Sunday, March 07, 2010
Week March 1-7 | 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.)
71 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."
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Interesting quote from Evan Ray that he didn't know about the Honolulu sale until 2 days earlier. Anybody else have a hard time believing that? The parties have been talking for over a year.
ReplyDeleteEvan Ray was also quoted as saying Honolulu was making a profit. But in union negotiations, the company said it was losing money so the union gave in with a 10% wage decrease. Is Evan speaking the truth or blowing smoke?
Finally, Gannett wanted to sell Honolulu. They haven't made a principal payment on the $82 million press facility after 6 years.
This is the final week that the Poughkeepsie Journal and The Journal News in Westchester will get printed at the News' Harrison, N.Y., production plant. Next week, printing shifts to a non-Gannett printer in Rockaway N.J. Nearly 170 Gannett employees are losing their jobs in the process.
ReplyDeleteRe Jim's info, well, I just can't see this. I was at the JN until the past summer, and whenever the paper was late I heard about it from neighbors. Even someone at my doctor's office complained to me in the waiting room! Folks, it looks like bye-bye JN. Unless Gannett plans to teleport the paper to its subscribers, might as well plan on delays.
ReplyDeleteYes Jim, this is the final week at Harrison, New York. I worked there for over twenty five years and I have mixed emotions about this whole thing. The people losing their jobs is just an awful thing . I could go on and on but I guess the correct thing to say is that the wrong people are losing their jobs. Management would have been out a long time ago with any other company. They have driven this newspaper into the ground, yet they are still there. positively mind blowing.
ReplyDelete9:26 is right, the people that are losing their jobs are hard working people that have nothing to do with why the paper is failing. It just does not seem right that so many press people are losing their jobs becasue the incompetence of the news room managers
ReplyDeleteI guess Gannett decided marketing companies don't need presses. Sorry to say it, but they're probably right.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI've deleted and am now reposting a comment left by Anonymous@2:30 p.m. to remove an individual's name in the interest of personal privacy. Here's the edited version:
ReplyDeleteUSA Today is in the process of eliminating the marketing department. This is the third announcement today of the cancellation of their national programs. Another one was the WTC travel programs.
Good afternoon,
Due to budgets, the USA TODAY Hollywood Hero program has been canceled. The program and event have been removed from the event marketing merchandise calendar. Please remove it from any client opportunities. Contact Ed Cassidy with any questions.
Thank you,
The Creative Services Team
This just in this afternoon:
ReplyDeleteMarch 1, 2010
To: All US Community Publishing employees
From: Bob Dickey
I am very pleased to let you know that we are lifting the USCP wage freeze, effective April 1.
Thanks to the outstanding efforts across our division, we have been able to continue restructuring our costs, improve our revenue trends and are tracking as we hoped for the first quarter.
Going forward, we will get back into the normal review cycle where people will be eligible for raises based, as always, on performance and contributions to the overall organization.
You all have done a great job getting us off to a very good start this year and I sincerely thank you for all of your support and hard work. As always, please feel free to email me with any questions or ideas about our business. My email is address is rdickey@gannett.com.
Regards,
Bob
Lifting the wage freeze? To what kind of a tiny increment to keep the peons happy? Will it be based on our pre-furlough take home or the new reduced post furlough bottom line? Will merit raises come back? Or have last years new employee review forms negated the rank and file ever seeing merit increases again? Will it make us whole, compared to the ever increasing health care costs and co-pays? Or is it just balm for the conscience of the board when they hand out obscene bonuses to the upper level execs. Pardon my skepticism, but this company never give away anything to the "little people" who do the work unless they have to.
ReplyDeleteso does this mean no furloughs in Q2?
ReplyDelete5:04 is so typical of the whiners that just love to complain. I have a Gannett colleague that went through major cancer treatment last year. Yes she had to pay deductibles and co-pays. Her total out of pocket was a few thousand dollars. Her total medical expense was well over $80,000! You think the insurance is too high, try paying $80,000! They take the pay freeze off and you can’t whine fast enough. I’ll take the 1, 2 or 3% increase they want to give me. In fact give me your increase, I’ll take it. Yes, times stink. Yes the economy stinks. And yes, furloughs stink. But it beats looking for a job. Can’t you ever think positive? Thousands of people lost their jobs last year in Gannett, millions around the country and you complain about having medical coverage and getting a small increase. There are many who trade places with you tomorrow. It’s time to grow up.
ReplyDeleteI can't beleive anyone would complain about pay increases being reinstated. Wow, unbelievable 5:04.
ReplyDeleteWhat 6:43 said.
ReplyDeleteYeah, stop complaining. A job at Gannett is better than no job at all. I know, laid off in July 2009. Remember the lousy TPP payments where they did not take out Federal taxes? Well Gannett is haunting me again... did my taxes today, have to pay the Feds $577. Because of the TPP payments that did not take out Fed tax. Guess what... I don't have the money. Now we have to scrounge and save to pay the Feds because of miserable Gannett! I hate Gannett! I hope the Big Shots at Gannett choke on their pay raises and bonuses. Everyone else, consider yourself lucky you have a job to complain about... for now.
ReplyDelete6:43, are you not aware that the individual who went through that cancer treatment had a number of expenses paid by her high level boss, in addition to plenty of paid time off? We're indeed sorry about her problems, but this is a well known fact around Crystal Palace - we're no fools.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that there's certainly no reason to complain about the fact that we could get raises this year, I think everybody should get off the back of the poster who complained about Gannett's continued lowballing of employees.
ReplyDeleteWhile there may be minimal pay raises this year, the Q1 furlough effectively negated those. If there's a Q2 furlough, things will be even worse. When you count the increase in cost of insurance, most Gannett employees will be making less money than they did three years ago.
One of the problems we're having in America right now is that too many people are saying, "Well, at least I'm employed," rather than getting angry with the big corporate players that sunk the economy in the first place.
Remember that Gracia Martore is getting a $250,000 raise this year for taking on a new position and that we will spend millions rehiring for her old position. Remember that Dubow, Martore, etc., will make millions on the stock options they were given as bonuses last year.
It's true that the economy is bad, but it's only bad for the little people. The big money folks, like Dickey & Co., have the resources to invest and turn this downturn into a gold mine. How many houses would you buy right now if you had millions in disposable income?
We should always remember that the people who are telling us to be happy with the crumbs they throw us are never, ever happy. If they can earn greater profits by cutting people and quality, they will do it in a heartbeat.
We don't all need to become pessimists, but it is fair to call things as they really are. Everything in this country is geared to the wealthy, and reinstating a minimal pay increase doesn't come close to offsetting rising insurance costs, furloughs and a frozen pension. It's a PR maneuver, and the sooner we're all working for a better company the better off we'll be.
I don't understand why the federal taxes weren't deducted from the TPP. They were deducted from mine. I don't recall whether the deductions were an option.
ReplyDeleteWhen I bailed out of Westchester in August I decided not to hold any grudges against anyone despite my distaste for the incompetence of the "leadership."
Grudges only hurt the person feeling the grudge.
As for a job with Gannett better than no job, well, that may depend on your site. From my perspective, anything is better than working at Westchester.
Honestly, I can't see ethical journalists being even mildly content working for the marketing company Gannett has become---raise or no raise, furlough or not. It's all about work values I think.
ReplyDeleteThis question is in reference to Jim's excellent MetroMix posting:
ReplyDelete"Can someone please tell me what Jack Williams actual responsibilities are?"
Jim: in the past you've done a nice job profiling the likes of Leslie Hurst. I can think of no one in GCI more deserving of a hard look than Mr. Williams.
Has anyone else looked at the Ripple6 site lately? Some of the case studies helped me understand what that's all about.
ReplyDeleteI can tell you this: I won't be buying any of the shampoo, paint or cereal brands that appear as clients! I avoid anything that supports the lifestyle of Gannett higher ups since it seems the company is now virtually out of the news business.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why the federal taxes weren't deducted from the TPP. They were deducted from mine. I don't recall whether the deductions were an option.
When I bailed out of Westchester in August I decided not to hold any grudges against anyone despite my distaste for the incompetence of the "leadership."
Grudges only hurt the person feeling the grudge.
As for a job with Gannett better than no job, well, that may depend on your site. From my perspective, anything is better than working at Westchester.
3/02/2010 10:35 AM
I'm in New Jersey and the Federal tax was not deducted. It was stated in the paperwork handed to me the day I was laid off, that TPP payments are subject to local, state and federal taxes (pg. 3) of the docment. I guess I read it then and did not give it a second thought. They did not take out Federal tax and stated on my TPP payment stubs that my total was taxable by the Feds. However, they did take NJ tax out. Thank God I did take the option given by the state unemployment and had them take 10% out for the Feds out of my unemployment checks.
Did anyone else not have the Fed tax taken out by TMS and did have their state tax taken out? If it was a option, I never saw it when I went online to claim each week with TMS.
Just wondering: Since USA Today is closing their Marketing Department.
ReplyDeleteDoes that mean smaller marketing departments at newspapers will follow?
Example: Asheville?
Jimmy! You're BACK!!!! I had no idea until I got your e-mail! Looks like I've got a lot of catching up to do.
ReplyDeleteThanks! You were missed!
In NYS the first $2400 of unemployment money is not subject to taxes.
ReplyDeleteWe don't all need to become pessimists, but it is fair to call things as they really are. Everything in this country is geared to the wealthy, and reinstating a minimal pay increase doesn't come close to offsetting rising insurance costs, furloughs and a frozen pension. It's a PR maneuver, and the sooner we're all working for a better company the better off we'll be.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anon 3:42 AM, that should set the record straight. For almost two years we're running around with no raises and now we shall be grateful???? For what? That what should have been paid to us anyway?
Sorry, I understand 5:04 PM absolutely. Once the corporate boot lickers (6:45 PM and 6:57 PM) ever have been in our shoes I don't even want to hear input like this. You are enablers and I am sure that you are making more money than the regulars. This are the same people handing out president rings and furloughing people at the same time. Come on - get real!
And as far as it goes about the cancer patient I am very sorry for your co-worker. However, as another poster rightly noted: 6:43, are you not aware that the individual who went through that cancer treatment had a number of expenses paid by her high level boss, in addition to plenty of paid time off? On top of her own substantial pay - so, your point is mood.
Improve economy so that we can leave - only that is the light at the end of the tunnel. I am tired of executives blowing our money to stuff their own pockets. Furloughs are nothing else than reduction in pay and what's next: another round of president's rings right after this announcement? Wouldn't be surprised - that's their style.
8:34 The point would be mute. Not Mood!
ReplyDeleteJim, I know you will delete this comment as you have done before. But, just to let you know I was not a newsroom employee, but a lowly graphic designer that felt pressured to take a buy out.
Actually, 9:42 pm, the point is moot. Not mute.
ReplyDeleteJim: You're blogging about Gannett, the New York Times Co. and News Corp. Now that McClatchy Watch no longer is with us, have you given any thought to covering that company, too? We here in McClatchyland could really use it.
ReplyDeleteWhat was the marketing department at The Journal News resembled a crypt the last time I saw it. It was essentially eliminated when corporate cut a bunch of VPs loose and regionalized their responsibilities.
ReplyDeleteThat vacant space, coupled with fewer employees in other departments, plus the upcoming closure of the presses, is the impetus for selling the Harrison building and possibly leasing a fraction of it for TJN.
http://harrison.patch.com/articles/journal-news-departure-leaves-questions
ReplyDeleteThe Journal News IS for sale!
...that US Community Publishing is going to join the Yahoo newspaper consortium and they are not far from inking the deal with Yahoo.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteIn NYS the first $2400 of unemployment money is not subject to taxes.
3/02/2010 7:04 PM
So as it is here in NJ. But that still did not save me from owing the Feds, because the TPP payments did not take Federal tax out.
Did Jim turn off auto-moderation? Or am I "special"?
ReplyDeleteA little FYI: The printing plant in Rockaway, N.J. (on Green Pond Road) is the old home of printing to The Record of Hackensack, NJ.
ReplyDeleteI never understood how it is more "cost effective" to print off base when you have printing facilities right at your own paper. The driving distance from Rockaway to Westchester has to be a little over an hour. With the price of gas, printing, delivery folks, etc., how does this make printing cheaper? Or is the printing facility a non union shop? What about on bad weather days?
My heart goes out to all those being layed off. I can remember when being a printer was a skilled profession; now it's a $10 an hour job and the printing looks like it was done by a $10/hr printer. Best of luck to all of you and thank you for making the paper look as wonderful as it did while you printed in house.
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/cnnmoney/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20100303006952&newsLang=en&ndmConfigId=1000618&vnsId=33
ReplyDeleteGannett making analyst presentation on Monday. That should be first decent hint on 1Q revenue performance.
Whupsie, March 18th, not March 8th.
ReplyDeleteEvan Ray to the rescue! Evan for CFO
ReplyDeleteWord came down that GPC rollout has changed. Lots of little moves back and forth, plus Ohio moved up a month.
ReplyDeleteWe all know the process won't be stopped, no matter how poor the outcome. (Hello, COE!) And eventually, publishers/GM's will have to hire onsite um, "janitorial staff" that just happen to know Photoshop and InDesign so that ads get out the door.
We need some straight answers on what happens to the sites AFTER they lose production. I might not have a job in two months, but dammit, I worked with these sales people for decades. If I can help them transition to the new reality, I will.
And if that, (plus my toilet brush abilities), gets me rehired in a year? I might still be thankful for the job.
NJ goes live on March 22 and they just finished laying off the last of the designers and outsourcers (they have 1 month to their last day). They kept all the managers, though. All of them. Not sure what they will be doing - something about tracking the ads sent to Des Moines, something about the inside sales will be sending/receiving them, something about 48 hour turn around. Clients will also be able to send the ads directly and view them before publication. Get those resumes up to date!
ReplyDeleteI know that Poughkeepsie was a union print shop. Maybe Westchester was as well. The reason that Rockaway can print it cheaper than TNJ is that the printing is treated like a commercial print job, handled by a non-union pressroom. The press there can print the entire daily in less than an hour.
ReplyDeleteGannett doesn't like unions... so even if it was more expensive, I'm sure that they'd look for other ways to shut down those operations.
Surely the goal of the new labor chief will be to reduce the number of union employees.
On that note, can anyone comment on the union pressrooms left in the company?
ReplyDeleteFt Myers pressroom is union.
ReplyDelete5:51 -- I appreciate your sentiments toward your co-workers, but if employees ever want Gannett to change, the best thing they can do when asked to help with the outsourcing transition is walk out the door.
ReplyDeleteI know this isn't practical in very many situations because you would lose the severance package, unemployment, etc. But I would sure hope that anyone who is able to find a new job during the transition period will leave without notice.
Yes, this will put a pinch on employees left behind, but it will put a bigger pinch on the managers who are complicit in all of this. If there's one thing I've learned about Gannett managers it's that nothing in the company is a problem ... until it's a problem for them.
Can you still get severance if you have to go out on family leave during the transition?
ReplyDeleteAre the production people getting a severance package like December of 2008 or the lousy TPP package of July 2009? Hope for their sake they get better of the two.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know who was let go in the APP/HNT/CN production dept?
ReplyDelete10:05 Yes, The Fort Myers News-Press pressroom is still union. But how strong? I think they have a very weak backing.
ReplyDeleteWho is gonna be the new publisher at the HNT/CN?
ReplyDeleteHas the publisher left? Who was that?
ReplyDeleteSkip Hidlay, is off to Kansas! Didn’t know you wanted to take your family on a countrywide tour? Personally, Kansas is one of the least states that I would like to visit, never mind want to live there. No offense to the people of Kansas. I read somewhere that is really healthy for children to always be on the move, changing schools and making new friends, etc. Hopefully your stay will be short lived and they will sniff out your phoniness before you trample too many careers like you did in NJ!
ReplyDeleteChris Erwin
To 1:32PM
ReplyDeleteYou KNOW we can't name names as to who was let go at the APP. As far as the CN/HNT, NO ONE WAS LET GO; two managers and 1 worker remain. Two other production people have since been "moved to new positions".
Please check out the Springfield News-Leader's Metromix swimsuit gallery. Bare breasts-covered with paint-on their swimsuit gallery
ReplyDelete#38 and #51 I think. great to bury them to increase clicks. Journalism at its finest.
http://ozarks.metromix.com/bars-and-clubs/photogallery/2010-icon-swimsuit-show/1789383/content
Zacks Investment Research added GCI to their "strong buy" list today.
ReplyDelete10:58 -- That's because they saw the porn that 8:26 pointed us to on the Springfield News-Leader's site. Newspapers may not make money on the Web, but porn sites are a goldmine, and this proves we're now willing to cross the line to softcore.
ReplyDeleteNew business model here we come.
Jim, nice to see Gannett Blog back in action. I will send $$$ as soon as I can. Facing a weeks worth of furlough. Last round took incremental days, not sure how the week will do me in. Appreciate all that you do. BTW there are two weeklies in the Indianapolis area that have been going strong since shuttered by corporate last year. I think that is something to celebrate. Also, GPC in Indy is struggling and has been a major headache, but am sure eventually will come through. There's no turning back babie!
ReplyDeletethe Journal News building is for sale - not the newspaper
ReplyDelete@9:25 PM - Right. No one said the JN is for sale however the staff has to be relocated, and real estate in Westhester County is pricy. Someone suggested the paper might become a storefront operation.
ReplyDeleteUm, regarding the Ozarks Swimsuit metromix? Yeah, ah, we're going to have to ask you to change the state motto to "The Show-Me-Not State."
ReplyDeleteThe crowd shots were more interesting than swimsuit models. At least the crowd shots weren't taken so you could see up their noses.
Why was there a publisher at a paper that was so small. Why waste money on some big shot where there isn't anything located there but some reporters and ad people?
ReplyDeleteGannett New Jersey sent a bulk mailing this week: half-price on 7-day delivery of the Courier News, provided you subscribe for 6 months. One edition of the "new look" Sunday C-N is all it takes to just say no.
ReplyDeleteAs for printing the Westchester and Poughkeepsie papers in New Jersey? Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Dutchess counties got nearly 2 feet of snow on 2/26. God save Gannett if they have to truck newspapers back to New York during a blizzard.
Funny that Gannett is considering a mass promotion of their "brand" just when it's draining itself of the company's lifeblood -- the staff content generators. You can only go so far hustling the public to serve as "contributors" and running self-serving PR pictures that are "Photo provided." Replacing reporters, photographers and illustrators with information processors with software and Web skills simply ensures Gannett's slow and painful death. Everybody's beating Gannett papers and stations to the news now. What is most offensive is that the papers and stations have to pony up a big percentage of their profit every month to support the humongous salaries of Gannett executives who do nothing but suck the blood from their subsidiaries, then burp and issue occasional pronouncements that do absolutely nothing. These are vampire executives, and until someone steps up and drives stakes through their hearts, the blood drain is just going to continue.
ReplyDeleteSurprise!!! Guess who is financially backing David Black in his purchase of The Honolulu Advertiser? Why, that would be Gannett, of course. See story here: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100306/NEWS01/3060347 Does it seem ethical to anyone that the Gannett executive said that Black made a offer that Gannett couldn't refuse? This feels like collusion to eliminate both the Star-Bulletin AND the unions of both papers
ReplyDeleteI hear the "Center of Excellence" centralized circulation loss center is getting a name change with the new director. Anyone know what it will be called?
ReplyDeleteTalk about sticking a huge "Mission Accomplished" sign up, calling it COE. COE costs go up, hours go down, and subscribers are told to call the locals anyway.
12:45 -- I would argue that the execs do more than draw blood and burp. They also place demands on the locals that make everyone who works their miserable while simultaneously weakening the products. That's why this company won't survive -- at least not in its current form -- for another decade.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete2:46 A.M.--I couldn't have said it better !!!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletewow. Looks like Indy is saving exclusive content for the print edition, or at least that's what the editor told online readers in today's opinion.
ReplyDeleteIndy...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.indystar.com/article/20100307/OPINION06/3070344/1040/OPINION06/Exclusive-content-reinforces-value-of-print-newspaper
Why does Gannett fail digitally? Marc Andreessen’s observation is that media companies have no aptitude for technology, nor do they really understand what technology companies do. http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/06/andreessen-media-burn-boats/
ReplyDelete