
-- ???
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
You don't want to know, but you can't help it
"It's like driving past your ex-wife's house to
see if anyone's there."
-- Anonymous@9:28 p.m. yesterday, commenting on why employees continue returning to Gannett Blog, well after they've left GCI.
History | A long-ago date, and a fateful choice
[October 1987: I was 30, first day on the job in Little Rock, Ark.]
Part 1
On Sept. 10, 2007, Vice President Tara Connell was no doubt putting the finishing touches on a bizarrely worded and even more bizarrely timed memo. The next day, it would be zapped across the company's entire network, a process I believe that can take many hours to deliver to something like 31,000 e-mail accounts.
Read it now, and you'll see that the note, written over the signature of the chairman and chief executive officer of the No. 1 newspaper publisher in the United States of America, is predicting an ominous wave of layoffs, pension freezes, crashing stock prices, six-figure all-cash bonuses, Gannett Foundation insanity, shameful golf trips -- oh, you get the picture.
Chairman and CEO Craig Dubow, working side by side with an especially powerful chief financial officer in Gracia Martore, was about to start dismantling a 101-year-old company that traced its roots to what is now the Star-Gazette in Elmira, N.Y. (Many of you recognize that name because of Elmira Confidential.)
Part 2
And so, that next day, a very strange release date, someone hit the send button on that e-mail, and it chugged and chugged across Gannett.
But it didn't make its way to Gannett Blog.
That is because Gannett Blog did not exist. Barely 18 months ago, there was no blog whatsover about the No. 1 newspaper publisher in the U.S., even though the company had more than 50,000 employees in companies coast to coast and in the United Kingdom.
I had been wrestling for days with a decision about whether to launch what is now this blog, which by then I had been keeping privately for a year. In the end, though, my gut instinct told me to hit the publish button later that day, with this post.
I mention this now, because I just spent several hours, deleting hundreds of comments posted here beginning Saturday, when I arrived in Washington, D.C., for a Q&A with the chairman and chief executive officer of the Gannett Co. Inc., a Fortune 500 company in which I own one share of stock, but 20 years of sweat equity.
Part 3
Here's the point: I enjoy my new job very, very much. But isn't it extraordinary, how technology can now arbitrarily hand just one person so much strength through crowdsourcing? You may or may not like my editing style. We'll often disagree. But as I once more put one foot in front of the other with this post, I really want to earn everyone's trust, and run a big-tent show.
Keep coming back. It works, if you work it!
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
What I'm doing right now
9:47 p.m., San Francisco time: Deleting hundreds of comments posted on my blog over the past week by dangerous goons while Corporate stood by, silently. Indeed, I'm beginning to think this really was the work of The 11th Floor. I'll know more tomorrow.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Wednesday | April 29 | Your News & Comments
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.)
Style | On interviewing a CEO before 1,000 people
Now, I don't know that 1,000 people were watching me in the auditorium or on the company network. But with repeat viewings, the numbers ought to get that high.
I interviewed him prosecutor-style, weaving commentary into the question, because you're trying to win over an audience. In my first year as a reporter in Arkansas at The Pine Bluff Commercial, a savings and loan executive, Del "Pepsi" Brannon, ordered me out of the headquarters one fall day in 1986. He rang up my editor, Don Williams, and chewed him out.
Later, Don delighted in telling me that Brannon complained I'd grilled him and the other executives as though I were a prosecutor. FirstSouth soon failed; I had uncovered the first signs of bank fraud, which I laid at the door of its outside general counsel, E. Harley Cox Jr. He was later convicted of bank fraud, and served a prison sentence. (President Clinton pardoned Cox on the way out of the White House.)
Williams, and later Max Brantley of The Arkansas Gazette; then John Costa at The Idaho Statesman; and Stan Macdonald at The Courier-Journal, and John and Jane Does 1-500 at USA Today, encouraged me to push and push and push some more for the truth. I loved my job then, and I love it even more now.
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
I interviewed him prosecutor-style, weaving commentary into the question, because you're trying to win over an audience. In my first year as a reporter in Arkansas at The Pine Bluff Commercial, a savings and loan executive, Del "Pepsi" Brannon, ordered me out of the headquarters one fall day in 1986. He rang up my editor, Don Williams, and chewed him out.
Later, Don delighted in telling me that Brannon complained I'd grilled him and the other executives as though I were a prosecutor. FirstSouth soon failed; I had uncovered the first signs of bank fraud, which I laid at the door of its outside general counsel, E. Harley Cox Jr. He was later convicted of bank fraud, and served a prison sentence. (President Clinton pardoned Cox on the way out of the White House.)Williams, and later Max Brantley of The Arkansas Gazette; then John Costa at The Idaho Statesman; and Stan Macdonald at The Courier-Journal, and John and Jane Does 1-500 at USA Today, encouraged me to push and push and push some more for the truth. I loved my job then, and I love it even more now.
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
Commentz Korner | Debate whether to moderate!
I promised to keep comments wide open at least through the annual meeting. Before I return to aggressive moderating, I'd like your opinions. Please debate a commenting policy for yours truly.
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
Blind Item | Old Gannett holds a royal wedding
They're assembling now at a familiar location. But will the bride wear white -- or will she favor orange?[Photo: Socialite C.Z. Guest with her son, Alexander, by a Grecian temple at her mother-in-law's Palm Beach home, 1955]
Swine flu | Share your tips and story ideas here!
Got an idea about this growing health crisis? Need an idea? Please post your replies in the comments section, below.
To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Tuesday | April 28 | Annual Meeting Edition
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.)
List | Candidates for the next Detroit CEO
In the pipeline to replace Dave Hunke as chief of the Detroit Media Partnership, after he got named USA Today publisher today.
1. Susie Ellwood, executive vice president and general manager.
2. Paul Anger, editor of the Detroit Free Press, and the top news executive on the paper's recent Pulitzer Prizewinning mayoral investigation.
Now, it's your turn: What are you hearing? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
1. Susie Ellwood, executive vice president and general manager.
2. Paul Anger, editor of the Detroit Free Press, and the top news executive on the paper's recent Pulitzer Prizewinning mayoral investigation.
Now, it's your turn: What are you hearing? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
Detroit | Something's going down, in Motown!
A reliable tipster says: "There will be a 3 p.m. announcement tomorrow in Detroit about Detroit." (My source provided the original tip on Dave Hunke getting named USA Today publisher.)
Separated at birth? Neuharth vs. Neuharth-Ozgo
One of these women got paid $514,646 in fees and expenses as a member of the Freedom Forum board of trustees from 2000-07, the charity's annual public IRS reports show.The other got $100 in monthly child support from Dec. 18, 1963, until she turned 21, according to a copy of an Agreement Compromising Claim for Support of Child Born Out of Wedlock, which she provided to me. The original is filed in Monroe County's Rochester, N.Y.
The individual responsible for these payments declined to discuss the matter when I asked him this morning.
Urgent: Dubow says $40K went to his private fund
Under my questioning during this morning's annual meeting, CEO Craig Dubow finally conceded that $40,000 in Gannett Foundation money he directed to Western Carolina University in North Carolina was deposited in the Craig A. and Denise W. Dubow Scholarship Fund. The fund is off limits to virtually all Gannett employees. He and Executive Director Tara Connell have been dodging the question for more than four months.
Urgent: Dubow, seven other directors re-elected
GCI's directors: Starting on the top row, left to right, with powerful executive committee members in boldface: Dubow, Elias, Harper, Louis, Magner, McCune, McFarland, Shalala, Shapiro and Williams.Shareholders today re-elected Chairman and CEO Craig Dubow, Howard D. Elias, Marjorie Magner, Scott K. McCune, Duncan M. McFarland, Donna E. Shalala, Neal Shapiro and Karen Hastie Williams to the board of directors at the annual meeting. Each received more than 95% of the votes cast, Corporate says.
Urgent: Detroit's Hunke named USAT publisher
The CEO (left) of the Gannett-controlled Detroit newspapers succeeds Craig Moon, who retired April 17 after six years as publisher of the company's flagship, GCI just announced. Dave Hunke's promotion had been rumored for weeks; he has been chief executive of the Detroit Media Partnership since 2005. Also, Corporate formally elevated John Hillkirk to the position of editor, replacing Ken Paulson.
Wausau | Corporate tells pubs: protect readers
From a memo issued by Vice President Kate Marymont of the News Department, according to a reader. I just got a copy; the full document was sent to publishers and editors Friday, the reader says. The subject is: "An update on protecting sources and posters." Her advisory follows a shocking incident of betrayal by the Wausau Daily Herald.
Forums and blogs are powerful tools to let the voiceless be heard. Sometimes the debates and discussions can get heated or ugly. We have to have a high tolerance for debate while at the same time insisting on a certain amount of civility. Our journalists are asked often to identify those who have posted controversial comments. Gannett's policy is to refuse those requests. If a subpoena is served, the law department should be notified and will step in. . . . One caveat: If the post contains a specific threat of violence -- as opposed to a menacing statement -- we will cooperate with or notify authorities.
Please make sure that you are carving out time to discuss these policies with your journalists. With today's hectic pace it's more important than ever that everyone understand our company positions. That will make decisions easier when issues pop up.
From an e-mail I got yesterday from Sherry Weinkauf, Clerk of the Village of Weston; she was responding to an open-records request I filed under Wisconsin state law:
I am in receipt of your open records request addressed to Fred Schuster. I am in the process of assembling this information and should have the documents copied and mailed to you by the end of the week. There is a 25 cent per page copying charge. I will send an invoice along with the documents.
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
Forums and blogs are powerful tools to let the voiceless be heard. Sometimes the debates and discussions can get heated or ugly. We have to have a high tolerance for debate while at the same time insisting on a certain amount of civility. Our journalists are asked often to identify those who have posted controversial comments. Gannett's policy is to refuse those requests. If a subpoena is served, the law department should be notified and will step in. . . . One caveat: If the post contains a specific threat of violence -- as opposed to a menacing statement -- we will cooperate with or notify authorities.Please make sure that you are carving out time to discuss these policies with your journalists. With today's hectic pace it's more important than ever that everyone understand our company positions. That will make decisions easier when issues pop up.
From an e-mail I got yesterday from Sherry Weinkauf, Clerk of the Village of Weston; she was responding to an open-records request I filed under Wisconsin state law:
I am in receipt of your open records request addressed to Fred Schuster. I am in the process of assembling this information and should have the documents copied and mailed to you by the end of the week. There is a 25 cent per page copying charge. I will send an invoice along with the documents.
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Monday | April 27 | Your News & Comments
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.)
Furcations | Why it's so hard to unplug from work
"I was still on Twitter, but I couldn't respond
to work-related comments."
-- Jodi Gersh, Gannett's social media content manager, in a Chicago Tribune story today about unplugging from work during furloughs.
Recap | The wurst cheesy behavior is in Wausau!
Gannett Blog readers wrote 1,188 comments last week on posts you may have missed, including these:
In a move that would be merely cheesy if it weren't such an ethical disaster, the Wausau Daily Herald handed over a reader's identity to a local government official after the reader made fun of his weight in anonymous comments on the paper's website. Next, we debated the cost of employee benefits for copy editors as The Ithaca Journal joined the Star-Gazette and the Press & Sun-Bulletin in establishing a central New York production hub at Binghamton. Finally, I tag-clouded, Twittered and generally drove management's allies into a big ol' tizzy over some sort of meeting taking place Tuesday morning at Gannett headquarters.
[Photo: The original Cheesehead hat, Foamation]
In a move that would be merely cheesy if it weren't such an ethical disaster, the Wausau Daily Herald handed over a reader's identity to a local government official after the reader made fun of his weight in anonymous comments on the paper's website. Next, we debated the cost of employee benefits for copy editors as The Ithaca Journal joined the Star-Gazette and the Press & Sun-Bulletin in establishing a central New York production hub at Binghamton. Finally, I tag-clouded, Twittered and generally drove management's allies into a big ol' tizzy over some sort of meeting taking place Tuesday morning at Gannett headquarters.[Photo: The original Cheesehead hat, Foamation]
List | How to Twitter a tax-return examination
I'm visiting the Gannett Foundation's offices at headquarters in McLean, Va., to examine the charity's public tax reports to the IRS. Under federal law, these Forms 990-PF are available for public inspection during business hours. Things I'll need:1. Post-it notes.
2. iPhone.
3. General Counsel Kurt Wimmer's phone number, for legal questions.
4. In the event Wimmer isn't available, the last known home address, home phone number and other contact information I got for presiding Director Karen Hastie Williams:
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Sunday | April 26 | Your News & Comments
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.)
Connell: Foundation tax returns available 9 a.m. ET
I received the following note from Gannett Foundation Executive Director Tara Connell. She is responding to my request to examine the foundation's public tax returns at the charity's office at Gannett headquarters in McLean, Va. Note: I plan to live-blog my examination.Jim, the office will be open at 9 a.m. on Monday. As required by law, the foundation will make available copies of its Form 990-PFs filed within the past three years.
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
[Photo: That's me and my new Chinese-made Newseum baseball cap]
Newseum | I'm live-blogging here this morning
[No Wi-Fi: The message greeting me when I tested the guest signal]
Guess what? The world's "most interactive museum" doesn't have public Wi-Fi access, say employees. And that's just the first of many things I've noticed during my first hour here:- No discount for laid-off journalists, or former Gannett employees. I had to pay the full $20 admission charge.
- No employee has yet to accurately describe to me the relationship between Gannett, the Gannett Foundation, Freedom Forum and the Newseum.
- So far, three employees told me they've never heard of Gannett.
Calling all First Amendment attorneys in D.C.
I need one ASAP! Please contact me via gannettblog@gmail.com.
Brief iPhone post; updates later.
Brief iPhone post; updates later.
Wausau | Is this the future of ethical journalism?
I wish I could attend this sold-out conference on Friday at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. It couldn't be more timely, given the unfolding journalism ethics disaster at the Wausau Daily Herald:
Join leading journalists, scholars, and media experts to explore the future of ethical journalism in the public interest. Is ethics possible in a time of economic cutbacks and uncertainty? What ethical norms should guide journalism amid a media revolution?
Speakers will include:
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
Join leading journalists, scholars, and media experts to explore the future of ethical journalism in the public interest. Is ethics possible in a time of economic cutbacks and uncertainty? What ethical norms should guide journalism amid a media revolution?
Speakers will include:
- Clark Hoyt, public editor, The New York Times
- Owen Ullmann, deputy managing editor/news, USA Today
- Stephen J.A. Ward, James E. Burgess Professor of Journalism Ethics, UW-Madison
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
Faith | What I say when I'm afraid
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.
Timeline | Anatomy of a disaster in Wausau, Wis.
This is a story about what happens when a newspaper fails its most basic function: to serve as a watchdog over government. In late December, the 20,000-circulation Wausau Daily Herald named a local government official its Person of the Year -- despite signs he's been bullying local residents.
When a reader criticized the official -- Dean Zuleger -- in anonymous comments on the paper's website, Zuleger sent the citizen a threatening letter to his home address, using the citizen's real name. There's evidence the Daily Herald gave that personally identifiable information to Zuleger. What follows is a timeline of these events.
Dec. 28
The Daily Herald publishes a feature profile and accompanying editorial announcing that it's named Village of Weston Administrator Dean Zuleger (left) the paper's Person of the Year.
The village has about 12,000 residents. Zuleger is chosen over six other candidates, including an 89-year-old woman who donated $100,000 plus land for a new animal shelter, and the head of a food pantry who saved the non-profit by leading a successful $500,000 fundraising drive.
Both the profile and editorial include red flags that should have caught the attention of editors -- and Publisher Michael Beck.
The headine over the profile says, "Zuleger's intensity earns him 2008 honors." From the profile: "At times this intensity shows itself in anger, or the occasional verbal outburst. Zuleger doesn't hold grudges, and often his anger disappears as quickly as it flared up. But it does flare up. 'That's a weakness in my life. I've got a temper,' Zuleger said. 'Quite frankly, I'm sometimes embarrassed by that.'"
From the unsigned editorial: "His temper sometimes gets the better of him -- and we here at the newspaper know of that firsthand. Daily Herald reporters and editors have been on the receiving end of his outbursts more than once. He doesn't always take criticism well -- that noise you hear right now is his teeth grinding as he reads this sentence."
The profile and editorial do not mention the fact that Zuleger is one of the state's highest-paid city managers: His base pay is $118,000 a year. And he's about to get a bonus on top of that.
Many Wausau residents were angered by the paper's Zuleger honor. Negative comments posted online became such a problem that the paper apparently removed all of them, and shut down commenting entirely. We know this because of a letter the Daily Herald published within a week.
Jan. 6
"Online comments were horrid,'' says the headline over that letter: "I would like to ask that next year the Daily Herald not hold a 'Person of the Year' award because, frankly, I do not want to go through the hurt of knowing that I live in a community that can be so outright horrid to its recipient. . . . I have known the inaugural winner, Dean Zuleger, almost my whole life and consider him my friend. . . . What I don't understand is why many of you feel the need to be so blatantly cruel in comments left on the story online."
Jan. 16
Getting named Person of the Year likely didn't hurt Zuleger's standing with the village's elected board of trustees. "Village Administrator Dean Zuleger was awarded a $5,000 bonus for meeting 2008 performance goals outlined in his contract,'' the paper reported, in a story that noted the bonus was "unusual" in the area. The Daily Herald then quotes the village's finance director saying something absurd: "John Jacobs, finance director, said the bonus did not increase village expenses because officials found offsetting savings on a state contract and in the municipal building budget."
A Daily Herald reader isn't convinced: "The only reason that he got this bonus is because everyone is afraid of him,'' the reader, zachoaray5, says in a comment on the bonus story. "I wish somebody could just take a stand for once!"
Jan. 23
In a new editorial, the same editorial board that declared Zuleger Person of the Year now discovers something it didn't know. "It was a surprise to learn that the Village Board had rewarded Zuleger with a $5,000 bonus on top of his $118,000 annual salary,'' the editors say. "This is the same Village Board that grappled with a $32,000 budget deficit last fall. It's the same group of people who increased the property tax rate to balance the budget and cut 1% from all department budgets to build a contingency fund. Awarding the bonus was the wrong decision for two reasons: Weston taxpayers simply can't afford such financial rewards right now, and it is imprudent public policy. Elected officials shouldn't tell taxpayers the budget is so tight it requires more money from them just to keep operating, then turn around and find money for an extra pay raise for their top guy."
But having declared Zuleger its favorite, Beck and the rest of the editorial board now have no choice but to stick with their guy: "Let us be clear about one thing, however. This editorial is not a criticism of Dean Zuleger and certainly not of the work he has done these past eight years for Weston taxpayers,'' the editorial says. "Zuleger easily could point to tens of thousands of dollars he has saved taxpayers over the years, and hundreds of thousands in new revenue he helped to generate by encouraging growth. On top of that, Zuleger says he told the board he did not want the bonus. When the board insisted by approving it, he gave part of the money to charity. And we should point out that although he is paid handsomely, Zuleger deserves credit for freezing his own salary this year. Rather, this is a criticism of the idea of awarding bonuses and automatic pay raises to public employees with little regard for the current state of the local economy."
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
[Photo: Daily Herald]
When a reader criticized the official -- Dean Zuleger -- in anonymous comments on the paper's website, Zuleger sent the citizen a threatening letter to his home address, using the citizen's real name. There's evidence the Daily Herald gave that personally identifiable information to Zuleger. What follows is a timeline of these events.
Dec. 28The Daily Herald publishes a feature profile and accompanying editorial announcing that it's named Village of Weston Administrator Dean Zuleger (left) the paper's Person of the Year.
The village has about 12,000 residents. Zuleger is chosen over six other candidates, including an 89-year-old woman who donated $100,000 plus land for a new animal shelter, and the head of a food pantry who saved the non-profit by leading a successful $500,000 fundraising drive.
Both the profile and editorial include red flags that should have caught the attention of editors -- and Publisher Michael Beck.
The headine over the profile says, "Zuleger's intensity earns him 2008 honors." From the profile: "At times this intensity shows itself in anger, or the occasional verbal outburst. Zuleger doesn't hold grudges, and often his anger disappears as quickly as it flared up. But it does flare up. 'That's a weakness in my life. I've got a temper,' Zuleger said. 'Quite frankly, I'm sometimes embarrassed by that.'"
From the unsigned editorial: "His temper sometimes gets the better of him -- and we here at the newspaper know of that firsthand. Daily Herald reporters and editors have been on the receiving end of his outbursts more than once. He doesn't always take criticism well -- that noise you hear right now is his teeth grinding as he reads this sentence."
The profile and editorial do not mention the fact that Zuleger is one of the state's highest-paid city managers: His base pay is $118,000 a year. And he's about to get a bonus on top of that.
Many Wausau residents were angered by the paper's Zuleger honor. Negative comments posted online became such a problem that the paper apparently removed all of them, and shut down commenting entirely. We know this because of a letter the Daily Herald published within a week.
Jan. 6
"Online comments were horrid,'' says the headline over that letter: "I would like to ask that next year the Daily Herald not hold a 'Person of the Year' award because, frankly, I do not want to go through the hurt of knowing that I live in a community that can be so outright horrid to its recipient. . . . I have known the inaugural winner, Dean Zuleger, almost my whole life and consider him my friend. . . . What I don't understand is why many of you feel the need to be so blatantly cruel in comments left on the story online."
Jan. 16
Getting named Person of the Year likely didn't hurt Zuleger's standing with the village's elected board of trustees. "Village Administrator Dean Zuleger was awarded a $5,000 bonus for meeting 2008 performance goals outlined in his contract,'' the paper reported, in a story that noted the bonus was "unusual" in the area. The Daily Herald then quotes the village's finance director saying something absurd: "John Jacobs, finance director, said the bonus did not increase village expenses because officials found offsetting savings on a state contract and in the municipal building budget."
A Daily Herald reader isn't convinced: "The only reason that he got this bonus is because everyone is afraid of him,'' the reader, zachoaray5, says in a comment on the bonus story. "I wish somebody could just take a stand for once!"
Jan. 23
In a new editorial, the same editorial board that declared Zuleger Person of the Year now discovers something it didn't know. "It was a surprise to learn that the Village Board had rewarded Zuleger with a $5,000 bonus on top of his $118,000 annual salary,'' the editors say. "This is the same Village Board that grappled with a $32,000 budget deficit last fall. It's the same group of people who increased the property tax rate to balance the budget and cut 1% from all department budgets to build a contingency fund. Awarding the bonus was the wrong decision for two reasons: Weston taxpayers simply can't afford such financial rewards right now, and it is imprudent public policy. Elected officials shouldn't tell taxpayers the budget is so tight it requires more money from them just to keep operating, then turn around and find money for an extra pay raise for their top guy."
But having declared Zuleger its favorite, Beck and the rest of the editorial board now have no choice but to stick with their guy: "Let us be clear about one thing, however. This editorial is not a criticism of Dean Zuleger and certainly not of the work he has done these past eight years for Weston taxpayers,'' the editorial says. "Zuleger easily could point to tens of thousands of dollars he has saved taxpayers over the years, and hundreds of thousands in new revenue he helped to generate by encouraging growth. On top of that, Zuleger says he told the board he did not want the bonus. When the board insisted by approving it, he gave part of the money to charity. And we should point out that although he is paid handsomely, Zuleger deserves credit for freezing his own salary this year. Rather, this is a criticism of the idea of awarding bonuses and automatic pay raises to public employees with little regard for the current state of the local economy."
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
[Photo: Daily Herald]
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Saturday | April 25 | Your News & Comments
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.)
What I'm doing right now
10:02 p.m., Washington, D.C., time: Posting a photo of two old dachshunds I met earlier today.
Pay survey | How much do copy editors make?
I got taken to task today for suggesting copy editors make an average $40,000 a year at The Ithaca Journal, where copy editing and design moves to one of the new regional production hubs this weekend.Anonymous@3:52 p.m. says: "$28,000 is a better guess."
Now, it's your turn, copy editors; please provide your annual pay, plus your circulation size from one of these four ranges.
- Under 25,000 copies
- 25,000 to 50,000
- 50,001 to 75,000
- More than 75,000
Ithaca | Newspapers, gardens -- and fertilizer
Ithaca Journal General Manager Bruce Estes today concludes his three-part explainer about this weekend's formal launch of a regional production hub serving the Journal, the Press & Sun-Bulletin at Binghamton, and the Star-Gazette at Elmira."All three of the newspapers will be produced from central design and copy editing operations," says Estes, who also is managing editor. "Those desks will be supplied by news and photos produced by reporters, photographers and editors at each newsroom in those three communities. Keeping that distinctly local flavor will be a critical part of this effort."
Today's column relies very heavily on a gardening metaphor. And like a garden, it's full of shi -- err, fertilizer! So, here are three more steps, to spinning the death of a newspaper:
1. Use negative language. "Changing the helter-skelter page plans the Journal and most daily newspapers have used for decades will be the big change readers will see on Monday. We'll shift to more standardized grids. That will make designing pages less time consuming." [Jim says: Helter-skelter? Pul-leeze! It's called being quirky and distinct. Standardized grids! Oh, boy; sounds so much like McDonalds!]
2. Allow plenty of wiggle room. "Sometimes all three of us will choose the same news story -- perhaps an article on proposed regulations for natural gas exploration. In that case the article would likely appear in the same spot for each newspaper." [Sometimes? Let's check back in three months to see the actual percentage.]
3. Blame it on the excuse du jour. "This plan will reduce the number of people needed to produce all three newspapers. That is the sad part of it. Jobs held by some very good people can no longer be sustained in the economic downturn. There is no escaping that painful reality embedded in this plan." [Hah! Divide $875,000 by the average cost of employing one of your copy editors -- say, $60,000, with benefits -- and the inescapable suddenly looks, well, escapable.]
Bottom line: The Journal tells readers their paper "gets a new look on Monday." Did customers ask for a new look? Or did they ask that you stop making changes that only degrade your website -- like forcing a split in articles, solely to drive up page views?
"I sure hope these 'grids" are not 'frames,'' reader Brutus_R_Yates says, in a comment on the column. "It is bad enough we have stories with video's attached that start with ads that you can't mute. This whole split the articles onto two or more pages while requiring you to still scroll down to reach the link to the next page is annoying, too."
Related: installments No. 1 and No. 2 in the Estes series.
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
Wausau | How to write a public records request
I've just sent the following letter:
April 24, 2009
Fred Schuster
President, board of trustees
Village of Weston
5500 Schofield Ave.
Weston, WI 54476
Via dzuleger@westonwisconsin.org
Mr. Schuster:
Pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 19.31-19.39 (2003), also known as the Open Records Law, I am seeking access to all public documents concerning [XXXX XXXX], a private citizen of Wisconsin.
My request includes but is not limited to any public documents about correspondence about and among [XXXX XXXX]; Dean Zuleger, administrator of the Village of Weston; acting police Chief Scott Sleeter, and Michael Beck, publisher of the Wausau Daily Herald. Finally, my request also includes all public documents concerning Zuleger's employee personnel records.
I look forward to your reply.
Jim Hopkins
April 24, 2009
Fred Schuster
President, board of trustees
Village of Weston
5500 Schofield Ave.
Weston, WI 54476
Via dzuleger@westonwisconsin.org
Mr. Schuster:
Pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 19.31-19.39 (2003), also known as the Open Records Law, I am seeking access to all public documents concerning [XXXX XXXX], a private citizen of Wisconsin.
My request includes but is not limited to any public documents about correspondence about and among [XXXX XXXX]; Dean Zuleger, administrator of the Village of Weston; acting police Chief Scott Sleeter, and Michael Beck, publisher of the Wausau Daily Herald. Finally, my request also includes all public documents concerning Zuleger's employee personnel records.
I look forward to your reply.
Jim Hopkins
What I'm doing right now
6:33 p.m. ET: Taking a self-portrait earlier tonight, while looking out the window from seat 32A of a Boeing 757 bound for Washington, D.C.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Friday | April 24 | Your News & Comments
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.)
Bullies | Things people say to threaten my safety
"Jim needs to feel the flames. He's a
coward encouraging other cowards, and he
should be punished severely.
Nothing is too extreme for him."
-- Anonymous@7:15 p.m., criticizing my reporting about a Wausau Daily Herald reader whose identity was given to a government official he criticized anonymously on the paper's website.
Wausau | How to ask a pub if evidence is secure
I just sent the following e-mail from the back seat of a taxicab, as I barrel into Washington, D.C.
April 24, 2009
Michael Beck
Publisher
Wausau Daily Herald
Wausau, Wis.
Via e-mail
Mr. Beck:
Under your watch, the Wausau Daily Herald bowed to the demands of a local government official, unhappy that a reader was writing derogatory comments about him on your paper's website. The reader assures me they did not write any threatening remarks about the official, Village of Weston Supervisor Dean Zuleger. Further, the reader says, the Herald staff has never flagged as inappropriate any of the reader's comments.
My questions:
1. Have the comments at issue been secured, so they won't be deleted or altered, pending any civil or criminal review of the matter?
2. What comments, if any, did you rely upon in concluding the reader posed a danger to Administrator Dean Zuleger? Please provide URLs to those comments, so the public may evaluate them.
3. What was the sequence of events leading to the paper's decision to turn over the reader's personally identifiable information to Zuleger.
4. What conversations have you personally had with Zuleger about Herald website comments that displeased him?
5. How many other readers' personally identifiable information have you released to Zuleger? In each case, what were the events leading to the release of the information to Zuleger?
6. When was your last conversation with the reader in the Zuleger case?
7. In a letter today, the reader told me: "The WDH acquiesced to Zuleger's demands for political expedience and to silence a dissenter." What is your response, please, to that serious accusation?
8. Based on your handling of this case, how would you describe the Wausau community's trust and faith in the Daily Herald to give voice to the disenfranchised?
I look forward to your response.
Jim Hopkins
Michael Beck
Publisher
Wausau Daily Herald
Wausau, Wis.
Via e-mail
Mr. Beck:
Under your watch, the Wausau Daily Herald bowed to the demands of a local government official, unhappy that a reader was writing derogatory comments about him on your paper's website. The reader assures me they did not write any threatening remarks about the official, Village of Weston Supervisor Dean Zuleger. Further, the reader says, the Herald staff has never flagged as inappropriate any of the reader's comments.
My questions:
1. Have the comments at issue been secured, so they won't be deleted or altered, pending any civil or criminal review of the matter?
2. What comments, if any, did you rely upon in concluding the reader posed a danger to Administrator Dean Zuleger? Please provide URLs to those comments, so the public may evaluate them.
3. What was the sequence of events leading to the paper's decision to turn over the reader's personally identifiable information to Zuleger.
4. What conversations have you personally had with Zuleger about Herald website comments that displeased him?
5. How many other readers' personally identifiable information have you released to Zuleger? In each case, what were the events leading to the release of the information to Zuleger?
6. When was your last conversation with the reader in the Zuleger case?
7. In a letter today, the reader told me: "The WDH acquiesced to Zuleger's demands for political expedience and to silence a dissenter." What is your response, please, to that serious accusation?
8. Based on your handling of this case, how would you describe the Wausau community's trust and faith in the Daily Herald to give voice to the disenfranchised?
I look forward to your response.
Jim Hopkins
Reader charges Wausau bowed to 'demands for political expedience and to silence a dissenter'
Honorable journalists seek to give voice to the disenfranchised; this is a story about what happens when we lose sight of that goal. The following e-mail was written by a Wausau man almost certainly thrown under the bus by the Wausau Daily Herald, after he stood up to a local government official who used tax money to investigate and intimidate him. The official, Village of Weston Administrator Dean Zuleger, wrote a letter on official village stationery, threatening legal action against the man. Zuleger also said he shared the letter with the police chief and other village officials in steps the victim regarded as an effort at further intimidation.The Wausau man wrote to me after I asked how he felt about the newspaper's handling of the case.
Jim,
I thought about this hard overnight and I have come to the conclusion that the status quo of the Wausau Daily Herald and its relationship with Dean Zuleger is toxic and must be allowed to see the light of day.
1. I have written numerous open letters (with my real name) to the paper, often criticising their editorial positions. I have also voiced views opposing the WDH using my online name.
2. I have been a very vocal opponent of Weston Village Administrator Dean Zuleger and the Village Board: his actions in office, the ordinances passed by the board, and Zuleger's overall megalomaniacal, in my opinion, tendencies in the way he conducts his affairs.
3. I believe it is becoming clear that Zuleger strong-armed the Daily Herald into releasing my information. Armed with that information, Zuleger proceeded to use public resources to exhaustively research my background and produce a personal letter written on Village of Weston stationery. The somewhat cordial tone of the letter is a thin facade for a message that says:
"We know who you are, we oppose your dissent, and we have released your name to other top officials, we have the ability to use public resources to research your personal information, and we will be watching you.''
4. The WDH will claim they are in full compliance with their Terms of Service. True. Yet, they stated publicly they have a policy of reviewing news forum posts and have protocols for addressing the censure and banishment of inappropriate forum contributors. Never have my comments been called into question by the WDH editorial staff. The WDH acquiesced to Zueleger's demands for political expedience and to silence a dissenter.
Please do everything in your power to expose the truth. I'm a bit scared, but this backside muffling of dissent and abuse of power needs to be exposed.
Best wishes,
[XXXXX XXXXX]
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
[Today's front page, Newseum]
I'm offline until around 9 p.m. ET
I'm traveling to Washington, D.C., on the first leg of my trip back east for Tuesday's annual shareholders meeting. Comments won't be moderated until then. Yikes! Short iPhone post.
Saridakis: 'What part of the Internet isn't a mess?'
I received the following moments ago from Chief Digital Officer Chris Saridakis (left).The influential senior vice president is responding to my questions early today about an unfolding controversy over privacy rights of a Wausau Daily Herald reader whose identity was given to a government official he criticized anonymously on the paper's website.
Hi Jim,
I do not have much to comment about this particular issue in Wausau. With regard to it being a "mess," what part of the Internet isn't a mess, when it comes to content sharing, redistribution rights, privacy, fact checking, digital rights, etc.?
Best,
Chris
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
[Photo: Gannett]
Privacy | How we grant ourselves too much power
"We may occasionally release information about our visitors if required to do so by law or if,
in our business judgment,
such disclosure is reasonably necessary."
-- Gannett's online Privacy Policy, emphasis added, after a March 4 update that I don't think GCI publicized very prominently.
Urgent: Reader outed by Wausau newspaper denies threatening local official, editorial board honoree
The reader at the center of an unfolding privacy controversy at the 20,000-circ. Wausau Daily Herald denies the publisher's suggestions that he posed threatening comments on the paper's website, directed at supervisor Dean Zuleger of the nearby Village of Weston.
Zuleger, the tiny community's appointed top executive, was named Person of the Year by the Daily Herald's editorial board only four months ago. Notably, the reader says, Zuleger manages police services for the village of 12,000, in an area whose most famous export is Google's Marissa Mayer, one of the world's most powerful women.
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
[Yesterday's front page, Newseum]
Zuleger, the tiny community's appointed top executive, was named Person of the Year by the Daily Herald's editorial board only four months ago. Notably, the reader says, Zuleger manages police services for the village of 12,000, in an area whose most famous export is Google's Marissa Mayer, one of the world's most powerful women.
In a telephone interview, the reader acknowledged posting comments under an assumed name -- JUANMOORE -- after registering on the Herald's site. More than a few times, the reader conceded making derogatory remarks about Zuleger (left) -- including about his weight. The comments were never violent, the reader assured me, twice.
In registering, the reader says they supplied an e-mail address containing their full name to the Herald; only three other people knew this. But at some point -- certainly by April 14 -- Zuleger had the reader's e-mail address. The reader worries Zuleger may have next accessed police or fire department records to obtain his home address.
Uses official stationery
Ten days ago, in an April 14 letter sent to the reader's home, Zuleger accused the reader of being his critic JUANMOORE: "Clearly, I have agitated you -- to the point that you have even sought to comment on my weight and appearance which, by he way, establishes the 'actual malice' test that would need to be passed to pursue legal action against you."
He wrote the letter on official Village of Weston stationery. During a fairly brisk phone interview I had with Zuleger earlier yesterday, he stopped answering most of my questions after conceding that he'd used some taxpayer resources to research and write the letter.
In registering, the reader says they supplied an e-mail address containing their full name to the Herald; only three other people knew this. But at some point -- certainly by April 14 -- Zuleger had the reader's e-mail address. The reader worries Zuleger may have next accessed police or fire department records to obtain his home address.
Uses official stationery
Ten days ago, in an April 14 letter sent to the reader's home, Zuleger accused the reader of being his critic JUANMOORE: "Clearly, I have agitated you -- to the point that you have even sought to comment on my weight and appearance which, by he way, establishes the 'actual malice' test that would need to be passed to pursue legal action against you."
He wrote the letter on official Village of Weston stationery. During a fairly brisk phone interview I had with Zuleger earlier yesterday, he stopped answering most of my questions after conceding that he'd used some taxpayer resources to research and write the letter.
Last night, in an e-mail, Publisher Mike Beck said he wouldn't discuss the Zuleger matter -- but, then, he sort of did: "We abide by our online terms of use. They do not guarantee anonymity,'' Beck wrote. "I won't address the Zuleger story. However, I can envision a scenario where we would release contact information for someone making comments on our site. For instance, if someone were making threatening comments."
The unsigned editorial announcing the honor for Zuleger said: "When domestic violence claimed lives in Weston, Zuleger asked himself, 'What is the strength of this community?' And the answer was, its people. So he incorporated the people, the government and the police into one effort: Weston Men Respect."
Gannett Bloggers react
Anonymous@9:35 a.m. asks when commenting on someone's weight became grounds for actual malice: "Sounds like a very sensitive official here, and someone trying to bluster a reader and constituent into submission. Good for the reader not to take this lying down and to raise this to another level. That brings us to the newspaper. Were there court papers served here, or was this just a request from someone the newspaper favored? Looks like the latter to me, and that is wrong, wrong, wrong. We can have no confidence with our readers by kissing up to local government officials this way."
Herald circ down modestly
The unsigned editorial announcing the honor for Zuleger said: "When domestic violence claimed lives in Weston, Zuleger asked himself, 'What is the strength of this community?' And the answer was, its people. So he incorporated the people, the government and the police into one effort: Weston Men Respect."
Gannett Bloggers react
Anonymous@9:35 a.m. asks when commenting on someone's weight became grounds for actual malice: "Sounds like a very sensitive official here, and someone trying to bluster a reader and constituent into submission. Good for the reader not to take this lying down and to raise this to another level. That brings us to the newspaper. Were there court papers served here, or was this just a request from someone the newspaper favored? Looks like the latter to me, and that is wrong, wrong, wrong. We can have no confidence with our readers by kissing up to local government officials this way."
Herald circ down modestly
As of Sept. 30, according to Deutsche Bank: 20,461 daily, down 2.4% from a year before; Sunday, 49,195, down 2.5%. The paper is in the state's east; better-known Green Bay is 97 miles southeast. Gannett owns 10 dailies in the state: the Herald and the Green Bay Press-Gazette, plus eight others via the big Thomson Newspapers deal. That was for 19 dailies, many in Ohio, for $1.13 billion in July 2000.
The Wisconsin papers have undergone considerable consolidation in recent years, ahead of the rest of the community newspaper division -- and perhaps contributing to the Zuleger case.
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
[Yesterday's front page, Newseum]
Tipster: 50 digital ad reps laid off on slow sales
Remember the 50 or so digital advertising sales representatives Corporate hired for the newspaper division, as a parallel sales force to those selling print? Forgetaboutit! "The project is being/was killed,'' my tipster says. They hear the combined sales generated by the reps amounted to less than $150,000.
Can anyone confirm -- and add detail? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
Can anyone confirm -- and add detail? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
How to write a letter to GCI's Chief Digital Officer
I sent the following at 12:18 a.m. ET:
April 23, 2009
Chris:
This appears to be a mess. Thoughts?
http://gannettblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Wausau
Jim Hopkins
cc: Tara Connell, vice president for communications; Kate Marymont, vice president, News Department
April 23, 2009
Chris:
This appears to be a mess. Thoughts?
http://gannettblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Wausau
Jim Hopkins
cc: Tara Connell, vice president for communications; Kate Marymont, vice president, News Department
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