Bulletin: Gannett shares rise 86% from a year ago, as newspaper publishers pull back from deep lows

[Roller-coaster year from 52-week low of $1.85; bigger view]

Capping a second consecutive year of tumultuous change, stocks of major newspaper publishers today staged a huge comeback from a year ago, with company shares soaring well above broader stock-market averages.

Gannett's stock rose 86%, ranking it No. 4 among companies I follow, according to preliminary closing figures moments ago. Shares finished the year at $14.85 -- a huge turnabout from their 52-week low of $1.85. The rankings:

• Lee: up 746%
• McClatchy: up 343%
• E.W. Scripps: up 215%
• Gannett: up 86%
• New York Times Co.: up 69%
• News Corp.: up 66%
• Washington Post. Co.: up 13%

For comparison, here's the performance of major stock-market indexes:

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: up 19%
• S&P-500: up 23%
• Nasdaq: up 44%

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[Source: Google Finance]

For Honolulu, Obama holiday a time to shine

Gannett's Honolulu Advertiser is publishing a very clever interactive graphic, tracking President Obama's vacation in his home state, with a comparison to his year-ago visit. It's included in the newspaper's special section online. Here's a screengrab:

Got a graphic, photo or other illustration to recommend? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

Tops of '09: Layoffs, a memo, Wausau -- and buck$

[Happy Birthday! Among dozens I produced, this was top video]

Ten of your most-read Gannett Blog posts of 2009:

• Gannett layoffs and other cuts rocket past 1,300
• Gannett confirms mandatory unpaid week off
• Pay to play: Dickey, "sharing the financial hardship"
• WUSA: The "I quit" memo so many are talking about
• Corporate takes ContentOne for first big test drive
• Editor restricts Facebook, Twitter access
• Anatomy of a disaster in Wausau, Wis.
• Gannett freezes wages, adds Q2 furloughs
• Are you ready to take a one-week pay cut?
• CEO Dubow paid $3.1 million for 2008

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[Source: Google Analytics]

Asbury at center of MTV's 'Jersey Shore' ruckus

[Youse talkin' to me?! The show's very tan cast]

Any editor who's experienced sudden national attention on their community knows the upside -- and, especially, the downside. These days, the Asbury Park Press in Neptune, N.J., is getting this in spades with MTV's newest reality TV series, Jersey Shore.

The show, Press writer Chelsea Michels reports today on page one, "focuses on eight, tanned 20-somethings who embraced the term 'guido,' and their summer escapades here. It has come under fire from Italian-American groups, tourism officials and even state legislators.'' (Michels left out only the sex, fist pumping, spiky hair, gold chains and waxed eyebrows -- and that's just the men.)

The Press is the largest of the dailies in Gannett's six-paper New Jersey Group. MTV filmed the series in Seaside Heights and Neptune, where the Press has its main office. For the newspaper and its community, Jersey Shore is a chance to bask in rare nationwide attention, and the tourism dollars that might bring, while trying to balance the interests of local residents who may be offended at how their community is depicted.

As someone of Italian descent who grew up near the Rhode Island shore, I winced a few times while watching a recent Jersey Shore episode. Still, it was very entertaining. And I'll say this: these Jersey stars have nothing on my home state's Italian-Americans along Scarborough Beach in the summertime. Don't take my word for it, however: The next new episode airs Thursday night; check local MTV listings for times. Can't wait? Watch recent full episodes right here.

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[Images: top, MTV; inset, today's front page, Newseum]

Reno | On Metromix, who's been really naughty?

[Papal indulgence: Reno's Santa "Pub Crawl" slideshow]

Holidays bring out all those eye-popping Metromix photos of revelers in costumes, with the more scantily clad pix getting the most traffic. Now, for the second year in a row, Gannett's newspaper in Reno, Nev., has delivered some of the most outrageous goods for a holiday slideshow. This photo (above) was submitted to the Gazette-Journal by one of the paper's readers.

The caption: "Decked out for the Santa Pub Crawl: We're pretty sure Pope Santa was a fairly distinctive choice." Uh, yes.

Which Metromix holiday photo would you nominate? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

Pets | Saying goodbye to Fido, and hello to $$$

[In Louisville, Ky.: Kentuckiana Pets promotes new offering]

Seeking new advertising revenue, many newspapers switched to paid obituaries from the long-time tradition of publishing death notices gratis, as news stories. Now, publishers have extended this new revenue stream to the fast-growing category of pets.

The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., is promoting a newly launched section for pet obituaries on its Kentuckiana Pets site. After clicking around several times, I figured out that these appear to be paid advertisements, although one link mistakenly took me to job listings several times.

In Rochester, N.Y., the Democrat and Chronicle's RocPets charges a one-time fee of $29 to publish an obituary on its site. Interestingly, the newspaper is using the same publishing platform, Legacy.com, that many papers use for human obituaries.

At The Indianapolis Star, I couldn't find a section for pet obituaries on IndyPaws; maybe someone reading this post can point it out. But I did find a link to mortuaries and other businesses specializing in pet cremations and related funeral services.

Got a memorial page for pets at your newspaper or TV station? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

Westchester | As printing is moved, a building sale?

Gannett's sale of the Poughkeepsie Journal's historic downtown building (left) this year was surely only the most high-profile of GCI's moves to raise money by selling real estate holdings -- even in a down real estate market.

Other property sales, already completed or still in the works, are no doubt driven by the closing of press and production facilities, which occupy a lot of space. These deals, in Gannett and across the industry, marked the end of an era of signature architecture for the newspaper industry.

I began tallying the number of Gannett press closings, paper by paper, earlier this year. Now, I'd like to assemble a list of real estate that's been sold, or is on the verge of getting sold. My interest is piqued after Anonymous@7:25 said in a comment last night: "Is it true that the building in Westchester has been sold? What will become of us?"

I suspect the author's fear follows word earlier this month that The Journal News in New York's Westchester is closing its press and production facility, as it shifts printing to an outside company in Rockaway, N.J. (Indeed, the Journal News had earlier this year picked up printing of the Poughkeepsie Journal.)

Readers: Has any of your site's real estate been sold, or being offered for sale? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

Digging deeper, a hunt for The Bold Italic's roots

Amid the smidge of feedback on my recent post about that unusual Gannett online start-up here in San Francisco, The Bold Italic, count me on the side of those who like it.

For those who missed my first post, the new site -- in beta test mode since October -- appears aimed at an edgy, literary audience of young consumers. Its daily essays and other posts about things to do in San Francisco are higher-brow competition for alternative publications, including SF Weekly and the San Francisco Bay Guardian.

But it also looks like it's going after youthful readers of more upmarket, glossy titles like San Francisco magazine. For sure, it's so not Metromix-y. (My favorite Bold Italic piece so far is contributing writer Aaron Britt's advice on proper etiquette at a strip club: "A gentleman calls out 'Honey!' only when his Darjeeling is too bitter.")

More intriguing, however, is the website's pedigree: How did the idea come about in the first place, and who's in charge? I can't answer the first question, but I have an idea or two about the second.

Last May, Anonymous@6:45 p.m. alluded to a West Coast project being led by Michael Maness, chief of Gannett's research and development center, known as the DIG. My suspicions that he's in charge are raised further by Maness' Facebook profile, where he lists himself as a fan of just four FB pages, as I post this; one of them is, indeed, Bold Italic.

Finally, as I wonder where Bold Italic might expand to next, I'm thinking: Seattle?

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Paywalls | Amid Arianna's doubts, GCI innovates

The New York Times floats the notion today that publishers are drawing closer to charging for online content, a 180-degree turn from a nearly 15-year-old practice that's proved disastrous for the industry. "Indeed," report the NYT's Richard Perez-Pena and Tim Arango, "in the next several weeks, industry executives and analysts expect some publications to take the plunge."

Yet, their story cites only a few examples, and none of them involve Gannett sites. Perhaps individual GCI newspapers and other outlets are being encouraged to experiment locally. Only yesterday, for instance, the Tallahassee Democrat published in print special coverage about a retiring football coach. Online, however, readers were given just a taste, then directed to buy the paper's electronic edition for $1.50.

Whatever the industry-wide outcome, skeptics abound on whether publishers are serious about making the switch. Blogger Alan Mutter told the NYT: "We’re looking at some sort of an inflection point, at least in attitude. But I haven’t seen much realistic, hard-headed thinking about how that's going to happen, so I don’t know how much is really going to change." And Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington (left) "predicted that much of the talk of media's mining the Web for new revenue would never become reality -- and that if it did, free sites like hers would benefit,'' the Times says.

What do you hear about for-pay products and firewalls at your site? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

Comparing new ad production centers vs. 2AdPro

Months after word leaked that Gannett plans to consolidate its newspaper advertising design at two new U.S. production centers, basic questions remain unanswered for employees -- and for me.

An outside vendor, Outsourcing USA, is expected to get up to one-quarter of GCI's ad production at the two centers, in Des Moines and Indianapolis, trade publication Editor & Publisher said in October. "We will handle any kind of ad -- anything from a grocery circular to a high-end Flash ad" for the Web," Outsourcing executive David Madeira told Editor & Publisher.

But what about the remaining three-quarters of the work? Some of it shifted to Los Angeles-based 2AdPro, which does the work in India; that started about two years ago, when Gannett began its big consolidation push in finance, printing and other operations.

My question for any of the presumably hundreds of ad production employees affected: What's happened to that 2AdPro contract?

The other, even more central question: What's the schedule for the shift in work to Des Moines and Indianapolis? Only this morning, Anonymous@11:08 a.m. said in a comment: "Wondering if anyone has received any formal memos about when ad production consolidation will happen at their paper?"

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Gannett next after NYT, McClatchy wage moves?

I'm referring, of course, to whether this year's pay freeze across Gannett's U.S. newspaper division is going to end in the second quarter. After all, The New York Times and the McClatchy Co. recently announced the end of wage squeezes imposed over the past year, when advertising revenue plunged during the recession.

The NYT is rescinding a 5% pay cut, effectively returning wages to where they were at the start of the year, according to a memo earlier this month.

At McClatchy -- publisher of the Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee and other dailies -- a wage freeze in September 2008 will be lifted at different times at each newspaper, depending on the "financial performance and challenges at each individual paper,'' CEO Gary Pruitt (left) told employees in a memo.

Last spring, Gannett's U.S. Community Publishing division also imposed a freeze, effective April 1 through March 31, 2010, division chief Bob Dickey told workers in a memo at the time. Although the company has announced one-week furloughs for the first quarter of 2010, it didn't say anything about the future of the pay freeze. Could the steps by the NYT and McClatchy portend a similar move by Gannett?

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

Week Dec. 21-27 | Your News & Comments

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Tallahassee | An FSU coach sendoff -- with a twist

[Bye-bye, Bowden; bigger view]

In a dramatic front page treatment today, the Tallahassee Democrat played its sendoff of Florida State University coach Bobby Bowden big -- really big.

How's Bowden spending his retirement after 34 seasons' coaching football? "It’s not golf or books or fishing that is in Bowden’s immediate future," reports the Democrat's Corey Clark and Jim Lamar. "It’s technology."


"You know what I’m going to do?" Bowden told the paper. "I’m going to get a computer. I’m going to learn how to use the Internet. I’m going to do some reading on the Internet. They say once you get on there, you stay on there for hours. I’m looking forward to that, maybe looking up some history articles and reading newspapers."

The twist I find interesting? Online, the Democrat bills its special coverage as a "print" exclusive. Smartly, it isn't giving away the content. Readers get a glimpse of the mainbar on the paper's website, but are directed to buy the electronic edition of today's paper for $1.50.

Got a Gannett front page to recommend? Find it in the Newseum's page one database, then post a link in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

[Image: Newseum]

How the attempted plane bombing was played

A Nigerian man is accused of attempting to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight with 278 passengers and 11 crew members as it landed in Detroit yesterday. How the two local papers played the story on page one, starting with Gannett's Detroit Free Press (bigger view):

The Detroit News, which Gannett owned until 2005, when it was sold to MediaNews Group (bigger view):

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[Images: Newseum]

Detroit | First look at airplane bombing coverage

Gannett's Detroit Free Press' home page moments ago, with coverage of an attempted bombing of a flight as it was landing in Detroit:

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Page One | Christmas Day front pages

A holiday selection of three Gannett papers, starting with the Oshkosh Northwestern in Wisconsin (bigger view):

. . . the Lansing State Journal in Michigan (bigger view):

. . . and the Detroit Free Press (bigger view):

Got a Gannett front page to recommend? Find it in the Newseum's page one database, then post a link in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

Louisville | In a Christmas standard, Brenda Lee

Brenda "Little Miss Dynamite" Lee sings "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" in 1994 as part of WHAS-TV's annual Crusade for Children fundraiser. WHAS was once part of the Bingham family media empire in Louisville, Ky., that Gannett bought in 1986. The TV station is now owned by Dallas-based Belo.



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USAT | Kinsey Wilson on new NPR project

The former No. 2 editor at USA Today is about to launch an online local news venture at National Public Radio, which he joined in October 2008 after leaving Gannett's biggest daily. The venture, called Project Argo, is "armed with $3 million in foundation support and a dozen NPR radio stations, committed to in-depth topical coverage of issues with broad national relevance and a strong local focus," according to a new paidContent story. The launch is set for early next year.

Kinsey Wilson (left) tells paidContent that Argo is a way of trying to replace what newspapers have traditionally provided, according to paidContent: "Do you do it comprehensively across the board on all topics the way newspapers have or a little more selectively, realizing there are a broader number of news organizations?” Instead of one trying to do it all, different outlets can focus on certain topics or aspects. Argo includes a strong emphasis on collaboration.

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

Farewell | Another newspaper blog bites the dust

The author of McClatchy Watch called it quits yesterday, after 27 months of maintaining his blog about the publisher of the Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee and other dailies. From his final "Time to exit" post:

Newspaper watchdog bloggers will mostly be hobbyists who don't do it for the money. For the past several months I have averaged 2,000 hits on weekdays, about half that on weekends. Not bad for this little blog but not a solid business model -- my monthly income from this blog was never more than about one sixth of my mortgage payment.

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

Post-Gannett, shopping for health insurance

My company-subsidized medical coverage ended when my severance benefits stopped: October 2008. I then went on COBRA, the coverage mandated by the federal government; it generally lasts for 18 months.

But now my COBRA coverage effectively is ending, because Gannett has canceled its contract with my preferred HMO here in San Francisco, effective Jan. 1. That means I'm now shopping for health insurance in the so-called individual market, without the benefit or guarantee of group rates, because I'm self-employed, so without access to an employer's plan.

My experience looking for a new medical plan may offer lessons to anyone who's considering leaving Gannett -- either voluntarily, or through a layoff.

Here's a look at the costs:

• I paid $150 a month during my final year as a USA Today employee, for full-service coverage, with a relatively low deductible. That was for just one person: me.
• On COBRA, my premium shot up to nearly $400 a month for the same benefits.

With my COBRA ending, I want to continue coverage through my current HMO, Kaiser Permanente, because I like my doctor and the other services there. So, I've narrowed my search for a new plan to two possibilities offered by Kaiser:

• a "conversion plan," offering essentially the same benefits I got through Gannett. It costs $621 a month, with a $1,500 annual deductible. Mind you, that's still for just me alone. Under this plan, there's no medical review, so I wouldn't be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
• a high-deductible plan that costs much less: $277 a month, with a $3,000 annual deductible. But unlike the conversion plan, pre-existing conditions could make me ineligible.

I'll let you know how it all shakes out.

Questions for you: What's your experience been with coverage under Gannett? I hear costs next year are going to be much higher. And if you've left the company, what was it like to get health insurance if you, like me, shopped on the individual market?

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

Deals | GQ on 'vulgarian' Murdoch's takeover

In a new story with implications for Gannett, GQ magazine -- better known as a men's fashion glossy -- aims its gun barrel at the two-year-old sale of The Wall Street Journal to News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch. "It was a stunning turn of events whose significance is still coming into focus,'' the magazine says, as it recounts a litany of predictions about where the Australian "vulgarian" Murdoch would take the storied newspaper.

One grim prediction coming true: Murdoch is taking steps to turn the Journal into the preeminent national daily, an attack on the market now claimed by GCI's flagship USA Today, and The New York Times. A sign Murdoch is gaining ground: In October, the WSJ supplanted USAT as the nation's No. 1 circulation newspaper, on the strength of its thousands of paid online subscriptions. (USAT publisher Dave Hunke notes that it continues to be the No. 1 paper in print.)

GQ's story continues: "The Murdoch takeover marks the beginning of the end of the newspaper world as we once knew it. In the two years since the Bancrofts sold out, nearly 200 newspapers in the United States have gone under. The Rocky Mountain News, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and Ann Arbor News are dead. The San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Philadelphia Inquirer, and entire Tribune chain are barely hanging on. Nearly 47,000 jobs have been lost. But under Murdoch, the Wall Street Journal is not only still publishing, but also, unbelievably, hiring."

Left off that list of dead print newspapers, of course, is Gannett's Tucson Citizen, shuttered in May, and replaced with a barely-there website.

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.

Stock | GCI and NYT shares hit new highs

Shares of Gannett and the New York Times Co. traded at new 52-weeks highs in early trading today after upgrades by Wells Fargo Securities. In recent moves:

• GCI rose nearly 7%, to $15.39, after running as high as $15.49 a share -- a new 52-week high.
• NYT jumped nearly 12%, to $11.64, after touching $11.99 earlier this morning, also a new 52-week high.

"Wells Fargo Securities analyst John Janedis lifted his rating on the sector," MarketWatch says in a new story, "citing a faster improvement in advertising sales than expected. Janedis also upgraded Gannett Co. to outperform from underperform and New York Times Co. to market perform from underperform."

Reuters has moved a story on the rally, too.

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.

USAT | Flagship considers a new home page

Gannett's marquee newspaper is now previewing a new look for its home page. (Example, left; click on image for bigger view.) The last overhaul was in 2007; the new design doesn't appear to have a launch date, however. More details here.

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.

Here's a Gannett start-up like none I've ever seen

I've just spent several eye-opening hours, reading essays and other features published by The Bold Italic, a new online venture Gannett has started here in San Francisco. It's been in beta test mode since October. I first heard something like this was in the works earlier in the year, but didn't get a link to the site until recently. Here's the about us, background on the Gannett connection, plus the start-up's Facebook page.

I'll write more about The Bold Italic after I've spent more time researching it. In the meantime, what do you think? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

After huge storm, snowscape front pages

Heavy snowfall dominated stories and photos on front pages of East Coast newspapers today. Three examples, starting in Maryland:

The Daily Times, Salisbury, Md. . . .

. . . USA Today, McLean, Va., . . .

. . . and The News Journal in Wilmington, Del.

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.

[Front pages: Newseum]

Week Dec. 14-20 | Your News & Comments

Can't find the right spot for your comment? Post it here, in this open forum. Real Time Comments: parked here, 24/7. (Earlier editions.)

Des Moines | Why Nemitz is drawing readers here

[July 2008 issue of Des Moines' Juice featured a shirtless Nemitz]

For several days, I've noticed more and more readers coming to Gannett Blog to read something I wrote long ago -- July 2008 -- about an issue of The Des Moines Register's youth-focused Juice section. Drawing these new readers here: their Google searches for an Iowa guy named Jordan Nemitz. Now I know why.

Aspiring model Nemitz, 26 (left), was featured in a racy sex issue of Juice way back then. Now, Nemitz is in the news again, the Register says, because he's one of three finalists in the Body Heat Hottest Bod in the World Contest.

Looks like the Juice editors picked a (potential) winner!

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[Image, top: a screen shot from the Juice sex issue featuring Nemitz and co-model Jamie Struve]

Stock | In big turnaround, GCI shares gain

Less than two weeks before the end of the year, shares of major newspaper publishers have staged a huge comeback from a year ago, when several were in danger of bankruptcy. The year-to-date performance of seven stocks I follow, according to Google Finance:

• Lee: up 871%
• McClatchy: up 316%
• E.W. Scripps: up 199%
• Gannett: up 75%
• News Corp.: up 64%
• New York Times Co.: up 42%
• Washington Post. Co.: up 12%

For context, Gannett shares closed Friday at $13.98 vs. a 52-week low of $1.85.

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.

Twitter | Just in time for holidays, I'm tweetin'

Makes a wonderful, free gift: Please join me @gannettblog!

In GCI vs. NYT, which won't have furloughs?

[Stocks: GCI vs. NYT this year; click to enlarge. Live version]

Year-to-date, Gannett's shares are up 75% -- nearly twice the gain of stock in the New York Times Co., which has climbed just 39% in the same period (see chart, above), according to current Google Finance data. That would suggest a financially more healthy Gannett. So, it's interesting to note that New York Times top editor Bill Keller has just announced that no furloughs are foreseen for 2010, and that a 5% wage cut imposed last year will be restored starting next month. Gannett, by comparison, announced one-week furloughs earlier this month for the upcoming first quarter.

To be sure, this news from Keller -- in a memo distributed to staff today -- comes as the paper-of-record cuts 100 newsroom jobs, on top of a similar cut last year.

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.

Memos | A holiday note from the big boss

A reader forwards the following, which appears to be a holiday message from CEO Craig Dubow. Did anyone else get this? And do individual publishers and other top business unit executives send similar notes at this time of year?

December 17, 2009

Dear colleagues:

As we celebrate the holiday season, I want to take a moment to thank you for all of your tremendous work and support for Gannett in 2009.

It has been a difficult year on many fronts but we are closing out the year on a far more positive note than how it began. Our company is much stronger and better positioned, we are seeing encouraging signs that advertising is coming back and our revenue results so far in the fourth quarter are the best we have had all year. During the course of the year, in an extraordinarily challenging economy, we maintained a healthy level of profitability, moved our core media properties forward and continued to invest and build out our digital businesses. Not many companies have been able to achieve what we have this year and this is testament to your hard work, commitment and talent. I know it has not been easy and I greatly appreciate all that you have contributed and sacrificed during a very trying time.

We head into the new year with good momentum – but also with some caution and pragmatism about how the economy will perform in the early months of the year. Thanks to your efforts and the disciplined way we approached this year, Gannett is strong and able to continue moving ahead in what we hope will be a year of greater economic stability.

Thank you again for your good work. I wish you and your families a very happy and safe holiday season and the very best in the new year.

Sincerely,

Craig

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.

Stock | Gannett touches new 52-week high

The company's shares rose as high as $14.38 in early trading today -- a new 52-week high, Google Finance says -- before easing back. The jump, on a day when overall markets are down, follows news earlier this week that a Benchmark Co. analyst boosted his expectations for where the stock is headed, after the company reported improving revenue for the current quarter. GCI's recent gains have taken shares a long way from their 52-week low of $1.85.

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.

How blogging makes you crazy -- if you choose

If I hesitate to resume blogging, it is the knowledge that it can consume your life -- if you allow it to. Always-on journalism, where writers use web-based software to report and publish stories, means you can work 24/7 -- unless you establish boundaries and sensible work hours. Last April, for example, I posted 310 times to Gannett Blog -- an average of more than 10 posts a day. That's nuts. But not so uncommon.

In the new movie Julie & Julia, a young journalist in Queens nearly destroys her marriage when she becomes convinced that her blog's readers had become vitally dependent on her for something ultimately inconsequential: kitchen recipes. Nikki Finke, the powerful blogger on the film industry, is portrayed in a New Yorker magazine profile in October as a vengeful woman who rarely leaves her home to meet any of the industry titans she so often attacks. Ditto for writer Emily Gould, whose controversial New York Times Magazine cover story last year shows that she, too, cycled through two relationships as she allowed herself to be drawn too-deep into her job as a blogger for leading media gossip site Gawker.

Readers: What's it like to be a 21st-century worker, where BlackBerries and other devices mean you are expected to work anywhere, anytime? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.

[Image: the NYT cover for Gould's "Blog-Post Confidential" article]

Cherry Hill | Tipster says Corporate bigwigs coming

That's according to Anonymous@7:11 p.m., who says in a comment today that the "higher-ups" are due at New Jersey's Courier-Post on Thursday. "To prepare, they are dismantling empty cubicles in advertising and redoing the lobby. Rumors say there is going to be big changes in the areas served by information center and advertising after the New Year."

Can anyone confirm, or add details? Post replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.

[Image: today's front page, Newseum]

Stock | Documents show big grants to top execs

Corporate has just issued blocks of Gannett stock to CEO Craig Dubow (left) and other members of the top brass, according to public documents filed today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The shares were given in the form of what are called restricted stock units (RSUs). They are typically granted as part of an executive's annual compensation. Similar RSUs were granted last year at this time.

RSUs aren't actual shares of company stock. Instead, they are a promise of stock paid to an individual at some time in the future, when the executive has satisfied the so-called vesting requirements. In the case of the RSUs disclosed in today's filings, they won't vest -- or become the executive's property -- for another four years. Companies establish these vesting dates so executives will stick around and, hopefully, manage the business so that the company's stock increases in value.

For example, according to today's filings, Dubow was given 100,000 shares of stock in the form of RSUs; he may claim those shares on Dec. 11, 2013, this document shows. Chief Financial Officer Gracia Martore was granted 84,000 shares in the form of RSUs, this document shows.

Today's SEC documents, known as a Form 4, don't put a dollar value on these grants. But assuming Gannett stock in December 2013 is trading at the same level as its closing price today -- $13.83 -- those 100,000 shares for Dubow would be worth about $1.4 million.

To see the full list of these just-filed Forms 4, go to the SEC documents section of the investor relations page on Corporate's website.

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.

Metromix reportedly in big national expansion

Gannett and partner Tribune Co. are expanding their joint venture Metromix to 27 additional cities, the Washington (D.C.) Business Journal says today, giving the chain of local entertainment websites a presence in all 50 of the nation’s largest markets.

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Stock | Gannett rises near 52-week high

Shares have traded as high as $14.15 this morning -- just three cents from GCI's 52-week high of $14.18, according to Google Finance. The stock's move comes as markets overall charge higher, though at smaller rates. The Dow Jones industrial average has recently climbed 0.3%. The S&P-500 was up 0.6%, Google Finance says.

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.

Indeed, the ax is falling well outside the newsroom

Regarding my post about non-editorial job cuts at The New York Times beyond the 100 planned for the newsroom, I received the following via a reader:

The current layoffs are a sign of an unhealthy company because they are clearly cutting MUCH deeper than the 100 positions that keep making headlines in the news. News Service's cuts, advertising cuts, biz-side cuts are all going on without being included in the tally. I also understand that Editorial has been ordered to cut 8% just as the newsroom is cutting 8% (which is equal to 100 jobs). So Editorial has to lose 3 jobs and they still don't know who is being affected. I just know that nobody volunteered for the buyout. I think it's just awful.

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.

Week Dec. 7-13 | Your News & Comments

Can't find the right spot for your comment? Post it here, in this open forum. Real Time Comments: parked here, 24/7. (Earlier editions.)

Martore doesn't rule out second-quarter furloughs

A Wall Street stock analyst asked Chief Financial Officer Gracia Martore about furlough plans for 2010 during this week's UBS media conference in New York. The analyst prefaced his question by noting that Gannett had instituted one-week to two-week furloughs in the first half of this year.

Question: "What are your plans for next year? Are you going to duplicate that? Or perhaps you're not going to do that?"

Martore: She first noted that the company had recently announced one-week furloughs for the first quarter of 2010, mostly in the U.S. newspaper division and at Corporate. Then, regarding the second quarter and beyond, she said: "We'll see how the year evolves before we make any decisions about future times."

To be sure, I wouldn't read too much into Martore's response, because companies always like to leave themselves some wiggle room, in the event circumstances change. But it certainly would have been more comforting if she had ended her reply by indicating that additional furloughs looked unlikely at this point, assuming that is the case.

I was prompted to review the session by several comments in Wednesday's UBS post, where readers reported that Martore had, indeed, indicated there would be second-quarter furloughs. (I didn't hear her say that, however.) The question-and-response took place Wednesday at the UBS conference. To listen to the full one-hour presentation, go here. The Martore exchange occurs toward the end, at about the 49:30-minute mark.

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.

In ongoing layoffs, what about non-editorial staff?

As The New York Times prepares to lay off several dozen in its newsroom, I'm reminded that many of the newspaper industry staff cuts made public are dominated by those involving editorial workers. That's often because those reporting layoffs are mostly newsroom employees -- the same group that tends to dominate readership of blogs like Romenesko and Gannett Blog. But what about job cuts in advertising, production, finance and other departments? Surely some of those workers are getting the ax at the NYT, too.

Ditto for USA Today, which recently cut an identical number of newsroom jobs -- 26. When I've covered layoffs at Gannett's marquee title in the past, I rarely got reports of cuts outside the newsroom.

So, questions:

• Did any staff reductions hit non-editorial workers at USAT?
• And what about severance? The New York Post's Keith Kelly says that many of the NYT staffers getting buyouts left with two years of severance. What are the terms for those getting forcibly laid off?

At USAT, the 26 laid off earlier this month got "transitional pay," the same severance given those Gannett employees cut during the July layoffs. How it works: those who qualify for state unemployment get paid enough by Gannett to cover the difference between their unemployment benefits and their salary. So, if you earned $600 a week, and your state jobless benefit is $350, Gannett pays the other $250 -- so long as you qualify for the state jobless benefit. (I assume, as well, that USAT employees went on COBRA health insurance immediately. True?)

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.

Stocks | Major media shares jump higher

On the heels of rosier forecasts at this week's UBS media conference, companies I follow closely saw their shares rise smartly in recent trading today:

• Gannett: up 9% to $13.04
• New York Times Co.: up 3.6% to $9.26
• News Corp.: up 2% to $14.87

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Report: Martore forecasts high single-digit job cuts

Updated at 5:55 p.m.: Barron's has now corrected its earlier report, and now says the headcount reductions in 2010 will mostly reflect layoffs that have already taken place. To see the revised report, click on the link, below.

Earlier: Speaking at the UBS media stock conference today, Chief Financial Officer Gracia Martore's remarks "were accompanied by projections for 2010, including 'high single digits' layoffs in the print publishing part of the business, and 'low single digits' layoffs in Gannett’s digital media division,'' Barron's is now reporting.

The print publishing business would generally include at least the 84 dailies in the U.S. Community Publishing division.

Martore also said she is "comfortable" with the high end of analysts' earnings estimate range of 48 cents to 62 cents for the current quarter, the business weekly says.

Here's Corporate's statement on remarks planned by executives. It doesn't appear to include Martore's reference to layoffs, however.

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.