Sunday, August 01, 2010

July 26-Aug. 1 | Your News & Comments: Part 2

Can't find the right spot for your comment? Post it here, in this open forum. Real Time Comments: parked here, 24/7. (Earlier editions.)

98 comments:

  1. For Part 1 of this comment thread, please go here.

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  2. So what does this change to even more expansive ABC allowances for nearly anything a newspaper produces, emails you or gives away really mean? And will Average Paid Circulation represent anything at all in the future?

    http://www.editorandpublisher.com/Headlines/new-abc-publisher’s-statement-will-count-‘branded-editions’-and-nonpaid-‘verified’-circulations-62116-.aspx

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  3. This request is related to my previous post. Please document the leadership changes at every senior level of newspaper (media group) management with a priority on editors and publishers. Look at the changes that have occurred just following the BIG layoff. The consolidations that reassigned. May need to look at MEs and AME at larger papers but that could get tough.
    Try to document the dates of those changes for an analysis later that looks at regional leadership changes.
    You will see that examples like Doll are not isolated. The new culture doesn't need editors with initiative or ideas. Corporate will not support of fund them unless they can be replicated for all. There is no flexibility or real freedom for publishers to experiment with jumping a bunch of hoops, hoops that shut down innovation. Indy online team was on a roll, now assimilated (as an example).
    What you want to find out is... How different the leadership is in a very short time. See who left and stayed in the business and how many got out completely?

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  4. Another long term gannett employee leaves for a new Job last week. His enitre life was Gannett. I would guess he saw the writing on the wall.

    Dennis Host St Cloud Times MN.

    •Manager/E-Commerce Marketing at Coborn's Inc.
    •Owner at D. Host Photography
    Past •Marketing Specialist at Gannett
    •Market Development Director at St Cloud Times
    •Volunteer at United Way of Central Minnesota
    •Ad Development Manager at St. Cloud Times
    •Creative Director at St. Cloud Times
    •Account Executive at Merriman Design Associates
    •Retail Advertising Manager at St. Cloud Times
    •Account Executive at St. Cloud Times

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  5. ABC has been diluting the meaning of newspaper circulation each year for the last three years. It is making the circulation statements meaningless. They are not fooling anyone with this: advertisers know about the changes.

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  6. OK. My return % for the first USAT Jeep cover was 52%. This past one was 55%. Nice going gannett/USAT. Maybe next time we'll hit 60% returns! I'm just one single copy carrier but the rest I've talked to had similar.

    I get it. All about the ad revenue, but where is the line? Or is there even one?

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  7. 11:24 -- There is no easy way to say it: your 1 day revenue is considered to be expendable in the grand scheme. The revenue that most USAT contractors will lose over this pales to what corporate will make.

    There, someone said it. I'm not trying to be heartless -- simply stating the facts. If Gannett doesn't care about its employees by offering a lackluster health care plan, to be blunt, why should they care about 1 days worth of revenue of 1 of its paper's independent contractors?

    Now to play devils advocate: I'm sure you made a killing off of issues such as Obama's victory and Michael Jackson's death. The mindset is probably that it "balances out" in the end when you have days such as Tuesday.

    I'll take it a step further. Lets say you received 500 single copy papers and had 55% returns (instead of 30%). So you sold 225 instead of 350 or a loss of 125 copies. Provided your profit is as high as $.35 per copy (and I'm sure its far less than that), you really only lost $43.75 for the day. Its not pocket change, yeah, but its also not world shattering.

    Man, I feel horrible even typing that whole paragraph. To stop playing devils advocate, I am sorry for your lost revenue. But if you think about this big picture, $43 doesn't sound like a whole lot.....

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  8. Folks, there is NO line anymore.

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  9. It's the bottom line, pure and simple. All that matters.

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  10. 1:44...Not just one carrier's loss. I'm sure it's Gannett wide but you are right. They could care less about us peons as long as their pockets are lined. I've been at it long enough to know it costs money to actually put the paper out, but without sales, you have no ad revenue, unless ABC is irrelevant anymore. And if I was the people running the Jeep ad I'd be looking for the actual sales numbers to see just what is hitting the streets for my buck, and not relying on what USA/Gannett tells me the numbers are.
    The only ones winning this game are the big mucky mucks on the top perch!

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  11. Interesting Newsweek article I read in the print version last night about a) the ineffectiveness of ads on websites and b) the number of unique visitors to the top 10 news-oriented websites. Unless my vision is failing me, I didn't see the USA Today listed. Sorry, I'd provide link but I'm unable to find the story on the web. Perhaps someone can help out there.

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  12. Any word on the Des Moines board of directors visit? Was there a town hall meeting?

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  13. 8:50 makes a great point. That jeep add isn't worth near what the auto manufacturer paid for it if half as many eyes as planned on see it.

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  14. On comment moderation (from Newsweek):

    "Probably the most stunning thing about The Huffington Post is the number of comments its readers post. It’s not unusual to see more than 5,000 comments posted on a story; one recent piece about Jeb Bush possibly running for president in 2012 has generated more than 8,000. In June the site received 3.1 million comments. Huffington credits her decision early on to moderate comments and keep things civil rather than allowing the typical Internet free-for-all. It’s a lot of work—HuffPo has 20 people who do nothing but weed out the nasties. “Self-expression is the new entertainment,” Huffington says. “People don’t want to just consume information, they want to participate. Recognizing that impulse is the future of journalism.” HuffPo now bills itself as being similar to a social-networking site. Instead of just cruising into HuffPo to read a story, people stick around to talk about it. In the business that’s known as “engagement,” and when you are trying to attract advertisers, engagement is a priceless commodity. “We’re doing social news,” Huffington says."

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  15. Unlike TV ad buys, newspapers don't refund advertisers based on total copies not sold. I would guess that the Jeep spot cost about $1 million.

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  16. At the current rate, this blog will generate about 10,000 comments over the next 12 months.

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  17. You used to send updates on page views... can you do that again, comparing it to prior times of unrest? Seems like the page views might increase immediately after an announcement or just prior as people start looking for evidence or confirmation of some internal news.

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  18. No background checks for new hires in finance?

    http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20100715/NEWS01/100715006

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  19. In a game of hi-lo, 12:12 is still too low.

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  20. From the Sioux Falls publisher:

    On Sept. 1-2, newspaper division president Bob Dickey, west group president Laura Hollingsworth and about 10 other folks from across disciplines will be visiting Argus Leader Media.

    Bob, Laura and the corporate staff have tried hard in the past couple of years to get around to most Gannett markets, and I am excited they’ll be here to get a progress report and a snapshot of our challenges and opportunities. It’ll be a chance for us to tell them about the ‘Sioux Falls story’ – how we are working effectively and successfully in this time of dramatic change.

    Certainly, in many ways, it’s a story they already know well. Bob was here several years ago, and learned a little about Sioux Falls. And this year, as the nation flirts with economic recovery, they’ve seen the numbers coming in each month that have placed Sioux Falls among the top performing sites of our size in the company. That’s something we can all be proud of.

    I am also happy to tell you that, during the visit, Bob is scheduling an hour long town hall meeting with employees. This is a great opportunity for you to hear his perspective about how our business, company and industry are doing – and to ask questions. I’m not sure where that will be yet, but we will getting details out to you in the next 30 days….

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  21. USAT's ad director told Mediaweek that the first insert cost around $1 million, which included some online stuff, too.

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  22. Talk about getting screwed from both directions Local 640 I.B.E.W. local union officials signed contract in fear that the membership would turn it down. So we loose 5% pay and a weeks vacation. While non contract people get raises and keep the 4th week of vacation. Thanks for the wonderful representation.

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  24. Sounds like Sioux Falls might be getting absorbed/consolidated

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  25. The Sioux Falls memo sounds like all the others for the sites that have been visited. The town hall meetings are standard. Bob tells the employees what they want to hear, then does the exact opposite. Most of these visits have been hatchet jobs of one sort or another.

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  26. This visit memo sounds pretty routine.

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  28. As usual, the Journal News is a day late and a dollar short in covering the Chelsea Clinton wedding story with just one story today from the Poughkeepsie Journal. It's bad enough the Journal News was scooped on the fact this wedding would be in the Hudson Valley in the first place. Now they're really throwing in the white flag. Not surprising of course but a shame for what was a once proud paper that has slowly, systematically been ruined bit by bit the last 10 years.

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  29. The Poughkeepsie Journal is much closer to Rhinebeck than the Journal News. There's nothing wrong with relying upon a sister newspaper for coverage, especially of a basically controlled event where sending a J-N reporter would just add another reporter to Main Street interviewing the same people.

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  30. I'm working off my iPhone today, because I don't have web access. so I can't post much.

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  31. Sorry 10:55. The Clinton wedding is a national event - arguably one of the biggest events in the history of the Hudson Valley. The Journal News should have taken at least some ownership of this - at the very least sending a columnist and photographer AND doing a sidebar on Westchester/Rockland residents attending. It's bad enough they got scooped badly in the first place. Now they've really dropped the ball. Hey, maybe it's not to late to call the top editor on his cell phone and get him off the golf course to urge him to do this.

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  32. Let's also not forget the Clintons live in Chappaqua - in the heart of Westchester, about 10 miles from White Plains and literally a stone's throw from where the Journal News executive editor lives. How can they ignore this huge event like this? Is it out of resentment and spite because they were embarrassingly scooped on the site of the wedding? Thoughts?

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  33. It should also be noted the Journal News publisher lives in Mount Kisco, which borders the Clintons in Chappaqua. But like the EE, he is a transplant to the area and has no feel for Westchester or its identity/priorities, just like the EE. Apparently neither has much sense for what makes a big local story either or what readers want to read about. Sad.

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  34. Bear in mind that EVERYONE was scooped by a small weekly: The Hudson Valley News. That includes The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, Politico, etc.

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  35. It is not unusual that a small local paper, which knows the Realtors, caterers and innkeepers, would of course get the scoop that the wedding is going to be in their backyard.

    And no matter how they "market" the Lower Hudson Valley thing, westchester is Westchester and the Rhinebeck area is a healthy 90 minutes north. Might as well be in...Poughkeepsie!

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  36. 11:31...I like to take a shot at the JN as much as the next guy but the Clinton wedding is the biggest event in the history of the Hudson Valley? major revolutionary war battles, woodstock, the return of the hostages from Iran. I hope you're a features writer.

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  37. That's the nature of a scoop, isn't it? Everyone BUT the media outlet with the story was scooped. But here it's magnified because it's the biggest story in Hudson Valley history and the Journal News was once regarded as the leading media outlet covering the Hudson Valley. Do you get it now?

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  39. Regarding the Poughkeepsie Journal, keep the following in mind:

    Two years ago, the PoJo had about 250 staffers, company-wide. The last time I checked, however, its workforce was certainly below 250, the result of layoffs starting in August 2008 that later included the shuttering of its press. (Printing was first moved to Gannett's Journal News plant in Westchester. Then, with the News', it was shifted again, to a non-Gannett site in Rockaway, N.J.)

    This may have had nothing to do with the PoJo getting beat on the Clinton wedding story. But as Gannett reduces reporting resources, gaps like this are likely to happen at many newspapers. This doesn't make them particularly attractive to readers when Gannett is considering erecting paywalls.

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  40. Pretty telling that you have to go back to the Revolutionary War to even name a story that may have been the focus of this kind of attention.

    The root here is not that Rhinebeck is closer to Poughkeepsie than it is to White Plains. It's in the Hudson Valley - and the Journal News has about 50 reporters compared to Poughkeepsie's 4 or 5.

    But the bottom line is the Clintons live in Chappaqua - in the heart of Westchester. Though their house is both a stone's throw from the Executive Editor of the Journal News and the publisher, shouldn't they be help culpable here to for having no clue about this major news about their neighbors. I say that sarcastically of course because neither could find his way to even White Plains without a GPS. Ditto for the managing editor, who hails from Delaware, and the Connecticut born and bred local news editor.

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  41. Bottom line - this is a colossal miscalculation by the Journal News that shows a frightening lack of news judgment. It's one thing to get scooped -- and badly I might add -- but to not cover the event itself is a disgrace and disservice to whatever readers it has left.

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  42. An utter fiasco by the Journal News. Corporate should back up the bus and clean house there immediately.

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  43. At the moment, USAT is using AP for live coverage, as is the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and Chicago Tribune. Staffing on the ground in Rhinebeck: NYT, WSJ, WashPost, LA Times. Also, Arkansas Times is blogging via crowdsourcing and other means. (Hi, Max!)

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  44. QUOTE: the Journal News was once regarded as the leading media outlet covering the Hudson Valley. Do you get it now?

    What I get is that you have no idea what you're talking about.

    I used to work there and neither The Journal News, nor its earlier regional incarnations of The Reporter Dispatch in northern Westchester and Putnam County ever was known for coverage of the Hudson Valley. Never.

    At most, there was town hall and crime coverage of Putnam, but almost nothing of Dutchess or Hudson or any of the northern areas that truly make up the Hudson Valley.

    Debate the wedding coverage all you want, but don't try to change history.

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  45. What does Corporate have to do with the Journal News? That's a division issue, if not a group issue. Corporate could care less about minor details at a local unit.

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  46. Mind boggling that the Journal News didn't "flood the zone" with reporters, editors, photographers and videographers both in Rhinebeck and in Chappaqua today and in the days leading up to the "Wedding of the Century" in their own backyard.

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  47. Obviously the publisher and top editors at the Journal News really dropped the ball big time. This is bad. Real bad. BUT ... one question. Does anyone know if any other editors - heck, even the sports editor - spoke up at a news meeting and said "Hey, we have to be up there for this. We have to own the local coverage of this." Or maybe they did and were shot down? But I'm guessing there isn't much free exchange of ideas there. Any info?

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  48. Oprah's there. So is Steven Spielberg. Heck, even Ted Danson. But no Journal News. Amazing.

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  49. ::::the "Wedding of the Century" in their own backyard.

    That's like saying Atlanta should cover something in Jacksonville. Rhinebeck is NOT in Westchester's backyard

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  50. Of course Rhinebeck is in the Journal News' backyard? 6:22 - do you need a map? Or maybe you can borrow the GPS the Journal News editor and publisher, who literally live down the street from the Clintons, must need to find the White Plains office! You do realize the Clintons live in Chappaqua, don't you? Do you know where that is?

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  51. Wonder what the reaction in Chappaqua is to the "Wedding of the Century" involving their hometown girl, Chelsea? Did the Clintons shop at any stores in town in preparation for the wedding? If you rely on the Journal News, you will never know.

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  52. Also, the century is still young, and Prince William has yet to be hitched.

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  53. Drive from Chappaqua to Rhinebeck and tell me how long it takes. Wait, there's something along the way. It's called Poughkeepsie.

    For all this handwringing, the fact remains that except for interviews with Ted Danson and Mary Steenbergen (sp?), no one has anything distinctive today from the wedding.

    I am not saying TJN doesn't have problems or is not losing its way, but this wedding accusation is a very red herring.

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  54. I guarantee that the few Blog chronics so exorcised about the lack of JN coverage of the wedding would be screaming bloody murder if THEY had been asked to work on a Saturday and drive up to Rhinebeck.

    I can see it now: "Even though there's NO story up there, I'm expected to go cover this non-event so my espresso-drinking boss can look good to corporate blah blah blah..."

    Complaining for the sake of complaining is another sign of loserdom. I agree with those saying this is a non-issue.

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  55. I think a few of you are missing the point about Chappaqua, the hometown of the Clintons. This wedding is a huge deal there too, but you would never know because the Journal News hasn't had one reaction story ... or anything.

    And I do agree Rhinebeck is in the backyard of the Journal News. The Hudson Valley is a vast place. It takes an hour to get from one point to another quite frequently. It takes no more than an hour to get to Rhinebeck from Chappaqua.

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  56. I find it astonishing that papers from around the world have sent reporters to Rhinebeck for this wedding, and I am already reading front-page coverage in several papers. For the JN not to cover this in their zone of coverage is flabbergasting and perverse. There must be a political motive keeping the paper from reporting what radios, TVs and newspapers around the globe are there reporting.

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  57. Do the Clintons spend much time in Chappaqua?

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  58. The New York Times has a live blog running on the wedding, and even USA Today is following the event on its Web site front page. This is the biggest thing to happen to Rhinebeck in a half a century and yet the JN isn't interested.

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  59. Jim -

    They do. In fact, the other day, a friend saw Bill Clinton alone shopping inside a Border's in Mount Kisco with just a black SUV waiting outside. He jogs on the track of the local high school and is a regular at restaurants in Chappaqua. Hillary, as secretary of state, is naturally not home in Chappaqua as office, but almost always on weekends these days, from what I hear. The reason they picked Rhinebeck is because it is so close to home, yet still has a "country" look and feel.

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  60. Hey, this is the way things are. Why should the Journal News pay for anything if the Po'K Journal can do it?

    Corporate, if it cared, would look at this as "smart" allocation of resources.

    There was a time when The Journal News would venture beyond its normal circulation range and head into New Jersey and Connecticut, etc., if there was a big enough story to do, and it was reasonably close to home. Those days are over.

    Nowadays, they wouldn't want to pay for the drive time.

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  61. 7:02, I agree 100%, except for one thing. What could the political reasons be? The Journal News is known as a liberal paper and they endorsed Hillary for president. Sad to say, I think it really and truly is just a lack of news judgement as well as complete and utter incompetence.

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  62. They have a huge house in Washington they bought after he left the White House, and she spends most of her time there so she can be close to the State Department. He has an independent life and has been spotted in Chappaqua, but not frequently.

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  63. Whether this is newsworthy or not, I am not sure...

    Why the Chicago Tribune isn't using the Tribune Co. owned/produced content of the LATimes instead of the Associated Depressed is perhaps a more compelling question.

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  64. Flash: They married at 7:26 p.m.

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  66. 7:25 -

    If that's true, then why no reaction story from Chappaqua leading up to the wedding or today? It's the talk of that town too. And the travel from White Plains to Rhinebeck is about the same mileage wise (maybe a little more) as going from White Plains to Suffern. As was pointed out, it seems like this incomprehensible decision not to cover the wedding simply comes down to lack of news judgement.

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  67. Two photographers from a newspaper in Norway were arrested for trespassing trying to get photos in Rhinebeck. They could come from Norway - halfway around the world, but not the Journal News, which is an hour away.

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  69. USA Today is now using the PoJo's Sarah Bradshaw's Clinton story on it's homepage.

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  70. Bottom line to all this. In tomorrow's Journal News, what will be the most talked about story among readers? What will be the one "gotta read" on the front page?

    Obviously, it's Chelsea's wedding. So instead of flooding the zone and playing up this local event - and yes, it is local for the Journal News - the Journal News outsourced coverage.

    Someone said earlier it's just as well because, hey, any reporter from the Journal News assigned to cover it would have complained about making the "long" trip. Are you serious? It's an hour away? We have reporters in Afghanistan. Iraq. They are doing their jobs and serving the public. My question, is what reporter from a paper an hour away wouldn't want to cover the most talked about national event of the day that is JUST an hour away?

    The Journal News' decision to ignore this event and not play up both the Chappaqua and Hudson Valley angles goes down as one of the all time worst editorial decisions in newspaper history. Period.

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  71. Jim, the story I see on the PoJo homepage is by Mike Hill of AP not Sarah Bradshaw.

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  73. Jim: no, USA Today is using the AP story. They should use the GCI-produced story.

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  74. So there's all this hoopla about The Journal News not covering a wedding of high interest with its own staff.

    What about The Journal News effectively abandoning communities in Westchester and Rockland because they don't generate ad dollars.

    Over the long run, it seems to me, that's more damaging. There are officials and residents and Rockland who say they haven't heard from The Journal News in almost a year. I'd assume its the same in Westchester.

    So why should not covering Chelsea's wedding be such a surprise. You're not inclined to journey 85 miles when you don't even cover your backyard.

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  75. Good read in the NY Times about the treatment of workers by American corporations. Sounds just like what's been happening with Gannett the last several years - payroll cuts, no raises and layoffs all with increased worker productivity. Keep up the good work! Our publisher said as much... "increased productivity this past year with a smaller workforce, thanks for all your hard work but no increase in pay!

    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/31/opinion/31herbert.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=homepage

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  76. 12:04 am: You're right. I swear they had Bradshaw's story earlier.

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  77. I went to school in Rhinebeck in the late 60's and early 70's. Rhinebeck got its printed news from a local weekly (which has since folded), the Poughkeepsie Journal, the Kingston Daily Freeman, the NY Times, the NY Daily News, the WSJ, maybe the Albany Times Union or NY Post. Gannett didn't acquire the Journal until the 80's at the earliest.

    The national media were in Rhinebeck because the Clinton family is part of the US ruling class. Rhinebeck is two hours and two counties north of White Plains, so in these financially challenging times it made sense for Poughkeepsie to handle the main wedding story and share it with White Plains.

    Besides, Rhinebeck has NEVER been part of White Plains' coverage area, not with the Journal News, not even with the Reporter Dispatch.

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  78. Still waiting on the big news about some alleged reorganization plan at USAT.

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  79. 7:32 p.m.: The Chicago Tribune Web site has had the Los Angeles Times story about the Clinton wedding up all day Sunday. The Chicago Tribune's Sunday paper uses the LA Times story as well.

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  80. Chucky -

    Rhinebeck is about an hour north of White Plains. Albany is not even two hours away. So get your facts straight. Rhinebeck is in the Hudson Valley. We've established this is, at the very least, one of the top 2 or 3 events held in the Hudson Valley. Ever.

    It made NO sense for the Journal News to not be there. It made further sense for the Journal News to do no advances or locally based columns. The Clintons live in CHAPPAQUA - down the street literally from homes of the Journal News executive editor and the Journal News publisher. (Chappaqua is five minutes from the Journal News building in White Plains, in the heart of Westchester.) How was there not one reaction story based in Chappaqua?

    This is a series of bad decisions that finally developed into a perfect storm that was wedding day. For the Journal News, it was perhaps the most colossal coverage error in its once proud history. There is no arguing that. Heads should roll.

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  81. There's no doubt this was one of the biggest local stories for the Journal News in years, even though they chose to ignore it.

    At the very least, the Journal News should have combined resources with the Poughkeepsie Journal to provide "team" coverage for both Web sites and print editions. This would not have been hard to do since the Journal News editorial staff is literally 10 times that of Poughkeepsie's. Even if this meant just contributing a news columnist. The Journal News has a news columnist who writes all of three columns a week buried inside the metro pages. You mean he wouldn't have been available to put his spin on "The Wedding of the Century." What else did he do last week that was so much more important?

    Saving a two-hour roundtrip mileage expense - a cost of about $70 - is laughable when used as the excuse for relying solely on Poughkeepsie.

    No, this was just a lack of news judgement and another example of the steady decline of the Journal News over the last 10 years since new editorial managers were put in place.

    It's that simple. And that shameful.

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  82. I wonder where ContentOne might have fit into all this?

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  83. Rhinebeck an hour north of White Plains? By what mode of transportation? Rocket pack? Not with weekend traffic.

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  84. Really? Chelsea's wedding is getting adequate coverage from about 50 different outlets. If you don't have a unique angle or ability to provide an exclusive angle, why send someone into the hamlet just to get a local byline?
    You won't be lacking for content on the wedding, and it was a madhouse.
    Now, there is a question WHY they don't have the sources or opportunity to do something special, but that's another question to be asked after basic are handled.
    Flood the zone? Gimme a break.
    The criticism is better director at what they aren't doing with resources saved.
    What readers care about more are public safety, their exorbitant taxes, sluggish econ, traffic, schools, local events, high school sports and jobs. Before we get to Chelsea, do we have those areas covered well?
    Sure, send someone to the wedding for an interesting angle, if you can afford. But modest is OK here. Play it big with wire and freelance, but don't jeopardize headlines on my school misuse of their funds or poorly paid teachers for Chelsea. Please.

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  85. The consolidations in many areas of Gannett are necessary. Unfortunately, there are some crazy ideas about how to do it in the mix and the people who have to do the work or manage the change have NOT been engaged in helping design the future.
    When ideas about how to produce and share content come from people who have never produced content, we all can get worried about what happens. It isn't enough to have been a reader and consumer.

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  86. Rhinebeck an hour north of White Plains? By what mode of transportation?

    684N to 84W to the TSP to 199W to 308W. 1 Hr. and 15 mins. Avoid Rt.9 at all costs. Did it for years.

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  87. I too was shocked that the Journal News did not initially take a Chappaqua slant to the wedding, in terms of doing reaction/advances from the Clintons' hometown, which is right in the heart of the coverage. Can't believe there wasn't one single story. Then, follow up with a column on the wedding. The Journal News "news columnist" did columns the last week on Mel Gibson and cell phone taxes. C'mon! This was just HORRIBLE news judgement in not doing anything at all.

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  88. White Plains to Rhinebeck can be done in an hour. I've done it. To be safe, allow an hour and a half. It can take just as long to get from White Plains to Suffern "with traffic."

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  89. 5:42, the topic most Journal News readers talked about this weekend was Chelsea's wedding. Period. Especially in the Clintons' hometown of Chappaqua, which is in the heart of the Journal News Westchester coverage base.

    Your failure to understand/realize this shows a real disconnect with readers. You must be an editorial manager at the Journal News.

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  90. Blah, blah, whine, New Yorkers' navel gazing, blah. Holy shit people.

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  91. If you are not going to cover the news, why bother? These papers have hit a new low and are no longer worthy of being called newspapers.

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  92. So true, 8:29. Only in this case, it even extends beyond this. We're talking about the biggest national story of the week with a great local angle involving a former First Family that literally lives down the street from the publisher and executive editor of the Journal News. Their decision to ignore this story is a disgrace.

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  93. 8:29 ... Exactly, and in the Journal News case, the management philosophy seems to be "Let's be lazy and let everyone be lazy." Let's let the news columnist write superfluous columns on cell phone taxes and Mel Gibson rather than asking him to drive almost 3 hours roundtrip to the "Wedding of the Century" involving the former First Family whose hometown is 5 miles from the paper's office. Can you say disgrace?

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  97. Ha! 8pm nailed it. Jeez, who gives a rat's butt about the traffic details and how close or far away Hooterville is from Stankwell Falls and how we've never covered Crabwell Corners.

    We have this problem on our website too - 50 comments back and forth about the legitimacy or timeliness of a statistic... in a story about birthday parties at Chuck E. Cheese. People arguing about bullshit for the sake of arguing.

    BORING!

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  98. Agreed. Please, no more Journal News/PoJo/Chelsea debate.

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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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