Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Week May 24-30 | Your News & Comments: Part 1
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45 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 never watched a single episode of "Lost,'' until I caught the last 60 minutes of last night's finale. Now, I'm the one who's lost.
ReplyDeleteEven if you watch several, you'd still be lost! I tried to watch it after the 1st season, only to give up due to being totally lost.
ReplyDeleteIs USA Today profitable? With your recent Ad counts columns showing so few ads I was wondering if USA today makes money. If not, why don't we shut it down? No need to pump revenue to corporate to prop up a dying product. Our small community paper has been gutted with our very nice profits going to corporate office. If your not a profitable paper should you be closed?
ReplyDelete1:07pm. That's a good question, yet, your small community paper would be shuttered way before USAT, regardless how much money USAT may consistently lose. The Prince of Pumpkin Island would make sure of that; USAT is his legacy.
ReplyDeleteThey say it is profitable, but they don't provide the documention in the reports to the SEC that would prove this. I am skeptical.
ReplyDeleteFor those following @1:24 pm's comment: Prince of Pumpkin Island = Al Neuharth.
ReplyDeleteUSA Today is unprofitable. Last year it lost over $55 million.
ReplyDeleteBet it was Suzie Elwood in Detroit with another female
ReplyDeleteNo!
ReplyDeleteA fitting analogy would be the Crystal Towers and Newseum are Pharoah's Pyramids. It took 25 years to amass those tombs. The community papers are the far-flung outposts that send regular booty back to the Nile's gorgeous ones. Some Sphinxes took a vacation at Giza, filled the chariots with gold, and reside happily in Pointroldelphia.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who needs to see examples of bad writing should go to the Ibiza Confidential section. Jim hits all the low notes there.
ReplyDeleteIt's been another bad day for Jim. He tried to start a topic for people to make attacks, but then he had to cap it.
ReplyDeleteHe made a big mistake by exaggerating Neuharth's clout, and then he tried to claim he was presenting questions.
He's right on course for the blog to collapse in July, just like last year.
Yeah, yeah, Troll, whatever.
ReplyDeleteTo production and advertising people nationwide: how's the ad production hub working out for you? In NJ, the advertisers hate it even more than when their ads were sent to India. Revenues are way down and we're wondering how we're going to stay afloat during the slow summer months. Won't be long before they announce the merger of the NJ papers.
ReplyDeleteHey 6:02: Give me a break. The ad production hub has absolutely nothing to do with your never-ending troubles at the northern New Jersey papers. But constant woe-is-me syndrome is certainly part of the problem.
ReplyDeleteHello All,
ReplyDeleteCan anyone give info about the actual
complete closedowns of any community weeklies?
I know they have been gutting and cutting to the
bone,but have any actually gone down comepletely?
I am former employee considering a start up
in one of these areas.
Thanks
At the McClatchy paper I work for, the ad people aren't allowed to say the word India. Seriously.
ReplyDeletesomeone posted here that in St Cloud they were told not to talk about the ad consolidation with anyone outside the company.
ReplyDeletespeaking of lost, where are we?
the rumor here at a south eastern gannett paper is that they will retain 4 positions after consolidation; 2 ad trackers and 2 designers. current employees would have to apply.
At my old site in Wisconsin, there are NO graphic designers. None! Only one paginator, and that position may be eliminated soon. Gannett's goal is to have all design positions at the production centers in Iowa and Indiana.
ReplyDeleteWait: employees can't discuss topics that could affect their job ("India") for fear of reprisals?
ReplyDeleteAn arrogant attitude of fear and intimidation, aimed at employees, seems to be prevalent throughtout this company. It's abuse, pure and simple.
You all need to stop being Enablers...
Ad production consolidation pushed back a month in Shreveport because of problems. Was supposed to go live last week, with May 14 the last day for the people being let go. Not sure about the other La. papers.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know if/when USAT raises are reinstated? They are quick to tell us when they go away, but the deadline for the pay freeze to be lifted was almost a month ago.
ReplyDeleteAnyone? Why is it I have to turn to this blog to get an answer like that? Where's the leadership?
If you are trying to get answers here, you are in the wrong place.
ReplyDeleteJim is really good at making wild assumptions and then trying to spin those. He's not good at providing reliable facts, likely because he's a nutjob who was dumped by Gannett.
What's this about a new publisher in Montgomery?
ReplyDeleteSam Martin is the new publisher at the Montgomery Advertiser - Cheryl Lindus is going back to Muncie as the GM.
ReplyDelete3:12 - Where do we go for reliable facts? Let us know!
ReplyDelete3:19 -- Thatta boy! Keep trying.
ReplyDeleteLongtime readers of this blog know that Jim has proven himself to be a reliable source of information time and time again. Rarely has the company announced big news -- layoffs, furloughs, etc. -- when speculation of that news hasn't been talked about for days or weeks on this blog.
In fact, it often seems that corporate was forced to respond to the blog because information was not being spun the way it wanted.
It's true that some of the speculation occassionally turns out to be false. That's always the case when you're dealing with anonymous sources. But I can't remember a time when Jim presented something as fact and was wrong. He's very careful to note whether the source he received information from has been reliable in the past, etc.
What I don't get is your constant attempts to undermine his legitimacy. It's pretty clear from the style and voice of your posts that you are a single person who comes back to the blog repeatedly just to run Jim down.
Either you are a company drone who can't think for yourself or you have something to gain through your posts. Which is it?
3:19. Rather than slamming Jim, why don't you start an "I love Gannett blog" and well compare the number of paid donations you get supporting your blog.
ReplyDelete"But I can't remember a time when Jim presented something as fact and was wrong."
ReplyDeleteThat one statement is a sign you have no clue what you are talking about.
I'll go with one off the top of my head: He did not know the PayPal transaction fee. Of course, he will make some excuse for why he got that wrong, and sad sacks like you will buy it, but you are living in a dream world if you really believe that Jim Hopkins has never made a factual error in this blog. He's lucky if he gets through a single day without a mistake.
There are many stronger examples than that PayPal thing. If you are going to attack Jim, bring your A game. Heaven knows there is no shortage of material.
ReplyDeleteOK. You've convinced me, troll. I will engage you no longer.
ReplyDeleteI was silly to do it in the first place. Ignoring idiots and bullies is always the best way to go.
I suppose I'll still have to wade past your posts until Jim see fit to start pulling them, but this will be the last time I respond to you.
I'll be re-upping my donation next payday, Jim.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 5/25/2010 7:43 PM and 5/25/2010 9:05 PM
ReplyDeleteJ'ever notice the trolls tend to come out more frequently when the stock begins to tank?
....just my observation....
Good news for national pubs, not so much so for community papers:
ReplyDeletehttp://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/ad-spending-turns-up-in-first-quarter-tracking-service-says-after-many-quarters-of-declines/?hp
We should start a lottery for the time of day when Beggar Hopkins posts an unverified, factually incorrect item.
ReplyDeleteTrolls: Please go back under your bridge. Nobody cares about what you have to say, and the readers of this blog like Jim better than they like you.
ReplyDeleteHere's the latest from USA Today, which has contracted with Demand Media to produce copy for the travel section. This is just the first step towards contracting out more of USAT's copy. Demand Media uses algorythms to find out what is the hottest item on the Web, then pays reporers $25 a story to write it. They make a huge amount of money, and appeal to newspapers that like trends, like USA Today.
ReplyDeleteSource: Demand Media's web site.
12:53 doesn't even post the URL for Demand Media! What a loser!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.demandmedia.com/blog/powering-travel-tips-for-usa-today/
Get. A. Clue. Drones.
What does URL mean?
ReplyDeleteThis blog is good for info - you just have to ignore the spin.
ReplyDelete1:26,
ReplyDeleteURL is short for Uniform Resource Locator, the address you put in the box at the top of the browser to get you to the web site you want. A whole lot of computer speak is acronyms.
12:53 pm: Is USA Today's newly redesigned travel site -- being promoted in an editor's note today -- the paper's new "vertical" that's been discussed here earlier?
ReplyDeleteA lot of sports columnists sound like spoiled children. They flit around from big event to big event, writing about stuff they barely know. Mike Lopresti from USA Today and the old Gannett News Service is one example.
ReplyDeleteA day or two ago Lopresti moaned and groaned about how bad it would be to hold the Super Bowl in the Northeast compared with Florida. Yesterday the NFL awarded Super Bowl 48 to ... New York/New Jersey, where the game will be played at the New Meadowlands Stadium. February 2014 in the Northeast will be good fun.
To echo Lopresti's petulant posture, most of Gannett's New Jersey dailies brushed off the NFL's announcement. Daily Record (Parsippany): buried at the bottom of Page 1. Courier News (Somerville): pigeonholed in the sports section. Home News Tribune (East Brunswick): pigeonholed in the sports section. Asbury Park Press (Neptune): middle of Page 1, in the fold. Only the Courier-Post (Cherry Hill) and the Daily Journal (Vineland) had Super Bowl 48 as the Page 1 lead -- and those two dailies are much closer to Philadelphia.
Part 2 of this comment thread is here.
ReplyDeleteAny word (or rumors) of 3Q furloughs?
ReplyDelete