Sunday, May 02, 2010
Week of April 26-May 2 | Your News & Comments
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94 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."
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I likely won't be up and running at 9 a.m. ET (6 a.m. here in San Francisco), when the new Audit Bureau of Circulations figures are released. So, don't be shy about posting details and comments here.
ReplyDeleteit seems that they forgot the price increase. Most papers that went to $1 on single copy has lost 31 %.
ReplyDeleteAnyone know circulation numbers for Westchester?
ReplyDeleteJim
ReplyDeleteIs there anything that can be done to make this page more iPhone friendly? Even using a wifi connection, it can take quite a while to actually fully load a page (unless there's something I'm doing wrong?). I can understand when I'm not on 3G, but wife is supposed to be faster. To give you a bit more info what happened, I was attempting to read the comments on the USAT's 13% decrease page. It was taking forever to fully load, so I clicked on the X to cancel the rest of the load. However, something was still ticking away loading (the Mac equivalent of the Windows hourglass was still going crazy next to my wifi icon). This caused scrolling to slow down to the point I almost gave up entirely on reading this afternoon.
No other page acts this way that I regularly visit. Just FYI.
Paid Content has the e-edition circ from the latest report... some interesting names make the list...
ReplyDeletehttp://paidcontent.org/table/top-25-newspaper-daily-e-editions-2010-abc-fas-fax
I still wonder why Gannett, or some other media company wouldn't just buy its best readers an iPad for and then control a portion of the content that reaches those readers.
Let's say I sign up with the Newark Star Ledger to be an e-reader. I pick up the reader at the newspaper's office, and sign a contract that says that I will subscribe to the paper's e-paper... let's say for $40 per month for a period of two or three years.
In return, Newark sends me some interactive ads every morning as I open my reader. I get to use a custom app that the newspaper has created that fits my buying habits and interests and can use it to send myself e-coupons for businesses that pay to advertise in the paper. The reader learns what I like, and then starts to anticipate things that I might need or want.
Oh, and I also get the real Sunday paper thrown at the house as part of my package. Keeps the FSIs flowing. Counts as paid.
Everyone wins.
What's so hard about that?
9:45 pm: Sorry you're having trouble. But I'm perplexed. I use an iPhone and in both 3G and using Wi-Fi, my pages all load lickety-split.
ReplyDeleteDo you experience this slow loading on every one of my blog's pages? Or some more than others?
Washington Post App for iPhone was released yesterday; $1.99 for 2 years.
ReplyDeleteIt appears the main difference with using the WaPo app and free browsing through Safari is that you get The Post "your way" with customized navigation, offline reading and sharing via Facebook, Twitter and email.
Gannettblog.blogspot.com downloaded really fast on my 3Gs. I'm also using a free traffic report app, Traffic.com, that gives alerts, accident reports and a color-coded road map for the area that your iPhone is located.
ReplyDeleteI think Craig Dubow and the newly minted "President" with the million dollar salary need to figure out how to increase circulation for all the GCI newspapers. Aren't they the leaders of this company? Instead they will point their fingers at USA Today as a "problem child" that needs scolding.
ReplyDelete"Hey, I have an idea...why don't we build a cheap iPad app and start charging for it just when the wireless iPad comes out. No one will notice that you can get THE SAME CONTENT for FREE by just browsing the web. It will be gorgeous"!
"Oh Craig, you are such an innovator, why don't we do that AND furlough employees. That extra $3 million we save can go to our bonuses"
"Gracia...you are the best"
Is this a new job in Rochester? Does any other Gannett paper have a "Global Editor"?
ReplyDeleteFrom JournalismJobs:
The Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, N.Y., is looking for a global editor who would monitor its international and national coverage, with an emphasis on making connections of international events to the Rochester community. Duties include the production of multiple news platforms for the conversion desk; coordinating coverage of breaking news for online and print editions; supervising the selection of daily international and national stories; editing and posting online stories; wire editing, page designing; and acting as liaison with ethnic groups. The global editor must be collaborative and work with copy editors, designers and other conversion desk editors; must be savvy about all platforms, including mobile and new technologies as well as print; and must have packaging knowledge of print and digital platforms and Search Engine Optimization skills for the Web. The position requires work at night and on weekends. A bachelor's degree is required. Knowledge of the CCI publishing system is helpful.
So given all this attention on the significance of digital, why hasn't USAT jumped on the bandwagon of digital subscriptions until recently. Look at the money these other papers are making, as compiled by Paid Content:
ReplyDeletehttp://paidcontent.org/article/419-newspaper-fasfax-e-edition-circulation-up-40-percent/
USAT isn't even on the list. If the WSJ can get almost 400,000 subscriptions, why can't USAT at least try to get some? Just another example of how the Crystal Towers doesn't understand the new media. Hey, Dubow, it doesn't cost anything, and it is revenue.
USAT has had an e-edition for months. The fact that it didn't crack the ABC top 25 shows that consumers still think of USAT as the newspaper they get at the hotel, not the place they turn to for serious journalism. There was a time when we at USAT were on the verge of changing that perception -- when Dave Mazzarella was in charge and the paper was making loads of money and hiring some very good reporters. Mr. Hopkins himself was part of that wave.
ReplyDeleteAlas, all that money reinforced old guard values, and they refused to notice the changing times until it was too late. It lasted until Ken Paulson bailed out, knowing that if he stayed he'd have to preside over the systematic dismantling of the paper. The typical-Gannett layoffs, buyouts and staff reductions may have saved the company millions of dollars in immediate money, but like everything Gannett management does it was a measure designed to please shareholders at the expense of long-term quality. The drop in USAT's journalistic depth is well apparent to all of us in the office and to the readers who stumble over USAT in the hallways of the Sheraton or whatever. The paper itself is thin. The website (thank you, AP) is actually far better.
And regarding Starbucks ... I've been in two local Starbucks in the last couple of weeks, and for all the hoopla around USAT getting back in there you would have thought they'd at least put in a stand to hold the copies. In every instance, I have seen USAT sitting on the floor while the New York Times and other publications occupy the prime rack space. Fail? Yes.
iPad app? Massive effort well-executed under very short time constraints. Well done, I say. But what will kill us there is, again, lack of depth in content. Readers are not stupid. They will notice that the content is shrinking daily because our best reporters and editors are quitting every week.
Maybe the "recovery" will get more people into hotels this summer and give USAT some flattening of its circulation losses. But USAT's old model of a circulation-driven product is a dead man walking. Content rules. The WSJ is known as the paper of record for financial news. The NYT is known as the paper of record for everything else. USAT actually breaks a lot of stories and has some great coverage, but its identity was always shaped around its format and its distribution. Short stories for the busy business traveler. Is that a value proposition worth anything in 2010? Probably not.
Here's a solution: Spend money on talent and technology. We don't need more marketing ideas or social media gurus. We need a product. Hire some great reporters, photographers, editors, designers and technologists. Be willing to lose money while you build up a unique product. Isn't that the way USAT got going in the first place? In 1982, it was an innovation. Why do we think that now we can innovate and create something appropriate for 2010 while delivering roses to Wall Street?
11:13 am: That's an excellent analysis. USA Today was a hothouse of ahead-of-its-time ideas in the early 1980s. Why has Corporate failed to turn USAT into the company's version of a Manhattan Project?
ReplyDeleteIs USAT even pushing their e-edition? A lot of papers that have them seem to almost hide them unless you make a point of looking into it. That's how I got the two for my local dailies. They are .pdfs, full color, exact replicas including all graphics and adds other than add-in sales circulars (which is mostly a Sunday thing anyway).
ReplyDeleteFor one of those papers it costs me $2/week for all 7 days. If you concede that all the compute infrastructure necessary to do that has to already be in place to have a web presence in the first place, you could argue that the entirety of that $.29/day is going to the newsroom since there is no newsprint, ink, printers, warehousemen, drivers, or delivery folk involved. $.29/day to the newsroom seems not so terrible to me.
I don't know if the ad people don't like that model (I see all the ads, exactly as they were in the paper, so why not?). But anyway, I certainly had to go hunting for that option --it wasn't being pushed.
I just got back from a Starbucks. No USAT anywhere to be seen. Lots of magazines, but no papers.
ReplyDeleteI think this is all part of the Gannett hype. We say we are doing something, and yet nothing gets done. It's like the digital subscriptions. Yes Gannett says they are selling digital editions, but lo and behold, it doesn't show up in the statistics that we are. The execs get their bonuses for launching the digital edition, but nothing happens. Jeez, am I fed up with what is going on in the Crystal Towers.
Maybe the USATs were all sold out at that Starbucks?
ReplyDelete12:56 PM: I think you are looking for conspiracies where none exist. USAT's electronic edition figure of 17,991 is right on p. 99 of the current FAS-FAX pdf, in the column labeled -- oddly enough -- "electronic editions."
ReplyDeleteWere you expecting something else?
I'm suprised that their has been no comments on the golden parachutes tax payment and the fact that they will no longer be paid but yet anyone prior to April 15, 2010 will be grandfathered in!! They just keep sucking this company dry!!!
ReplyDeleteI posted about that earlier this month, and it drew a couple of comments.
ReplyDelete"And regarding Starbucks ... I've been in two local Starbucks in the last couple of weeks, and for all the hoopla around USAT getting back in there you would have thought they'd at least put in a stand to hold the copies."
ReplyDeleteI deliver USAT with the local paper. My Starbucks gets a whole 4 a day and I get them all wrinkled up. They get them that way in hopes of them complaining as my plees do nothing but get them folded up worse. And at the rate I'm getting paid for them, I'm not going to care.
As for regular sales, when they raised the price AND cut content...never mind the quality of the content...well let's just say I'm glad my livelyhood doesn't depend on selling USAT's.
No comments on the new regime in Cherry Hill?
ReplyDeleteLeon Tucker officially named managing editor. Called the staff together to tell of big upcoming changes.
When asked if a new executive editor might want to make her own changes, Tucker said that wasn't going to happen and you can consider him the executive editor.
Another Tucker nugget: Ideas different from his will not be tolerated.
I want to know what the Courier News circulation is currently. Anybody?
ReplyDeleteSorry I missed something in Cherry Hill.. What realy happened to EJ and what turnover commenced?
ReplyDeleteKey word is "client solutions group". Any information on this?
ReplyDeletePublishers and Ad Directors,
Several of us have been working on ways to take "client solutions group" to a new level. The roll out of the Gannett Production Centers, as presented in Bob’s email this week gives us a unique window of opportunity to move forward on the concept.
We’d like to briefly update you on our ideas and discuss next steps. Although this is the main thrust of the call, we also thought it would be a good time to answer any questions on the GPC. Ad Directors should be included in the call because of the client solutions group component.
Please plan to dial-in for a conference call on Thursday, Sept. 10 at 1 pm ET.
Telephone: (removed)
Passcode: (removed)
Duration: 45 minutes
Thanks!
Michelle Krans
The Courier News circulation
ReplyDeleteFrom ABC FAS-FAX statement of 3/31/2010:
Sun 23,103 (Total paid); prior year was 27,665
M-Sat 19,481 (Total paid); prior year was 22,691
I heard that the Customer One initiative being led up by Colleen Brewer is going to be dropped for failing to sell anything.
ReplyDeleteI guess we could have predicted that. Let's see how many more Bob Dickey failures we can ring up. "NATIVE DIGITAL SALES"; "SMB SOLUTIONS" "CUSTOMER ONE"
The Springfield News-Leader ran a locally written op-ed column Monday that referred to African-Americans as "colored." In response to a letter published today questioning the use of that phrase, the N-L ran an editor's note defending the use of "colored."
ReplyDelete"Editor's note: We try to give writers flexibility in terms to express themselves. Terms involving race are always sensitive, but it should be noted that the use of colored, negro, black or African-American are in flux."
Can someone please post the fas-fax numbers for the Courier-Post? (We are always lied to about the numbers). Thanx
ReplyDeleteOUCH! The C-N circ dropped is painful. Less than 20,000 daily in a coverage area with half a million residents! It's time to pull the plug and have the C-N become an edition of the HNT.
ReplyDeleteOne of the truly sad things about these massive circulation drops is that Gannett will be able to blame the economy and everyone will buy into it. The truth is the drops are partially due to competition and largely due to the fact that Gannett has cut many of the best staffers and much of the worthwhile content. In short, it's tough to compete agains the Web, television, radio, etc., when you aren't producing anything worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteI wish the economy was better so they wouldn't have such an easy out. Historically news outlets thrive in down economies. Newspapers are cheap and people at least like to know what's going on.
I was a regular visitor of this blog back in its earlier incarnation, and had not idea it had returned. I visited it today on accident. I was searching for another blog, completely unrelated to journalism, that I usually access via Goggle. For some reason, without thinking, I typed in "gannett blog" and clicked on the first link that popped up, like I do for the other blog.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, good to see you back, and good to see you've made a concentrated effort to stem the negativity that at times overwhelmed this site. Sorry to hear your other venture didn't work out, but you're a damn fine reporter and it would be a shame for you not to use those skills in some form.
12:53 pm: Thank you; welcome back -- and pass the word!
ReplyDeleteUSA TODAY remains number one
ReplyDeleteUSA TODAY remains number one in total daily print circulation in the United States. Details here.
This is one of the top news headlines in "At Gannett", the weekly e-mail bulletin sent to employees. When you click on the link, nothing comes up...
Interesting story on Editor and Publisher's website:
ReplyDeleteMediaNews Group’s Bay Area Newspaper Group (BANG) entered into an affiliate partnership with MomsLikeMe.com, Gannett Co. announced Wednesday.
Mom's Like Me
Tumble, Gannett stock, tumble!
ReplyDeleteWent back to the same Starbucks where I was yesterday, and no USAT in sight. "We don't carry it,'' said a clerk. I would be interested in others sampling their nearby Starbucks and reporting if this is all one big corporate joke, or if they have it.
ReplyDeleteStopped by a local Starbucks and like an earlier blogger, I saw no USAT and guy at counter looked at me like I landed from Mars. Want to know what he said? Here is: "Who reads newspapers these days?" Interesting!
ReplyDeleteLooks like Saridakis is DUMPING more Gannett stock!!!!
ReplyDeleteOn the day of the Starbucks launch, one of the Business Centers had it's Marketing/Circulation/Accounting(the ones that were not being laid off in the upcoming weeks)and District Sales Managers go to the majority of the Starbucks locations to "buy" a paper or see if they could purchase one in an effort to ensure that the Starbucks staff was able to ring the sale, and do it correctly.
ReplyDeleteSince we entered nearly 4000 locations for the SB launch and we receive the calls/emails regarding circulation issues, let me advise you that MANY Starbucks emailed/called to tell us that they received USA Today in "error" and further stated that they do not carry USA Today in their stores, or simply don't want it.
When the USA Today staffers approached the registers to purchase USA Today, the SB employees were unaware they were selling it, and had no idea how to ring it up. As a result, one of our employees received it for "free", as they were busy and it was taking too much time to figure it out. The morning of the Starbucks launch was a nightmare with many complaints from Starbuck's Managers and employees.
One would think with a launch of that magnitude with Starbucks that their staff would have had some knowledge that they would be selling the paper and be instructed how to ring the sale. The Starbuck's staffers seemed to be caught "off guard" with USA Today being launched in their facilities.
It was very disorganized...and YES they only sell 1 or 2 a day(if that)..they sit on the bottom shelf of the rack. I check this out everyday...
Why the gleeful comments about USATODAY distribution problems at some Starbucks? Come on, we should all want media companies to succeed in these bad economic times. More furloughs or layoffs are not a thing to wish for, but that would happen in the mighty GCI found itself in trouble. GCI is weathering the storm far better than most media companies and what GCI to be a new media powerhouse and dominate the iPad.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to EJ in Cherry Hill?
ReplyDeleteNot gleeful comments about Starbucks, but another example of a good and promising initiative gone bad. No special racks, no deliveries, no papers sold in the stores. We are losing the hotels because of the mess the papers make in the hallways from people who kick them away from the doors. Customers complain and the hotel management doesn't like it. Hope you are right about the IPad, but less than 18,000 subscriptions for USAT when the WSJ gets 400,000 shows that GCI has a long road ahead in addressing the digital age.
ReplyDeleteNo gleeful comments here. Just another example of good enough is good enough for that company.
ReplyDeleteNo glee here. But it doesn't much good to put the newspapers in the stores if they are crumpled, unsaleable, not properly displayed, or not delivered. Where are the marketing people, who are paid to get these sort of things right. Remember it was Gannett that came up with the innovative idea of those USA Today sidewalk boxes that look like TV sets two decades ago. What happened to that sort of innovation?
ReplyDeleteAre all of the Circulation Sales Manager/Director positions at the local operations being eliminated and replaced by the Hub Sales Manager positions posted on the Gannett site? I understand the director in Greenville was informed his position will be eliminated.
ReplyDeleteFollowing the lead set by several of you, I stopped by another Starbucks today, in a far-away neighborhood. I asked two clerks if they sold USA Today. One said no; the other said she wasn't sure.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, there weren't any in sight -- either for sale, or sold and left behind.
I never understood this Starbucks deal from the start. Many people go to Starbucks with their laptops to use the WIFI. So if they can get USAT free online and over their portables, why would they pay for a printed copy?
ReplyDeleteThe Starbucks USA venture, in my neck of the woods anyway, is just another typical bungled job by USA. I wrote I got 4 to deliver to my stores...well...now I get 3 and more crumpled up than before. I didn't get paid my bulk drop pay for one day last week, which makes others not want to bother delivering them. I do, as I have done for over 15 years now. I wouldn't be surprised if your particular store you all go into and find zero, doesn't even know they are supposed to be selling them. Also, if they are getting as few as I am, they could be selling out...if people really wnat a scrunched up one for a buck. What also happens in restaurant type places is people will pick them up and read them for free...then walk out with them. The stores almost never catch the patron for fear of losing their business...then complain to us carriers. Papers...whether local or USA, should never go into a rest. type place.
ReplyDeleteI had a rack of local and USA in front of a bread rest. once until USA decided they wanted the papers inside and lose the racks. I went from selling 10-12 a day to 6-8, and the store complained about some of those being ripped off.
This Starbucks campaign is just another USA blunder. Want to gain sales? Put some content back into it where people at least think they are getting their dollar's worth...at least on Monday and Friday.
Yes Gannett must be recycling the news. Well at least their newspapers> Open up today copy of the Mansfield News Journal, and what do you know. It was Friday April 23. Come to think of it was not a bad idea reselling old news. I doubt it anything new happen it this town since last Friday!
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think gannett didn't bid on the inq
ReplyDeleteand daily news ?
Also no glee here over the Starbuck's posts. It appears to be simply another example of a poorly executed initiative, something that Gannett does especially well.
ReplyDeleteI also wonder on what basis the directors award bonuses when gains are measured mostly by cutting staff.
Maybe the directors see the bonuses as a balm to ease the aching souls of the cost-cuttters. Life is tough at the top, you know.
Seriously, though, the Board of Directors and its management "team" comprise a sad commmentary on the state of business today. Everyone has both hands out for whatever they can grab as the ship goes down.
If the executives and board want to do something constructive, they can start giving their readers (online and print) quality products that go beyond skimming the surface of newsworth events.
Ah, but it costs money to hire and retain experienced, talented journalists. And the industry, including Murdoch and his News Corp., knows how much Gannett hates to spend.
USAT has absolutely no chance against the WSJ.
NOT bidding on philly has to be one of the smartest things that gannett has done in a while. credit them for that. the union situation at the inky is nothing that they want to take on ... it might seem to make sense with the camden and wilmington papers flanking philly to be able to buy the entire region/market, but these two properties are no great performers, either, and are saddled with similar labor "opportunities" ... BTW, can anyone post the latest fax-fax info for Wilm and Camden, as well as the rest of the NJ group? Inquiring minds want to know ...
ReplyDeleteSomeone out there must be able to obtain and post the latest numbers for the Courier-Post (Cherry Hill, NJ); News Journal (Wilmington, DE); Asbury Park Press (Neptune, NJ). Please do so since we workers get no true numbers. Thanks
ReplyDeleteJim: How about ABC numbers for all of Gannett's newspapers? Or a link to. Have only been able to find the Top 25 in the country when scouring the web, along with a few random others that there were stories about. Love to know how all of Gannett's papers fared.
ReplyDeleteMaybe this is not news, but I note that Moms Like Me and Metroquest are no longer featured with links on either USA Today's Web site or that of the Cincinnati Enquirer. I recall seeing them at the bottom of the Web pages. What is happening?
ReplyDelete7:53 pm: I share your frustration. But I don't know how I can access that information. I believe you must pay big bucks to ABC. At some point, it will update this lookup database. , which is now current only through Sept. 30, 2009 -- the last reporting period. Until then, does anyone out there have a better idea?
ReplyDeleteSt cloud times is currently looking to have all design staff reapply for one job the rest should be gone around June.
ReplyDelete12:53, he's still as paranoid as before, so I don't expect this version to last past the summer.
ReplyDeleteToday Tucson announced another furlough week as well as an indefinite extension to the wage freeze. This is a local initiative. (Despite the closure of the Tucson Citizen, Gannett still owns half of the Tucson operation. It's still business as usual at Tucson Newspapers, even though it's now a one newspaper operation.)
ReplyDelete10:52, dry up and blow away! We love Jim and his blog and it's obviously here to stay, for as long as Gannett stays in business, anyway.
ReplyDeleteCOURIER POST numbers are in half for daily. Was 100k down to 50k i am told ?.
ReplyDeleteThere's no way the C-P was 100,000-plus for daily a year ago. Hasn't been that high in years.
ReplyDeleteAccording to eCirc at
ReplyDeletehttp://www.accessabc.com/products/freereports.htm
ASBURY PARK PRESS -- AVG (M-F) -- 114,655
ASBURY PARK PRESS -- SAT -- 118,242
ASBURY PARK PRESS -- SUN --161,079
If this is not a reliable source, let me know.
Brain drain continues at USA TODAY with another well-regarded, smart newsroom staffer announcing his resignation this week.
ReplyDeleteIn Sept. 2009 ABC's, the Courier-Post was about 51,000 daily average. As stated by someone elsee, it hasn't been at the 100k level in well over 10 years! Based on the average percentage decline of the other Gannett papers, the CP is most likely well below 50k daily and continuing the slide downward. They are giving away ads to try to make it and the paper itself is a shadow of what it used to be (which wasn't so great). The only thing keeping this from suffering even greater slide is the fact that the Phila Inquirer is doing such a crappy job covering Southern NJ in terms of news. The Inquirer South Jersey section is such a joke...mostly news from the Penna suburbs. If they got their act together (under the new ownership) they could help shut down the CP. On the other hand, there are quite a few former Gannett/CP suits at the Inquirer...need to say more?
ReplyDeleteLouisville doesn't assign a staff writer to cover a double fatality at a problematic mine with ties to the storied Kentucky basketball program two hours from its front door? That's an outrage. But fear not, the C-J's website has an abundance of derby hat imagery. C'mon Bennie!
ReplyDeleteDo any Gannett papers gave there employes four weeks vacation for any amount of years of service?
ReplyDelete1:32 pm: Do you mean no matter how few years of service they have?
ReplyDelete11:02 am PT: Starbucks on Union Street in San Francisco. No USA Todays in sight. Clerk confirms they're sold here, however.
ReplyDeleteABC Numbers for Westchester:
ReplyDeleteJOURNAL NEWS, WESTCHESTER CO. (WHITE PLAINS P.O.) AVG M (M-F) DLY 87,205
JOURNAL NEWS, WESTCHESTER CO. (WHITE PLAINS P.O.) SAT M DLY 91,910
JOURNAL NEWS, WESTCHESTER CO. (WHITE PLAINS P.O.) SUN DLY 104,652
2009 numbers: M-F 95,389, Sun--118,815.
Given the downward spiral in quality, surprised it wasn't worse.
Jim
ReplyDeleteI was talking 10 years or more of service, Gannett claims all there newspapers only get 3 weeks max but one paper, Arizona Republic gets 4 weeks for 10 years of service, but that will change to 3 weeks,by taking back 1 week of vacation.
Weird. I got four weeks after 10 years at both USA Today, and the Louisville paper -- and after only five years in Boise!
ReplyDeleteI got 5 wks after 25 at the JN.
ReplyDeleteMy site gets four weeks after 15 years. That's assuming you last 15 years without having your job eliminated.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Gannettoid: I got my fourth week of vacation after 10 years. Some veterans I know get six.
ReplyDeleteMy site goes to four weeks after 10 years also.
ReplyDeleteDoes anybody know what the f--- is going on in Lafayette, Louisiana? That paper used to be one of the best in the state and produced some of the most revenue for Gannett, but I recently talked to an old friend from that area and it looks like it is bleeding dry. Hearing the staff has been totally depleted to the point of oblivion and the mass exodus continues, especially with editors. If that is true, it is really a sad situation. Does anyone have information on their circulation or revenue or staff numbers?
ReplyDeleteJust a question....Is it customary for newspaper publishers to not discuss circulation figures with their employees? Why don't they give employees the figures on a monthly basis?
ReplyDeleteI mean, it's not exactly a state secret. Why not communicate with the troops?
10:05 AM - I've been with Gannett for 16 years. It's my experience if you want to know circulation numbers, all you have to do is ask. It's not a state secret. Unfortunately, many want everything spoon fed to them and even then, will cry that they are kept in the dark. Over the years I have watched publishers and department heads try many different tactics to push information out to the troops - most is met with ridicule and often the information is ignored.
ReplyDeleteGannett is the most secretive newspaper company I've ever worked for. Publishers and controllers don't give out information. Even the directors don't know what our current profit margin is.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was there, my site posted the "Net paid circ." on the bulletin board in very large type.
ReplyDeleteWhen the numbers started going down, it ceased.
At one newspaper known to me, an editor boasted of strong circulation figures in conversations with staff. Then -- poof! -- a new publisher came in, and the figures we got were suddenly lower.
ReplyDeleteLesson: Unless it's a copy of an actual Audit Bureau of Circulations report, you can't be sure of the truth.
10:05 AM - I've been with Gannett for 16 years. It's my experience if you want to know circulation numbers, all you have to do is ask. It's not a state secret. Unfortunately, many want everything spoon fed to them and even then, will cry that they are kept in the dark. Over the years I have watched publishers and department heads try many different tactics to push information out to the troops - most is met with ridicule and often the information is ignored. In St Cloud Minnesota we go by readership. Two point 5 readers per copy. They just did a huge campaign sending our subscription cards in every paper and are charging companies less per copy they get three papers for the price of one. They have the local hospital that get free papers from a local business. They know how to make this work. I wish an attorney would step up and ask. It is all a big game for Gannett.
ReplyDeleteSt Cloud times says they have the following on our website. What is interesting is we have three different rate cards Local, MN and National and all of them tell different circulation numbers. We are not getting the full story I can tell you that. http://www.timesmediasolutions.com/index.html
ReplyDeletePlease note special quantity needs for these holidays: submit billed
Easter Sunday 34,000 33,500
Memorial Day Sunday 34,500 34,000
Labor Day Sunday 34,000 33,500
Thanksgiving Day 42,000 41,500
Thanksgiving Friday 27,500 27,000
Christmas Eve 27,500 27,000
Christmas Day 26,500 26,000
New Years Day 26,500 26,000
According to abc audit we came in much lower
TIMES, ST. CLOUD (STEARNS, BENTON & SHERBURNE COS.) SUN CND 32,170
TIMES, ST. CLOUD (STEARNS, BENTON & SHERBURNE COS.) M (M-F) CND 24,318
TIMES, ST. CLOUD (STEARNS, BENTON & SHERBURNE COS.) SAT M CND 25,392
Copyright © 3/31/2010 by Audit Bureau of Circulations. All rights reserved except that permission is hereby granted to reproduce excerpts if following credit line is included:
Source: Audit Bureau of Circulations
FAS-FAX Report - 3/31/2010
3:46 pm: Three copies for the price of one? I wonder how that will be counted in the next ABC report?
ReplyDeleteYes, I would be curious also. Some how they work the numbers to come out as 20 cents a copy and it really comes out to buy one get three free. This is why the circulation is higher as they sell so many copies to businesses. Interesting is it not. They also use shopping news copies, magazines, and online along with shopping news to come up with our "readership" numbers. I do not get how they get away with this.
ReplyDeleteHow do they get away with this? They lie. I don't have much faith in the accuracy of the ABC numbers, because there are many, many ways to fudge the returns and boost circulation. There's also an incentive to do this, because ad revenues are linked to circulation.
ReplyDeleteNO Sunday Courier Journal in Louisville today for home subscribers.
ReplyDeletethe couier journnal couldn,t put out the paper following the Derby the Indy Star is running it for them.Garson said this would never happen what a putz.maybe if they hadn,t laid everyone off ......well you never know
ReplyDeleteIn west Tennessee, the Jackson Sun is once again printing its weekend editions to relieve some of The Tennessean's workload.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to see the March 2010 ABC numbers, go to the following website where you can select by state: abcas3.accessabc.com/ecirc/newsform.asp
ReplyDeletere Reality Bites Back
ReplyDeleteNewspapers nationwide have seen drops in circulation numbers for the past several years. Possibly, newspaper websites giving away the news for free has some impact.
So, The J-N circulation drop is not positive, but certainly not surprising. The quality has been mixed, but the paper is trying to do more with less. That's never a good idea. Stock value has risen.
Out in Phoenix the Arizona Republic and 12News share the same website. Now they're going to consolidate their operations -- a story that many who follow Gannett have missed.
ReplyDeleteGannett is not the only news media company that's consolidating local operations. Tribune Co. has already done it in Hartford and is doing so in Chicago.
Thanks for the awesome ABC link!
ReplyDelete