This is a cautionary tale about the rosier advertising revenue forecasts Gannett and other industry executives made last month -- forecasts that have sent newspaper stocks to new 52-week highs. Gannett shares, for one, ended yesterday at $17.25, another closing high.McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt was one of those executives speaking to the UBS media stock analysts conference. Editor & Publisher quoted his parting words for critics who said McClatchy and some of its peers would be bankrupt by now: "They were wrong."
Now, however, it turns out that better revenue times aren't a guarantee there won't be layoffs. Yesterday, McClatchy's Sacramento Bee and The News & Observer in Raleigh disclosed that they're considering a layoff of dozens of employees. Worth noting: Gannett newspaper division President Bob Dickey did not rule out layoffs when he announced one-week unpaid furloughs through the end of March.
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well we will see layoffs if this whole ad production consolidation is really taking place its all hush hush with the exception of one person on gannettoid confirming it was happening at a site but didnt really have details, but they knew the artists were told etc. so it must be happening...they said something about not getting told until 6 months before the scheduled departure, but who knows if the second roll out schedule is official or whatnot
ReplyDeleteisnt there some conference call today with Dickey? maybe someone can call and ask him since he always welcomes your questions in all his little letters
Not a peep here in Fort Worth. Reviews and raises are starting up again, but according to our publisher, layoffs can still happen.
ReplyDeleteThere were already two people laid off last week in St. Cloud.
ReplyDeleteLayoffs aren't only likely, they are a guarantee as the company moves forward with its consolidation efforts. What isn't clear is whether the layoffs will reach into departments that aren't being consolidated. Nobody should ever forget just how greedy this company is. If you are an employee, you needed to be working on a backup plan two years ago, but it would be better to start one now than to simply ignore the truth.
ReplyDeleteWord has it that Op/Ed editor Jeannie Mariani at the Honolulu Advertiser has been forced out today.
ReplyDeleteThe former Asian American Journalist Association President had been named in a recent discrimination/hostile work environment lawsuit.
Should be a a substantial saving of well over $100k/yr. No, layoffs are not off the table in Honolulu.
First of all cheers for starting the blog up again. There is just too much to say on the subject to don't keep it up! The most amazing part of the last few months saga has been that Spinderella and Spinderfella (respectively CFO and CEO) managed to spin terribly sad quarter results into "less worse than expected results", therefore looking marvelous, pushing the stock up from $1.85 to over $17 in just a few months. Wow! What a performance. You would think that this two characters are William Randolph Hearst, J.P. Morgan and Benjamin Franklin wrapped into one. To the contrary, revenues are way down, earnings are way down, dividends are 10 cents on a dollar compared to what they have been for years and these pitiful results would have been much worse if the two geniuses would not have laid off the best talent and therefore reduced most of the company's print assets, including USAToday to the shades of their former selves.
ReplyDeleteWho is buying GCI at over $17? Well, the same wizards that bought Yahoo! in 2000 at $250 and AOL/Time Warner, after the merger at $90. Look where they are now. Good luck guys, keep buying while the price goes up as the value of the company goes down and you will retire rich!