Gannett Blog continues to get thousands of monthly hits, even though I shut it down five months ago. Some questions for you, which I hope you'll answer in the comments section,
below:
- What brought you to this site today?
- Are you a first-time visitor?
- Are you a former reader?
- How did you learn about Gannett Blog?
I pose these questions as I experiment with a possible relaunch of Gannett Blog, in conjunction with two, new related media blogs that I might start publishing after the New Year.
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.
Because I never deleted Gannett Blog from my RSS reader, hoping that maybe, some magical day (like today), it would come back to life! Good to hear from you, Jim.
ReplyDeleteI came because I have it bookmarked in a folder of blogs I visit everyday. I know you've stopped posting and was surprised this morning to see something new. I usually just close the window and don't spend any time here.
ReplyDeleteHow are things going on the new venture?
I am no longer employed by Gannett (I obtained a job elsewhere, outside of the news business), but I still have friends and colleagues who are, so I like to know what's going on.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, I saw this post because I have Gannett Blog in my RSS reader, and it's no trouble to leave it there.
I came because the entry popped up in my RSS feed as I once read you regularly and miss the updates. Sorry, but I don't remember how I first found you.
ReplyDeleteHope all is well.
9:08 am: The new venture has now morphed into several different online news possibilities that I'm now playing with. Stay tuned!
ReplyDeleteI learned about your blog from our IT guy last fall who got canned in the December massacre. Occasionally I come here to see if you are posting again. I came today because I saw it on Gannettoid. Yes, I was a poster (not a troll) on the blog when it was up and running. I miss your posts. Good luck and your new endeavors.
ReplyDeleteI saw the same thing on Gannettoid about this posting... I am curious now to see what plans you may have. Our voice is not around and it would have been nice knowing you had the ideas this was coming. We would more than welcome you back with open arms Jim!!
ReplyDeleteI saw a link from Gannettoid that there was a new post here. That is HUGE. Secretly, I hope this is a sign of some kind of partnership between Gannettoid/this blog to keep employees better informed of what is going on in the Crystal Palace.
ReplyDeleteI come here from time to time because I hope to find that despite your -30- you've relented and come back home. Gannett needs someone like you keeping an eye on it-
ReplyDeleteWelcome home Jim. We've missed you. We've needed you. Relax-Stay a while.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous No. 1 said it exactly: "Because I never deleted Gannett Blog from my RSS reader...". I saw a new entry and immediately clicked.
ReplyDeleteBecause I was doing a search for the Gannett stock price abd this showed up in the google search.
ReplyDeleteJim... time to get back at it. A lot has changed. Do it on a limited basis!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though. If Harrison (TJN) is closing, every paper in the country must be looking to outsource printing... indeed another sad day for newspapers.
I don't know how people can work at these places.
Scott
Saw it on Gannettoid. Former reader/poster. Learned about Gannett Blog from a fellow Gannett employee few months after you went public with it. Miss this blog terribly.
ReplyDeleteI'll come back time to time to reference old post. sometimes its good to look at the history in an effort to predict the future.
ReplyDeletei don't know. i suppose i check back to make sure i'm not missing your return. (but i don't remember what my username was)
ReplyDeletehi Jim. nice to see you.
never deleted it from my favorite file. kind of like not wanting to take your loved ones voice off the answering machine... well maybe not that extreme. chuckle. hope you are well.
ReplyDeleteFor the same reason than the "Anonymous" one:
ReplyDeleteBecause I never deleted Gannett Blog from my RSS reader, hoping that maybe, some magical day (like today), it would come back to life!
I followed the link to your posting on facebook. I can't say how much I missed the blog. I can say that having a vacation from a lot of the nastiness and negativity was good for me. But I missed being in the know about all things connected to my former employer.
ReplyDeleteJim,
ReplyDeleteFound the link on Facebook. Welcome back.
73s,
John M. Simpson
Like so many others here I never bothered to delete this blog from my bookmarks. Hope you're back for good, Jim. This blog sets an excellent example for all news blogs: it's well written, well sourced and constantly updated with new information. There are a lot of newspaper Web sites that don't do as good a job.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back!
ReplyDeleteI came across Gannett Blog during the first big round of layoffs, when it was linked to Romanesko. I told all my friends about it, and got an e-mail from one today to come back and check it out.
(I actually checked back every few weeks to see if there was anything new, just in case.)
I work for a Gannett paper and was holding out hope the blog would be brought back to life.
ReplyDeletei come back to gannett blog from time to time hoping you will be back...still in my favorites
ReplyDeletein the first really big round of layoffs...everyone was talking about where to get all the INFO and it was from GANNETBLOG...
ARE YOU HERE TO STAY??
I never deleted you from my feedreader, my dear.
ReplyDeleteGood to see some activity again.
Welcome back Jim, even in a limited capacity. I never deleted it from my favorites list because I hoped, too, that you might return in some capacity.
ReplyDeleteWord verification: dooma
No, I don't visit. I did check out your Ibiza confidential for a while but nothing new was posted for months.
ReplyDeleteHere is something you need to listen to. Gannett at Global Media Conference:
http://cc.talkpoint.com/ubsx001/120709a ... 45_JBV8TF0
wow!awesome to have you back jim!almost as good as having my job back!!! hope all is well with you!!
ReplyDeleteLike others, I come back because the page was bookmarked and I missed all the action. Gannett and GannettBlog in it's final days were like a trainwreck. I felt bad for all involved but had to watch. Hope the time off has been a good rest and that you will begin providing your commentary and journalistic skills to the site, Jim. Keep it perspective this time and don't be the trainwreck!
ReplyDeleteHoping you'll continue with the blog. It used to be great reading.
ReplyDeleteI never put my hand in my pocket to help fund the service before but having lost it, I now realize how importnat it is to help keep people in touch. Would happily send you $50 to get the service back up and running.
I saw the post on Gannettoid and I never deleted the bookmark for your site.
ReplyDeleteI sent $20 to Gannett Blog when this site was active. I never left the house in the morning without taking a look to see what was the latest outrage at Gannett.
Too bad so few readers of Gannett Blog were willing to fork over a little money.
Gannettoid is ok, but it lacks the depth of the old Gannett Blog. I hope Gannett Blog or something like it will return.
I am a former blog reader. Was laid off from USAT in 2008 and just thought I would check in to see if there was any news here about the latest round of cuts. My layoff was baffling to many. They tried to portray it as a "job elimination" but my duties still exists, leaving me to believe my dismissal was personal or age related. It's been a very tough year as I still have not found a job in this recession and am on the verge of financial collapse. The latest round of USAT layoffs appear to be more along the lines of "last hired, first fired" in many cases. While I don't support any layoffs, I wish that policy were in effect the year prior, or that there was more checks and balances in the way victims were selected. I would still be working if it were. Instead, the future looks fairly dismal. Any thoughts of retirement in 15 years are out the window. I stayed at USAT as long as I did because I am a loyal person by nature and because I thought it would be the safest place to be as the industry went into decline. Biggest mistake I ever made!
ReplyDelete2:59 p.m.: It grieves me to read about your situation. I only wish I had more to offer than my sympathy.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jim. As much as my situation resembles thousands of other layoff victims, there were some unique if not downright mean circumstances surrounding my dismissal. So I kind of feel alone in my situation. It's made it hard to find closure, even one year later. I guess if I were to find another viable job, that would help heal some of the wounds, but as you know, there aren't a lot of jobs for 50something-year-old journalists. Now entering my second year of unemployment, I am still haunted by how my long-time boss could have thrown me out into the worst recession of our lifetime after I gave his department and USAT well over a decade of my life, working until the wee hours, dealing with near impossible situations on daily basis, working holidays, coming in when I was sick, etc. This is a man I broke bread with many times - and he threw me under the bus. People keep telling me something will come up and that things will get better. I believed that the first several months. But now things are about to turn very bad as my unemployment payments expire, my savings collapses and so on. I am on the verge of selling my home in northern Virginia. Again, I know I am not the only laid off USAT'er suffering, but I do feel there was an extra degree of this being totally unnecessary in my case. My work was good. My ethics were solid. I am good with technology (and even have my own personal blog now). My layoff was purely personal, and that's just very hard to swallow. If not else, I sincerely felt I earned the right to be protected at USAT as cutbacks began. Instead, I was one of the first people forced out. And if that's not hard enough, there have been people close to me who have also suffered as a result of a decision by a USAT editor who himself retired just weeks after my layoff. Boy, was that another kick in the pants when I heard that news.
ReplyDeletelong-time reader of the blog, but had left when i saw the final "30".
ReplyDeletesaw on twitter today that it was back up. i'm grateful.
I've missed you SO MUCH. I hope you're back for a while - came across this by accident (sorry you didn't email me to let me know). Glad you're ok - was beginning to worry something happened to you.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back, Jim. A longtime friend and former fellow worker e-mailed me that you had posted new material during the past few days. The discovery that you were back in business, however limited, really lifted my spirits. I learned of your blog from another former fellow worker in August 2008 and I read it faithfully through July 10. The work of Gannettoid has been fine as far as it goes and has been much appreciated although, as others have noted, it does not have as great a reach as your blog. I appreciate the opportunity to keep abreast of developments throughout Gannett via your efforts. It may be nearly two years since a buyout put -30- on my 42-year editorial career but I still care a great deal about my papers and our industry. Thank you for everything you have done.
ReplyDeleteLike others, Jim, I never deleted you from my Google Reader (and have secretly hoped you'd be back), and noticed the new entries this week.
ReplyDeleteAnd like the others, it's good to hear from you, Jim -- I hope you and yours are doing well....
Welcome back Jim.
ReplyDeleteI too checked back from time to time to see if anyone posted an update on how you're doing.
I'm so glad to be able to read this blog again.
Hi Jim:
ReplyDeleteI originally started reading because a colleague told me about the blog. I've come back a couple times in the past to do research for a piece I was writing for a non-Gannett company. And I came back today because, on Facebook, I saw that you made a new post.
I came hoping to see new posts. I have not embraced the Gannettoid blog - I miss yours. :)
ReplyDeletejust in hopes that you would come back. Gannettoid does not supply the updates and does not provide an easy forum for comments
ReplyDeleteI came back to this site after I heard that it was somewhat active again. Have been very unhappy with Gannetoid site, both content, format and lack of updating and timeliness. Are you back? Hope you and Sparky are well and enjoying life "over there." Miss you.
ReplyDeletejust kept missing you! and because i am constantly searching for Gannett news and updates and context.
ReplyDeleteand because I have news about what's going on in Asheville!
hope you're back for good, Jim.
I wasn't aware there was a Gannett Blog until today. I'm simply tired of the incompetence of the paper in my one-paper town.
ReplyDeleteThank you for coming back, brother! I missed you!
ReplyDeleteThis blog was a life line to reality when the tunnel of mass confusion was and still is going on in the glass house. I came back in hopes you would have an update. I can't tell you how much I appreciate what you did and do Jim. It helped me make some life changing decisions after more than two decades with THEM. I love to see the first amendment in use. Be strong. I still am fighting to get my pension after nearly six months. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteWe came becasue we love you Jim. Thanks for coming back online, even if it's just an experiment.
ReplyDeleteSaw you on my Twitter account. Welcome back. A lot of newspaper traditions have died. Glad you put an end to "30" meaning "The End."
ReplyDeleteHey Ibiza Jim!
ReplyDeleteI heard about your blog about two years ago through co-workers (obviously while I was still a "co-worker"). Seems there was a lot of excitement surrounding some of the comments. I loved tuning in to your for the excitement. One could write anything they wanted, which turned out to be good as well as bad. Gannettoid is OK although it just doesn't have the drama associated with Gannettblog!
i liked your insightful wisdom and getting to the heart of the matter. i really miss that.
ReplyDeletethe Mcclatchy Watch blog is shutting down and i am wondering who, if any, will keep those interested readers informed. i liked gannettoid
because it gave me some info. hope to read your posts soon. thank you.
I come back periodically in hopes you will reconsider and resume this blog. Gannettoid is a partial fill, but he doesn't have the go for the guts approach I really enjoyed here. Also the systematic destruction of a newspaper company needs a historian.
ReplyDeleteI came because of the Romenesko link and, frankly, I found a strange kind of solace in the blog. Strange in that it often revealed the dark inner workings of a corporation that has no values other than money and has a collection of thoughtless, mindless and soulless people running it. They are responsible for more human and professional damage than any collection of newspaper executives. So that's the strange part; after working for these bozos for 10 years, why would I want to read more about the horrific things they are doing?
ReplyDeleteI guess it comes down to the community that follows you -- people who care deeply about what they are doing and were doing, people who are trapped or were trapped and are seeking new lives. I am interested to see how people are faring, whether with all this divestiture of talent, energy and experience, some of them, you, are going to help build the next generation of newspapers.
So this blog was the closest to a journalistic commmunity that I've seen. So I came with sadness but with some spark of hope that the people, the journalists, the true journalists, that engaged here, would rise up and get the executives to come to their senses or would, together, create alternatives...