"Let's get back to reporting on things that matter to an editor like me in a large-market newspaper,'' @7:04 says. "I would really like to find out from my divisional president, Bob Dickey (left), what he believes a newspaper looks like in three years. Do we all go the way of Detroit? Should we all start writing for the web and then reverse-publish for print? What is the role of a newspaper publisher in a changing media environment? . . . We are all in the same boat and we are looking for a true visionary."Anonymous@11:20 a.m. seconds that request: "Mr. Dickey," they write. "We know you read this blog. Please send a response or an e-mail to your employees and tell us what the newspaper looks like in 3-5 years. What grand plan are you putting together with your corporate strategists around e-readers, mobile phones -- and where does that place the newspaper? We await your answers. Please provide explicit details and not 'corporate-speak' answers."
As a Gannett employee, I had the same question: What was top management's vision for the company in a rapidly-changing media landscape? CEO Craig Dubow's first big initiative -- emphasizing news on the web first, followed by print -- wasn't ground-breaking when it was unveiled in 2006. Dubow was simply pulling Gannett into a 21st century model ignored by his predecessor. And Dubow's repeated admonition that Gannett would remain the No. 1 news source in its markets was only a restatement of the company's long-held goal.2007: vision interruptus
Whatever big vision might have emerged was lost starting in mid-2007, when the company began an alarming slide toward bankruptcy. Truth be told, that's been the Dubow-Dickey vision for newspapers ever since: Keep Gannett out of the hands of creditors long enough for the economy to rebound.
The immediate threat of Chapter 11 bankruptcy now seems past. That means it's time for Dubow & Co. to articulate the vision sought by many employees. What should be worrisome, though, is readers like @7:04 are still asking whether newsrooms should "start writing for the web" and then update for print. More than three years after that very goal was built into the Information Center reorganization, why is anyone still posing such basic questions? What's that say about the effectiveness of communication from Corporate down to the trenches?
What's your vision for the company? What do you hear from the Corporate office? 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.
[Image: today's Detroit Free Press, Newseum. Last spring, the paper dropped home delivery for all but three advertising-rich days; the rest of the week, it produces an abbreviated edition for newstand sales]
I was startled by that "start writing for the web" comment. That is Information Center 101.
ReplyDeleteIt's incredibly ironic that Gannett, being an information company, sucks so bad at disseminating information to the very people who are responsible for providing information.
ReplyDeleteVision? How do I worry about vision when I must scramble to get product to my distributors on a nightly basis?
ReplyDeleteLet's get the actual edition out with the correct inserts/ads first. We can worry about vision once we get the delivery situation settled.
Going Under in TN
Why not create your own "What newspapers will look like three years from now"?
ReplyDeleteBen Franklin produced his own newspaper before we had big media. We now have "printing presses" plugged into our homes. Do we really need corporate folks laying out our future?
I've gathered a few ideas for those looking to break free, assuming you have a "printing press" (home computer).
I don't work for any of the companies listed below, but am a 30-year print newspaper veteran currently building two sites using the following resources:
1. Find a community in need of information. Create a name that is Google search specific to that community. Buy a url that is the searchable name. Host your url on a server such as NetworkSolutions.com.
Cost: $150.00 (could be more if you need to buy a reserved url name).
2. Buy a Wordpress template from StudioPress.com. You have a choice of attractive, functional styles that can be customized. From my own experience, Studio Press offers THE BEST support in their forums for those of us who have never built a site and don't know css or html. I'm not that smart, had never built a site and found Studio Press to be relatively easy to navigate. Be patient.
Cost: $50.00
3. Begin building your site with content that is useful to your community. Write your own copy or solicit copy from your targeted community. Take photos and video with your point-and-shoot camera. Cost: $300.00
4. Use free Wordpress plugins (some developers request donations) for lots of great features including video players, facebook links, donation forms linked to PayPal, subscription forms, mobile/iPhone players... the list goes on and on. Cost: $0 or donation
5. Create a facebook business page and begin requesting friends in your community to become fans. Create a flickr account linked to your website featuring community photos.
Cost: $0
6. Build your community through E-mails, social networking, word-of-mouth, press releases, hand out fliers. BE CREATIVE. Enlist family and friends. Embrace new technologies IF they are valuable for marketing or revenues.
7. Sign up your url with Google Analytics (free) and learn where site hits are coming from. Google's data is extremely easy to digest and parse.
Total startup cost: $500.00
Think smart and small. Don't start with a team of ten folks or you'll soon run out of cash. Be jack of all trades. One or two employees are enough for this operation and you can always grow staff. Craigslist has 12 employees at last count.
Revenues: If the targeted community values your site's content, they will financially support it through donations and patronize advertisers. Jim's site is proof that a community of Gannett folks are willing to donate for information.
Consider setting up an e-commerce storefront on your site to add revenue streams. Wordpress e-commerce (free) is a useful plugin for those wanting to derive revenues from selling product.
Jim has more hits to his site, presumably, than many of Gannett's smaller newspapers. I would challenge you to band together and create a local, regional or national site (watch out USA Today) with feeds from each other and drop in local content.
Think like Benjamin Franklin.
The potential to revolutionize local, national and international information dissemination is affordable and now in EVERYONE'S hands and no longer controlled by corporate America.
Are you ready to lead into the future, or be led?
...that Bob Dickey is actually not in charge of the paid content strategy nor is he in charge of the e-reader strategy. I was told that it is actually Jack Williams, the President of Gannett Digital Ventures, who is dictating the strategy for what each Gannett newspaper is going charge for the online edition. Also, Jack Williams is apparently the one person making the decision on what e-readers (kindle, ipad, plastic logic) that all Gannett properties will distribute their paper onto. This has several people at USA Today and other areas very upset.
ReplyDeleteNow, I have been at Gannett for way too long and have seen very few things come from Jack Williams that have had any positive impact on our business.
At a recent meeting Bob Dickey told our department that it is really up to Jack Williams and what he decides and then US Community Publishing will "follow his lead".
Welcome back, My Boss! You've been missed by many of us.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that Bob Dickey has any vision. He is certainly a nice manager, but it seems like his vision has been outsourced to consultants.
ReplyDeleteI think the questions asked by the previous posters is right on. At our paper, we all work as if we will not have jobs in the next 12 to 36 months. It is actually sad, but we are all better without a vision from our President. It forces us to all look for new jobs and diversify our skills.
I am not going to wait for Bob Dickey or Gracia Martore to tell me where I am going. We all need to create our own destiny, because they are all going to be retired in the next 5 years!
Gannett needs to involve its trench-level employees instead of simply dictating what will be done and when.
ReplyDeleteLeaving everything up to the top level of management is a formula for disaster. In Westchester, a climate of arrogance has been allowed to fester for more than a decade. And look at the result.
Gannett needs managers who aren't "know-it-alls," and are willing to hear opinions that may clash with their own. Until the company changes its management model, there can be little expectation for improvement.
5:48 PM : Good for you, man! You got the right attitude.
ReplyDeleteDickey is a visionary. He envisions a day when -- rich from the bonuses and ridiculously large paycheck that he receives -- he will be retired and spend his days playing golf and sipping cocktails.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, today's corporate climate does not require highly placed executives to have a long-term vision for their companies. The salaries are so high and the perks so substantial that five years is plenty of time to line a nest that will last indefinitely. All one needs to do is keep the business alive long enough to cash out the next batch of stock options ... and when you've amassed enough personal wealth, you leave the problems of the company to someone else.Dickey may well see the company as dead in 10 years, and that vision would not be at all disturbing for a man of his personal means.
Beyond that, it is relatively clear that Dickey -- like all previous top-level news executives -- has attention deficit disorder. The company is constantly rolling out initiatives designed to "turn everything around," and these initiatives are typically killed within the first 12 months. Clearly, the goal is not to have a positive impact on the company but to play shell games that will convince investors, other executives and employees that GCI is moving in the right direction. Sadly, people who have followed the company for a long time see this constant revolution of bad ideas for what it is.
I agree with all of you who noted that "writing for the Web first" is Information Center 101, but we shouldn't condemn employees who have not yet subscribed to this.
ReplyDeleteAt my site, the Web accounts for just over 10 percent of the companies total revenue, meaning it is essentially a money loser. Because Gannett does not understand how to run profitable Web sites, I believe the company would be better off if it didn't put so much energy into them.
I'm not saying they should abandon the Web altogether, but putting far more than 10 percent of one's resources into a project that brings in about 10 percent of the money is not good business sense. In the meantime, the company has considerably decreased the quality of the printed products, which are keeping the chain afloat.
There are a number of profitable Web sites out there and I'm yet to find one that has the same business structure Gannett is trying to implement at its properties. Most Gannett sites rely on a massive employee base and serve a limited audience, while the most successful sites seem to have a limited employee base and serve a national (if not international audience). Unless the game changes, Gannett will never win.
11:10 PM
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, good attitudes alone do not put money in the bank. Good behaviors do though.
At a recent meeting Bob Dickey told our department that it is really up to Jack Williams and what he decides and then US Community Publishing will "follow his lead".
ReplyDelete2/17/2010 7:21 PM
And there we have our VISION!!!!!!!!! Am I wrong to suggest the man is highly overpaid making a statement like that? What a douche!