[Updated a 1:44 p.m. ET on Dec. 13 with corrected circulation data: Among Gannett papers, the Republic's circulation ranks No. 2 (after USA Today) on weekdays; No. 1 on Saturday, and No. 2 (after the Detroit Free Press) on Sunday. The numbers: 308,973 weekdays; 339,982 on Saturday, and 457,059 on Sunday.]
Earlier: Catastrophic press failure keeps Courier-Journal from printing most of best-selling Kentucky Derby issue
Production problems where you work? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.
Now we witness the clear consequences of cost-cutting that hit machine maintenance budgets. We have outdated computer systems that need to be replaced, and press maintenance schedules that been stretched out or postponed to save money. Is there any wonder we are having "production problems?"
ReplyDeleteWould we see such an apology if it weren't also time for the Christmas tipping?
ReplyDelete0: Number of production shifts Jim has supervised.
ReplyDelete0: Number of times Jim has stopped a press to fix an error.
0: Relevance of those facts.
ReplyDeleteNow we see what cutting presses (and anything else they can get their hands on) does to production in a large circulation newspaper. Gannett thinks cheap, and low and behold look what happens. However, I'll give you one guess which department will get the blame.... You got it. The Pressroom. Wouldn't go over well in Virginia if it was said cost cutting was the cause. Gannett doesn't want to hear that we're trying to do the best we can with what we've got to work with. Next up, the laying on of blame. You either make too much, have been there too long, aren't fast enough or maybe you just plain DO your job. Doesn't matter to Gannett. Someone besides them will have to pay. My GOD! I'm sick of this place!
ReplyDeleteNo catastrophic problems yet, but it is inevitable. The maintenance and repair staff has been cut in half over the past couple of years. Luckily, the last thing that was done before all the big cuts was a press rebuilding.
ReplyDeleteIt was described to me that the spare parts inventory was necessity minus 1 rather than necessity plus 1.
We have 2 presses. I would imagine that Phoenix has at least 5 and Louisville has 3. If all go down, it's a building problem rather than a press problem. If it is a problem with 1 press, then 60 to 80% capacity still remains. Things go out slower and later, but they go out. If it's a building problem, then all capacity is down.
Re: 1:10... In my 30 years experience, the only times that the press has stopped for errors was for editorial things such as wrong days and dates on the front page...or at one former paper there was a feature called Today's Smile. It was a reason to get someone's picture on the front page of the paper with their reason for smiling. One morning, about 30 minutes after press start, the ME came down demanding that all papers be recalled. We called trucks that has already traveled 20 miles. He didn't give a reason why, but we had to find out. It turned that one nice
looking girl was smiling because instead of "I just got paid." she was smiling because "I just got laid."
Not all production problems are production problems.
3:46: It's even worse at small circulation papers. At smaller papers, when 1 machine goes down, then all capacity is lost. Larger papers generally have more than 1 machine and if 1 goes down, then half the capacity still exists.
ReplyDeleteArizona Republic Hires New Senior Operations Manager William Bergen, formally from the Seattle, Washington area, he also worked at the San Francisco Chronicle in the past. In less than 6 months on the job, the department he oversees can no longer meet press deadlines. Mr. Bergen and his superiors are working nights to help solve all the problems with the machinery breakdowns, yet are unable to. Previous to his employment the company rarely had production problems. In response the company is issuing an apology in Sunday’s, December 12th paper to the readers of the paper, who for years got their papers delivered on time over 99% of the time, before 6 am. Some customers are reporting delivery as late as 8:30 am. I wonder if the paper is worried that the carriers might suffer financial losses from tips from customers during the Christmas season, and quit in mass, further steamrolling their problems. The company in the apology is asking readers to contact The Arizona Republic with a corporate email address rather than the local email domain. Is corporate watching what their newest hire is doing to this company?
ReplyDeleteThe examples of various failures noted above are on a site by site basis. What hasn't been mentioned is with the move by corporate to centralize systems, what happens when the day comes that the internet goes down or becomes unavailable for any reason?
ReplyDeleteSystems moved to a corporate data center, including the upcoming NewsGate editorial project, will be connected to the data centers via the internet. If the internet goes down, you lose the ability to produce everything. It's the old "all your eggs in one basket" disaster scenario.
While the US hasn't experienced a large internet failure (yet) there was one in the middle east/Mediteranean and there was also a massive power blackout in the upper mid-west/northest US some years back.
No power or internet can mean no product under the right conditions.
The local domain you see on email makes no difference - all of our email ends up on the same servers whether it's @gannett.com, @azcentral.com, or @arizonarepublic.com.
ReplyDeleteCorp doesn't care what the problem is, it expects that local leadership will solve it.
In the apology to readers, it states due to "unforeseen production difficulties". How could management be that blind, or worse lie to their readers. Maintenance budget cuts, ink rollers on presses that are cracking and peeling. Electrical systems badly needing updating, along with paper that is perhaps the poorest quality in the industry. Paper slitters that no longer cut paper, just tear it. Even press-room managers have stated, crummy paper is causing a lot of the problems. Unforeseen, I think not, perhaps the blinders need to come off, then they can see what is happening.
ReplyDeleteArizona and Louisville both Union papers. Coincidence? Respect and Dignity
ReplyDeleteThese production problems are a direct result of the cutbacks, and corporate needs to take the blame. With the excess capacity, there should be sufficient presses available to meet the demand. But they are just delaying needed maintenance to save money. If you don't put oil in your car, or don't take it to a mechanic for a tune-up from time to time, it is certain to stop running one day. Maybe not today, but some day.
ReplyDeleteCut wages and benefits equal people that used to have pride in there work not giving a dam! Can't wait and see what bonuses the big shots get this year after workers took pay cuts and lost vacation. Bonuses will be a real morale booster!!!
ReplyDeleteThe blame on Bill Bergin is miss directed. People really do not give a shit when wage cuts and vacation lost combined with furloughs are sinking this ship thanks to Production upper management and there attidute that its ok for them to get bonuses and rasies while people that work under them get nothing in return. There attitude in Phoenix is YOU HAVE A JOB!!!
ReplyDeleteTake a look at the quality of the paper today, and it speaks volumes of what is happening. The paper is so low-grade that it often just literally falls apart on the presses.
ReplyDeleteJim gets another fact wrong -- Detroit is second behind USAT. 494,013 on Sunday and 392,286 Mon-Fri combined (Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News).
ReplyDeleteKey word combined. So you are skewing facts to make Jim look bad. Typical Gannettoid. Combined means you are taking two different newspapers and counting them as one. I remember when a Gannett property was taking papers directly to the recyclers to just to boast circulation, and soak advertisers. Skewing results seem to be the norm for Gannett
ReplyDelete8:21 -- Gannett has no problem lying to readers. It did that in the bold print of the ad by arguing that they are "valued." Gannett places value on one thing: revenue. Readers - and employees - are seen as an unfortunate, but necessary, part of the equation. Neither are valued.
ReplyDelete11:16 -- The Detroit Free Press doesn't even offer home delivery several days per week, and the staffs of those two papers are different despite the JOA. Why don't you toss around a post stating how poorly USAT is doing when compared against the combined circulation of the New York Times and Daily News? Better yet, compare it against the combined circulation of the Wall Street Journal and the Times. Then you'd really have some impressive numbers.
The Sheboygan Press (Gannett) prints at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (McClatchy) since the press plant in Appleton is full up printing six newspapers in Wisconsin. Wonder what the Journal Sentinel tells readers when their newspaper is late, because the Press is habitually late sending pages?
ReplyDeleteOn circulation, 11:16 am and I are both right and wrong. I've updated the figures to reflect the Detroit Free Press' higher circulation on Sundays.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteAll part of Gannett's M.O. Cut back, then force employees to pick up the pace, working harder, smarter (that's debatable) and faster. Although, in a pressroom, it equates to working unsafe just to get the job done. It's very subtle at first, and then they hammer mid-level managers when things don't go well. These managers in turn hammer their employees.
ReplyDeleteHow many pressmen here have "touched" a moving press lately? Using a rag or a piece of wadded up tape to get something stuck off a plate, rather than run the risk of imflaming your boss by shutting the press down? Or running a cleaning rag over "walking" cyclinders? A commom practice when the pressure is on (and then after a while becomes standard operating procedure.) Sure, Gannett doesn't come out and say, "Work dangerously" but you are forced to when management is breathing down your back. Each one of us is forced to cut corners and do things we would normally not do, pre-Gannett. Of course, if you do get hurt, you're on your own then.
In defense of Bill Bergen.... Well, there is no defense. Gannett brings someone like him in from the outside (could be anybody), has no loyalties to anyone except the one who gave him the job. If he doesn't show results, he'll be out of a job, PERIOD! Reminds me of the last Gannett paper I worked for... Wayne Bean was the production mgr. and ruled with an iron fist, all with the blessing of Gannett. Made them lots of money, too. But like Icarus, he soared too long and too high, and got too full of himself (Gannett does that to you.) Thought he was untouchable, but became an embarassment and was let go after twenty years. Lots of good employees have come and gone during Mr. Bean's tenure in Tucson... Look what is left of the Tucson Citizen? I fear when all is said and done, this will be the fate of The Arizona Republic.
Please remember that the Free Press Sunday circulation is high because Detroit News readers who lost out during the last JOA are now forced to get it if they want a Sunday paper (thank goodness it still has The News editorial page).
ReplyDeletePoor Day for the GCI Stock price, Think Investors are getting more information from Jim, then the Company Report?
ReplyDeleteIncluding only an e-mail address in that notice - not a telephone number - for subscribers to contact is appalling.
ReplyDeleteA phone number probably can't be provided because the people needed to answer it were laid off years ago.
To anyone at the AZ Republic/Gannett: what happens to inquiries sent to the e-mail address? Will they be addressed by a person? Will they be addressed at all?
It's one thing to treat your employees disrespectfully. But to treat your readers, customers and thus the community you supposedly serve, with like disrespect...?
Utter pish.
12:27 pm: McClatchy doesn't own the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Journal Communications, Inc. of Milwaukee does (NYSE: JRN).
ReplyDeleteMcClatchy owns the Journal, 12:27? Wow, your credibility just shot out the door faster than the train money.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to hear how many 'habitually' late Sheb pages there are in your world.
11:17 Thanks for the catch; got wrong info from a friend in Wisconsin. 4:58, I guess 66 percent late press times is OK for the Press?
ReplyDeleteAt least The Journal News and Poughkeepsie Journal don't have to worry about rundown presses any longer. Their move to an outside contractor took care of that.
ReplyDeleteNow if The Journal News could only sell that tomb of a corporate park in Harrison....
The Arizona Republic is in the process of taking a week of vacation time away and 6%(or more) of wages. So far it has been the unions that have taken the hit. Been told they have to take from the unions before they can take from the non- contract employees.
ReplyDelete