"The Prince of Pumpkin Island would make sure of that; USAT is his legacy."
-- Anonymous@1:24 p.m. today, commenting in a debate over USA Today's profitability.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Why USA Today's survival is virtually guaranteed
-- Anonymous@1:24 p.m. today, commenting in a debate over USA Today's profitability.
18 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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Al Neuharth, respected within the company though he is, has absolutely no say. In fact, the new leaders are so different from Al's good-old-boy newspaper network that to perpetuate this Al is pulling the strings myth shows a real lack of understanding of what Gannett is -- and isn't -- these days.
ReplyDeleteTo highlight it as a provocative posting shows even more that you (Jim) truly don't get it or you are content to just roil the waters and feed the locals what they want to hear.
In either case it sure isn't honest reporting or blogging. Al has no say at all anymore. None. People should finally get that.
Why did Dubow & Co. call Neuharth to tell him individually that Moon was quitting? Why does Neuharth continue to receive the privilege of his weekly column in USAT?
ReplyDeleteThe log cabin is long gone, and Pumpkin Island turns out to be nothing more than a disappointing expanse of sand and grass on the wrong side of Highway 1. It has been renamed Felice Place, and has a block of $850,000 townhomes built on it. Neuharth occupies one of them. Most are empty because Space Coast real estate is reeling from Obama's decision to scrap more Space SHuttle flights. I looked on a real estate Web site and found eight of the townhomes being offered. I hope he fronted the financing for this project because someone is losing his shirt.
ReplyDeleteUSA Today carries his column because it was part of an agreement when he left. He was called out of professional courtesy.
ReplyDeleteBut to think he in any way, especially with people like Gracia and Dubow, has any sway or influence at all shows you don't even know how the company works. It's not your father's USA Today anymore, Jim.
The more you keep casting it that way, the farther you get from the truth. seriously.
I'd have to agree with 5:40. Even when I worked at USA TODAY in the 80s, Al was being marginalized.
ReplyDelete5:40 pm: Thank you. We journalists never learn anything new unless we ask questions, like those I've posed here.
ReplyDeleteThe commenters who downplay Big Al's influence are being naive. As recently as when Ken Paulson became editor, Neuharth had his fingers in the pie.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Big Al is reading the blog... his comments would be welcome.
ReplyDeleteOf course, Neuharth held considerable sway over Paulson's future. Exhibit A: the plum six-figure job Paulson got at Freedom Forum last year.
ReplyDeleteGive Al his due, the vision that created USA Today was cutting edge - then. Maybe that time has passed and maybe so has Al's, but having been there in early years it was a fun time to be a journalist.
ReplyDeleteI'll take Al's pioneering era over today's thin wrap stars.
ReplyDeleteJim, your spin here is hilarious. You highlighted an off-base comment, and someone corrected you.
ReplyDeleteJim is so far from the truth that he needs the Hubble telescope.
Those of us old enough to have been around during the USA Today startup find some humor in the "cutting edge" comment by 9:26!
ReplyDeleteAs slashed-to-the-bone as things are in today's GCI newsrooms, conditions were at least as bad in many Gannett community newsrooms in the early and mid-1980s when budgets were slashed and personnel were "loaned" to get USA Today off the ground.
Anyone who yearns for "the good old days" and thinks journalists would have it much better under Big Al's leadership in this economy...well, you had to have been there to appreciate the ruthlessness of that little egomaniac to appreciate the irony of his "vision" being described as "cutting edge."
Re 7:28 a.m.....You got that right. The USAT start-up cost the community papers quite a bit. Loaned staffers, increased working loads for everyone else, pay raises in the 1 percent range, etc., all took a toll.
ReplyDeleteThe papers recovered for a while until more pay and hiring freezes took hold over the years.
Cutting costs has long been Gannett's strong suit. Let's face it, it's a business and profit is the primary motive.
I really think that USAT never became more than a hotel and airport giveaway. I honestly don't know anyone who has ever read it on a regular basis. They may be out there, but I've never met them.
Neuharth still has power. When he calls, suits scramble to answer the phone. I know. I've seen it. Do you really think Moon's phone calls are answered, or do you really think he gets invites to GCI events? Can you think of any other retiree treated like royalty as Neuharth is?
ReplyDeleteWhat ever happened to that HUGE bust of the Prince, kept in the lobby of the old building on the Potomac River?
ReplyDeleteBut consider this? Tom Kelly, VP Circulation, is single handedly downsizing USA Today's West Region, while simutaneously bringing a whole new meaning to "how many times in one meeting can you use the F-Word". Unbelievable.
ReplyDeleteThat HUGE bust of Al is in the Snoozseum.
ReplyDelete