Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Tuesday | May 19 | Your News & Comments
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74 comments:
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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I have posted two previous comments on the day earlier. They concerned why I recieved an email from Jim hopkins asking me to join his "facebook" page and addressing me by my first name! I would like to know how he got, Jim Hopkins, my email address and my first name???!! And if it is possible for him then why not "Gannett"!! Are you going to answer Jim or not post this again!? You need to address this issue! I did not ask to be emailed but would love to know how you know all my information. I am a fan of yours but this is overboard my friend!
ReplyDeleteTuesday morning at a little after 6:00 and there are no comments. Everyone either gave up or we are all having to wait while the blog owner gets up to approve all coments. Is this typical of Gannett customer service?
ReplyDeleteMan, what's going on? There hasn't been a single post since 9:21 EST. I really like to read my morning paper and then the Gannett Blog with my morning coffee. Guess the GB is following the Detroit model????
ReplyDeleteDear Fellow Employees,
ReplyDeleteInstead of crying today just figure out what you want to do next. The time is now to make a plan like maybe look for a new job, training and or school.
I myself will be leaving Gannett in the near future and starting a new company that will change the way newspapers currently operate and it could affect your current position.
Trust me this is not BS, Gannett, Tribune and New York Times Co. will be very very interested on what the co-owners of the start-up company have in store for newspaper industry.
It's a long time coming and we will make it happen.
Best,
Anonymous
I'm hearing that current ad sales remain in the dumper and that there has been no revival of ads mirroring what is happening on Wall Street. Is that true? If May turns out to be another April, then we are in real trouble in terms of future furloughs and layoffs. This is not a company that wants to report revenues were less in Q2 than they were in Q1.
ReplyDelete6:52 AM What, in your opinion, is a 63 year old ex-employee with a lump sum pension which cannot support her until she is 65 do? No one will even acknowledge the resume, it's a little late to start new job training, and the future looks very dim. You have all the answers, so please try this one!
ReplyDeleteI'm hearing that current ad sales remain in the dumper and that there has been no revival of ads mirroring what is happening on Wall Street. Is that true? If May turns out to be another April, then we are in real trouble in terms of future furloughs and layoffs. This is not a company that wants to report revenues were less in Q2 than they were in Q1.
ReplyDelete5/19/2009 8:12 AM
I'd sure like to see something substantiated for this claim. I hearing that advertising is picking up.
You must be one of those trying to start something.
Tha sky is falling, the sky is falling! OMG!!!!
Hey 6:52 - I'm sooooo afraid! But I'm not crying!
Ad revenue will never bounce back to what it was. These dollars have fallen into a black hole to never return again. The way consumers buy and businesses market have changed and it will not return to any medium even internet. These dollars are lost forever.
ReplyDeleteI am not trying to start anything. I just want to know if I will be able to take my kids to visit their grandparents this summer, or if I should put it off until next year and worry about keeping my job instead.
ReplyDeleteHaving worked for Gannett is a kiss of death, unless you're applying for a hatchet man position. People throughout the media industry know what a half-assed operation Gannett runs and the kind of second-rate people it hires. It's a bottom-of-the-barrel, worst-of-class company that is the leader and innovator of nothing. Leave at the first opportunity.
ReplyDeleteUSA TODAY is alive and well! Put this in your pipe and smoke it, or whatever. I'm sure some doomers & gloomers will try to spin this another way so have at it. Doesn't matter, I don't care what you say, I work for number 1.
ReplyDeleteFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
USA TODAY REMAINS MOST WIDELY READ
PRINT NEWSPAPER IN THE UNITED STATES
McLean, Va. (May 19, 2009) — USA TODAY remains the most widely read newspaper in the United States according to the Spring 2009 Mediamark Research Inc. (MRI) report released today. USA TODAY reaches more than 3.7 million print readers daily, an increase of 3.4% since MRI’s Spring 2008 study, up 2.9% since Fall 2008.
USATODAY.com also saw substantial growth, with a 20.5% increase in daily audience since the Spring 2008 study, up 11.4% since the Fall 2008 release. The daily network audience number, comprising USA TODAY print readers and visitors to USATODAY.com, is nearly 5.8 million adults.
“USA TODAY is proud to remain the most widely read print newspaper in the country,” said David Hunke, president and publisher of USA TODAY. “The most recent numbers from MRI show that more people are choosing to read USA TODAY than any other newspaper in the country, with 414,000 more print readers per day than our nearest competitor The Wall Street Journal, and 817,000 more print readers than The New York Times.”
USA TODAY was founded in 1982 with a mission to serve as a forum for better understanding and unity to help make the USA truly one nation. Through its flagship newspaper and popular Web site, USA TODAY engages the national conversation and connects readers online through social media applications. USA TODAY, the nation's top-selling newspaper with a total average daily circulation of more than 2.1 million, and USATODAY.com, an award-winning newspaper Web site which launched in 1995, reach a combined 5.8 million readers daily. The USA TODAY news and information brand also includes: USA TODAY Education, USA TODAY LIVE, USA TODAY Mobile, Open Air magazine and USA TODAY Sports Weekly. USA TODAY is owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI).
# # #
What's up with the slow coming and overall lack of comments the past two days?
ReplyDelete9:29 You said- "I'd sure like to see something substantiated for this claim. I hearing that advertising is picking up."
ReplyDeleteCan you substantiate your claim?
I suspect you're a current Gannett employee who has repeatedly questioned whether posts of doom can be substantiated which I understand and agree. So I ask- can you substantiate your claims of gains or something happening that would suggest ad revenue being flat to 08?
Here's something I can substantiate- There's no presidential election this year and nothing to replace the lost ads as a result from Q 2, 3 and 4.
12:55 am: I'm very sorry for the delayed response.
ReplyDeleteYesterday, I sent a number of invitations to my new site via Facebook. If you received one of those invitations, it was because your contact information already was available on Facebook.
Your receipt of an invitation has absolutely nothing to do with Gannett Blog or with Gannett Co. Inc.
“The most recent numbers from MRI show that more people are choosing to read USA TODAY than any other newspaper in the country"
ReplyDeleteThis is not true if you use Alexa data (www,alexa.com), which shows that the NYT gets three times the audience of USA Today, and about the same as the WSJ. If you pay for audits, you get results you want, as the current Wall Street debacle clearly shows.
Jim, I received an invitation from you and I have never gone on Facebook. I assumed I got the invite since I have sent you a few e-mails from my home address.
ReplyDelete6:18 am: Comments have been slow to post for two reasons these past two days: 1. I've been a little under the weather, so taking some time off. 2. I'm working like crazy on my new Ibiza Confidential social community for well-traveled gay men; it launches about July 1.
ReplyDeleteJim, any more news on the Detroit situation. So far, it is just one person reporting on it, nobody else is verifying. A few others put it on their sites, but it was just referring to somebody's blog, who happens to have a grudge.
ReplyDeleteMogulus, the live video streaming company in which Gannett invested a reported $10M last July, has a new name.
ReplyDeleteIts new name is Livestream.com, according the Mashable social media blog (which itself is must reading).
Mogulus paid a reported $100K to buy the Livestream name. That's pricey, but the Mashable report suggests it was money well spent to better position the company against its competitors.
The Mashable report -- http://mashable.com/2009/05/19/livestream-mogulus/
Gannett's 2008 press release on the Mogulus deal -- http://www.gannett.com/news/pressrelease/2008/pr072808b.htm
Hey money people! Got a question for you. How much local revenue stays local and how much of local expenses are paid locally? To put it simply, what does a local paper get for being a part of this holding company (face it, Gannett stopped being a media company years ago)? Does Gannett pay the power bill and a percentage of the wages? Or are we struggling along to pay our own expenses all the while supporting the suits in the Fortress of Solitude?
ReplyDelete11:31 is correct, plus, if you factor in the amount of USA TODAY circulation that still lands in front of hotel rooms, the amount of intentional daily purchases has to favor Wall Street Journal and NY Times. And unless Gannett buys either of those papers, I suspect USAT will continue to erode despite the creative reports.
ReplyDelete11:31 AM and 12:21 PM, go back and re-read the release. It's talking about data from MRI, not half-baked Alexa estimates -- which, BTW, don't say anything about print -- or circulation figures, which count distribution and not audience.
ReplyDeleteIf you guys are going to slam USAT, at least do it in an intelligent way. You're making my head hurt.
A friend of mine at one of the TV stations told me this:
ReplyDelete***
We ran a story last night about an autistic boy allegedly abused while at school. Here it is:
http://www.11alive.com/rss/rss_story.aspx?storyid=130355
Now, that's what it looked like after the news director replaced the newspaper-style story I wrote with this, which is basically the shooting script.
***
I showed the story to a friend of mine, and she said:
"that story on the web doesnt even make sense. if i hadnt read your friends first, i wouldnt be able to understand WHAT the story WAS"
Nice to see that managers in the broadcast division still don't understand what good web copy is supposed to look like.
http://optionarmageddon.ml-implode.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/contstructionworkers_web.jpg
ReplyDelete1:15 No research necessary, the USA TODAY ads in their own paper show circ numbers which after factoring hotel room delivery, (reported to be in excess of 50% of the total circulation), would leave true subscription and single copy purchases well below the perceived circulation, especially when compared to papers with dramatically less hotel room delivery presence.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, what happens to the cost of circulation for USA TODAY when Gannett eliminates delivery days for local papers who were also delivering USA TODAY such as in Detroit?
Any word on what's up for the third quarter yet? More furloughs? Or layoffs?
ReplyDeleteAbout Hotel delivery, cheapo me stayed at a Comfort Inn recently. There was a big stack of USATodays near the desk. I asked to see the part of of the bill where I could opt out of paying for one. The clerk told me they were free and that nothing would appear on the bill. Glad I checked. Hope everyone does and I hope everyone refuses to pay any kind of charge for USA Todays that are tacked on bills.
ReplyDeleteFormer Gannettoid.
I also got a Facebook invite but have no presence of my own (that I know of) there. I've sent you a few things from home, Jim, but I thought I'd used a different address than the one that received your solicitation. And even if I was on Facebook, how would you know I work for GCI?
ReplyDeleteI stayed at a Sleep Inn last week for six nights and I never received my newspaper. when I asked at the front desk, they told me they were out of them and pointed me to the lounge, but they didn't have any there either. I wonder if they aren't ordering as many....
ReplyDeleteReply to "the Facebook" answer. Jim, I NEVER BEEN ON FACEBOOK NOR DID I EVER VISIT IT!!!!!!! So lets try another answer! Also you didn't even post my previous two questions from yesterday! You didn't "delete" them , you didn't even post them! Now I am a fellow post at this site how did you get my email and nmae! You are looking up people's information! You need to tell the truth or else you are risking the creditability of you and this site!
ReplyDelete"Hey money people! Got a question for you. How much local revenue stays local and how much of local expenses are paid locally? To put it simply, what does a local paper get for being a part of this holding company (face it, Gannett stopped being a media company years ago)? Does Gannett pay the power bill and a percentage of the wages? Or are we struggling along to pay our own expenses all the while supporting the suits in the Fortress of Solitude?"
ReplyDeleteThat's a good question: Here's the simple answer:
In the newspaper's annual budget, under expenses, the newspaper pays:
1. All local, state and federal taxes, including property taxes.
2. All insurance costs for building, employee liability, etc.
3. If gannett owns the building, the newspaper pays RENT to Gannett;
4. All employee salaries, benefits and health insurance costs;
5. All workers comp and Social Security costs;
6. The cost of the paper printed at the plant (if the plant is a central location for numerous papers) - that is productions costs to the paper;
7. The cost of mailing the papers'
8. The cost of the carriers delivering the papers;
9. The paper also pays for any centralized accounting from the corp.
10. All the building utilities and maintenance costs;
11. All paper and other office supplies;
123. Even though the papers usually pay rent, the paper is also responsible for paying for any buuilding repairs unless it is so huge it is called "capital" expense.
That's about it. In revenue, the paper budgets for:
1. All advertising revenue display and classified and legals;
2. All circulation money from subscriptions and single-copy.
This revenue number needs to usually be about 15-20 greater than the expense number.
EVERY DIME of the difference goes back to corporate. The local papers do not keep ANY of the profit.
In other words, the only advantage of the "Great klass Tower" is perhaps a break on group insurance and bulk paper costs.
That's about it, believe it or not.
And the community gets only the taxes and income taxes from employees. That's all.
I can't stand comments that assume it's really easy to reinvent oneself beyond the age of 50. For life-long newspaper people, it isn't so easy. We're battling the economy. We're fighting against how employers view people over 50. Many of us have kids in college. Some have various health issues. Going back to school to retrain isn't an option in all instances. And we're coming from a business that no longer wants us and is unwilling to retrain us. My job was eliminated without any thought or options. I would have taken a pay cut. I would have even gone part-time. My layoff was about as unjust as they come, and still I was willing to forget and forgive if this company would have shown a bit of compassion.
ReplyDeleteGannett did us a gross injustice by throwing us out onto the streets, and that is just a fact. This is not a plea for pity. Just reality. We should have been protected more by a company that profited from our intense loyalty and hard work -- work that often went into the wee hours five and six days a week, holidays and so on. Anyone who has ever worked at a daily newspaper knows the sacrifices it takes.
Instead, Gannett betrayed us. We still had a good 10-15 years in us, but this company didn't even consider the human factor in letting us go. Where do they expect a 55-year-old to go in this economy?
All these people who claim we should just get up and dust ourselves off...well, do they have a clue as to what it feels like to send hundreds of resumes and applications to employers and not even hear back from 95 percent of them? I am applying to jobs that pay a third of what I made before, in and out of the industry, and I still can't get a polite reply. Meanwhile, the mortgage is late. The tuition is late. The food isn't as plentiful. The savings is depleted.
So, please...stop with the comments about how this is somehow our fault. Many of us were viable employees, who had good technical skills to match our vast experience in the business. Since being laid off, many of us have busted our asses and utilized every asset in order to find work, yet the market just is not responding.
As far as I know, Gannett has not hired a single person back, proving that these were not true layoffs. These were just ruthless cuts based on the bottom line and some pretty bad judgment on the part of the managers who had to select the people to be let go. In the view of many, the wrong people were dismissed. Management again blew it and missed out on an opportunity to rid this company of the true slackers. Meanwhile, the suffering of truly good people is increasing by the month as this job market shows no signs of welcoming mid and late-career professionals.
I suspect you're a current Gannett employee who has repeatedly questioned whether posts of doom can be substantiated which I understand and agree. So I ask- can you substantiate your claims of gains or something happening that would suggest ad revenue being flat to 08?
ReplyDeleteHere's something I can substantiate- There's no presidential election this year and nothing to replace the lost ads as a result from Q 2, 3 and 4.
5/19/2009 11:04 AM
Show me yours first. What you offered is only year over year. Doesn't matter. Budget is king these days because other things are planned in, like the furloughs already taken.
Sheesh!
3:06 and 3:20 pm:
ReplyDeleteI'll repeat: I sent a series of e-mails through Facebook yesterday, drawing attention to my new blog, Ibiza Confidential. If you received one of these notes, it was likely because Facebook was connecting its database to Gmail's.
11:31 is correct, plus, if you factor in the amount of USA TODAY circulation that still lands in front of hotel rooms, the amount of intentional daily purchases has to favor Wall Street Journal and NY Times. And unless Gannett buys either of those papers, I suspect USAT will continue to erode despite the creative reports.
ReplyDelete5/19/2009 12:21 PM
I agree with 1:15 in a big way. I just knew the doomers & gloomers would attempt a negative spin. What losers.
3:22 meant to say 15-20% PECENT more than the expenses! Maybe even higher! That is the net income.
ReplyDeleteDespite the bad economy, MOST Gannett papers have been hitting double diget positive net income!
@12:55am
ReplyDeleteHave you made a financial contribution to the site by Paypal or such? When I got an invitation from Jim for Facebook I just assumed he got it from Paypal contributors confirmation emails. Which of course would not be available to Gannett.
1:15 No research necessary, the USA TODAY ads in their own paper show circ numbers which after factoring hotel room delivery, (reported to be in excess of 50% of the total circulation), would leave true subscription and single copy purchases well below the perceived circulation, especially when compared to papers with dramatically less hotel room delivery presence.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, what happens to the cost of circulation for USA TODAY when Gannett eliminates delivery days for local papers who were also delivering USA TODAY such as in Detroit?
5/19/2009 2:23 PM
It's readership dummy! Get with the program or get out.
As far as Detroit or anyplace else is concerned, USA TODAY circulation people know how to get things done cost effectively. Nothing to see here - but your own doomer & gloomer.
Do you, Jim, believe that emailing people from THEIR confidential information when they post here to "Invite them to Facebook" is the "ETHICAL" thing to do when you claim this website is "Confidential"? <~~~~~~~~~~losing the faith in Jim and this website. Just sell our names to Gannett Jim and you shall make your quota! I have posted some deplorable comments against Gannett previously how can I be sure that my email and name isn't given to them when you are emailing me and know my name! I HAVE NEVER JOINED FACEBOOK NOR USED MY NAME ON THIS WEBSITE OR IT ISN"T IN MY EMAIL ADDRESS!
ReplyDelete3:52 pm: This is the downside of being online. If you don't want to get e-mail, stay off the Internet.
ReplyDeleteNumber one, I am creeped out, that I recieved an "unsolicited" email with an invite using my first name to FACEBOOK from Jim. Number two, I am further creeped out that it was an invite to a sexual preferred group of "Gay" people that I don't assimilate to! Never use my name and email me ever again............I will probably never post here again!! Good ethics, jim! You lost an outspoken allie!!
ReplyDeleteJim, 3:52's concern is a valid one and one other posters are interested in. When we post on this blog anony, do you get our email addresses and IP addresses? Can the evil Gannett get this information to use against posters? Please enlighten your audience. Thanks
ReplyDelete4:01 pm and all:
ReplyDeleteNo. 100% no!
This facebook thing is no big deal. Calm down people.
ReplyDeleteJudge Denies Emergency order on the Tucson Citizen
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/frontpage/116726.php
Corporate greed wins again! Lee better be careful what they wish for with this deal with the devil.
Who cares about facebook! What about the comment from 3:29? He can't find a job. He can't pay his mortgage. We were paid so-so wages for years and were unable to take second job because our hours have been so long -- often with no overtime paid. Money was spent on takeout because we were too tired to cook or shop. The fact that we gave our all and trusted the company to employ us until retirement is so sad. Good luck 3:29. I'm thinking of you.
ReplyDeleteI can't tell who is right or wrong about this MRI study because the report mentioned in the GCI press release is not published on MRI's home page. But I can see the Alexa reports, and I can use other perhaps even better measurements of Web usage, and all are consistent in showing the NYT has a very, very wide margin of readership over USA TODAY.
ReplyDelete3:29 They are not going to hire back anyone who was laid off. You seem to understand what has happened to the economy, so you must understand that the company is in no position to hire people back. Probably won't be in any position to hire regularly until next year, at least. Markets have gone, and ad revenue has disappeared never to come back. There has been a seismic change in the industry, and you were part of the change. Don't expect anyone to reassembled the broken parts and put it back the way it once was, because that is impossible. Just get over it and move on.
ReplyDeletefor those looking for help making transitions, that will be part of the content at
ReplyDeletewww.jiltedjournalists.com
A little is up now, more is in development.
3:29 PM: Don't pay attention to the idiots who try to discredit what you wrote. You wrote the absolute truth as so many of us know it! Very often, when times get rough and I try to explain the mess I find myself facing, the words will not come. I am saving your masterpiece! It explains all that we grow weary of repeating because so few really care about us anymore.
ReplyDeleteI am grateful to only one ex-Gannett employee for caring enough about his fellow human beings to produce this labor of love. Jim Hopkins should have been TIME'S "Man of the Year" because he certainly has been ours! Even with all the character assaults and crap thrown his way, Jim has not let us down.
Grateful in NJ
Strange, I've emailed Jim via my personal email account, sent donations via paypal and have a facebook account. No email from Jim.
ReplyDeleteAre you sure they're from Jim? It's easy as hell to spoof an email address.
Just a thought regarding the spoofing...
ReplyDeleteCould it be a way for the trolls to make Jim/"The Blog" look bad?
Anon 3:22 – When Gannett acquired our group we ultimately ended up paying more for numerous items, including newsprint and insurance. The latter of which was not only higher, but not as good.
ReplyDeleteIbiza - Check this out!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmwEUHIRgh0
I don't feel sorry for anyone who has worked at Gannett for thirty years. You are greedy people. You lost a job. Most people have realized that the days of working for one company or even one industry for life are gone. That is called reality. Time to move on and have some faith that you will survive.
ReplyDeleteWell, lookie here. The Securities and Exchange Commission wants to change proxy elections and allow Gannett stockholders and stockholders of other large American companies to elect their own independent directors.
ReplyDeleteSo I believe I am the first to propose the nomination of Jim Hopkins to be a member of GCI's board of directors. This would give Jim access to Gannett's deepest secrets, plus one-on-one meetings with Craig Dubow. Time we had an employee representative on the board. Would give Jim a token payment as a director for his board's continued health. The front page of the NYT has details.
Lots of whining today.
ReplyDeleteMuch of it comes from people with few skills who expected to have a career where they did little to nothing.
They are gone forever. They won't be missed. The company did them a disservice by keeping them around.
http://www.starbulletin.com/business/20090519_Advertiser_will_lay_off_as_many_as_15_workers.html
ReplyDeleteThe Honolulu Advertiser will lay off as many as 15 union members in three weeks, according to notices sent to their respective unions.
Eleven pressmen, members of the Hawaii Printing and Graphic Communications Union Local 413-N, will be laid off, said Terrence Derby Jr., union vice president.
The 11 appear to have been selected based on seniority.
Two or three other layoffs will come from the community press operation, said Wayne Cahill, administrative officer of the Hawaii Newspaper Guild. One of two archivists, a guild member, is to be cut effective June 5.
Advertiser Senior Vice President and Editor Mark Platte said he had not heard about layoffs, and other executives did not return calls.
In February the six unions representing the then 525 employees at the paper ratified a contract calling for a 10 percent pay cut.
It replaced a contract that expired in June 2007 after long, contentious talks and a strike authorization vote by the unions.
Since then the company, owned by Gannett Co., has laid off or given buyouts to more than 130 employees, citing the weak economy.
At the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, three unions voted last week to approve a wage freeze.
hmm, let's see - I don't Facebook and I don't GMail - so let's try again, Jim -
ReplyDeletehow did you get my email address?
7:48 p.m. said:
ReplyDelete"I don't feel sorry for anyone who has worked at Gannett for thirty years. You are greedy people."
I beg your pardon?
I haven't worked for Gannett for 30 years, only 23, but I hope to complete two more years and then retire.
I have NOT been greedy. I've been a dedicated journalist who's as interested in informing the public as I am in building my personal wealth. Greed most assuredly has not been a factor.
You, sir or madam, are an idiot, and you can kiss this Southern boy's ass.
Jim said...
ReplyDelete3:52 pm: This is the downside of being online. If you don't want to get e-mail, stay off the Internet.
5/19/2009 3:56 PM
I have to say that is a pretty flipant response to a very concerned comment. If you are using our personal information without our knowledge I would tell you to go screw yourself, to put it in a nice way. I am horified you could be pulling information and using it in some neferious manner.
It sure sounds like something fishy is going on.
RE: Two or three other layoffs will come from the community press operation, said Wayne Cahill, administrative officer of the Hawaii Newspaper Guild. One of two archivists, a guild member, is to be cut effective June 5.
ReplyDeleteWhat is a guild archivist?
7:48 PM...What the hell are you saying here? Nobody wants the sympathy of a person who "analyzes" the way you do, but why show your total and utter stupidity on this blog? Showed it to Grandma and she swallowed her false teeth. Uncle Charlie just peed himself!
ReplyDeleteYes, 8:30, Jim for the board of directors.
ReplyDelete8:49 P.M. Hey boy, Two moe years will be to long for a Greedy A- hole like yourself.
ReplyDeleteSo we have people bitching here about getting Facebook invites from Jim and they have no earthly idea why they got them? And we wonder why the newsroom part of this business is in chaos? These folks just don't get it, and after reading this blog for several months, I've decided they just don't WANT TO GET IT. ..
ReplyDeleteYou can't expect a rescue of a Titanic.
ReplyDeleteHow the hell would Jim be an employee representative on the Board. Last time I checked he isn't an employee of Gannett?
ReplyDelete3:29--I am going through the same thing you and a lot of us laid-off journalists are experiencing. Gannett did not value our skills, and the current job market doesn't, either. And the way the government help programs are set up, people our age (mid- to late-50s) are, in a word, screwed. Too "old" to fit in anywhere, too young to get Social Security.
ReplyDeleteI'm getting unemployment--I "make" too much for Medicaid and food stamps. But the minute I got a part-time job, my unemployment benefit started going down, down, down. I can't survive on unemployment, and I can't survive working this new job full time. What the hell am I supposed to do? Put on some green velvet curtains and go visit Rhett in jail? Or marry my sister's boyfriend to save Tara?
I have applied for more than 100 jobs since December and it is like spending an hour on an online application that goes right into a virtual black hole. These job boards are scams. Every recruiter in the universe is leading us on. So I have great empathy for you.
As for the politicians, what jobs are our president and governor creating for us? Will we ever be able to get some kind of real medical care plan? How can people come into this country and get apartments and cars and free medical care when I can barely pay rent and car payments? I just don't get it.
Oh, wait, I DO get it. Our country is being destroyed by the greed and mismanagement of the likes of A.I.G. and all the banks that rolled in billions while taking on subprime loans that blew up the global economy. Carpe Diem, say the banks. Live for the day. Loan now, let the government pay for it later. It's sickening.
Why can't states get TARP or TALF to bolster their unemployment programs? In my state, it was $25 extra a week from the feds through June 2010. That's a tank of gas.
So, yes, we WERE thrust out into the cold by Gannett with no thought of our age and no appreciation or RESPECT for us as longtime professionals who have worked out butts off at newspapers for decades.
And people wonder why we're still upset? Are you kidding me?
Hard to believe so many people -- or maybe it is just a few over and over again, like the whiners and homophobes -- don't understand the Internet, online marketing techniques and how easy it is for most anyone to get your e-mail address. If you ever use e-mail, it's available. And anything you wrote is available to more sophisticated users. Don't blame Jim for having Internet awareness. And I highly doubt he is using anyone's address for nefarious purposes. Not so sure about various others who post here, though...
ReplyDeleteAt least the Titanic had a band.
ReplyDeleteWord Verification: HOMIE
http://www.apple.com/iphone/enterprise/gannett.html?sr=hotnews
ReplyDeleteMore than one reader has now told me they do not "do'' Facebook, or indicated they did not understand what it is. One of them, I believe, was a newspaper reporter.
ReplyDeleteI have always tried to be patient with Gannett employees -- including those in the newsroom -- who fear they may lose their jobs. I know the transition to digital is scary.
But this has got to stop. We are long past the point of choosing whether we feel like experimenting with Web 2.0 tools. Those of you who continue this head-in-the sand approach will lose your jobs and, I'm sorry to say, deserve to lose them.
jIM YOU ARE A POMPOUS ASS!
ReplyDelete