Thursday, October 28, 2010
Week Oct. 25-31 | Your News & Comments: Part 2
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47 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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>>>Did anyone else notice the fantastic wikileaks packages in The Guardian over the weekend? USAT had something, but the Guardian had maps, charts, timelines, live chat, etc. I spent over an hour taking it all in. Now, that's reporting.<<<
ReplyDeleteThe Guardian Rules!
It's amazing. 70% of the people were for the Iraq war in 2002, now looking back after 9 years, thousands dead, many injured and a trillion dollars later, was it a good idea? Americans dont have to do the popular thing, we have to do the right thing.
Uh-oh. Big challenge to USAT on the iPad. If there's one thing Murdoch knows how to do, it's produce successful tabloid content.
ReplyDeleteNews Corp. Plans National Tabloid for iPad: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=138380&nid=120098#
Love the toilet paper article on page 1 today. Which content ring did that gem come from?
ReplyDeleteThe GCI stock is down below 12 again.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know about layoffs at their site as the cost cutting continues?
That is usually the Gannett formula as witnessed by 1,000's in 08 and 09.
I just did the math on the insurance numbers for the McClatchy paper I work for and the cheapest health insurance for an employee only is going up 9.7 percent. Vision and dental are staying the same.
ReplyDeleteOn Oct. 22, I posted the following:
ReplyDelete"Unfortunately, it sounds like layoffs may now be coming. I do not know how many there might be. I believe any would be determined on a site-by-site basis among the U.S. newspapers. And they would take place sometime in November and December."
I now believe any layoffs could start toward the end of next week.
Word is out there is a "name change" going on for the Asbury Park Press in New Jersey. Anyone have details?
ReplyDeleteLooks like the Pointroll management team is busy interviewing. Of the top 6 people there, my husband tells me that FIVE have actively interviewed for positions his firm is trying to fill for other digital companies.
ReplyDeleteI attended a speech Saridakis gave at a large PA university the other week. The topic was on new media, advertising and the role of the consumer. Aside from the event being very well attended by marketers and academics, he really took apart Gannett and traditional media in a very artful way. I finally understand why he left Gannett and can say that he still believes Gannett is solvable, but not with the current leadership in place.
ReplyDeleteJim,
Is there anyway you can convince him to offer his thoughts here on this blog. Everyone knows how outspoken he is and how "matter-of-fact" his approach is and I am certain he would add some great color to this blog. Maybe you can start a weekly series interviewing him about various Gannett decisions or products, etc.
Btw, the questions and answer session was amazing. Several other people at our paper attended and were equally impressed.
How can we get him to participate in this blog?
New name for the Asbury Park Press will be The Situation.
ReplyDelete4:23 PM
ReplyDeleteThe day Jim starts featuring a former executive--- who bailed out on the company only after taking millions---is the day I will quit reading this blog.
To me, the beauty of this blog is that voices are equal. Every comment gets equal play. Thanks for that, Jim.
Now, Gannett is different in that the miserable company tends to focus on the "offical" comments and opinions. I don't want any offical opinions on this blog. I just want the well reasearched stories Jim writes, and the opinions and comments from everyone else. It's empowering.
If I want to hear from Chris, I'll call him.
Amir,
ReplyDeleteGlad to see someone else read that great package in The Guardian Saturday. USAT and Gannett could learn how to engage readers if they'd tell stories in multiple ways---charts, graphs, maps, chat, etc. If you missed it, you missed journalism at its finest, IMHO.
Oh, no I don't work for Guardian or know anyone who does. I just read it first thing every morning, right before Gannettblog (Sorry Jim), and then hit the Gannett papers for the obits in places where I used to live.
I second the Saridakis request. Maybe a Q&A via email between you and him, Jim?
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, this job posting just put out by USAT. I can only imagine the flood of qualified candidates they'll get after what USAT has done to its employees:
Employer: USA TODAY
Date: Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Job Type: Communications/P.R.
Description: Location: Mc Lean, VA
USA TODAY has an opening for a reporter with at least five years of national or major metro reporting experience. Interested applicants should have demonstrated ability to break major stories, produce compelling enterprise with impact, identify national trends and write tightly constructed stories for online and print. Experience writing about Congress and national politics, blogging, working with databases and using alternative storytelling techniques, such as video or Web-based graphics, is a plus. Bachelor's degree is required
Apply Online: http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobDetails.aspx?ipath=EXIND&siteid=cbindeed&Job_DID=J3G63N5ZCQ614G0RC79
Gee, it sounds like USA Today is looking for more than they have now. Especially that part about breaking major stories.
ReplyDeleteMY SOURCES TELL ME
ReplyDeleteEND OF NOVEMBER EXPECT CHANGES EVERYWHERE
ESPECIALLY MANAGEMENT
I would love for Saridakis to come in for a day and give us the update on Gannett like he used to when he held Digital town hall meetings. He was so direct and honest. We need more executives like him. He tells it like it is.
ReplyDeleteThese leaders are so lame. Gracia Martore hides behind Stacy Cunningham and Craig Dubow hides behind Grey Montgomery. David Hunke hides behind his secretary, Angela. Bob Dickely hides behind Michelle Krans and Evan Ray. Dave Lougee, well he just hides. Jack Williams just never shows up, so he doesn't need to hide.
It would be cool if Jim would interview selected people, former executives, current executives, employees, etc. Why not?
For Gosh sakes. Saridakis in history. Get over it. Move on. Grow up.
ReplyDeleteThere is definitely some high-paid dead weight hiding behind editor's titles here in Cincinnati. We've got more than our fair share of bitter and aloof oldsters who make the newsroom such a miserable place to work. The money would be better spent on more actual worker bees.
ReplyDeleteANY LAYOFFS COMING FOR SALEM?
ReplyDeleteJim: on what do you base your 3:36 comment? If you can share more, please do. The worker bees are uneasy.
ReplyDelete11:05 p.m.: I wish I could share more, but I'm being very conservative in what I report until I get more information.
ReplyDeleteFor example, the timetable continues to shift. I now believe layoffs could take place any day next week -- rather than on a single day toward the end of the week, as I reported at 3:36 p.m. today.
I'll add one more thing: I don't think the number of any layoffs will be large, although they'll vary by site.
ReplyDeleteI base that on information I've gathered, and on a remark Chief Operating Officer Gracia Martore made recently to Wall Street analysts. She was asked if Corporate was considering any "significant" severance costs in the current quarter.
Martore replied: "Not at the present time.''
I don't think Martore was ruling out layoffs. Instead, I believe she was saying they wouldn't be significant.
(Note to Robin Pence: As always, you're welcome to weigh in at any time.)
Matore can't parse 'significant' that way. If she was that smart she'd make a significant effort in filling the open positions rather than get a significant bee in her bonnet about you periodically pointing out that they're still open.
ReplyDeleteDo you think they give out prizes in corporate for who can come up with the new plan to screw over GCI's employees?
ReplyDeleteHey, I've got a great idea: let's have more layoffs. That will keep employees on their toes. Brilliant. Let's do it.
Hey, I've got a great idea: let's impose a mandatory wellness campaign company-wide to find out which of our employees is likely to get sick so we can get rid of them before they make a medical claim. Brilliant. Let's do it.
Hey, I've got a great idea: how about furloughs. Brilliant. Let's do it.
Hey, I've got a great idea: let's impose new accounting directives restraining expense accounts. Brilliant. Let's do it.
Hey, I've got a great idea: how about cutting funding for notebooks and pens. Brilliant. Let's do it.
Most GCI employees are numbed by these directives. At my place, Jim's reports of rumors about new layoffs are greeted with shrugs because we all already know that is the plan. The last rounds hit hard at grayhair copy editors, support staff, veteran reporters, and cartoonists.
So what brilliant idea has corporate come up with for who is going to be hit next?
Ok, what the deal with putting USA TODAY WEEKEND, edition in a paper in mid week? Was this an attended to get extra ad dollars, or an experimental , way to determined if Gannett could eventually charge extra for a mid week newspaper? Does anybody out their have the scoop?
ReplyDeleteI understand Mr. Gannett is having a field trip to Florida Today soon. Must be important as even the biggies are going out scouting store locations to make sure papers are being put out, signage is out, etc. Yea...that'll help sell these pathetically thin, over priced newsflyers. There's lots I could mention, but for anyone from that party who will be here, want to increase sales at all? OK. Content won't change although going back to what this papers was would help tremendously. maybe some pointers on getting a better product out sooner to what customers we have left would help. Some questions to ask...why can't the press start on time most days? Why can't the press get through a full run without going down 1, 2, 3 or more times a run? Why can't the insertion people actually have the inserts IN the paper so the carriers don't have to take extra time "fixing" them on the route? How does 27 bundles get shipped to the wrong part of the county, then run out of a section of the paper...but not found until AFTER they are delivered to the carriers? Know how many P-d off people there were that day? Then the billing department...no credits, short credits, then when corroborating paperwork is presented to fix things they are ignored!
ReplyDeleteOf course while the big boys are here we'll get perfect, squared up papers, and out on time...but it will only last until they are gone...but we will have 3 good days.
Mr. Gannett....want to find out REALLY how your papers are doing? How about going out unannounced! Not with days and week's advanced notice. What you are going to see isn't necessarily what is!
I feel for anyone that still works for Gannett. I left on my own terms 2 years ago. It was not easy looking for a job and leaving with 25 years of service but so glad i did. I follow this blog and wish for good things for those that are left but don't see it. This is a company that screwed people out of pension plans back when the company was going great me included.
ReplyDeleteI thank god for the wellness program. A nurse called and helped with my diabetes, recommended information and I now have under control Thank you gci
ReplyDeleteThe GCI stock is nearing the low for 50
ReplyDeleteweeks ,dating back to last Nov.
This has got to have the the bigs scrambling
and wringing their hands .The year of recovery
is nearly finished and Gannett has not
experienced any positives.
Time to start the cutting machine.
How to make revenue look improved? Drastically
cut expenses! That means cutting employees, as that is where the only huge expenses are,and that is, as we all know ,the Gannett way.
Why can't the press get through a full run without going down 1, 2, 3 or more times a run? Why can't the insertion people actually have the inserts IN the paper so the carriers don't have to take extra time "fixing" them on the route?
ReplyDeleteI am going to suggest "deferred maintenance" as a major problem. When I left, the press was in such a state of disrepair, it was thru bailing wire and chewing gum that it ran at all. This would include the packaging center also where the joke was to ask what the part number of Duct Tape was. THAT is what held everything together.
speaking of cartoonists, which G papers still have one on staff? Big salary for small footprint.
ReplyDeleteI empathize with both 10:10 and 4:03. I have been involved in this business for a long time, mostly after ink has been put on paper.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is... we're saving money. Instead of using 30 lb. newsprint, we're using 27.7 lb. newsprint. It's more likely to break, just as any lighter string is more likely to break than a heavier string. After the first break, there is the need to make-up time;higher speed and a greater likelyhood of a second or third break. It's common that the harder we try to make up time, the more likely we are to break again.
The inserting people: In my location, we have fewer than half the people we had to do the work than we had 3 years ago. We still have 90% of the work. In order to save money on newsprint, we have 6 page jackets in which to insert instead of 24 page jackets. The advertisers are also saving money by printing their pre-prints on lighter paper or reducing their ads from 8 page BS to 4 page tab. We are being asked to put pieces through the machines that the machines were not designed to handle. Then, we are expected to do the job in less time. I hate putting out shit, but the alternative is to not put out anything. The carriers can have less than perfect papers at 1:00AM or they can have have nothing until 4:00 AM.
Unfortunately, those are the choices I am given.
As far
41:7 I can think of two: Jim Borgman in Cincy and Mike Thompson in Detroit. Or did I miss something?
ReplyDeleteIn re: printing. I think we have to go the other way, use all the color we can and move to heavier paper. I hear the San. Fran. Chronicle now does this, and maybe Jim can chip in with his views and whether he sees a noticeable difference, since he lives there.
ReplyDeleteAs I understand it, the SF paper went this way under the basic philosophy that if you start nickle and diming advertisers, they are just not going to come back. The SF paper has reason to understand this, because they have been losing oodles of money.
Seeing their ads printed on tissue paper is one way to piss of advertisers, who feel they are paying for quality production that readers will want to read. We don't have to go to National Geographic grade, but I think we need to get to much more quality printing than we are giving.
2:07, you're right on the cutting. I don't know if it is people though, but I know expenses are going to have to be cut in a big way. I am hoping it is not people. In the meantime, I am hanging on until I can find plan B.
ReplyDeleteThere's a cartoon guy in Jackson, Mississippi at the Clarion Ledger.
ReplyDelete5:58 Scratch Borgman in Cincinnati. He retired/took a buyout several years ago.
ReplyDeletermichem: USA WEEKEND has put out midweek issues several times a year for the past few years. And yes, it's an attempt to make more money. But it's nowhere near what the weekly makes because the midweek circulation is way, way less.
ReplyDelete5:40 Thank you for your insightful post. Being in this business, I thought I knew what was going on in my newspaper. Reading your post shows I clearly did not. We need to hear more like this.
ReplyDeleteThe USAWeekend mid-week strategy is a total joke. The advertising in it can hardly cover the expense of another full run. And it's not saving money as it's a cost to the community papers to put the thing in. We looked, several times, at trying to cut the Sunday USAWeekend. It's a political hot-potato, publishers hate the stupid thing, it doesn't even register in research with readers (they don't even know what it is) and it's a perfect place to cut some significant frivolous expense. But it's a joke and a corporate sacred cow that they won't let us kill!
ReplyDeleteDavid Hunke announcing his departure from Gannett/USAToday by the end of 2010.
ReplyDeleteThat's a prediction. Clearly, only time will tell.
ReplyDeleteBut without USA Weekend, how will I know how to avoid cancer? There was another one of these morality plays this week, with sage advice to lose weight, eat a balanced diet, stop smoking and curb drinking. Of course, no messy discussions of the different forms of cancer, and no mention here of the firm genetic links to some cancers, as shown in the case of pundit Christopher Hitchens, who lives 14 miles from USA Today HQ.
ReplyDeleteThere used to be a senior production executive in this company who lived by this creed, "a clean press is a happy press", meaning maintenance and attention to all production equipment was an absolute must in producing a quality product for readers and advertisers. Fast forward to 2010: gee, maintenance is an expense, cut it; gee, replacing those blankets more frequently is an expense, cut it; the wider the paper the more costly, cut it; the heavier the paper the more costly, cut it. Our demise starts in the editorial department with the elimination of seasoned journalists and moves through the decimation of production operations encompassing its managers, pressmen, equipment and maintenance. Where we find ourselves today is a culmination of so many bad and short-sighted decisions made primarily by past and present financial executives, although we've had a few boneheaded creative types who helped make things worse along the way too. We have no leaders the likes of John Quinn to fight back or Don Wheeler to stand up and say when we've gone to far. We've lost our way and its so sad.
ReplyDeleteThis blog is like therapy because it provides a forum for honest if not sometimes terse exchanges of ideas and opinions but the dialogue is a good thing. Wish I had the answers for how to stop this downward spiral but looking back it becomes more clear how we got here. When we were giants...
For Part 3 of this comment thread, please go here.
ReplyDeleteBrace yourself: Layoffs start rolling out next week, and right behind it is confirmation of first-quarter furloughs. The strategy of how to communicate it all is now being sharpened. There is an effort to protect newsrooms, but few will be able to dodge at least a couple RIFs next week. And this has nothing to do with the design studios that are planned.
ReplyDeleteTo date, part of the communication strategy at one worksite is to handle things orally -- i.e., no e-mail, in an attempt to plug leaks before any layoffs take place. That's what I was told by one reader who seems very plugged-in.
ReplyDelete