There's no doubt you are in a tough place with this blog; today's posts about mass TV layoffs of webmasters is a great example. True? Not true? Who knows, and the crowdsourcing tediously rolls on.
It leaves you with a world of anonymous tipsters, most of whom either have grudges or don't know the true facts. Hard to sort out.
And that's why many of us out here in Gannett Land wish you would be the responsible grownup here. Be skeptical? Yes, and you should be the most skeptical of all.Instead, you chase every morsel of 'news' here and people are beginning to take advantage of you -- witness the Tara "memo."
In contrast, the list of layoffs, the reporting, is the blog at it's best.
The company is imploding; there's plenty of drama to go around without coming up with new single bullet theories.
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: I'm eating a late lunch of hummus and baked pita chips -- just $4.95! -- while setting up this post and checking e-mail]
What follows is a tale that is true and based on first-hand experience with one high-profile Gannett newspaper and a former high-level Gannett editor from back in the day. It dates back to the late 1980s and shows that nothing has really changed. I offer it as a heads-up for anyone who thinks everything is just fine at Gannett or USA TODAY. This is indeed a company with a long history of creating problems in people's lives, and probably is why this blog is so well-read compared to most company blogs.
ReplyDeleteI was warned many years ago by a high-level ex-Gannett editor from the Midwest to not pursue a job with USA TODAY, my dream newspaper at the time. He said it would eventually ruin my career and, as it turned out, he was correct. I am now out of journalism and having USA TODAY on my resume hurts more than it helps. I should have listened to that editor. He himself ran from Gannett twice as the company bought the papers where he worked. He saw what they did, how they operated, and wanted no part of running a newsroom the Gannett way. Interesting to note how many editors USA TODAY has had in its short history.
This is a terribly flawed company, particularly for most folks over 50 who still cling to journalistic values, honesty and hard work. I could go on and on about what occurs behind the scenes at USA TODAY, but will save it for another time.
In case you think I am making this up, I will give you the editor's name (he's dead now). His name was Bob Gallagher. He worked in Green Bay and Detroit. If I would have listened to him, I might still be in journalism.
Like that editor tried to do for me, I am advising anyone who cares to listen to understand what USA TODAY is and isn't. The smoke and mirrors games that are played there might seem harmless, but odds are you will not leave there happy. By staying, you are not building up stability on your resume, you are taking a chance of being seen as damaged goods by legitimate media. Of course, in this day and age, there is very little legitimate media left.