Sunday, August 15, 2010

Week of Aug. 9-15 | Your News & Comments

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58 comments:

  1. I'm eating up this Hewlett-Packard CEO story. There are so many local angles for any newspaper or TV station to pursue. And I say that as one of the reporters who wrote about HP's boardroom spying scandal.

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  2. 37 more jobs cut in Wisconsin. Ad production moving to Des Moines in October.

    http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20100809/GPG03/100809137

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  3. has Jim vanished? no posts today?

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  4. Nope: I'm around. But it's been a slow-news period. It's August, of course, any many of you are off on vacations. That's a good time for me to take a little break, too. Before we know it, it'll be Labor Day, and then things will pick up.

    Still, I've been doing some very interesting Gannett reading: Hundreds of pages of court documents related to a lawsuit against one of the U.S. Community Publishing newspapers, filed in a complaint alleging unpaid wages to an editor. I've still got much more to read, though, before I can post anything.

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  5. Does anyone know how much any or all Gannett papers earn from the archive paywall, in total?

    What is the general fee to access articles older than 2 weeks?

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  6. Does anyone else find it HYSTERICAL that Jim sold autotrader.com the homepage leaderboard? I was on cars.com the other day. Looking for a new POS to replace the really bad POS i have now. I think i'll use autotrader instead.

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  7. When will Robin Pence finally launch her million dollar marketing campaign for Gannett? Has Gracia approved the new advertising campaign? Does anyone know what it will look like or say? I know dailies, captivate and stations are being forced to take it. Hopefully not a version of the silly What America Wants from USA Today.

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  8. 9:07 a.m., since you threw the advertising campaign out there, what would you like to see in the ad campaign? Over what media would you like the ads to run? Do you want the campaign to increase the number of new users of print product or the web versions? I am curious as to what positive ideas there out there even if corporate wouldn't use them. But what the heck, if corporate reads this blog as much as is claimed, they might actually incorporate some of the good ideas into the campaign.

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  9. @4:26 PM

    Why on earth would anyone give away good marketing ideas on this blog for free, when there are people in the company who are getting paid a mint to do so and yet are doing nothing?

    Wow...just Wow.

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  10. Dear Passive-Aggressive Gannett Co-Worker,

    Yes, you. You exhibit a classic behavior pattern whereby your deep anger rides just beneath the thin veneer of your outward personality. You have all the typical passive-aggressive moves -- not responding to emails, not picking up your phone even though you're at your desk (I can see you), clenching your teeth to avoid blowing up when someone asks you a basic question that a healthy person could answer with ease. Etc.

    On days when you want something from us, or days when you didn't stay out clubbing until 1 a.m. the night before, you're halfway decent to be around. When you feel a little stressed, though, or you come in late and groggy, you make it abundantly clear that no one should come within 30 feet of your precious cubicle.

    Please do us all a favor and A) get some sleep, B) find a therapist, C) read that Dale Carnegie book on how to make friends.

    We'll all be much better off. You especially, because you won't go through the rest of your life inadvertently alienating most of the people around you.

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  11. 11:45---You must work at the Journal News !!!

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  12. The last few posts seem to be very typical of still employed by Gannett workers.
    All are on the brink of nervous breakdowns
    and over the edge behavior.Too bad
    that a corporate employer can have such terrible
    effects on people's mental and physical state
    of being.
    Having been away from the corporate monster for 10 months has made me realize that Gannett was eating me alive.
    I was stressed out constantly,be it at home,or with family,or just watching TV, and each Monday
    the week ahead,I knew was going to be worse than the last.
    My advise to all who still hang on to the idea
    that they can only be employed by Gannett.....
    leave...get as far away as possible....as soon as possible.Don't let yourself be the last one to follow to, and walk off the cliff for them!
    There is life after Gannett,believe me
    I am one that escaped to a better life!!!

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  13. Travis Fore named vice president of local digital sales for Gannett’s U.S. Community Publishing Division

    http://moneycentral.msn.com/inc/news/tickerredir.asp?Feed=BW&Date=20100811&ID=11866789&Symbol=GCI

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  14. The Poughkeepsie Journal is celebrating it's 225th birthday today. Big front page article, special section and lots of online stuff.

    http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20100811/NEWS01/8110343/Journal-chronicles-history-over-225-years

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  15. Check out Saridakis's new investment.

    http://bit.ly/bnwHoW

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  16. It must be a glorious celebration in Poughkeepsie in the wake of selling the building, shutting down the press and shifting the copy editing to Westchester.

    It sounds like they've nearly dissolved into a bureau. Not as severe as the Rockland portion of The Journal News, but getting there.

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  17. -Big front page article, special section and lots of online stuff.-

    Back in the day, newspapers were very proud of their production departments also. To bad they are far and few between to be proud of.

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  18. Have you seen this? Via Romenesko -

    http://www.thedailyjournal.com/article/20100811/OPINION03/8110339

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  19. Would be interesting to know what Poughkeepsie's actual daily circulation is. They are claiming 30,000 daily, but it's probably more like 20,000. Journal News claims around 70,000, but it's probably more like 55,000, with the majority of subscriptions, from what I hear, from Rockland County. Westchester readers have long since given up it.

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  20. Leadership Changes at Freedom Forum and Affiliates

    http://uspolitics.einnews.com/article.php?nid=905502

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  21. Jim is a crazy person who was thrown out of Gannett.

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  22. Just like the "Real Feel" temp combines actual temp with humidity, if you factor in the number of hospitals, businesses, schools that have "automatic" Journal News subscription just because they've had them for years, I would venture to say the "real" Journal News circulation is around what Poughkeepsie is. That would be around 20-30K/daily. Yes it's that bad.

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  23. Circulation of Journal News in Rockland County is 18,000

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  24. Journal News 30K/daily total with 18K in Rockland.

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  25. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  26. How come nobody has come to the rescue?

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  27. To Anonymous, That said Jim is crazy.........
    I don't believe this is true.....
    He is away from Gannnett,that part is true,
    and that alone makes him more sane than
    the fools who are still with Gannett
    and posting here.

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  28. A friend of mine works for a Rockland company that has received several copies of The Journal News every day for years.

    He recalls a time when they would vanish from the front desk within an hour. Now they sit there untouched all day long.

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  29. Is anyone else getting tons of spam this week? Everyone at my location is. Our IT guy says there is nothing he can do about it as corporate control everything. Is he he'ing us? I would hope that the IT group at corporate would know how to stop this.

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  30. Corporate drive-by from Dubow & Co at KARE-11 in Minneapolis/St. Paul earlier this week. So, TV stations be prepared it can happen to you too. . .

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  31. Following is an edited version of a comment posted by Anonymous@7:57 a.m.; I've redacted the last names of 10 people.

    As was predicted earlier and announced by Hunke that USA Today would be a much smaller company, expect a major management shake up at USA Today next week with Davis and Motiff overseeing eliminations in usatoday.com (XXXXX), advertising (XXXXX, XXXXX, XXXXX), marketing (XXXXX, XXXXX, XXXXX) and circulation (XXXXX, XXXXX, XXXXX, and Lindquist is already retiring).

    Editorial layoffs will take place in next two weeks with Davis, Motiff and Hillkirk announcing consolidations.

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  32. Question about the edited post by @7:57 a.m.: Who are Davis and Montiff?

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  33. Yes -- spam here. I usually get some but this week more than normal. And yes, it runs through corporate.

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  34. That would be Rudd Davis and Susan Motiff. Hunke's new best friends.

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  35. Bottom line - The end is near at the Journal News.

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  36. They're dropping like flies . . .

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  37. Any more news on the NJ newspaper consolidation?

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  38. Hunke's best friend is Johhny Walker and Captain Morgan.

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  39. @7:47: Not to quibble, but I'm pretty sure Hunke said USAT would be a smaller company, not "a much smaller company."

    I appreciate any hint of what is to come, assuming you really do know, but I have to ask: What exactly was the point of posting, on a public forum, the names of USAT employees who you say are about to get the ax?

    Which leads to this question: If your information is true, are they at least being afforded the courtesy of a heads up? I'm asking because I can't imagine anyone would be so evil as to post the names of people who don't know they're about to be let go.

    For those who have been keeping track, has USAT management (i.e. VPs and the like) pretty much been spared up until now?

    As for cuts in editorial, I can't see where there's much more to cut. And no, this is not an invitation to name names, thank you very much.

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  40. I respectfully disagree with 9:54's view. There is plenty of bloat at USA Today. But lets forget about a top heavy management structure and reporters rarely in the paper. This is from today's LA Times:

    News Corp has an ambitious plan for a new national digital newspaper to be distributed exclusively as paid content for tablet computers such as Apple Inc.'s iPad and mobile phones.

    The initiative, which would directly compete with the New York Times, USA Today and other national publications, is the latest attempt by a major media organization to harness sexy new devices to reach readers who increasingly consume their news on the go. The development underscores how the iPad is transforming the reading habits of consumers much like the iPod changed how people listen to music.

    "We'll have young people reading newspapers," the 79-year-old Murdoch said during the company's Aug. 4 earnings call. "It's a real game changer in the presentation of news."

    Unlike News Corp.'s business-centric Wall Street Journal, the new digital newspaper would target a more general readership, offering short, snappy stories that could be digested quickly. The newsroom would operate under the auspices of Murdoch's New York Post and be overseen by its managing editor, Jesse Angelo. News Corp. has yet to set a launch date, although people familiar with the matter said the news organization would like it to debut by year's end.

    Although it would draw the reporting resources of the Post and Dow Jones, Murdoch could potentially invest millions of dollars to staff the operation and charge a yet-to-be determined subscription fee. One person familiar with the plan said News Corp. envisions a staff of several dozen reporters and editors and that

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  41. Did an Ohio Gannett newspaper recently make the worst mistake in an ad in the history of "Jay Leno worthy" mistakes?

    The Chillicothe Gazette ran a front page apology July 29 after it ran a full-color hospital birthing center ad in its July 28 edition that was not only full of typos, but included one of the worst whoppers in the history of mistakes.

    The Chillicothe newspaper's ad read, in referring to a birth: "...they've learned one thing is always true; every bitch is unique." They meant to say: every BIRTH is unique.

    Wow. You should run on this blog the actual ad. There are many other typos in this full-color half-page ad to choose from.

    You have to wonder with all the ad consolidation in Gannett that's going on - where is any quality control?

    After the ad ran, the Chillicothe newspaper received hundreds of calls and emails complaining about the errors.

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  42. Does anyone remember "We're all in this together."

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/13/is-your-ceo-lying_n_680828.html

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  43. I have been told two things:

    * Gannett's board of directors asked management for a full review of the company's paywall strategy -- a request that "caught Craig and Gracia off guard at the recent board meeting," according to a well-connected reader.

    * Corporate has now offered the chief digital officer's job to three different candidates, and all three have turned it down. (This would mean the early July reports of Josh Resnik getting the job were premature.)

    Note: The CDO's job has now been vacant 129 days since Chris Saridakis's resignation was first disclosed.

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  44. I don't know how it is in Ohio, but in Wisconsin when you're talking about pregnant moms, every bitch IS unique. :)

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  45. Dubow and Martore were caught off guard because there is no strategy for ANY PART OF THE COMPANY.

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  46. Jim,
    Regarding your 4:46a comments, it seems like the entire GMC members are scrambling right now trying to put together a real pay wall strategy. It seems like Saridakis created a shit storm when he said that he would bet his entire net worth on the fact that Jack Williams and the rest of the pay wall committee did not do any research on whether it will work or not.

    Based on what we are hearing, the "tests" that are currently being conducted on putting up a pay wall have failed miserably. Unique visitors have dropped and so has daily site traffic.

    I wouldn't doubt that the board is going ape shit on this management team as they are running around trying to define their plan.

    As for the CDO search, it is the number one question everyone asks when the two headed monster (Craig and Gracia) come visit the offices. It is obvious that this leadership team is lost without a CDO. There is no pay wall strategy, conflict in digital sales teams (national and local), the Yahoo deal is already being viewed as a huge failure since there is no one even remotely knowledgeable about the technology or deploying it.

    Poor Josh Resnik was "punked" by Gracia. She had him meet with the recruiters and he actually thought he was going to get the CDO job. Meanwhile, the negative feedback on this blog and in the offices across all of newspaper sites was so overwhelming, that Josh is now not sure he even has a job anymore. Sad situation for this management team and for Josh.

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  47. The Chillicothe Gannett paper in question is the same one that let slip by last Fall a page one Saturday front page photo of a lineup of football players, many of whom were making obscene and "gang sign" gestures, and earlier this year on this very blog, this same Chillicothe paper let one of those bogus letters to the editor slip by, AFTER bragging publically about all the steps they were taking to prevent it. Here is what was said on Jim's post then:

    (GM) Mike Throne returned to the subject yesterday, in a column about how the paper got tricked into publishing one of the "Ellie Light" pro-President Obama letters -- despite extra steps taken by the small paper to safeguard its letters page. Those steps included conducting a Google search on the letter's contents to see if it had already appeared elsewhere......

    Wow. This Gannett newspaper sure lets a lot slip by. Apparently these slips and slipping by Gannett corp. Or maybe they don't care.

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  48. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  49. WOW. Nice typo. That's what you get when you replace American design jobs for ad design from India.
    GPC will be better? Doubt it.
    Outsourcing is Un-American.

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  50. Does anyone know why Patricia Kelly from Detroit now has an office next to David Hunke at USA Today?

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  51. The only thing we at USAT want to know is this:

    -- Are the layoffs coming this week or next week?

    Please get it over with, folks.

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  52. I said it before, I'll say it again: David Hunke is going to be the next CEO of this company. He is a thoughtful leader willing to take the kind of risks needed to move forward. He accepted the thankless job of rehabbing USAT. If he succeeds in the change, it'll be a forgone conclusion.
    Finally, we will have someone to develop a new vision. Dubow started with a handicap and missed anticipating the econ (like many CEOs). His battlefield promotion style missed many digging in the trenches. Hunke knows those who know how to make stuff happen -- and can do it without making enemies or stepping on folks.

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  53. From Audit Bureau of Circulations' most recent report:

    --Poughkeepsie Journal, M-Sat., 29,767; Sun., 38,498.
    --Journal News, Ave. M-F, 87,205; Sun., 104,652

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  54. Isn't that sweet. Dave Hunke's mom stopped by to visit the blog.

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  55. The last I heard, the Rockland share of The Journal News circulation was 29,000 M-S. That would put it on par with the Pokie Journal.

    Rockland is a much stonger market for The Journal News than Westchester. Too bad the powers that be stripped Rockland to bureau status.

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  56. 11:04 a.m. - and in the process of stripping Rockland dumped the best editor in The Journal News.

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  57. Gannett is going to give up the Detroit Free Press and hand over all control to Dean Singleton in October. The Freepers and News union staff will have to reapply for most positions when the JOA is dissolved. Pay will be cut by at least 12% across the board and salary caps will be imposed. As much as 40% of staff will be cut. The Detroit News will be the dominant paper, but BOTH PAPERS will still exist (this is what I'm hearing). It is unclear how this is going to work. I'm not finding this out. Anybody know how both can still exist in print? A new JOA perhaps? I just know the Free Press will be MUCH more geared for online.

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  58. Aren't journalists supposed to be fact-checkers, people interested in determining truth from fiction? Don't we all know the risks of expecting honesty and accuracy from anonymous sources? Good grief, people. Attribute a reliable source & fact-check before you post. Anything less is JV.

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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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