Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Week July 12-18 | Your News & Comments: Part 1
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54 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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To the USA people responsible for the Jeep Cherokee wrap-around this morning...are you serious? Cover up the WHOLE paper with an ad? Won't affect home delivery and blue chips and such but will wipe out single copy sales. People will look at that and walk right by wondering what's missing from the paper. Isn't it bad enough your paper now resembles something that should be left on car windshields in parking lots? For a dollar? Bad enough sales are tanking for that alone....now this? One store I delivered to went and pulled the ads off before I left. Tell you something? How dumb!!!
ReplyDeleteIt was funny. Last week I was on a college campus with my child for orientation, and the Wis. State Journal as well as the Wall Street Journal stacks were empty by noon, yet USA Today was never touched.
ReplyDeleteCan't even GIVE the thing away.
Just shows that quality journalism still sells - where you can find it. Too bad Gannett has such a shortsighted focus and has abandoned quality for the sake of short-term stock boosts. They'll just keep raping their properties' credibility until they run them into the ground.
ReplyDeleteApologies to all who work for USA Today, but I agree with the above posters. I only read that newspaper when I'm traveling, and only if there are copies laying around and I have time to kill. It's a shadow of what it used to be and quite embarrassing because of that.
ReplyDeleteI agree with 11:59 a.m. USA Today isn't what it once was, probably because of all the institutional knowledge that left building (voluntarily and otherwise) in the last 3-4 years. Not faulting the people who are currently there, but just sayin'... It took time to build a solid staff/product. When the staff was gutted, the product suffered more than the empty suits want to admit.
ReplyDeleteI cant believe that people still work for Gannett? Can you all not get jobs? Too scared to take a chance on yourself that you could actually find a job that give you satisfaction? If you work for Gannett today and you are not on a heavy job search, then you have no self respect and I pity you. Lets start a thread where people that still work at gannett tell their story as to why they are not trying to leave.
ReplyDelete(If you are close to retirement then I give you a pass.)
Hello again, I am 8:10 PM. People seem to hate Gannett the most in New Jersey. So, I took a peak on monster and found a lot of positions for writers. Here take a look:
ReplyDeletehttp://tiny.cc/ea6ge
Don't fear the chance to be happy at work. Take a chance on yourself.
8:28: Any search on Careerbuilder brings up a ton of open Gannett positions. Either they gutted staff and are now looking to hire cheaper labor, or everyone good left and now they're scrambling.
ReplyDeleteOr a combination of both. I'm just sick of seeing Gannett pop up while I'm job hunting.....I want to get away from this crapfest of a job, and when I search for local jobs I don't want to see Gannett listings from 2000 miles away.
Love that service ticket writer job at the Chevy-Buick dealer in East Rutherford. Bad as it sounds, it beats what's become of most writing jobs in Gannett. At least you won't have to tweet and blog the service ticket.
ReplyDelete11:13, it probably pays better then Gannett, has normal hours, no furloughs, and management's incentives are probably aligned with the success of the car lot.
ReplyDeleteI agree with 5:50.
ReplyDeleteThe people that still work for Gannett
have absolutely no self respect.These lay-offs,cutbacks,furloughs,closings and all the rest of Gannetts expense cutting has been going on for 2 years.
Do they not see the obvious? Can you imagine the stress of going to work, day after day and week after week,wondering if this is the last
day?
I am a former mid manager and left 9 months ago.
I wouldn't deal with that constant stress,of not
knowing who or when, the next round of cuts
would happen.I feel pity for those still there
as,after all this time nothing has changed. The stress level must certainly have increased
as seeing the print product tells me that revenue is way down compared to when I was still there.Why put yourself through that agony
just to help the huge corporate machine maintain
it's tremendously high expectations of revenue.
This is a small weekly,and I'm certain the plan is to drain as much out of the community as possible and then shut it down when the revenue
finally goes into the red.As for those remaining
employees....have a good life...
Florida Today has started using Pluck to "moderate" reader comments. In theory Pluck is supposed to verify the validity of abuse reports. The reality is Trolls with abuse-button-ites are having a field day. At least half the of comments and blogs removed haven't been in violation of anything.
ReplyDeleteBob Stover wrote an editorial yesterday explaining Pluck's wonderful service and how well it's working.. 20% (9/47 as of an hour ago) of the reader comments, on his editorial, were removed for TOS Violations. Public comments about the moderators haven't been complementry, privately readers are furious.
Stover has no idea what's being said between privately between readers. I wonder if he realizes how many of us have become friends, get together and trade emails about FT daily? The Orlando Sentinel is looking better and better to dozens, if not hundreds of us.
Do not empower the Sentinel, or any other Tribune paper. Zell and his radio assclowns make Dubow & Co look like overachievers.
ReplyDeleteYour sanctimonious bullshit and name-calling regarding who is still working at Gannett is more a reflection on you than it is on us.
ReplyDeleteYou brag how you've left the company, and you're so much better for it. Yet you still come back to denigrate the people who remain.
I don't need your definition of self-respect, your pity, or your pithy comments about standing up against constant stress.
I need a paycheck to keep my family fed and housed, and until GPC comes to take that away, I'll continue to do my best.
Truly, if Gannett made you such a bitter person, your mental health recovery would be better served staying away.
12:47 why wait for them to make a move. Take control of your own future and get out. People like you seem too afraid to take a chance on yourself. You act like it is either gannett or starve. There are so many better places to work. Don't fear change. I am sure if debow and company were regular employees they would have left by now. Gannett is making fools out of you. Vote no to furloughs and leave. I bet my last dollar that you can find a better paying and more rewarding career elsewhere. Take a bet on yourself and go look. Don't let gannett management make you feel like you have to accept whatever shit sandwich they fell like giving you.
ReplyDelete1:07, I don't know where you live or exactly what you do, but for some of us still working at papers (not just Gannett,) there simply are no jobs out there. Some are barely above minimum wage. Some have no insurance. You don't know what 12:47's situation is, so until you've walked a mile in a lot of our moccasins, zip it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the job market is still really tough, and for those in newsrooms, the skills don't always translate well to other things -- reporters can often find PR work, but copy editors find a harder time of being hired for jobs like that. For many people, it will mean more schooling or other training. So people hang on and hope -- maybe they shouldn't, but it's understandable.
ReplyDeleteHi y'all. S/C carrier from yesterday. As expected...52% returns! Thanks USA. Any other great ideas? Now watch them cut my draws next week due to bad sales!
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere that USA Today was about to embark on some big "changes" and possibly more layoffs? I have seen no followup to that either here or on other websites. Were reports premature or have the changes been delayed?
ReplyDeleteUSAT's reorganization is still being planned; we're all awaiting details.
ReplyDeleteI must be in a small minority that thought the Jeep wrap ad was a fine experiment. Newspapers have got to try the new and unexpected. And I don't buy the idea that the wrap would kill newsstand sales.
ReplyDeletePeople don't buy USAT because of whatever story happens to be on Page 1 on a particular day. They know exactly what's going to be in the paper on any given day: a roundup of national stories in news, business, sports and entertainment. You can buy USAT sight unseen and know what you're going to get. That's not a knock -- it's a fact. It's like getting a McDonald's hamburger. Someone who buys USAT is getting the journalistic equivalent of fast food: not a gourmet meal, but something easy, quick, decent tasting and consistent.
I say this as someone who's been a regular reader of USAT right from the beginning. And I also agree that it's not as good or interesting as it was five or 10 years ago.
I passed two newsstands in my town the day of the USA Today wrapper -- one place was selling the paper with the wrapper on it, the other was selling it with the regular 1A on the outside. I don't know how that happened. News folk just need to grit their teeth bear it when papers try these experiments -- they aren't likely to happen except very rarely, but when they do, you can bet the advertiser has paid top dollar (and beyond.)
ReplyDeleteYou made it past the 10 percent cuts. You didnt look for a job because you still felt like you could make a good product. So, you worked harder. Maybe you even posted on here to tell people to work hard and stop whining. Then, the furloughs started. It was tough but you felt like if you just worked even harder that it would turn out for the best. Then the 2nd, 3rd, furloughs. You start to lose count. But what you don't lose is you since of pride in your paper. Hell, you even still believe that management was working for your best wishes. So much so, that you dont mind the mulit million dollar bonuses as the stock price falls from 70, 60, all the way to 2 bucks. Then you start to think, the bad must be over now, so you still dont bother looking for another job.
ReplyDeleteNow you are reward with the opportunity to help transition your paper to the Hub.
Now you are siting in front of HR. They are talking but your not really listening. You are wondering why you never tried to leave. You wonder how you could have kept working harder with all the evidence that this place was going down. You are really upset that your work helped them move to the hub. How did you not see that you were building your own layoff?
Why wait for them to boot you? Take charge of your career and you life. Look for a job now.
Ah, the wonder of the web. Here's the top story on the Northwestern's site; the story has been up since early afternoon.
ReplyDeleteUPDATE: Authorites identify pedestrian killed on Highway 41 in Oshkosh; investigation continues
I guess no one gives a shit about spelling anymore, huh?
Geez, 12:23, do you think we aren't looking? This has become an industry for people in their 30's. Most newspapers want five years experience at newspapers and a college degreee. But if you are in your 40's, you are flattered with rejections saying you are "overqualified" for the jobs that are open. For those 40 and over, it is time to consider retraining and something else for the rest of your life. The newspaper business is gone for that generation. Ad departments are getting rid of ad designers, so artists are no longer needed.
ReplyDeleteThe traditional migration of reporters to the copy desk also has ended, and Demand Media is showing it can provide the furniture for the backend of newspapers. This is no longer a business that provides a lifelong career.
I'm so glad I no longer work for Gannett. My heart goes out to those who are stuck there.
ReplyDeleteI didn't mind the furloughs until the bonuses because, oh silly me, I thought we were all in this together to save jobs. How Hunke could stand in front of us and expect us to look upon him as a leader after he took a bonus while we were still taking furloughs is beyond me. At an earlier meeting, a USAT reporter asked him why he took a bonus and he responded with "I'm glad you asked you that question." Hunke actually said this to a roomful of reporters who KNOW that as soon as a source says "I'm glad you asked that question," they aren't glad you asked that question at all, and what follows is invariably a bunch of BS and you might as well put your pen away.
ReplyDeleteMany people in Gannett are not looking for jobs. They think that it will never happen to them. The sad thing is that they will only realize that it can actually happen to them while they are siting in front of HR talking about unemployment. After the hubs are set up, how many people will they need? Will they need you? Will you work hard to help setup hubs only to be put out of work by them? Also, I wonder, if the top brass received bonuses during the time they eroded market Cap by 90 percent, how much will they receive if all these cuts actually start to bring market cap back? I also wonder what the percentage is of bonuses verse actual profit? Does this compare with the industry average?
ReplyDelete8:33PM...That's what's wrong with a lot of the suit's thinking. Of course people know what's inside (or should be). That's not the issue. They are used to seeing the front page as it's supposed to be. You cover it up and people think there's something wrong/missing. especially now they will not pay their hard earned dollar for a perceived incomplete or somehow defective paper. I've been doing this for almost 16 years. Go ahead...debate me!
ReplyDelete10:26...The store with the regular front page decided to pull the ad so people would know where their USA was. I had 1/3 of my stores do the same, some obviously too late to save sales.
Inside people just don't get it...or don't care. Folks who still buy the paper, and not just the "old folks", are not going to plunk their money down on preceived junk anymore. A wrinkled paper stops sales. An upside down paper on top of a stack of correctly placed papers stops sales. To some degree, the post it ads still lower sales and the 1/3 to 1/4 page front wrappers slow sales. I can pop the strap on a new bundle of Sundays and people will dig down to the second or third paper, but a stack of 5-10 or more...they will not dig, or touch a stack that has the aforementioned top paper.
I'm surprised I sold 48% of them Monday. A number of those the customer took the ad off and left it on the shelf/rack. Getting ad money as you can is one thing, but I'm sure someone told Jeep X amount of people will buy this paper and see the ad when in my case, it was X minus 52% !
Best e-mail of the week: A Post-Crescent reader wonders if we also deliver the Journal-Sentinel so they can get more state news.
ReplyDeleteMy heart goes out to those still employed at a
ReplyDeleteGannett location.I left nine months ago. I too,thought it was a job I would keep into retirement.I was mid-management,worked my butt off,long hours,great reviews,and on and on.
However, after seeing ,first the non-essential
people get the ax, then the redundant people,
the worker bees,then actual high paid life long publishers near retirement, and finally all the mail room and press people and drivers. Who were left? Just a few designers,editors ,circulation and SALES!
The 48 employees was 13.The hand writing was on the wall for me and I left,started a small business and am so glad.
I am certain that this same situation has happened to great papers/shoppers and people all over the country.Good ,hard working people let go,
to cut expenses and make the bottom line improve
for Gannett.The kicker here is, this operation
was very profitable at the time all of this began,and the cut-backs made,for the most part
anyway, just as the corporatate model had to be followed.
So, if you Gannett employees come here for positive re-enforcement ,I don't believe you will get a lot of that here. I am not bitter
about Gannett,I am gone and very happy about that.However,the good people that were layed off
just to serve Gannett's bottom line were and are
my friends,and they deserved much better.
So,Gannett stock just keep on tanking,and good ridance!!!
I never worked in circ but when I'm in a store I'll straighten a crappy-looking stack of our paper, throw out any extra strap and bottom wrap, spin the stack to face out or shuffle a wrinkled copy to the bottom of the pile. Still proud of what my co-workers produce every day.
ReplyDeleteThe competitors and USAT can suck it, though.
8:55, now that's funny!
ReplyDeleteDon't worry 8:40 a.m. Your business partner will remain strong at your expense.
ReplyDeleteIf your results are the rule nationwide, The day will be written off as an ABC elimination day.
Dealers make no money, the advertiser will be none the wiser. If the circ genius is worth his wage, the potential for high returns was considered and factored into the wrap's pricing.
Y'all need to get together and get some guarantees when they do shit like this.
Many of those with workplace currency, that is, the greatest potential to adapt to work in other industries, have moved on. To other types of publications, to teaching, to investigative firms, to news/information websites, to the investment world and to starting their own firms, like consulting firms, that offer the expertise they learned from news gathering and information processing. I made the leap myself and consider myself fortunate to have landed on my feet. It was jarring, but I am so glad not to be going to work every day to find out what stupid assignments awaited me from my dummscheiss bosses. That alone made the leap worthwhile. My new clients are quick to praise my work and make me feel valued, and the compensation reflects that. Reporters with expertise in the business, regulatory and federal/state legislative arenas can earn more than $100 an hour as consultants, and that's cheap as consultants go. Finding work like this takes self-marketing and networking with people who know about your abilities, as jobs like these aren't advertised. Information is as much a prized commodity as ever, and reporters -- the most persistent, diligent, detail-oriented and schmoozing reporters -- are among the best people to get it.
ReplyDeleteWhy are they just advertising this gig? I guess if you need a temp job ...
ReplyDeleteCompany: Green Bay Press-Gazette
Position: Copy Editor/Page Designer
Location: Green Bay, Wisconsin
Job Status: Full-time
Salary: $35,000 to $40,000
Ad Expires: August 18, 2010
Job ID: 1184798
Description:
Copy editor/page designer
The Green Bay Press-Gazette is looking for a copy editor/page designer for its daily publications who works well in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment. Primary responsibilities on our universal desk include editing copy, writing headlines, designing and creating pages, proofing and correcting pages prior to publication, as well as posting and proofing stories on our Web site.
The successful candidate needs to be good with words, have excellent computer skills, an eye for design and, since we’re the hometown newspaper of the Green Bay Packers, sports knowledge is desired. Bachelor’s degree in journalism or communications or equivalent work experience required. Experience with QuarkXpress preferred.
To apply send a cover letter and resume to:
Green Bay Press-Gazette Attn.: Human Resources RE: copy editor/page designer P.O. Box 23430 Green Bay, WI 54305-3430 careers@greenbay.gannett.com
The Green Bay Press-Gazette is committed to diversity and proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Employment is contingent upon passing a pre-employment drug screen.
http://www.journalismjobs.com/Job_Listing.cfm?JobID=1184798
Let me say thank you 9:02 AM. I do take a bit extra time making sure my stacks are neat. Neatness does count in retail but the store people and customers could care less.
ReplyDeleteHopefully USAT will learn from this blunder and not try this again. My fear is the local will try it next.
Do you hold Gannett stock?
ReplyDeleteTwo days old but an interesting outlook:
http://www.fool.com/investing/value/2010/07/12/6-tantalizing-stocks-investors-are-too-scared-to-b.aspx?source=itxsitmot0000001&lidx=1
"...Morgan Housel highlighted USA TODAY publisher Gannett as 'the best company in an absolutely terrible industry (newspapers).' "
Of course, he's talking financial best.
I sold mine in April at over $18.00 and transfered out of their retirement pension.
ReplyDeleteSo as former employee, I am totally out
of their system.
Thankfully
CT Partners called me the other day to see if I was interested in pursuing the Chief Digital Officer role at Gannett. I have been doing some research on Gannett and stumbled upon this blog. After reading the past two years of the blog, I am less inclined to pursue the opportunity.
ReplyDeleteI obviously do not work at Gannett now, but please give me some reasons why I should or should not want to pursue this opportunity.
Thank you...
I am (perhaps) understandably skeptical about whether 5:48 is truly a CDO applicant. But, then, I would turn to this blog's readers for at least one set of independent views if I were a Gannett job candidate.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, 5:48's question is a good one for anyone thinking about a career in Gannett: "Please give me some reasons why I should or should not want to pursue this opportunity."
I can not think of any reason to take a job with Gannett. Management sucks, the job sucks, they product sucks, and what little readers we have left hate us. I don't understand why they still get the paper. Perhaps its just inertia, but many daily subscribers would (if asked) say they hate the newspaper. Strange isn't it?
ReplyDeleteTrust me: They didn't like us much 25 years ago (!). when I started in the business.
ReplyDeleteTo accomplish aggregating copy desk talent in the locales selected, will they be paying moving expenses?
ReplyDeleteWhat will the average salaries be?
Does the savings come from losing longtime employees in favor of lower, but appropriate salaries for new hires?
How many supervisors?
Will any work-from-home opportunities be available?
Given the number of nightshift folks, will there be a night-care component for parents?
Will they be paying incentives for people to stay until their papers are moved to the centers?
Who will be responsible for posting the post-copy desk reads online, if at all.
What about archiving of data? Is that something being consolidated at the same time. Would make sense.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they didn't like you 25 years ago, but they respected you. That's what has changed. Today they don't respect you because they have no reason to. There's no cutting edge journalism anymore of which they need to be fearful. When is the last time anything hinting of investigative work appeared in print? You have got to earn respect, and we aren't even trying.
ReplyDeleteArchiving would probably be done with the DC5 systems that are used today. Its already integrated with NewsGate where newsgate is used. Also newsgate handles posting to online. Newsgate treats content independently of publishing channel. So content is content. Then you can push that content to the web, mobile, print ( to be designed by a paginator), or maybe in the future ipad. Its a pretty versatile system. I also read on here that newsgate doesn't use indesign. That is only half true. CCI has their own layout software but it can also be integrated to use idesign if management wants it. I think you all that haven't used it will like it. However, soon after you learn it you will probably be let go due to the consolidations.
ReplyDeleteI repeat.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone heard or been told the total net loss
of jobs across the Gannett empire??
I would imagine the total jobs lost will be huge in comparison to the ones added at the new Hubs!!They won't report that however,or if they do ,it will be buried somewhere.
Will current employees be getting severance? That is probably dependent on staying until the bitter end.
ReplyDeleteWhat would have happened is all the shops were union? Aren't there some left?
ReplyDeleteLook for a bigger than expected profit when GCI announces quarterly results on Friday. Broadcast really led the way and print will show a positive trend.
ReplyDeleteHow are the Hubs going to hand things like major packages that are in flux with reporters over days / weeks? Do I keep calling my design counterpart in Tennessee every time I as a reporter get a new mug, map or idea for the package? Weird.
ReplyDelete10:14 wrote: "Print will show a positive trend." In what regard? Year-over-year ad revenue down in the lower single digit percentages -- lower than even the figures Martore gave in early June?
ReplyDeleteFollowing is a version of a comment posted by Anonymous@9:24 p.m., with an executive's name edited out. (Enough with jokes about people's personal appearances. In all I wrote about him, I don't think I ever made fun of Al Neuharth's height.)
ReplyDeleteTop 10 Reasons To Work For Gannett
10) Your Buggy Whip business has finally succumbed to market forces
9) Daily masturbation has lost its luster
8) You can’t wait to tell people you work for the local newspaper
7) You are a masochist
6) You enjoy doing your job at a high level so mindless managers can receive gold rings
5) Investigative journalism gives you hives
4) Your unemployment payments have expired
3) You own a competing media company and no one knows
2) You think [XXXXX] is hot
1) Hell has finally frozen over