Sunday, October 10, 2010
Week of Oct. 4-10 | Your News & Comments
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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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NNCO live in GPC today. Good luck, my friends.
ReplyDeleteWhat are the strengths, and lack there of, for GPC?
ReplyDeleteAppears usat is going to wait until the holidays again to screw loyal, competent employees. Undoubtedly, managers again will select all the wrong people based on all the wrong criteria to be booted.
ReplyDeleteSt Cloud has corporate visit about a month ago. Now six have been let go that did not qaulify to be rehired for their jobs back.
ReplyDeleteMarketing director leaves to one of Times media's biggest customers. A lot going on and no one is to talk or blog. Doesn't mean we can't do it from home.
GPC's biggest strengths are that they don't have to be concerned about revenue or sales time.
ReplyDeletePrepress has always been squeezed because presstimes couldn't move and deadlines could. In the contest of revenue vs. deadlines, if the press ain't runnin', it's not a late ad. GPC has a stick we could never use - real deadlines.
When you can require salespeople to completely explain everything, no matter how much time it takes, your ads will turn out better the first time. Requiring someone at the site to approve the ads themselves also prevents GPC from taking any credits.
The last 'plus' is flexibility. 400 (est.) designers means if one person goes on vacation and another is sick, your ads still get done. Not always the case at the smaller sites.
Weaknesses? Cost, for one. The $15-$20/hour range is well above our average wages. Someone somewhere is paying less, but my general manager is losing money on the deal.
There's also the loss of local service, local flexibility, and local knowledge. All the things that our competitors are happy to point out when they make their sales calls, but is otherwise hard to quantify.
What could happen locally? See the St. Cloud note above. As we cut local people, some will take their contacts and expertise and move into a middleman position. Advertisers will chop their advertising buy to pay someone to buffer them from having to deal with the newspaper.
We're just seeing the start of the other affects at my (former) paper. I kept the edition from my last day so that in a year I can compare.
10:08
ReplyDeleteSounds so familiar,it's at our site as well.
Gestapo says ..SILENCE! about everything.
No word to be let out.Hah!! What a Jesters Court of Management !!
They wouldn't know the newspaper business if it hit them in the head,most are Finance people
and if it's not an accounting numbers problem
have no idea what to do.Most haven't even seen a paper or being laid out much less know how to fill in and do it themeselves.Most of us here
probably remember the days of paste up boards
and 35mm film cameras and can do a lot of the jobs in the building.
The top management now only knows one thing..
how to cut expenses and still put out viable product!!! Their ,unfeeling ,uncaring methods prove that they also have no heart.The layoff
methods are so cruel,how do they treat others so badly??
Are more job cuts anticipated at the community papers? Westchester hiring a few people again. Kids who work for cheap. Hyper local appears to be impacting news judgement. B.S. story gets front-page play if it's a targeted (advertising community) while bigger story from a non-targeted community gets inside treatment.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, some of the places where Westchester eliminated full-time coverage produce most of the news (no surprise to anyone except the top editors), and the places they targeted are sleepy towns.
That stretches the reporters who juggle multiple beats, but who cares? Certainly not the upper tier of editors who have less to do than ever!
Does anyone know how the revenue numbers look for the community papers? Any comparisons between big and small markets?
ReplyDeleteIs the New York market rebounding enough to help Westchester? And what about the papers in Florida? Are they seeing appreciable increases in advertising?
Dowes corporate think that the community papers can be cut back more? Was Moon right that Dubow is out to kill the community papers?
Excuse all the questions. I'd just like some information and less bitching. Thank you.
National Breast Cancer Foundation Leverages Gannett’s Extensive Network of Digital, Broadcast and Print Products to Launch Early Detection Campaign
ReplyDeletehttp://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/news/article.aspx?Feed=BW&Date=20101005&ID=12116104&Symbol=GCI
USAT circulation folks I have a question. For years yours has been one of the strongest departments at the paper for getting the job done. One could purchase a USAT across the USA. But lately I've seen only empty boxes. On a recent trip to NJ, only empty boxes. On a corner in D.C., empty every day. Is USAT sold out at these locations, are the numbers put in the boxes way down or are boxes being abandoned?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis was send staff wide at USA TODAY at 12:37 pm ET, Oct. 5. As of 1:58 p.m. ET, no follow up communcation as to who is getting cut, who the 13 content ring leaders are, how the rings will be structured, or how many "new jobs" are being created, which those cut can apply for. All staffers outside of the 13 ring leaders and higher are waiting for pronouncements.
ReplyDeleteAll: The newsroom reorganization moves into its next phase starting today. Here's what's happening:
Chet and Susan are meeting with the "team leaders" who will oversee the teams on the content as well as the distribution side. In Sports, Monte Lorell will be doing the same.
The team leaders will reach out to everyone who will be joining their teams in the new structure. In several cases, the teams are similar to what we have now – in other cases, they represent a combination of News, Money and Life beats. On the distribution side, there are new teams dedicated to the website, print and emerging platforms.
In some cases, the team members have not been decided. For example, we're forming a new Investigative unit on the Content side and we're looking for four reporters to join that team; on the Distribution side, we're looking for a new Homefront Editor and a new Social Media Editor for Mobile/Apps.
To see which positions are available, go to this website later this afternoon (when it will be activated) and follow the instructions: http://usatoday.gannett.gci/hr/transform/default.aspx. You may apply for up to two positions before Friday at 4PM. Interviews will be conducted next week and selected candidates will be notified by the beginning of the following week.
As part of the reorganization and to reduce costs, we are eliminating around 35 newsroom positions, the majority of which are currently vacant. Some positions that exist now aren't part of the new structure. The people in those positions will be notified today and will have an opportunity to apply for up to two positions in the new structure.
We appreciate your patience and your professionalism as we continue to work through this process. We will be phasing into the new structure over the next few weeks.
- John, Susan and Chet
FYI, from E&P:
ReplyDeleteUSA Today named Denise Brodey, formerly its audience development and sales strategist, as general manager of Your Life, overseeing the new health and lifestyle vertical.
Having worked with top companies to strategize creative ways to connect with women, Brodey spent nearly two years as a health and wellness brand consultant and media-trends blogger before joining USA Today in August.
Brodey worked in national women's magazines for 20 years as an editor, most recently as editor in chief of Fitness magazine. Her book on special needs parenting, The Elephant in the Playroom, made the Library Journal Best Books list upon publication. She also held positions as executive editor at Shape, deputy editor at Glamour and lifestyle editor at Self.
The delay in the USAT layoffs/reorg plan seems like the perfect topic for someone with investigative journalism skills to explore. Judging from the reader comments, there is plenty of interest in the subject here, from within Gannett and I assume from outside of the company. USAT is the largest paper within the biggest newspaper company in the country, yet not a word about this mess here or anywhere else. Maybe journalism, particularly investigative journalism, is dead.
ReplyDeleteAn investigative team at USA Today? Does this mean that they actually intend to break some news? That will be a change for the good. Just hope the editors don't muck it up.
ReplyDeleteMaybe their work could be shared a la ContentOne with the community papers.
...Or maybe nobody cares who the chief purser was on the Titanic or what job they now have, in the post-iceberg era.
ReplyDelete10/05 @ 5:50am
ReplyDeleteIn NJ, ad designers are getting paid upwards of $24 and hour!
The reorganization plan for USAT is exactly what I feared. Note it has grown by two "rings" in the last few days, and how top-heavy it is with editors and the structure of editors.
ReplyDeleteReporters won't know for more than a week if they are wanted any longer. So much for content or what the paper/Web site will say. It is just a job-protection plan for editors.
Can someone explain these new promotions at USA Today? Heather Frank is there less than 5 months and becomes a vice president? Denise Brodey was the "audience development and sales strategist" for USA Today for not even one month and is now the general manager? And who can explain that Rudd Davis character at all and he is a vice president. Who is saying okay to this appointments. Wake up, Martore, your Hunke is out of control!
ReplyDeleteThought I would share a classic tidbit from Hunter Thompson
ReplyDeletehttp://www.boingboing.net/2010/10/05/hunter-s-thompsons-1.html
Today's bloodletting was a mess from start to finish. Editors and reporters were demoted, re-assigned, transferred in an ad hoc fashion. In most cases, senior editors (DMEs) had jobs protected and were essentially assigned to oversee assignment editors doing the same tasks. Other AEs were told early in the day that they had autonomy over their teams, only to be told later in the day that they were no longer autonomous, but 'teathered' to former DMEs and senior assignment editors. Other AEs were left in the dark about their reporters moved to other teams, about their own new job titles and what they'll actually be doing going forward. Transformation plan? What transformation plan?
ReplyDeleteThe cuts? It doesn't look like any editors will actually be out of a job - at least in Money, Life or News. At least three to four reporters are out of work. And at least two office secretaries will be, too. Of course, they can "reapply" for jobs, but they aren't qualified for the handful of jobs that were posted in the wake of this sham.
We waited months for THIS mess? It was handled in the most amateurish way possible. Shameful.
Any word on whether or not USA Weekend staffers will be cut/reorged? The edit staff is already so small after last year's layoffs. Wondering whether the mag will survive much longer.
ReplyDeleteFrom today's New York Times: "At Flagging Tribune, Tales of a Bankrupt Culture" by David Carr
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/business/media/06tribune.html?_r=1&hp
Well worth the read. Many parallels to Gannett.
I would like to commend "My Boss" as he/she has been dead on accurate on the challenges and changes at USAT. The rumors that Hunke is on the mat are true. Looks like in addition to the CFO, CDO search, they will now open up a search for the President of USAT. My husband is a top executive recruiter and his firm has had many conversations with Gannett about taking on new work for several senior level "executive" appointments.
ReplyDeleteWeekend staff, although small, is still bloated and will not suffer any cuts for now. Most of the actual reporting work, and a chunk of the editing, is farmed out to Life reporters or freelancers. The snooty senior editors at Weekend don't seem to be very busy at all. There is room to cut, but they are protected in high places. Plus the magazine is profitable. Typical for the Crystal Palace. The worker bees are sacrified for the Queen Bees.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteFollowing is an edited version of a comment posted by Anonymous@8:33 a.m.:
ReplyDeleteEchoing 9:35's post.
In Money, most reporters and editors learned they were being transferred without the knowledge of their direct supervisors. After being kept in the dark for so long, with all the backroom management committee meetings and discussions with H.R. and legal, this was pretty astounding. In round 3 of layoffs/buyouts, its still amateur hour. This is a communications company, after all.
[XXXXX] Money is now down at least three reporter slots with the departures of its economics writers. [XXXXX]
8:46;
ReplyDeleteHeather Frank is the new flavor of the month. She is building her own empire and has carte blanche to do as she pleases. If she fails to bring in advertising, she'll likely move on. For now, she's ostracizing Life section staffers and failing at concepts like glossy $8 health magazines with tired content. Then again, that will probably lead to a promotion and more power. Heather's personal motto, and this is not a joke; "It's more important to get what you want than to be right."
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteInteresting read in the NY Times on Tribune Company. Hard to decide who has it worse...Gannett or Tribune workers.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/business/media/06tribune.html?pagewanted=5&_r=1&ref=business
What a mess at USAT ,I guess we knew it
ReplyDeletewould come down this way.Good luck to all those
involved in the ridiculous transition.
There are a huge amount of Community Paper
people that visit this blog,has anyone heard of the transitions that are going on within the small papers? Is this disaster trickling
down to all sites as well?
8:49 am: I don't doubt what you say about USAT Money section's Henderson, Brooks, Tucker and Reed. I'd feel more comfortable quoting from a memo, however. Is there one available?
ReplyDeleteWhat I want to know is will the community papers pay for losses at USA Today?
ReplyDeleteIs the company intent on resuscitating the so-called Nation's Newspaper while continuing to suck the community paper division dry?
USA Today was Al Neuharth's ego trip taken to the extreme. It's biggest contribution to journalism was the lessons supposedly learned by management from the exposure of its lying star reporter.
That is, unless, you discount its contribution toward the dumbing down of the news.
I feel bad for the real workers there, but not for the reporters whose byline I'd see maybe once a week or even just twice a month. And then the story they produced wasn't worth much. The slackers were carried for too long by the cash extracted from the community papers.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeletePicked up a copy of USA TODAY yesterday (we no longer get freebies). AP stories throughout the A section. Really? Is this the best we can do?
ReplyDeleteAlso: Brent Jones is a great guy. But why is his picture in the paper every day. Just asking.
And why do various personnel in the new masthead have different sized fonts? Does size of the name indicate importance to the enterprise? Is is necessary to have 25 names mentioned in the paper? Is this information important to readers and advertisers?
So what about Circ. offices for USAT? When is that news gonna break?
ReplyDeleteRumor is that USA Today is going to return to the early days of taking reporters from community papers to bolster the staff. That is why the staff of editors is being expanded, with the idea that experienced managers can coordinate coverage of reporting novices.
ReplyDeleteThe idea also hides the true costs of USAT since community papers will continue to pay those sent to Washington. The drawback, as I see it, is that the CP have been decimated by layoffs and buyouts.
Who cares about USA Today? When are the layoffs coming the community newspapers around the country?
ReplyDelete"Weekend staff, although small, is still bloated and will not suffer any cuts for now. Most of the actual reporting work, and a chunk of the editing, is farmed out to Life reporters or freelancers. The snooty senior editors at Weekend don't seem to be very busy at all ..."
ReplyDeleteBloated? There are a whooping total of two -- count 'em -- two "snooty" senior editors now. Do you actually expect them to do all the editing, writing and reporting? As for whether or not they're "very busy," just worry about doing your own job. Many people get quite a lot done without whining on this site about how overworked they are. These senior editors are high quality professionals/people who have forgotten more about running a good -- and profitable -- magazine than the USAT managers will ever know.
And, no, I'm not one of the senior editors in question.
Sounds to me like all the editorial sniping on this site stems from the classic "I got it SO much harder than anyone else" reporter syndrome, when, in fact, said reporter doesn't actually have a clue as to what it is that other people in the company do. So the community paper scribe counts bylines in the Nation's Newspaper and assumes USAT reporters spend all of their time at the gym since they only write a story a week? A national newspaper isn't a community daily. The fact of the matter is that the smaller the circulation, the more you have to write. Take it from someone who worked at all levels of circulation. And, no, it doesn't mean USATers don't work hard. It's an entirely different reporting/writing/editing process than at a smaller daily.
ReplyDeleteAnd community daily folks/USATers (or at least some on this site) snipe that USAWers don't work hard enough. Get over yourselves. A magazine is not a newspaper. Again, there are different challenges and pressures and production demands. It takes a day to turn over a community daily feature. Longer for a USAT feature. And a USAW cover can take literally months to arrange and execute.
Instead of playing the "we got it so hard/you got it so easy" line, you should be unite and direct your aim at inept GCI managers, who somehow took this highly profitable collection of good dailies, a national newspaper and a weekly newspaper magazine and cannibalized them into a financial mess.
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20101006/NEWS01/101006010/Newspaper+puts+its+building+up+for+sale
ReplyDelete5:25
ReplyDeletePlease put a sock in it. We've seen the "reporting" and "writing" that goes into USAW's lightweight puff pieces. I mean cover stories. I can just imagine the intensive editing process that takes "weeks." Gnashing over who to pick for the cover. Breathless conversations with low level flaks. I haven't felt compelled to read any cover in that rag for 10 years. You're not fooling anyone but yourself. You may be dellusion to beleive it, but you aren't putting out the New Yorker. I've seen better story selection and writing in the Floss Monthly at the dentist's office. It must be tough these days, less time in the gym and facebooking. I can just imagine how tough it is giving up your private offices and and mingle with lowly Life staffers. They do much of your work these days. And you are graceless and rude in showing no appreciation in return.
The Weekender defenders are hilarious. I guess editors are now selling ads while they are reporting and writng and editing the paper? Impressive (although a severe ethical lapse, to regular type journalists who aren't "whiners" who need to "worry about their own jobs"). Maybe USAT could profit from your expertise. Why don't you volunteer and show us how to put out a daily newspaper, mostly on the fly?
ReplyDeleteJust for the record "My Boss" and many of the other know-it-all "insiders" have been wrong on numerous counts, as usual:
ReplyDelete-- No, the layoffs, reorganization was endless, but it was not delayed.
-- The sudden request for "more layoffs" did not materialize. The 35 in editorial, including 20+ already vacant, were as expected.
-- The idea that the loaner program - community newspapers sending reporters to USA Today -- is being revived is so completely wrong (as in, not true), as to be laugh-out-loud ludicrous.
-- The talk at USA Today is not "look at all the editors" but a real concern that editors have teams but now have no backups during vacations.
-- If Content One is "dead" someone tell the teams working diligently to keep stories and content flowing back and forth from USA Today and the community papers.
There is plenty for Jim to report and much has been left unsaid here. There is very much pain at USA Today right now. Good people are gone.
But sorry, "My Boss" and his plant-a-story cronies have a very poor batting average and have done nothing but make a bad situation at USA Today even worse.
>>The talk at USA Today is not "look at all the editors" but a real concern that editors have teams but now have no backups during vacations.<<
ReplyDeletelol how about a staycation like for those let go?
It's not just vacactions on their minds, but the new powerful leaders of the 13 teams have to have offices commensorate with their new authority and certainly no smaller than the editors they are replacing. Glass-enclosed? Leather couches?
ReplyDeleteSo looks for a spate of office construction at the Crystal Towers.
They are going to need expanded space as well for the meetings of the 13 most powerful to come. With the Web's 24/7 news cycle, there will obviously have to be more meetings.
I thought ringleaders were only found in a circus.
ReplyDelete"Jim said...
ReplyDeleteI thought ringleaders were only found in a circus."
Do you have a spy in Hunke's MC meetings?
Clowns are also found in a circus Jim, the trouble is the way things are going at Gannett, One can not tell the different!
ReplyDeleteThat post about how much effort goes into producing a USA Today masterpiece cracks me up!
ReplyDeleteYou gotta be kidding! Ever hear of producing dailies while working on long-term projects? Everyone else has including the big guns at the NYT, Wash Post, etc.
And USA Today never ever measured up to them or any of the other major papers in the country.
The time is long over due to put the emphasis on digital. And as another poster noted, digital requires a heck of a lot fewer editors.
The paper needs news producers not overseers!
For 10/05/2010 12:13 PM ,
ReplyDeleteDon't know about NJ but here there are some things that would affect USA sales in "boxes"...A,K,A. racks.
Here, all the racks, USA's included, are being turned over to home delivery carriers so you immediately know where their priorities will be. Also, a lot of our mechs inside the racks don't work right. They either spit out quarters or drop the money BEHIND where they are supposed to fall and end up UNDER the coin box...never to be seen by the carrier. Then of course, there's the fact that USA's don't sell worth a darn anymore. At a buck a piece for what amounts to 4 flyers put together, who can blame them.
And so it begins... layoffs have started at the circulation markets across the country. Major restructuring announcement planned for later today. Expect circulation markets to roll up by region instead of market, with some questionable leadership.
ReplyDelete10/05/2010 7:42 PM said:
ReplyDeleteIn NJ, ad designers are getting paid upwards of $24 and hour!
Really? I was in the APP/HNT ADS department (ad design) for 14 yrs and made only $16 per hr when I was laid off in July 2009. The only people that made $20 and up were the ones that were there for like 20 yrs or more and they were laid off too. In this day and age, $24 per hour for a skilled, talented designer in print media is not too much. Gannett underpaid many of it's artists including me. I love to know where you got your information from and what paper does a $24 per hour ad designer work at in NJ? Because there are no more ad designers left in the NJ Gannett papers, maybe one or two for key accounts and that's it.
A bunch of bleepin' crybabies on board here. For two years, every three months, Gannett whacked workers at its 90 local papers while leaving the ""brilliant'' staffers at USA Today alone. They were above it all. Well, reality has come to USA Today and now those people must face reality and get in unemployment lines like all of us. It hurts, but everyone else in the corporation has been feeling the pain except the $7 million man. So stop whining and start sending your portfolios out.
ReplyDeleteI am still trying to figure out why Brent Jones has his picture in the paper every day. Is this necessary? Maybe someone who works at USAT can let me know the logic behind it.
ReplyDeleteDon't know who "My Boss" is but he is not "My Boss Says"
ReplyDelete11:46
ReplyDeleteThe post isn't about USA Today masterpieces. Its about USA Weekend masterpieces. And the USAW poster is completely off her rocker - as are most of the overpaid, self-absored USAW employees. They had it easy and cushy gigs for years. Now that they are among the masses, everyone is on to how difficult their jobs are. Not!
12:35 -- Are you serious. Content One is a joke compared to what Gannett News Service used to be. Do you mean working diligently to provide the community papers with inadequate content that isn't well edited?
ReplyDeletealso, murmurs of furloughs again next year ...
ReplyDeleteFurloughs next year!
ReplyDeleteThat would assume there are still jobs in which to be furloughed from !
There are still no posts concerning any of the
community papers that are still left.
I am wondering if those loacations will all be given the bad news on one of these upcoming Fridays,as has been done every three months for 2 years.
@12:50 pm: More details on the circulation cuts/regionalization?
ReplyDeleteYeah. Enough about USA Today already! What about the community papers? That's where most of us work, in the trenches far from the Crystal Palace.
ReplyDeleteIs money going to be taken from the community papers to shore up USA Today? I haven't seen an answer to Jim's key question: how will the changes at USA Today translate into ad revenue?
Are more "layoffs" and furloughs likely for the community papers division. We all know what Dicky said, but what's the truth?
And will corporate thin the excess editorships at the community papers before decimating the reporting and front-line editing jobs? I can only speak for Westchester and there's certainly plenty to thin there!
The Journal News has lost so much of the community's respect that it's, like another post stated, an irrelevancy to the people who would be readers.
8:21, I agree: USAT workers are just beginning to feel what we at the CPs have dealt with since 2008. BTW, I am still with Gannett because it's a job, and I will be there until I have another job, the flip side of they will keep me until they need to make a cut.
ReplyDeleteAnd 8:46, I am wondering about cuts and furloughs for the CPs. Haven't heard anything. In the past, that would have meant there is nothing to worry about, but I am paranoid.
9:28 -- Executive editor at our paper said cuts and furloughs are possible, but he didn't have solid answers to whether or not they would happen. If I had to guess, I would say they're coming. Usually, he wouldn't even raise the possibility unless something was in the works.
ReplyDeleteOf course, management at all levels of Gannett has become so confused and haphazard that it's tough to predict anything. If you're paper is doing better than average, you may be OK. If, however, you're at a paper that's seen a real advertising slump, I would be concerned.
Bottom line. The time to start forming a backup plan was years back. So, if you don't already have one in the works, get on it today.
Any news on circ cuts? I was a casualty on Wednesday, and heard that several market GM positions were being eliminated as well.
ReplyDeleteForget furloughs next year for anyone on the print side. If that Q1 Pub statement isn't up or at least flat YOY, it'll be time to start turning off the lights.
If anyone on this blog thinks USA TODAY hasn't had its share of cuts then you're just not paying attention. My department is half the size it was two years ago. And it's likely to get even smaller whenever the hell this transformation is finally done.
ReplyDeleteLooks like GCI might be gearing up for a HUGE change. Stay tuned. This quarterly report will be a bombshell. We are talking revenues down 50% folks in print. TV is doing OK and is expected to do well actually. Furloughs, ha! You are looking at a complete shutdown of a few papers and a conversion to digital at a lot of locations. Paper and ink costs are going through the roof. Time to kill print. USA Today will survive of course, but it is doubtful others like the one in Detroit will. How Detroit stays alive is confusing. My sources before said it would be bought by MediaNews by now, but I guess they were wrong, sorry. Weird. I hear both papers in Detroit are going to do at LEAST a 12% pay cut next week despite their weak union efforts to stop it. I would hate to live up there!
ReplyDeleteThe Journal News has not only lost respect from the communities that it serves, it has also been a laughing stock of the other papers in the New York Metro area.
ReplyDeleteI still cannot believe that the upper management is still there. Quite frankly it is absurd, and a very good reason GCI cannot be taken seriously.
This back-and-forth pissing match is entertaining. A few things are certain:
ReplyDelete* The people blasting the "fat" management ranks are likely the people who have proved themselves unable to do their own jobs. So they don't advance, and they whine. Shut up already.
* There's no reason to listen to either side. Both groups are a bunch of nameless people who should have their own circus. It would be guaranteed to lose money.
* "So stop whining and start sending your portfolios out." Wait. You're an artist, aren't you? Let us know how well your plan has been working, artist! Sounds like you are still on the dole.
"Fat" management refers to people, of which there is an abundance, who contribute little to the organization. The people they "supervise" have story quotas, blogging quotas, twittering quotas, etc., etc...Meanwhile the "fat" managers seem to have less and less to do.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't whining. It's simply a fact that these people could disappear tomorrow and the reader would never see the difference.
Shut down those stinky papers in Joisey! Talk about fat management thats where all the Gannet dollars are getting sucked down.
ReplyDeleteTo anonymous 10/08/10 @ 3:40pm
ReplyDeleteNot an artist - pressman. Your still FAT!
The poor grammar of many comment-posters on this site is amusing. It's a wonder you even have jobs about which to be concerned!
ReplyDeleteI'm in Detroit and we're waiting to see if any wage reduction agreement with the unions trickles down to the non-bargaining employees. My bet is that it does. But then does it also mean that the EC members at the top also get to particpate in a pay cut? My bet it probably not since they're on corporate payroll.
ReplyDeleteToday I got layed off at USA TODAY after 11 years with the company. My time was up.
ReplyDeleteMy wife also got rifted, but in a different way,she is fighting breast cancer. We are upside down on our mortagege.
But Guess what. We are goimg to beat all of it, the lay-off, loss of wages, etc. And when we are victorius, we will read printed newspapers purchased from newsvend boxes.
So, in other words, 6:27, you have no idea what you are talking about. Figures.
ReplyDeleteThe people who could disappear tomorrow are the whiners who hang out here and post the same pointless things month after month.
No, 1:34 a.m., the people who could disappear tomorrow without impacting the paper are those long-protected managers whose staffs have been cut, their pages greatly reduced, and their overall responsibilities substantially diminished.
ReplyDeleteYet, that's not the way it works in Gannettland.
They have less to do and they're making more. In some cases, their responsibilties could be consolidated just like the printing plants and design desks are being consolidated.
Many of these so-called managers need more on their plates to manage to justify their salaries.
what is going on in louisville - just heard the head of advertising is on leave "until further notice" along with the national person????
ReplyDeleteTo the person in Detroit, I shouldn't be saying this, but I know that the corporate guys like Anger are in fact going to get RAISES.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck to you 12:21. It's hard but you have a great attitude. Let us know how things work out.
ReplyDelete"The poor grammar of many comment-posters on this site is amusing. It's a wonder you even have jobs about which to be concerned!"
ReplyDeleteThey rely on the editors to fix their mistakes. And then they slam them. And then they whine because they "have too much to do."
It's been this way here for quite a while, though. Jim encourages it.
It sounds as though this is just the beginning
ReplyDeleteof a lot of turmoil.I went through it last
year ,so good luck.
I hope to those getting laid off or shuttered
that you have a plan to jump to.If not ,
shame on you, because you should have known it was coming and for a long time.
I come to this site because I still know Gannettoids who are still hangers on,without that plan,still thinking that they will be spared even though the revenue at their site
is down more than 40%.
Hang on folks.
Thanks 12:36 - that makes me feel so much better now - ha! Like the old saying goes, the rich get richer.
ReplyDeleteTo 10/09/10 @ 1:30PM
ReplyDeleteNot everyone who works for Gannett needs to have good grammar or great typing skills, especially pressmen, circulation, etc. This doesn't make us any less valuable employees, here or where ever. I've got a number of long-time friends in the newsroom, including and editor, and she's got no problem with my apparent lack of education.
Best wishes, 12:21.
ReplyDeleteJim, I just had to LOL when I saw this morning's google ad pop up for Tinkerbell-printed checks. That's going to give heart attacks to your favorite homophobes!
ReplyDeleteThis is a blog, not a newsroom. Grammar and spelling mistakes are expected. I think some want to scare off GCI employees by raising these issues. The value of this blog to me is that I get to hear what people across the company are saying, not to question how they say it. In some cases, I think it is the spouses who don't work at Gannett, chiming in. Bottom line: spelling, grammar don't really matter.
ReplyDeleteCirculation is going to come in higher than it really is because the newspaper industry has forced ABC to change its counting rules. This has been a story on several sites recently (Here's one: http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2010/10/faced-with-falling-circ-publishers.html )
ReplyDeleteBut the cuts in circulation underway tell the real story. In particular, USAT has taken a huge hit. So when the figures are published this month, keep this in mind and don't believe them.
Advertisers are no fools and already realize circulation is being inflated.
12:21, wishing you and your wife strength. My best to you.
ReplyDeleteany inside scoop on the Yahoo training for all of wisconsin this week? have other areas in the country been through it?
ReplyDeleteMost oy you seem to have it wrong. I just got laid off from USA Today on Thursday. I did not work in the crystal tower. I worked in the field and like all my co-workers, I worked long hard hours. I have a family, mortgage and a very sick wife who cannot be without health care. So, we saw the hand writing on the wall. USA Today no longer wants to print a paper and the overweight 55 year old fat white guys that run the company have no clue. Perhaps if they stopped being a mouthpiece for liberals and progressives, more would have read the paper. Too late now.
ReplyDeleteI could be wrong, but, by law - doesn't the company have to publish their Annual Report in the newspaper? What - with inflated circulation figures, wonder what happens when the money is inconsistent with those inflated figures, hence - doesn't add up? How will that be verified and/or justified?
ReplyDelete........just sayin'
To 10:24
ReplyDeleteToo much
of a mouth piece for the extremist dems,
the liberals,the progressives,the Obamanites,
and their far left policies and economics.
Those policies are part of the reason this recession is about to double dip and nobody will report on it ,includes the ships they are sinking,unbelievable.
Funny (or not) how conservatives want to blame progressives for everything. With this reasoning, you'd have to give liberals credit for all the advertising in the NYT, just doesn't work. A number of issues have caused USA Today's decline, some of which they had no control to stop. But for their part and under their authority you can blame poor leadership, lackluster content and a top-heavy structure. Politics, really? Sorry but that dog don't hunt here. I'm so sorry you lost your job and I'll say a prayer for your wife's health and that you find another gig quickly. Hoping the best for you and all the other people being hurt in this mess.
ReplyDeleteCheck the internal USA TODAY Transformation page for the new org chart and circulation map. Several markets were dissolved Thursday (only 10 remaining) and now roll up to others by region. Boston & DC were eliminated, among others (rolled up into Buffalo/Philadelphia/Charlotte). GMs of most the dissolved markets received new superficial titles (and presumably maintained high salaries). Politics as usual...
ReplyDeleteJim --
ReplyDeleteIs there any truth to this, or is this just some random person commenting an untruth to get folks riled up?
"Looks like GCI might be gearing up for a HUGE change. Stay tuned. This quarterly report will be a bombshell. We are talking revenues down 50% folks in print. TV is doing OK and is expected to do well actually. Furloughs, ha! You are looking at a complete shutdown of a few papers and a conversion to digital at a lot of locations. Paper and ink costs are going through the roof. Time to kill print. USA Today will survive of course, but it is doubtful others like the one in Detroit will. How Detroit stays alive is confusing. My sources before said it would be bought by MediaNews by now, but I guess they were wrong, sorry. Weird. I hear both papers in Detroit are going to do at LEAST a 12% pay cut next week despite their weak union efforts to stop it. I would hate to live up there!"
12:21 - thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
ReplyDeleteBrave words. I've heard them before, from thousands of species across thousands of worlds, since long before you were created. But, now they are all Borg.
ReplyDelete""Bottom line: spelling, grammar don't really matter.""
ReplyDeleteBahaha!