Broadcasting division President Dave Lougee's June 23 letter to employees, announcing wage cuts, almost certainly got vetted by Gannett's Law Department, official Corporate publicist Tara Connell, and others. I imagine it will serve as a template for any similar letters that newspaper publishers may send in the week ahead. Here's the top of Lougee's letter, with my edits indicated where you see [brackets].
Dear colleague,
While many are cautiously optimistic that the worst of this economic downturn will soon be over, the [NEWSPAPER] industry continues to feel the effects. The decline in the [INSERT: LOCAL SECTOR] alone –- once about [INSERT LOCAL FIGURE] percent of our division’s ad business -- is a major challenge for us. And that’s just one example of the changes we are seeing.
I believe it’s clear there will be a permanent reset of the American economy on the other side of the economic storm. On top of that, our industry has been impacted by the revolution in the way people consume media and the way advertisers try to reach them.
[OPTIONAL PHRASE: Even so, our (UNIT')s financial results continue to be at the top of the industry.] With your help, ideas, and some tough choices, we have made important and innovative strides in how we allocate resources to best serve our viewers, communities and advertisers, on any and all platforms.
These efforts, combined with some proactive financial decisions, will help us stay strong. In effect, we have to have our own “reset” to match the changes in the [NEWSPAPER] business. As a result, we are making the following changes . . .
Please forward any such publisher memo to me, ASAP, if you get one. Or 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, June 29, 2009
4 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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Lougee's memo is misleading (gasp!) The wage reductions are based on your hourly rate --- not your annual salary.
ReplyDeleteA colleague, who works parttime (just one day a week) was told she falls into the 6% reductions category. The 'rationale' is that because of her hourly rate, if she worked a 40 hour week, her salary would top $50k.
So even if you make less than $30k a year from Gannett, you still may be afftected by the reductions.
Nice, huh?
The FAQ that went with the memo does talk about that parttime "gotcha".
ReplyDeleteOh my.... what an amazing, amazing, amazing pill of garbage this memo is.
ReplyDeleteHow insulting to the intelligence of anyone in the media that the authors of this memo would expect anyone to buy this "there will be a reset" crap!
If this type of memo is sent to print media as more firings take place, all hell should break loose - because it is simply a lie.
Almost all Gannett TV stations and print sites ARE making money - what Gannett is not telling these hapless poor souls is that the company is in deep financial trouble for OTHER debt reasons and bad choices in the market - and employees will feel the affects.
How pathetic Gannett is!
Can someone post the FAQ?
ReplyDelete