Sunday, May 16, 2010
Week May 10-16 | Your News & Comments: Part 2
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53 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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Part 1 of this comment string is here.
ReplyDeleteThe Detroit Free Press blogger and columnist caught scrawling graffiti on a public bench last week has been disciplined; her blog will be inactive until May 31. Her column will reappear June 6, the paper says today.
ReplyDeleteHey, we got this memo last week from corporate IT. I'm trying to read inbetween the lines because it sounds like some sort of consolidation shrouded it corp-speak.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone heard any details about this "Enterprise Network Practice"??
TO: IT Executives
FROM: Gannett Information Technology
DATE: May 7, 2010
SUBJECT: Announcing: Experts On-Line – Enterprise Network Practice Presentation with Q&A (Thursday, May 13, 2010 at 2:00pm ET)
CI Information Only Notice
(CIION52)
AUDIENCE
All Gannett locations.
DESCRIPTION
On Thursday, May 13, 2010, please join us at 2:00pm ET for an Experts On-Line (EOL) presentation regarding the establishment of an Enterprise Network Practice within Gannett. Division Presidents communicated the creation of the Enterprise Network Practice the week of May 3, 2010.
The Enterprise Network Practice was established to bring greater consistency and focus for the support of network technology used throughout Gannett by establishing and leveraging networking standards. This practice will architect, design, implement, and support the networking platforms and services used across the company, from local networks at each business unit, shared service centers, and data centers to the wide-area network interconnecting locations. This EOL session will present the guiding principles and goals behind the creation of this group as well as answer your questions.
To view the Experts Online session, or to register, please use the link below:
Introduction Enterprise Network Practice
The Louisville staffer who failed with the Newseum post should pinch hit in Detroit. Then some park bench in a remote part of the city would get hit with the graffiti, and no one would notice.
ReplyDelete1:11 pm: Could this be the rollout of the new CCI NewsGate publishing software, which is part of the new website templates?
ReplyDeleteThere are four Louisiana newspapers scheduled to go live to Ad Production consolidation next week. Any news on this? We are all waiting to hear from those who have already gone or will be going soon, as we are scheduled to go later, still no word. Please let us know something about what is going on. Thanks
ReplyDeleteRick Bell, VP Circ. for Des Moines/ Gannett West Group. He has announced resignation.
ReplyDeleteRick will be missed. He brought a ton of calm into that chaotic girl's nest.
ReplyDeletewhy did Rick resign?
ReplyDeleteNot sure -- would love to speculate. Also, national ad rep Becky Bjork has suddenly gone missing. Seems like the Register is back to clandestine management again.
ReplyDeleteDid Bell have responsibility for circulation over all the West Group newspapers -- or just Des Moines?
ReplyDeleteAll of the west. He was the Group Circ Director.
ReplyDeleteSome folks in areas hit by consolidations in the recent years and pending ones are really hurtin'. They just keep getting work piled on to deal with work that came back to them because consolidations missed their marks.
ReplyDeleteSome may be in the ad area, but fallout from other consolidations still killing some who HAVE to keep their job working double time.
Jim was playing catcher in that Kagan photo, but he was cropped out.
ReplyDeleteThe Montgomery site was to go live with GPC consolidation on June 14th. It was pushed back to July 12th now. This was in part due to the TN papers going live with GPC and facing a lot of issues. So it's pushed the Montgomery site back a month.
ReplyDeleteIn the process there, the staff consisted of 4 artists, 1 layout, 1 manager. The layout coordinator was moved out from Ad Services to protect that position; however, the manager and 4 artists are all competing for 2 spots.
Is it worth it? Job duties are feared to increase seeing as they will be ad traffickers, still maintain tearsheets, serve as backup layout coordinators, trained to schedule ads through helios, and still maintain light prepress duties with plating commercial print work.
So is it worth the stay?
Are other sites losing their management in Ad Services as well?
In regards to outsourcing to GPC: What exactly is HELIOS?
ReplyDeleteEnterprise Network Practice
ReplyDeleteThis is the early stages of conforming the disparate networks at the various sites into one standard. The ultimate goal is, of course, consolidation and staff reduction. So that, when there are problems in an IT COE, more sites are affected with less staff to respond.
I hesitate to state it here (or anywhere that management can see it,) but I foresee a day when multiple geograpically related sites have an IT staff of, perhaps, 5 for support. These 5 will be lower skilled techs whose sole purpose is desktop support, some low skill networking (like stringing network cable, although that could conceivably be handled by the building maintenance staff,) and to work with corporate when there is a larger problem. Workstations will be standardized throughout the company. When one has a problem, it will be shipped off, and a different one will be shipped in. Very little will be on-site.
10:56 is off and running with another fantasy.
ReplyDeleteReally, 11:34? There's no reason it can't happen or be in place within the next 3 years.
ReplyDeleteIf they can consolidate ad production, editorial will be next...as far as I.T. they had no qualms about cutting two I.T. positions in NNCO in July. There is only one full-time I.T person in the NNCO South covering 5 papers.
ReplyDeleteOur IT staff was cut in half. We have 10 people covering 10 sites (3 medium to large and 7 community newspapers) spread out over 7 counties.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThe digital "approach" by this company has been a disaster from the start. Figurehead executives, too few resources, refusal to change when old technology was clearly being passed by, fear of making the wrong move and development on the cheap.
ReplyDeleteThat we call ourselves a digital company is a joke. We need to get real, roll up our sleeves and go for it on every level instead of thinking some grand plan will unite all properties in some digital nirvana.
The way digital works is the best idea and the best coding wins, not the best PLAN!
They need to let us go for it!
The new Dashboard site that ContentOne is rolling out is a huge joke. I did training on it last week in Wilmington, and we're set to go live on Monday as one of the first sites to test it.
ReplyDeleteCorporate bought into this system to "share ideas" and then decided to put all the story budgeting systems on it, too. But they apparently didn't think that photos were necessary, because they left out any function for creating photo assignments. The techies in Wilmington had to customize the features from scratch that we needed - you know, optional elements like photo assignments, story lengths, reporter's name, editor's name, etc. I feel sorry for the other sites that will be experiencing Dashboard in the months to come.
Tara Connell must be brain-dead.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteSources tell Ashvegas that former Asheville Citizen-Times Editor Susan Ihne has settled her wrongful termination lawsuit against newspaper Publisher Randy Hammer and the newspaper's parent company, Gannett Co.
ReplyDeleteI'm just receiving the news, and have yet to confirm with either Ihne, Hammer or any other their attorneys. Terms of the settlement won't be disclosed, according to my sources.
It was December 2008 when Ihne filed her lawsuit, seeking $15 million for what she said was her wrongful firing at the hands of Hammer and Gannett. Ihne charged that Hammer harassed and bullied her after he joined the newspaper in October 2007. In one instance, Ihne claimed that Hammer yelled at her in a one-on-one meeting "in an attempt to frighten and terrify her" and that his initimidation created a hostile work environment.
In court filings, Hammer has denied the charges.
You can go here for more background. You can go to the Mountain Xpress and read the oringinal court filing here. You can also click the tags at the bottom of this post to read related stories.
St Cloud Times has has currently made more changes to the office structure in accounting and is now done interviewing for prepress jobs that are being out sourced.
ReplyDeleteWow those ads are bringing in some serious cash. Nice Job!
ReplyDelete@ 5:49 PM:
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way. I actually challenged my publisher on this very fact. Guess what? Said publisher actually came around, gathered some resources, provided meaningful assistance and told me to go for it.
Amazing, huh?
I am unconvinced that newspapers can make the transition to the digital age. The old business model that relied on ads to support newsrooms is dead and the new business model hasn't emerged. Paywalls won't work because readers aren't going to pay for general interest news of the sort USAT puts out. As I see it, we only have a few years left before we disappear. I also believe corporate is making a huge mistake of cutting community newspapers while maintaining USAT's huge salary structure. The future of newspapers will be community papers serving small areas where there are fewer alternatives. I can read stuff that USAT publishes anywhere online already, and within a few years those sources will proliferate.
ReplyDelete10:02 -- I agree with you, but only on some level. I don't know that newspapers will make the transition to digital, but the old business model is hardly dead. Right now, traditional print advertising is propping the company up and, arguably, subsidizing the newspaper Web sites.
ReplyDeleteI believe everyone needs to come to terms with the fact that there is simply more competition now and that demand for newspapers will go down. It doesn't mean they will disappear, it just means that they won't be as dominant as they once were.
Everyone argued that radio was done when television came around. Clearly, radio isn't finished and it continues to support itself with it's original model. It is, however, nowhere near as dominant as it used to be.
Everybody argued that airplanes would kill trains, and that hasn't happened either. Trains are, however, a niche transportation market, and they focus on what they do best.
The profitability of TV stations has also been diminished by the many cable networks out there. The fact of the matter is there will probably always be some demand for printed news -- either on paper or on e-readers, like Kindles and iPads. And you should be able to support that with advertising.
The fact that nobody seems willing to accept is that competition is ever-greater, so maintaining 20 percent profit margins is unrealistic. Few businesses operate under the type of margins that newspapers have long seen as rightfully theirs. I think the main adjustment we need is one of attitude. That, and we need to keep an eye on technology. Who knows? Somebody may develop a way to make money online and you need to be ready to jump on that if it happens.
I agree with what you said about the community papers. What everyone also needs to realize is that -- as the audience shrink -- people will pay only for unique content. That means the papers in small markets may become the most valuable properties in the chain.
Gannett cut many of the most important parts of the newspaper puzzle early on -- columnists, specialized reporters, investigative reporters. Those are the thing that can set a newspaper apart. Every media outlet in a city covers breaking news, meaning it's easy and cheap to come by. I don't need to buy a paper to get it because TV and radio stations do a fine job delivering that. What they don't do is give me solid analysis, break hard-to-get stories, fire me up with a good opinion piece or funny column, and let me know if the new U2 album is worth my money. That's where papers can shine.
Jim,
ReplyDeletecheck on bringing up your blog through GOOGLE!
I clicked the first link and it wouldn't bring the blog up!
I came here by using an older link!
Just thought you should know!
The first link for Jim in Google/Gannett worked for me!
ReplyDeleteOkay,
ReplyDeleteI just tried it again, to be sure and it worked fine!
Don't know why it wouldn't download earlier.
Anyone else notice that the stock is in freefall again today? So far, it's already down more than 5%.
ReplyDeleteBravo, 10:45, I agree.
ReplyDelete12:23pm
ReplyDeleteThis is pretty much instep with the rest of the mkt.
12:26 is buying into the fantasy. Jim is buying into some mental help.
ReplyDeleteBravo 10:45 am -- newspapers have killed many of the things that made them stand out and be individualistic. The current homogenizing efforts from corporate will only make things worse. Just more nails in the coffin.
ReplyDeleteAm wondering what current and former employees think of the current USCP leadership. Is the Dickey, Krans, Ray dream team all it is cracked up to be? Which is the real brains of the operation? What is the future of the organization? Should we stay or should we go? Who knows.
ReplyDelete11:31 -- You are so right. First we eliminated many of the things that made newspapers different from TV and radio. Now we are attempting to make every Gannett paper the same, which, of course, means there's even less reason to read. If you're one of the folks who likes Gannett content, you can just check out USAT online for free. And many people will simply opt for the Wall Street Journal or New York Times.
ReplyDelete11:44 -- See above. I believe current leadership is clueless and moving in the wrong direction for long-term stability. We've seen some improvement in the stock price because the massive cuts during the past few years have continued to make the company profitable. Plus, we were undervalued. The problem is that those cuts also eliminated many of the content creators who were needed to make us stand out in the long run. Newspaper circulation is dropping at a ridiculously high rate. In part, that's because of the economy and increased competition. The other part of the puzzle, though, is that our papers no longer have much unique or valuable content in them.
I can think of probably 8 or 10 really valuable local stories that my paper broke in the last three or four months. There was a time when it was entertaining even when it wasn't breaking news, but those days are long gone. So, why would I want to subscribe?
Should we leave the organization? If you can, absolutely. What's the future? I think the company will be broken into pieces the minute the economy recovers enough to produce interested buyers.
Airplanes did pretty much kill off the passenger trains, 10:45, and I think that is the point of the problems newspapers face. Passenger trains wouldn't exist today were it not for government subsidies through Amtrak. It still makes sense to use railroads for freight. but there are not enough passengers for passenger trains.
ReplyDeleteI think we have to find a niche, and quickly. I agree that community newspapers are more viable for this than USAT. The niche I see is the freight of covering local news, and corporate has made a disastrous choice cutting reporters and editors who provide this. Local newspapers are going to flourish under the onslaught of this technology, just like the freight trains. I have not yet seen any of the Internet sites providing local news that have a viable base. Jim's begathons and his failure to meet his goals show the difficulties.
Begathons = true.
ReplyDelete2:48 -- I'm 10:45 and I think we agree on all points. What I was getting at with the airplaine/train comparison was that trains had to find their niche. Yes, the passenger train business is minimal, but trains are still a better option for some sorts of freight. Are trains the big deal that they used to be? No. Are they still running? Of course.
ReplyDeleteI don't see any reason for newspapers to be actively engaging in the breaking news game anymore. If we find a way to make money on the web, OK, that might make sense. But there are lots of things newspapers can do that the breaking news giants -- TV and radio -- cannot. That's what we should focus on. Sadly, all I've seen from newspaper management during the last 10 years is a push to make us "more like TV."
Shorter stories, no jumps, Web first quick hits without any substance, photo galleries, smaller sections because "people don't have time to read." Nobody seemed to acknowledge the fact that competing media already do all these things and do it well. If I want soundbites and breaking news, I don't have to go to my paper. I can simply flip on the TV while I'm cooking dinner. Or, better yet, listen to the radio on my drive home.
Newspapers no longer need to focus on the "people who don't have time to read." They should make themselves a daily -- or weekly -- fix for the people who like to read and who want in-depth information that they can't find elsewhere. We have great opportunities for investigative reporting, consumer reporting (reviews, etc.), brightly written columns by personalities who are popular within a given community, news analysis. Right now, the only print publications focusing on these sorts of things are weeklies.
Sadly, there are a lot of bad weeklies. But I bet it's the good weeklies that survive this mess. They seem to understand the strengths and weaknesses of a print publication.
The days of newspapers being dominant in their communities are over. That doesn't, however, mean that newspapers are dead. They can -- and should -- remain extremely popular within their niche.
12:26 is reviving the fantasy. Jim is perpetuating it.
ReplyDeleteKeep deleting, Jim. This will just carry into next week, next month, next year. It's a valid point, and there's no reason why it should be removed.
7:26 -- You are either a troll, incredibly naive or just plain out of touch. I'm not sure which explanation is best. Of course, none of us know for sure what's happening with the company, but if you wouldn't bet on further consolidation, you're not paying attention.
ReplyDeleteTO: 5/14/2010 10:45 AM
ReplyDeleteNicely put. You make all the right points. Those that chose to ignore or argue must be former employees or active slackers. Sometimes the truth makes others uncomfortable.
Jim,
ReplyDeleteI heard Saridakis speak at a University symposium and he was trashing pay walls for newspaper companies. He was very complimentary of the "content" producers (aka journalists), but has said that "corporate suits" have failed them by not investing in a new distribution medium and by spending too much time defending a "print product".
I have to say that it was a big mistake for Gannett not to retain this guy. He is very articulate and was not afraid to answer any question.
He also took apart the corporate structure of newspapers and said that in today's current business, that hierarchy does not work. Decisions made by "non-operator" is what is going to drive the newspaper companies out of business.
7:39 Thanks for stopping by, Chris. And by the way, could you please tell us how any of your ingenuity translated into revenue for Gannett??
ReplyDeletewonder if this guy could simply address a real problem, like the one that happened with the contest in Arizona. doubt it.
ReplyDeletestill waiting for that list of his accomplishments while working for Gannett. it will never appear for one of two reasons:
1. There were no measurable accomplishments for those two years, or
2. Nobody can clearly articulate the accomplishments.
2:48 You make good points. It doesn't do much good delivering news to readers who already have heard or read it on other channels.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, we are currently led by careerists who came up the old way in newspapers, and now as newspaper leaders don't think in terms of the changes that are needed. I don't know how to change that, and I am very frustrated with my failure. We are now in the fourth year of an ad downturn, and circulation has been steadily declining since the Korean War. And it also cannot be much fun for managers to oversee empty newsrooms and depleted budgets.
Yet they won't change. They don't want to rock the boat. Some I know are bankrolling for their early retirement, and others are just marking time after giving up. Dickey is more interested in golf than the newspapers he supervises.
Sardakis said: "corporate suits" have failed them by not investing in a new distribution medium and by spending too much time defending a "print product". What did he do at Gannett for 2 years and millions of bucks later? Robin Hood and his Merry Men would not recruit the french spy.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete