Sunday, April 11, 2010

Week April 5-11 | Your News & Comments

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65 comments:

  1. Gannett employees are like mushrooms. Fed $h!t and kept in the dark

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  2. And most are staying put accepting the stupidity so should shut up and work.

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  3. This was in the Springfield News-Leader this morning in a column by Sports Editor Pam Clark:

    "A slice of USA TODAY has come to the Sports section of the Springfield News-Leader, and it should be a hit with baseball fans.

    Starting with today's edition, the News-Leader is publishing USA TODAY's Major League Baseball page -- just in time for opening day in the majors. ..."

    I won't bore you with the rest of her column. But today's paper has a full page of USA Today baseball agate and stories. If I wanted to read USA Today, I'd pick up a copy.

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  4. Folding the local into USAT is a great idea to save both.

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  5. Is there space for advertising on these pages? Did this replace a full page that would have been filled with baseball stories and agate anyway? If not, what stuff did the paper give up in order to run the USAT page? Finally, how current are the stories and agate? What are the deadlines, and will they allow for any late games?

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  6. Is there space for advertising on these pages, Jim asks? Ha. There was space for ads on the USA TODAY nation/world page last night, only no one told us that in advance! What a freakin' disaster that was.

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  7. @11:17 ... There was s similar column about the USA Today baseball page by Green Bay's top editor today. It says using the USAT page allows them to restore box scores dropped from the paper last year. It also says the page will show Eastern times even though Green Bay is in the Central zone.

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  8. No ads. It's exactly the same as Page 4C in today's USA Today.

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  9. I think I'm going to have to stop reading this blog. Although I love Jim's work, it's reached the point where it just makes me angry. It's hard to watch a once-noble profession die.

    Oh well, change is inevitable, I suppose.

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  10. The use of USA Today's world news page and baseball page seems on the surface like a nice way to promote the USA Today. Isn't circulation down for USAT? The one annoying thing is that the USAT pages in the local Gannett papers are not styled to match the local papers. They stick out like a sore thumb.

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  11. The Nation/World page has space for an ad. I think the baseball page does depending upon the local press cutoff, unless you want to anamorph the page. They're working on the time zone issue. It saves a local editor from essentially putting together a very similar page, so nothing is really lost locally. The USAT branding and style is a little weird, but not horrendous as some might think or wish. This is actually one of the smarter things they've done lately.

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  12. The USAT page is a terrible idea. You know the S. Calif. earthquake? The 7.2 quake that was felt by about 20 million people? It was a one-inch brief on their page. And we couldn't move the story to 1A because...it would have been duplicated!!

    Great idea. Let's give people less news.

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  13. Now if you use a USAT page how long before they cut a locale job or jobs?

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  14. 5:35...if you have paginators who also write, using the USAT pages should free the paginators up for some writing time. (Just a random thought from someone who has never paginated.) This sounds managementlike but it's an example of making better use of limited resources.

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  15. "The one annoying thing is that the USAT pages in the local Gannett papers are not styled to match the local papers. They stick out like a sore thumb."

    Good point. Effective immediately, all community newspapers will be styled after USAT. No ifs ands or buts. Whining will be dealt with harshly. Beatings will continued until morale improves.


    Robert J. Dickey,
    President, U.S. Community Publishing

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  16. so do you think gannett's plan is to slowly introduce USA TODAY and then make that the main paper and then our local papers would just become an insert into that?...i mean what is the real point...i am sure it will slowly take over...then you could basically get rid of almost everyone! except the bad management, of course they can stay! yippeeee

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  17. Baseball page ran in Shreveport Times today. 4B. No ads. Odd looking...it took up five of the six columns, and a wire story took up the 6th column. Yes, it's jarring because the styles and typefaces are completely different.

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  18. Today in New Jersey, the Courier News put the baseball page on the top half of 3B while a story with greater local interest -- Donovan McNabb traded from the Eagles to the Redskins -- was buried at the bottom of 4B. (Both clubs play in the NFC East along with the Giants.)

    Speaking of the C-N their Sunday sports section reeked of copycat thinking. C1-C4 was a Yankees/Mets preview. The actual section didn't begin until C5.

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  19. How long do you think it will be until Gannett makes all it's papers Sunday only?

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  20. I like this from the Green Bay paper:
    It says using the USAT page allows them to restore box scores dropped from the paper last year.

    And WHY were those box scores dropped?

    You can bet that the goal where these pages are being used is to allow for further staff cuts.

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  21. Makes perfect sense...all these years of Local, Local, Hyper-Local, "need to be more Local", our strategic advantage is "no one can cover Local news better" - sounds like the perfect "dove tail" plan to me. Let's all "move forward" and "wrap our heads around this one". Very strategic and delivering what our audience wants - more Local, relevant content - I need to stop now I am belly laughing so hard.

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  22. I don't like the idea, and I doubt readers will embrace it, but the longterm goal would seem to be the elimination of all locally created pages that focus on national news.

    You could easily have one front section containing local news and sports and wrap it around USAT's coverage of national news, national sports and entertainment. There would be duplication, but Gannett doesn't care about poor execution ... just money. And if the reduced staffing expenses allowed the company to make an improved profit, even with decreased local circulation numbers, this would be seen as a good strategy.

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  23. Baseball page is a good idea, unless you live on the West Coast (would miss late games) or near an MLB team that you focus your coverage on. Plus, like it was mentioned, it takes away localization opportunities. USA Today better get that time-zone issue fixed soon. That's one thing readers notice!

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  24. Reply 4/06/2010 1:01 AM
    When everything goes on line time zones will not matter

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  25. 1:01 -- I agree. I was the one who said I don't think most readers care about altered fonts, AP style, etc. They certainly care about things being in the right time zone, typos, grammar, etc.

    In my experience, it's things like style that most readers overlook. Journalists have been trained to focus on details like that because they make a publication look even more professional. Readers come to the page as average folk, and the main thing most of them want is good, accurate information.

    Sadly, these prepackaged pages are a step down in all respects. People with educated eyes will be bothered by the font changes, and everyone else will be bothered by the deficiencies in the information.

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  26. So no mention at all of USA Today's iPad app, or is good news (there is much praise and it is getting strong reviews) not allowed here. Looks like they really did something right for a change.

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  27. Good news is always welcome. I wrote about USA Today's then-pending iPad app last month. I haven't seen it yet, however, because I don't own one of the tablets. Some of the USAT app customer reviews are posted on Apple's site. Could you please point me to some of the other ones?

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  28. This just in, from an 8-K form Gannett has filed with the Securities Exchange Commission:

    "On April 7, 2010, Christopher D. Saridakis, Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer, informed the Company that he plans to leave the Company at the end of April 2010 to pursue other interests."

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  29. sorry to see him leave. great guy and a good leader! does anyone know where he is going???

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  30. This just in from Springfield, MO:

    Thomas Bookstaver, president and publisher of the News-Leader Media Group, announced today that Executive Editor Don Wyatt has resigned.

    “During the past five years, Don made many contributions to this newspaper during a time of major changes in our industry. He worked very hard to understand how the news and information needs of our readers were changing and helped us develop products to satisfy those needs. He led our team through major technology changes, including the development of our very popular Web site, News-Leader.com."

    "A search will immediately begin for a new executive editor. During the transition, Managing Editor Cheryl Whitsitt will continue managing our news staff and the production of our daily and weekly newspapers and our Web sites. We will continue making major improvements to your News-Leader including the addition of a new Ozarks section in several weeks."

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  31. More from Springfield News-Leader. Executive Editor Don Wyatt has resigned. No reason given in a note from the publisher:

    Thomas Bookstaver, president and publisher of the News-Leader Media Group, announced today that Executive Editor Don Wyatt has resigned.

    “During the past five years, Don made many contributions to this newspaper during a time of major changes in our industry. He worked very hard to understand how the news and information needs of our readers were changing and helped us develop products to satisfy those needs. He led our team through major technology changes, including the development of our very popular Web site, News-Leader.com."

    "A search will immediately begin for a new executive editor. During the transition, Managing Editor Cheryl Whitsitt will continue managing our news staff and the production of our daily and weekly newspapers and our Web sites. We will continue making major improvements to your News-Leader including the addition of a new Ozarks section in several weeks."

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  32. Where is Don Wyatt going? I'd bet you 10 to 1 he won't be replaced.

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  33. A couple weeks ago, a reader told me something was up in Springfield, so this isn't entirely surprising. Still, as with the recent resignation of the executive editor at the Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, N.J. -- which also didn't get much background explanation -- you gotta wonder what's going on. Bookstaver's send-off quote reads fairly boilerplate.

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  34. Cheryl rocks!

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  35. I don't understand why Gannett hasn't worked with Google to archive all of their back newspapers. My understanding is that Google offers the service for free as long as articles older that 20 years are available for search. It would really aid and assist in editors and reporters finding background on people and companies quicker than doing a search of the ol' paper news library. Plus, it would make this reader and researcher really happy to be able to historical research in a much quicker fashion. It's not like Gannett would lose money on doing something like this. In fact, they might make money.

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  36. Have worked with a company that works with Google. When you archive stuff with Google, Google claims it as their property and if you ever end the agreement with the Big Goog, you do not get the material back.

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  37. Here comes Detroit's Susie Ellwood! I imagine Hunke played a big part in her just-announced award. Looks like she could be USAT's next pub, when the time's right.

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  38. http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=143168

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  39. And the site: http://traveltips.usatoday.com/

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  40. Having worked for Tom Bucksaver in the past I would guess that Don was forced out to save money.

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  41. Any word on top editors having to reapply for their jobs?

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  42. To 3:01 p.m. and 3:49 p.m. - Google searches are free. Digicol is a PIA since it's too search-specific and doesn't accept partial-information searches. Besides, if Gannett's issues were archived on Google, the general public (including me, a former employee) could use them. Online searches are another way for Gannett to suck money from its readers.

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  43. No truth to top editors reapplying for jobs.

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  44. Anonymous 8:34, that is most assuredly not the case. Wyatt had Bookstaver's favor.

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  45. Who's up next as the new CFO?

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  46. Things will eventually end up on Google, IMO. Especially, if the company goes out of business in the next 20 years.

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  47. Nobody from The Journal News won a Corporate award??? What is this world coming to ?!

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  48. There has been a lot of scurrying around. Aaron Barrett is slated for the CFO slot.

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  49. Dave Lougee has just sold another 10,625 shares in options -- the second half of a block that became available Feb. 25. He paid Gannett $3.75 a share on Wednesday, then sold them immediately for an average $17.21 a share, a just-filed regulatory notice says.

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  50. @6:32 AM - ROFLOL. Is it any wonder?

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  51. New Jersey's Home News Tribune and the Courier News no longer warrant a publisher. That job has just been busted down to the lower-paying general manager title, I see, now that former Publisher Skip Hidlay is gone.

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  52. The elimination of publishers seems part of corporate's effort to flatten the executive structure in newspapers. It saves big bucks but it also removes some of the independence these newspapers once enjoyed. Cherry Hill's removal of the executive editor seems part of this flattening.

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  53. Looking at the top this time.

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  54. Maybe Gannett will get rid of the publisher in Cherry Hill and bring in someone competent as a general manager (well competent is something of question when it comes to Gannett and the Courier Post). Or, is that paper going away in favor of NJ Today? Seen the Courier Post lately? Good candidate for a high school paper.

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  55. @7:41 p.m. - Why, then, keep Mike Fisch at the Journal News? Is he a Gannett hero for last summer's staff fiasco?

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  56. The C-N had the largest percentage circulation decline of all Gannett papers in NJ last year. The C-N should just be a zoned edition of the HNT. Maybe the decision not to hire a replacement publisher for Skip is a sign that this may happen. I, for one, hope so.

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  57. Hey don't blame the CN's decline on Skippy; there are many other old timers here that we can't seem to rid ourselves of. Then there's the economy but all the other papers have to deal with the same issues. The lackluster performance of so-called seasoned professionals who are too afraid to explore other avenues should have been removed long ago and when the Jersey papers complete their merge, one would hope the housecleaning will be continued.

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  58. "keep Mike Fisch at the Journal News?"

    Heck, he couldn't even close down the competition in Honolulu!

    He did throw great parties at the world class Halekulani Resort in Waikiki every Christmas. I'll miss those.

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  59. @8:37 p.m. - I said "WHY, then, keep Mike Fisch at the Journal News?"

    If you're going to quote me, please be accurate.

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  60. Montgomery could lose their EE and not skip a beat. Nothing but corporate expense savings there!

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  61. 3:16 -- Same in Reno.

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  62. Gannett put the oldest of the old timers in charge -- what does that tell you about whether the flotsam will be jettisoned? Next stop -- sub-20,000 daily circulation.

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  63. The EE in Reno is great. Check out our new Sunday edition. Back off haters!

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  64. Yeah, if you like LITTLE nazis. The new Sunday section looks like shit and mostly is filled with fluff as usual.

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  65. 9:07 -- No kidding. Repackaging only makes things "better" in the eyes of Gannett executives.

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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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