Monday, May 18, 2009

Monday | May 18 | Your News & Comments

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39 comments:

  1. Associated Press May 17th 2009
    The economic downturn has forced several newspapers to cut back or even shut down, but some street papers produced and sold by the homeless are reporting record circulations:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBHyDxbQOPY

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  4. Couple things.....

    I work and CNY and I have not heard about any unionization effort.....another rumor I think.

    Dubow has a herniated disk from carrying his huge paycheck to the bank....poor guy.

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  5. The Sunday posting on the supposed Detroit News/Free Press 150 new layoffs was based on a business pub story written by Bill Shea. Pay no attention.

    Shea is a disgruntled ex whose writing talent is dubious at BEST.

    If the rumors turn out to be true, Shea will be the most surprised of all that something he wrote turned out to be true.

    Most of what we see on this site is accurate, but not the messy writing coming from this business publication in Detroit.

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  6. Sorry 11:01, supervisors have already started telling certain folks their services will not be needed. I would say 150 folks eliminated in Detroit will be conservative. The quotes in the story from their marketing VP Rich H. are accurate.

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  7. "Shea is a disgruntled ex whose writing talent is dubious at BEST.

    If the rumors turn out to be true, Shea will be the most surprised of all that something he wrote turned out to be true."

    How brave you are to post that anonymously. And why should we listen to you?

    Zero credibility.

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  8. Just curious. What's going on today in Tucson?

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  9. A note: Editorial staffers were told editorial cuts have to be divided fairly between both the News and the Free Press. Part-timers will be affected as well.

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  10. Re: 12:33

    I would LOVE to be at this hearing!! Talk about some legal heavyweights!

    http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2009/05/17/prospective-citizen-buyer-says-showdown-is-set-for-monday-morn

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  11. Here's the latest in Tucson. Would love to be at this hearing of legal heavyweights!

    http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2009/05/17/prospective-citizen-buyer-says-showdown-is-set-for-monday-morn

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  12. So, based on 12:35 p.m.'s post, the current JOA is not meant to undermine the Detroit News. In fact, the News' staff is only slightly smaller than that of the Free Press. And the JOA agreement calls for the News' editorial budget to remain at a fixed percentage of the Freep's budget.
    Guess all these facts undercut the ridiculous rants of some Freepers that their paper will soon become a "regional" paper. LOL!

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  13. It's only a matter of time before Detroit shuts down completely, and I'm not just talking about the News and Freep. I'm talking about the entire city.

    They couldn't even fill Joe Louis Arena for a Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on Sunday and I know it's the NHL but comon, it's Hockey Town. The Joe is always full until now.

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  14. Hello Jim? We have a major layoff underway in Detroit and the Blog is out to lunch. The Detroit delivery experiment is a failure, yet the last comment is nearly 2 hours old with no post to update us.

    Getting restless...

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  15. 7:44, perhaps you haven't heard because you are not a newsroom employee. Its fairly evident from your post that your english language skills are not up to par.
    And for the record, 16 people showed up on Saturday. Looks like we might have a union shop soon.

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  16. Sorry about that 2:09 pm; I've been working on my other blog.

    I've now set up a new Detroit Confidential forum, just for any layoff news. It's at the top of the homepage; here's a short URL: http://tinyurl.com/okdz3q

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  17. 7:44, also you might not know about our unionizing efforts because we either don't trust you, or you are a troll.
    We're not taking chances, and we're not leaving a trail for HR to follow.

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  18. More trouble for USA TODAY blue chip circulation...


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  19. 1:41 is correct on JOA points, but Singleton's deal runs out in a year or so. The regional paper may be a reach, but continuing to cut the hell out of (or completely eliminating) the Hometown newspapers, Livingston, Lansing, Battle Creek and Port Huron isn't.

    The Tucson situation also opens the doors for the News to go online only. Singleton gives a crap about the News staff. If Gannett pays him enough each year, he will go along with a similar deal that Gannett got with Lee in Tucson.

    Gannett must like Hunke very much to let him go to USA Today before announcing with layoffs and that the great "experiment" is a huge failure. According to sources in Finance, they knew just weeks after it began that it was failing and more layoffs were going to be needed.

    I say it is time for Suzie E to have another expensive management retreat to plan their next experiment or to place more calls to consultants for ideas.

    One of my favorite retreats was the one Suzie renamed the Detroit advertising department "the do crew" and handed out t-shirts with a snazzy logo and everything. At the same retreat, Hunke got up and had a young web hire explain about the "new and exciting" feature they were going to use at freep.com and detnews.com to stem the tide of declining advertising -- rollover ads.

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  20. No, 3:16 p.m. Singleton's "deal" does not run out in a year. In fact, the JOA is to go on until 2025, about 16 years from now. What you are refering to is that Singleton will have to cover the Detroit News editorial costs in about a year. Everyone I have talked to at the News--and I know A LOT of people--says Singleton is very committed to the paper. In fact, he has publicly gushed at public forums about the fun of running the News. He also has repeatedly shot down the News-is-going-Web-only rumor--a tale passed around by Freepers who clearly don't have enough to do-- in meetings with the News staff.

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  21. 3:07

    That is very old news. Where have you been?

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  22. Hey 3:07: Not sure there's trouble. Just received in my personal e-mail account:
    _______________________

    We take pride in passing on tips to make the most of your travel experience.

    This just in:

    To continue receiving guestroom delivery of USA TODAY at participating Marriott hotels*, guests will need to identify their preference for USA TODAY in their Marriott Rewards® Online Account.

    Once you've made your selection, you'll continue to receive a complimentary issue of USA TODAY every time you stay at a participating Marriott.

    Don't have a Marriott Rewards Online Account? Click here to create one now or simply stop by Marriott's front desk on your next visit and request to have USA TODAY delivered to your room.

    This change begins June 1st. We want to make sure you don't miss this opportunity to receive your complimentary newspaper. We look forward to continuing to deliver the news you want, wherever your travels may take you.

    Regards,

    - USA TODAY

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  23. Amir said...

    I.
    Really.
    Suck.

    Jim isn't monitoring so let's see how long this stays. Maybe I'll do a little wallpapering!

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  24. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  25. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  26. I've started reading Al N's book, Confessions of a SOB.
    What an egotistical, immoral jerk!

    So far it's not worth the buck I paid for it. But because I figure I should read it, I'm going to keep working on it.

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  27. Arizona Attorney General sues Gannett over Tucson Citizen

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  28. The point about decreasing blue chip circulation at Marriott refers to consumers not having a choice in the past.

    Now, even if 10-15% choose another paper, that's significant.

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  29. http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/frontpage/116713.php

    The fat lady hasn't quite started singing yet. Judge to rule tomorrow on the restraining order to keep the Tucson Citizen open.

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  30. If Warren Buffett wouldn't buy a newspaper at any price, even though he reads five a day, isn't the writing on the wall for almost all newspapers?

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  31. St Cloud MN had to scramble as the Gannett blog had someone leak out the shut down of the press. The manager of that department was called back from vacation to take care of the issues. No one was suppose to know and word got out quickly nice to see this blog can still get the word out quickly when needed.

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  32. WOW THIS IS AWESOME THE USA TODAY IS USING THE GANNETT BLOG FOR CIRCULATION REASONS. THAT MEANS THE GANNETT BLOG IS DOING BETTER THAN THE USA TODAY. IMPRESSIVE.
    AND JIM IS A BETTER PERSON AND BETTER KNOWN THAN DUBOW.




    We take pride in passing on tips to make the most of your travel experience.

    This just in:

    To continue receiving guestroom delivery of USA TODAY at participating Marriott hotels*, guests will need to identify their preference for USA TODAY in their Marriott Rewards® Online Account.

    Once you've made your selection, you'll continue to receive a complimentary issue of USA TODAY every time you stay at a participating Marriott.

    Don't have a Marriott Rewards Online Account? Click here to create one now or simply stop by Marriott's front desk on your next visit and request to have USA TODAY delivered to your room.

    This change begins June 1st. We want to make sure you don't miss this opportunity to receive your complimentary newspaper. We look forward to continuing to deliver the news you want, wherever your travels may take you.

    Regards,

    - USA TODAY

    5/18/2009 4:15 PM

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  33. http://caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com/2009/05/18/would-you-notice-if-your-daily-newspaper-disappeared/

    An interesting article from Jack Cafferty - "Would you notice if your daily newspaper disappeared.

    Scary...

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  34. This ran in The Tennessean today. A reporter did a what if Tennessee Titans had to take vacation (re; furlogh) during the season.

    http://tinyurl.com/qu5f3p

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  35. Actually back problems are usually related to stress. They end up in the weakest part of your body. I wouldn't want Craig's stress any day of the week. I have numerous herniated discs in my back but am lucky they don't bother me. I highly recommend against the surgery.I have three friends who had it done and were worse from the surgery. Not that Craig gives a crap about what I have to say! I just have sympathy for someone who has this kind of pain. Been there – done that. He needs to find a new job, bottom line.

    I work and CNY and I have not heard about any unionization effort.....another rumor I think.

    Dubow has a herniated disk from carrying his huge paycheck to the bank....poor guy.

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  36. Do you believe Gannett has singled you out for termination because of a health problem? All responses WILL remain completely anonymous. Write to gannettblogwanderer at email dot com.

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  37. 7:30, what kind of scrambling and issues was the manager called back to take care of? I don't understand why they would do that. it's there fault word got out. if they didn't want any one to know, they shouldn't have told people, but they did.

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  38. Haven't been on here for awhile.
    What's new with the $15 million age and hostile workplace suit out of one of the Carolinas, I believe it was.

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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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