Sunday, August 29, 2010
Week of Aug. 23-29 | Your News & Comments
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103 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 think we are clearly heading into another recession, and you damn well know now what that means in Gannettland. The Fed has run out of bullets, and Congress is locked in gridlock and powerless to prevent it, so I see a huge revolt at the polls this November.
ReplyDeleteThe Crystal Towers has squeezed so much out of this company that I don't know where the cuts are going to come from. But I know they are coming. So my advice to all is to be prepared, and have some money set aside to live on when they happen.
It is understood and has already been saiod by Hunke the biggest cuts will begin with USA Today most likely this week in all departments with operating expenses and staffing. This is all timed with the budgets which have been prepared for 2011.
ReplyDeleteI definately agree with 7:33.
ReplyDeleteIt is just a matter of time until it gets
bad enough.
Then beware.
It has been said here for months.The time is
coming and the countdown is on.All the signals
are there.
Where are the cuts coming from,who knows,but they are coming.
I have prepared ,am ready,and have a plan.
We have scrimped and saved for this time.
I hope you all heeded the warnings and signs that have been apparent for months.
How long can Gannett properties exist with
plummeting revenues,and no signs of recovery
anywhere on the horizon.
My guess is that cuts, if they occur, would have to come from middle and upper management. The rest is bare bones.
ReplyDeleteGeez ... the comments from these three posters, especially 8:41 a.m., have an epic--almost millenial--quality to them. So do I want to be "raptured" or do I want to be "left behind."
ReplyDeleteBeware. Heh heh.
Other posters have made the point that our jobs at Gannett are just that --jobs.
ReplyDeleteWorking for this company is no more than working in a widget factory. They've sucked the creativity and true journalism / story telling out of the newspapers faster than a vampire can drain a virgin's blood.
As we enter the second dip of the Double Dip, it's important to remember that. Have your Plan B ready. Not to get all Pollyannish here, but treat the impending cuts as an opportunity to either do something important or something that makes you happy.
There's a lot more to journalism than working for this crappy company.
To 10:12
ReplyDeleteOK,
I was a bit to dramatic.
So maybe the term instead of beware ,should be : be ready,
and don't be surprised when the cuts happen.
It is just a job after all.
However, to most Gannett hangers on ,
it is as though there could never be another.
Larry AND Nancy St. Cyr to the rescue!!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat comments to set the tone for the week.
ReplyDeleteAnd, no snarky replies to them from the Trolls, yet!
Validation, perhaps?
There is life after GCI, folks. Take it from one who was dumped after 12 years of outstanding service (their words, not mine). But here's the catch: You need to prepare for post-GCI life BEFORE you get dumped, not after. If you haven't prepared for that, hope you saved and hope you have patience for a looooooong job search and/or complete career makeover. Not trying to be overly negative because there is opp even in this economy. But you need to carve out your niche ahead of the ax, not after it falls. Good luck everyone, really.
ReplyDeleteAnd the beat goes on.....
ReplyDeleteGannett offset in Phoenix eliminated 11 jobs today. John Zidich sent out the note this afternoon. He said the commercial print market is "highly competitive" and "negatively impacted by the economy."
He also said it would continue to print USAT and the Arizona Republic. He did not say how many people were employed there before the layoff.
The value of reduced dividends, closed pension fund and dramatically reduced expenses (mostly by laying-off us workers) at a far greater pace than revenues have declined. You'd like to think they bought us a year or two to get through a bad economy and build revenue. But something tells me that's just dreaming. The leadership running this company has a primary go-to solution, trimming us.
ReplyDeleteTo those of you at corporate GCI thinking you can breathe a sign of relief because you were passed over from a previous layoff or because you've kissed ass and managed to stay on, be prepared and take heed of 7:33 & 4:43's well advised comments.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteGCI stock closed yesterday at yearly low.
ReplyDeleteThat has got to be trouble for decision
makers!!
Jim,
ReplyDeleteYou honestly should consider lifting the 'approval' process for comments - it takes away from any conversation your readers might be having and is a major drawback and really not what new media should be doing. There are so many tools to fight spam it's a cop out to use that as an excuse. There are blogs 5x,10x,20x your traffic and comment level that run blogspot that allow realtime commenting. But it's your show.
6:45. In answer to your question, I think there were only 9 people employed there before the layoffs. Zidich was having so much fun that he also let two people go who stopped by for directions.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have an idea of when the cuts would happen? To tell you the truth, this property seems to be in a bit of trouble.
ReplyDeleteHey 9:26: That would require work on Jim's part. Also, the excuse would be gone to edit (censor?) as he sees fit. I know that happens because I have made prior comments critical of Jim that have been deleted. He can't always take the heat so he closes the kitchen?
ReplyDeleteIs this the week that USAT is allegedly going to lay off more people?
ReplyDeleteWhy do some people post here just to jab
ReplyDeleteand criticize Jim.
This site is what Jim wants it to be,
if you don't like it.
.....tune it out !!!!
And find a different site.
You won't be missed !
Hey 9:36 and 2:28, instead of bitching about how Jim runs his blog (operative word being "his"), why don't you make yourselves (if not yourself) useful and dig up some information for everybody?
ReplyDeleteHey 2:28, the person who enjoys a hot kitchen. You must be a real gutsy type. Tell you what, instead of attacking someone like Jim, why don't you email Dubow or Martore with critical comments about them, or the company websites under their watch. I'm sure they would be much more accommodating to your critiques than Jim and would promptly respond to your critical comments. Looking forward to you sharing every detail with us in your next post to Gannett Blog.
ReplyDeleteThose wanting more USAT layoffs, just wait. You will get your raw meat and lots of it.
ReplyDeleteYou should be glad that Jim is moderating. I saw the above deleted post. It was homophobic, nasty and immature. I'm pretty confident that the trolls who aren't getting through or who are getting through and are getting deleted aren't saying anything that an intelligent person would want to read.
ReplyDeleteThe Gannett stock closed down yesterday at $11.98.
ReplyDeleteThat is the lowest close since last October.
Last Semptember,I remember there were lots of sites with layoffs and cutbacks.Our local weekly lost 20 good people.I guess the
expense cuts didn't help enough to offset the hugely falling revenues.Time for more budget slashing!
No Summer of Recovery for Gannett.
If anybody is actually paying attention, it's not just Gannett that's down. Stocks are down across the board. Gannett hasn't dropped any more than any other big company.
ReplyDeleteThis board does occasionally provide some great information before it gets out to the working force, but the whining and complaining and bitching about everybody and everything is counterproductive.
Is there a good reason to pick on Jim? No. He's just providing a forum for you to bitch. Is there a good reason to bitch about Gannett? Sure, plenty of reasons, but they're the same reasons to bitch about any media company these days. Think Gannett's bad? Work for McClatchy. See if things there are any rosier.
Too many of you just come across as pathetic.
Gannett needs to consolidate more in Finance. Why does each site have to report their own revenue/ expenses. They have the tools that give them ability to report any sites revenue from any location in the US. Then get rid of Controllers/ Director of Finance people across the national. Finance at each site could operate with 4 or 5 people if things are set up correctly. Breakdown, one person for inventory, one to make sure expenses get to the consolidated location, one collection person and one payroll person. Then higher one manager for 75k to 80k a year. They would save money. Any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteUSAT meetings on "Transformation" will be held with staffers on Thursday.
ReplyDelete9:59 pm, what a smart and logical, efficient productive assessment. We all know finance is one of the most over staffed operations with many layers doing the same job. This would be one consolidation making perfect sense. I hope some one with some authority can take this to the next level.
ReplyDeleteThe only transformation you will see at USAT is from a sickly patient into a stiffened corpse. And there will be Hunke, Martore and Dubow, with the blood still dripping from their fangs.
ReplyDeleteI don't know specifics, (just a graphic artist) but finance can only be consolidated so far.
ReplyDeleteWhether it's Sarbanes-Oxley or good business practice, preventing theft or fraud means separating your cash handling from invoicing, your receivables from payables, inventory control from anything else. (Or any mixture of those, accounting 101 was a long time ago.)
And of course, you need to have backup staff for some of those positions to cover vacations or whatever.
We don't need to gun after other departments' people. There are more than enough people looking at the value and need of every body already - even the publishers get fired and replaced with general managers.
OK, I'll buy the argument that Saradakis did nothing spectacular, but he's gone now. So where is the brains of this company? He/she doesn't have to be young, just have some ideas of how we are going to fight through this transition. I don't think it really matters if they are right or wrong, just that someone holds out the hope of a rescue from what looks like another huge, dismal, gaping hole into which we are slowly sinking. The only response this company's leaders have come up with is to cut, furlough and consolidate. It doesn't do us much good to compare ourselves to other newspaper companies, which are in the same hole. But Gannett used to pride itself on the quality of its leadership and its innovative ideas that created USA Today. Now there is nothing coming from the top, not even another lame attempt to remake journalism wrapped in some trendy name. Listen to the economists, and they are telling us things are only getting worse with the prospect of a double recession. So who among our leaders has an idea of how we are going to make it?
ReplyDeleteTo 7:27
ReplyDeleteGannett stock is down nearly 33% since
early summer.I would not say that is anywhere
close to the average downturn of the other
"BIG" companies'stock price that you speak of.
I sold my last shares at $18.24 in late April,
do the math.
Let us know of the other BIG companies who's
stock price is down that much and you will be
looking at companies on the edge of total
collapse or major transformation.
9:59 pm...That has already been done with the USAT Markets. The Markets were "completely" consolidated over the months of February & March of this year. The local Markets for Finance all reside in NC.
ReplyDeleteI hope we'll see more on the USAT "Transformation" meetings as they occur today.
ReplyDeleteFor the stock touts: Google the words Hindenberg omen, and you will read about how stocks are going to collapse 15 to 20 percent next month. Not that I believe in stock market prognostications, but your guess is as good as anyone's on the future stock price.
ReplyDeleteLots of scuttlebutt about tv stations getting sold in Sept ( hence the furor about the corporate visits in Denver ) anyone know anything new?
ReplyDeleteHunke just sent out a reorg email to all of USAT about promotions and new appointments. Strange that he's sending it out after 8 PM Eastern.
ReplyDelete9:06 pm where have you been? this has been announced throughout the company by Hunke and directors since early this afternoon.
ReplyDeleteI didn't see Susan Lavington and Marketing as part of the USA Today Transformation. Did they wipe the slate clean in that department?
ReplyDelete9:31. Read my email. I wrote that the reorg email from Hunke came out to all of USA Today after 8 pm, eastern. Unless, you're in Hawaii, that's normally not considered early afternoon.
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly little news/specifics here about the USAT meeting today. Was wondering how editorial might be impacted, but I guess no news is good news.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that we can't see the Hunke memo yet. I'm sure someone will leak it to Jim.
ReplyDeleteDoes this feel like Watergate to anyone? Time to call in the plumbers.
8/23 2:25 pm
ReplyDeleteWho are Larry AND Nancy St Cyr?
Now there is a new principle at Fast Times at USA Today High. He was presented as the new VP this morning.
ReplyDeleteLavington is out, or soon will be. Page 1 desk at USAT will be gone. DMEs and senior assignment editor roles are out. That doesn't mean they won't have jobs in the new world order. What's interesting is most ME level editors are either promoted or being shifted to new duties. Lots of talk, few answers. Several people no one has ever heard of in new veep roles. Qualifed? Who cares. As the Talking Heads sang: "Same as it ever was. Same as it ever was."
ReplyDelete11:08 sounds as if changes are good and if there are new veeps no one has ever heard of then that means new blood finally at USA Today. Speaking of new blood, hope one of those new veeps replaces you and your attitude.
ReplyDeleteAP said USA Today, the nation's second largest newspaper, is making the most dramatic overhaul of its staff in its 28-year history in an effort deliver stories more quickly to mobile devices and produce more coverage likely to sell advertising. Those challenges triggered the most dramatic reorganization since USA Today first hit the streets in 1982 with a then-unique blend of shorter stories surrounded by colorful graphics and pictures. "This is pretty radical," Hunke said of the shake-up. "This gets us ready for our next quarter century."
ReplyDeleteSo now we finally have USA Today waking up and catching up with the Wall Street Journal. So now I feel like waking up and actually looking to come to work again.
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ReplyDeleteJim, serious question. How do you put up with the homophobic and hateful rhetoric that gets posted on here from time to time? You are thick-skinned, moreso than the average newsperson.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, keep up the good work. You are a fine journalist and I hope you continue (and are able to continue) along this path.
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ReplyDeleteHopefully empty suits will go first: ummm Lee Jones.
ReplyDelete11:15...
ReplyDeleteNew blood means no new blood in the newsroom. which is where it should count. there is none as of the current transformation. just several senior editors with new titles. What new blood there is includes a manager who was first hired to oversee the March launch of a new USAT vertical. Six months later, it still isn't launched. Yet the manager did such a great job flailing on that effort that it got her promoted to a veep. Making another ME a VP doesn't consist of new blood, either. Serious change means more than shuffling the deck and making it smaller. Rudd Davis as a VP? Party on, dude.
"This is pretty radical," Hunke said of the shake-up. "This gets us ready for our next quarter century."
ReplyDeleteThis is about as radical as toilet paper, which is going to be needed in heavy supply as eveyone slogs through his own b.s.
11:55 pm: Thank you. The simple answer is that this stuff comes with the territory.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, I've now removed all those comments. And I'm sorry you had to wade through all of them until I logged back on. Yesterday, given the high interest in USAT, I stopped moderating comments in advance, in order to speed up reader posts.
The "new blood" in the newsroom is now Ssuan Weiss Chet Czarniak and David Colton. There is nothing new about that. The "new blood" verticals veep is Heather Frank and she is not in the newsroom.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete@11:08 Lavington was jettisoned last week, last Friday was her last day.
ReplyDelete@1:04 you are misinformed about verticals. There was no vertical launch scheduled for March, and certainly not the one Heather Frank was hired for. The Travel vertical launched in May, as planned. The one Heather was in charge of until yesterday has not had a launch date set yet.
ReplyDeleteNewspapers don't report news about themselves. Gannettblog does a great job filling that void.
ReplyDeleteThere must be a ton of people wondering what's going happen next. A 29-year old moving up the ranks at USA TODAY is certainly disturbing. Especially one that's been running a surfing blog.
Just one more question...
From the famous e-mail listing the names of those at USAT who would be let go, how many remain?
Could the information be leaked in order to give those parties a warning? Are they next?
Six of the 10 remain from the (in)famous memo. Crowd sourcing at its best!
ReplyDeleteChet Czarniak... Simply unbelievable.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteWell, with all the news about USA Today
ReplyDeletebeing re-organized,downsized, transformed,
does this mean that the small fry weeklies
and dailies will be left alone,as all the
big wigs are just paying attention to USA Today?
Or will there be major mayhem on all fronts?
Anyone??
9:44 If it works for USAT, why not for the community papers?
ReplyDeleteSo, the latest gem from my paper/Gannett is to start putting out more racks. let's see...2 years ago they strip what seems to be 66 percent of the racks off the streets, P'ing off people. Then, turning our contractors from wholesalers to delivery agents and at the same time stripping them of remaining racks and giving them to home delivery to do. Sales during the summer tank the worse since I've been here...mostly due to 10 page Monday and Tuesday editions and not much else the rest of the week. The answer is to put out more racks. Pure genious. The apartments that lost them won't let them back in and the commercial places won't either. I've heard some are being put out and hoping they don't disappear or get told to come pick them up again.
ReplyDeleteIt's really sad to see what this company, and this paper in particular has become. I still believe in newspapers. They have their place and there still is a market if the people can get their money's worth. So sad.
Speaking of racks. At a major university near a metro, the racks are all over campus. Problem is -- they are never filled. Aren't 30,000-plus potential readers worth it?
ReplyDeleteTo the talented and hard working Ad builders at the Reno Gazette. Thank you for all your hard work, and your patience. Probably an average of 16 years experience between you all.
ReplyDeleteYou will be missed. Today is the day, the GPC switch is thrown.
Ah, yes, the newspaper racks. Where are the consutlants now who were paid for the studies that concluded rack sales were an inefficient way of distributing the newspaper. Kids or homeless people would break into them for money, and readers could always stop at the 7-Eleven to pick up a copy if they wanted one. It was time-consuming to fill up the racks daily, and so the racks were withdrawn. Interesting to note that this decision was accompanied by another one that dropped far-out circulation on the grounds these people didn't live in the nearby areas that are used to set ad rates. I worked at one of the papers when this happened, and people called up offering to meet the freight train and pick up the papers, if the newspaper would only load them on the train that morning. I thought this was a good idea, but the callers were turned down and sent elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteSo now we fast-forward to the current circulation collapse, and executives scratch their heads over what happened. The younger generation doesn't read newspapers, they conclude. Where do they get this? Yep, consultants again. Young people are using their computers to read stories in the paper they want to read, so there is some youthful readership there. I wonder what would happen if you put a newspaper rack in a college dorm. Would they buy the newspaper or is it true what consultants say about young people not paying for anything they get free?
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ReplyDeletePersonally, I think this is an exciting change. We'll see if it gets executed well. And USAT better not take their eye off the paper too fast...it's over 75% of the revenue. I'm not sure that revenue can EVER be made up by digital, given the low cost of digital advertising and all the ad networks. Good luck everyone.
ReplyDeleteWhat would Neuharth think of the USAT reorganization?
ReplyDeletehttp://newsonomics.com/usat-its-about-time-for-the-next-re-invention/
I'm please to see that Brad Jones was selected as SVP of Circulation...that is one move that will be a plus for the print side of the business.
ReplyDeleteI think if Susan Lavington was smart, she should sue Gannett and USAT for age discrimination and based on the fact that Gracia Martore has been vocal about her "being removed" from "this company". There are no grounds other than that Hunke needed a scape goat for all those really expensive trips to LA and Cannes.
ReplyDeleteSusan, get in touch with a good attorney. I believe Gracia and Roxanne are sufficiently scared that you are going to sue . There is plenty of evidence to be found in discovery.
A note was sent out today in Wilmington that doesn't augur well for the new HR structure. It seems the Employee Access online system was recently redesigned - that's how we get our paystubs and verify our vacation time remaining in this paperless age. But they f'd it up so that people with Macs can't log on. Utterly brilliant! Great job, HR!
ReplyDeleteAccording to Susan Motiff, the USAT digital revenue is only $22 million a year! All that work by so many people for such little revenue.
ReplyDeleteUpper management clearly doesn't realize the enormous amount of human resources USAT's website consumes. Perhaps they should look into it instead of just assuming that we can continue in this mode indefinitely.
ReplyDeleteAnd if they think they can just continue to pull us away from the print newspaper to keep feeding the website, particularly with more layoffs coming and resources getting even scarcer, they're condemning the newspaper to a very undignified death.
It's like feeding and pampering a race horse that may or may not win the Preakness, and letting Old Bossie the cow starve to death.
@9:14 - Are you're implying you believe that HR personnel are the ones responsible for the employee access site not working with any other browser than Explorer? If so, please get a grip on reality.
ReplyDeleteBe it Gannett employees or a 3rd party vendor, those responsible are IT people, not HR. It has nothing to do with the restructure of HR. I suspect someone forgot, or was pushed to put the site into production too quickly, and didn't test the site's functionality across all browsers.
To the couple who answered about racks and 4:32...the racks were never the problem. The downing of readership where I'm concerned was when gas hit over 2.50 the first time. That's when people started NOT to buy the paper so much. Then of course gas went up, the economy all together tanked, then the death blows...higher prices for the paper while at the same time cutting content. Brilliant! Now content is still getting cut and the suits are still wondering why people aren't buying.
ReplyDeleteNow USA is going to all but totally turn their backs on what used to be a true, loyal, readership.
After dedicating my life to my job it is maddening to see what this industry has become...all at it's own hand.
I'm reminded at what someone said in a meeting once..."they're (newspaper industry) like someone who shot themselves in the foot...then turns around to see who did the shooting"!
Re: 9:10AM
ReplyDeleteI beg to differ. The IT folks may have been the ones who rolled out the platform but HR bears responsibility for Mac users not being able to access their pay and vacation records.
HR delivered the specs to (which presumably included Mac/Safari/Firefox access) to IT.
HR was responsible for testing the system with Macs/Safari/Firefox. If the testing showed Mac users couldn't access their records the new system shouldn't have been rolled out. It's that simple.
Sure IT made the initial mistake, but HR bears the full burden for this SNAFU.
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ReplyDelete@1.23 Sorry, wrong again. Users (which in this case HR is) don't test the product, the developers do. As an IT professional myself, I would love to say it was HR's issue, but that is just not the case. Further, you were trying to say this snafu was due to the HR reorg which just isn't the case.
ReplyDelete"HR delivered the specs to (which presumably included Mac/Safari/Firefox access) to IT."
ReplyDeleteHow are we going to manage this huge transformation of USAT if we can't get a simple thing like vacation schedules right. The technology is really simple. Geez.
1:23 just wants to bash HR. Their agenda is clear. hR has nothing to do with the system.
ReplyDeleteHunke....if you blow up the paper , you will be out of business in less than a year. Digital revenue amounts to NOTHING, compared with print. I agree Hunke was irresponsible in the press to talk negative about print. NOT SMART. Reckless on his part.
ReplyDelete@9:14 - I understand your point but Bossie the cow has terminal cancer. Yes we could turn a blind eye and just make her comfortable but if we don't feed this horse and about 3 others we're certainly going to lose the farm. As for me I'd rather go out swinging!
ReplyDeleteWith USA Today the problem was the problem is and the problem continues to be the inept advertising department.
ReplyDeleteSTOP TRYING TO PIN THE WOES ON HUNKE OR WEISS OR HILLKIRK.
Can someone tell any of us why Lee Jones is now expanding his control of advertising and smart leaders of yesterday today and tomorrow Tony Hill and Lori Erdos are still holding court?
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ReplyDelete9:03 here: I love that you extended my simile to losing the farm and I appreciate that you want to go out swinging, but swinging the blunt end of an ax to Bossie's faithful noggin isn't such a hot idea.
ReplyDeleteCould be that the tumor on Bossie's neck is a benign bump and not terminal cancer at all. We don't really know. She's still giving milk, isn't she?
On the other hand, if we neglect her, what are we, the lowly farmhands who are going to be shoveling faster and faster, going to eat if Bossie's milk supply goes down to a trickle and then stops? Dirt?
And what are they going to do with the Crystal Cow Palace, which is no doubt mortgaged to the hilt, when Bossie keels over? The place is already more than half-empty.
I'm all for intelligent change and keeping ahead of the times, but we can't assume that they've thought this through. They've already said that the devil is in the details. I hope that doesn't mean there will be hell to pay down the road.
USAT: RIP. You died before your time. You could have served as a useful bridge to the digital era but instead fell victim to the overly anxious and cruel mother Gannett. Now you are a frail version of what you once were. Just an overpriced rag living off its former reputation created by hard-working people who you kicked to the curb. You've turned brother against brother, sister against sister. You created an internal age war, thereby distracting people from the real issues. Your halls and cubicles are filled with people who don't have an attachment to the brand or the profession. They won't show the loyalty or carry on the institutional knowledge required by any business looking to main quality control and consistency. The bad karma you created in previous rounds of layoffs will continue to haunt you. Many of those layoffs were unnecessary and hurt the product. Your leaders lie and dodge questions. You say it's about business and being progressive. Is this how you define those things, by selling your soul? By placing so much emphasis on the flavor of the day that you're lost sight of what made you successful? RIP, USAT.
ReplyDeleteThis thread has become painful to read. Too many stupid analogies; too many stupid posters.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't some of you get lives and stay the hell out of here?
@
ReplyDeleteThis thread has become painful to read. Too many stupid analogies; too many stupid posters.
Why don't some of you get lives and stay the hell out of here?
8/29/2010 11:54 AM
Pot...meet kettle.
I think the point is that starving the cash cow (sorry, the moneymaker) by cutting employees loose and betting on something that brings in a fraction of that revenue is probably not a good idea. But they'll give themselves nice raises and bonuses for it, you just watch. In fact, I'd bet the farm on it.
ReplyDeleteIt's a Gannett trademark to not think things through. Everything I've seen in the dozen years I've been working for them shows a lack or forethought. It's react, react, react some more. Don't anticipate, don't plan. Leap to decisions, leap to conclusions, and hope the few good people left can make it happen with it being a total disaster.
ReplyDelete8/28/2010 7:19 PM: I would like to know more about Lee Jones, Tony Hill and Lori Erdos who are in charge of advertising. What is their background and what divisions do they oversee?
ReplyDeleteAnyone see the emails the last few weeks from GPC?
ReplyDeleteSomehow there's this thing called 'late ads' that no one had ever heard of before, and it's causing quite the ruckus.
Damn surprises. Can't we ever catch a break?
From the New York Times:
ReplyDeleteIn July it (USAT) wrapped its front section in an advertisement for Jeep that obscured the entire front page. The ad stirred outrage in the newsroom and prompted the paper’s founder, Allen H. Neuharth, to complain in a letter to the publisher that if he were still there, “I would have led the entire news staff walking out in protest.”
Taking a shot at Mr. Hunke, Mr. Neuharth, 86, added: “If such a stupid decision is ever made again, I hope that will be the result. That would leave those who apparently don’t understand what a newspaper is to try to put one out without a news staff.”
NY Times coverage: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/28/business/media/28paper.html?src=me&ref=business
ReplyDeletePay attention to Al Neuwirths comments toward the bottom of the article, nuff said!
1:50 is probably another unemployed former Gannett worker who spends his time in here whining.
ReplyDeleteIs there any info out there on the community
ReplyDeletedailies and weeklies?
Certainly those that are nearly in red
or deeply in red won't exist as the cutting
gets more and more in depth.
Has anyone heard any news of this happening already ??
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ReplyDelete