Tipsters: Editor during N.J.'s 'Poopgate' is out

The Courier-Post's Corporate website lists E.J. Mitchell (left) as its top editor right now, but several readers say in e-mail to me that Publisher Tim Dowd announced Mitchell's departure today. He was named executive editor in September 2006.

(Updated: Gannett spokeswoman Robin Pence tells Richard Prince it's true.)

The newspaper drew nationwide attention in February 2008, when Corporate confirmed it was investigating employee complaints about unpaid overtime, after they threatened to go to regulators at the U.S. Labor Department. Courier-Post staffers dubbed the episode '"Poopgate" because of -- well, read all about it here.

Indy | Union slams story change for ad section use

Indianapolis Star features reporter T.J. Banes wrote on summer camps in January 2007, the Indianapolis Newspaper Guild says, only to have the story "repurposed" and used with her byline as part of a metro section "summer camp guide" that was labeled a "special advertising feature" in the print Star metro section last Tuesday.

"This wasn't a case of an article being simply reprinted,'' the union says. "It was altered to mislead readers in a way that could damage this reporter's credibility with the sources of the original story. It was an embarrassment to the ethical standards the Indy News Guild has been pushing Star management to uphold since 2006, when the company first presented the idea of having journalists produce and edit so-called 'advertorial content."

The Guild represents about 180 Star employees. Read the full note on Romenesko's blog.

Earlier: Guild fights Kronos fingerprint time clock system

[Image: today's page, Newseum]

Stock | Insider option sales now total 68,000

So, what do they know that we don't?

With Digital President Jack Williams' 24,000 options exercised yesterday, top executives have now sold 67,875 Gannett shares over the past month, public documents show. The five sold at prices ranging from $15.34 and $16.81, the documents show, as they unloaded options awarded a year ago as part of their 2008 pay.

What's more, for the second consecutive year, management persuaded the board of directors' compensation committee not to require that any of their 2009 bonuses be paid in company stock.

Insider sales are watched closely for signs that management thinks share prices have peaked. Executives may also be selling to raise cash ahead of the April 15 income tax deadline.

GCI closed yesterday at $16.72, up 1% -- far, far above its 52-week low of $2.10.

Four of the company's most senior executives have not sold yet, however: CEO Craig Dubow (left), President Gracia Martore, U.S. newspaper division President Bob Dickey, and Chief Digital Officer Chris Saridakis.

Where do you think shares are headed as we near the release of first-quarter earnings? 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.

Detroit | Ex: 'It started out as a Christian thing'

"When he went from handguns to
big guns, I was done."

-- Donna Stone, ex-wife of Michigan militia member arrested on weapons and sedition charges, in today's Detroit Free Press.

Among rivals, USAT early on RNC erotic club story

[Picture worth 1,000 words: Voyeur's homepage tells the story]

I watched USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Washington Post as the Republican National Committee mini-scandal unfolded yesterday over a nearly $2,000 night at faux bondage club Voyeur in Los Angeles. USAT was on the ball early. But the WSJ appeared to be the last one to post a story, and their coverage seems anemic -- especially alongside the Post's Dan Eggen. That slow-mo coverage adds fuel to the perception that the Journal's Washington Bureau is now tinged with partisan politics.

But the biggest winner is the club: Talk about free publicity!

Related: USA Today's story, and the NYT's

Page One | Freep's play of Michigan militia arrests

A tense standoff that ended with the arrest of a ninth member of a multistate Christian militia Monday night capped the end of a three-day raid that had federal and state authorities combing rural areas along the state line, the Detroit Free Press reports today. Here's the Gannett paper's front (bigger view):

Got a Gannett front page to recommend? Find it in the Newseum's page one database, then post a link in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

[Image: Newseum]

Urgent: Digital's Williams sells $400K of GCI shares; he is latest executive betting stock won't rise soon

Gannett Digital President Jack Williams (left) has just cashed in 24,000 options on GCI stock -- the maximum possible -- netting him a $313,440 profit, a new regulatory filing this afternoon shows.

Williams bought the shares only today from Gannett at the so-called strike price -- $3.75 a share -- and then sold them for $16.81 a share, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission document.

He and 10 other top executives were awarded the options a year ago as part of their 2008 pay. Williams got 96,000 at the time; they became his property, known as "vesting,'' in four equal annual installments starting Feb. 25.

Williams becomes only the latest in a growing number of senior executives cashing in their options, as evidence mounts that the top brass thinks shares won't rise much higher in the near term. His trade is the single-biggest among the top brass so far. No. 2 is Newsquest CEO Paul Davidson, who sold 16,250 shares on March 2 at $15.89 each, for a nearly $200,000 profit.

The others who've sold: Broadcasting division President Dave Lougee on March 22; human resources chief Roxanne Horning on March 2, and retiring labor relations director Wendell Van Lare on Feb. 26.

GCI stock closed today at $16.72, up 1%.

Earlier: Why next stock move by Dubow & Co. is crucial

Shalala nominated to board of health care firm

Mednax said today that it has nominated Gannett Director Donna Shalala to a newly created seat on what would become an 11-member board of directors. The company, based in Fort Lauderdale, says it provides neonatal, maternal-fetal and pediatric physician subspecialty services as well as anesthesia services.

The company's new shareholders proxy report says each non-employee director last year received an annual retainer fee of $60,000, payable quarterly, plus an annual fee of $7,500 for attendance at meetings, payable quarterly.

Mednax trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MD.

Shalala was secretary of the Health and Human Services Department in the Clinton Administration. Her other corporate board seat is at homebuilder Lennar. She's expected to leave Gannett's board during the next year, should she reach mandatory retirement age of 70.

Earlier: How much Shalala, other Gannett directors have been paid

Raising heat, WSJ joins USAT at NYC Starbucks

News Corp.'s U.S. flagship joins The New York Times and recent entrant USA Today in selling issues at the coffee chain's 450 New York City stores, the company announced today. USAT said earlier this month that it's selling at in-store newsstands nationwide, as the NYT has been for years under a once-exclusive agreement among the national dailies.

I wonder how long before The Wall Street Journal shows up in Starbucks nationwide?

Mutter: How to value your paper; plus, ABC data

Blogger Alan Mutter explains how the value of Florida's Daytona News-Journal sank by 93% in just four years -- and what that means for your newspaper. Plus, he offers a link to a handy Audit Bureau of Circulations database, where you can look up your paper's most recent circulation figures.

Related: You've got to love the positive spin the News-Journal put on the headline over this story today, disclosing that 10% of the 470 staffers are being pink-slipped by the new owner.

USAT| Circulation data reveals NYC battleground

[Top 10 "print markets" -- not cities -- for paper sales]

As it wields a new trade campaign in the growing rivalry among the three national dailies, USA Today's marketing kit offers a glimpse at the stakes -- especially in the New York City area. That's where The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal are battling for local supremacy, with some observers fearing Journal owner Rupert Murdoch aims to put the NYT out of business.

USA Today's fight is over national advertising and readers, rather than the New York metro alone. Nonetheless, circulation figures show the paper has plenty of readers to peel away there.

USAT's publicly available data doesn't reveal the exact number of New York City area readers. Still, the paper's New York print market -- which extends well north in the state -- is the single-biggest among 25 such regions in copy sales: Nearly 152,000, Monday through Thursday, or about 8% of the total 1.8 million sold nationwide those days. (See, graphic, above.)

USA Today is using trade publications such as Advertising Age to get more advertising buyers to consider the paper. In New York City, the WSJ is aiming for some of the NYT's bread-and-butter: Big display advertisers such as Bergdorf Goodman and Bloomingdales. The Journal is set to open a New York City bureau next month, staffed with about 36 reporters, editors and other journalists. The paper also is beefing up its sports coverage of New York area professional teams.

How much are USAT ad rates?
Cost of a full-page ad, Monday through Thursday: $119,600 (black and white); $189,400 (color); Friday (when circulation is higher): $146,000 and $231,000.

Total readers, including pass-along: 3.7 million


• Male/female: 70%/30%

• Median age: 49

• College graduate+: 38%

• Professional/managerial: 25%

• Median household income: $74,949

USA Today says its readers are:

• Broad-minded, curious, have a global perspective
• Friends and interests lie far beyond their hometown
• Social, flexible, well-rounded, prefer to learn a little about a lot of things
• Tend to tune into non-verbal communication
• Easy going, seeks harmony, well-informed
• Imaginative, artistic, visually driven

How is USA Today's audience different than yours? 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.

Study: In donations, 'citizen journalists' hit a wall

A new study of online start-up financing offers only a glimmer of hope for self-employed reporters like me, trying to make a living as "citizen journalists" through voluntary contributions from readers.

The study by two Belgian university researchers looked at 88 ventures -- including Gannett Blog -- using so-called crowdfunding to generate income. The authors say their work is the first of its kind, although the findings are still preliminary. (Read the full report.)

The ventures studied are in a range of industries, including politics, music and sports. About 16% were devoted to journalism. The authors, Thomas Lambert and Armin Schwienbacher, found that most of the money raised came from donations, and was given in return for a service or product, rather than an ownership stake. Also, non-profits were far more successful than for-profits in hitting crowdfunding goals.

These early results offer hard evidence of the challenges faced by many citizen journalists trying to make money after losing jobs. Overall, for example, non-profits raised about 200% of what they sought. For-profits, on the other hand, raised an amount that can't be expressed in a statistically meaningful way, in terms of success. So, donations are, indeed, a source of income -- but an unreliable one that depends too much on altruism.

Crowdfunding gets its name from the better known crowdsourcing -- where, for example, newspapers use the Internet to appeal for reporting assistance from large numbers of readers (the "crowd").

Donations, to paywalls
The study shows that voluntary donation efforts by newspapers such as the Miami Herald aren't likely to succeed. Indeed, the Herald stopped soliciting donations not long after it started in mid-December. It's clear that we self-employed bloggers will need a more reliable source of income, such as mandatory subscription fees. That's the direction The New York Times is taking early next year.

Newspapers have the resources to develop the sophisticated software to collect those fees. But citizen journalists will find it much tougher, unless popular publishing software like Blogger -- which I use -- starts offering that option.

Lambert and Schwienbacher did their study via an online survey; they're both at the Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium; Schwienbacher is also affiliated with the University of Amsterdam Business School.

And here's my occasional pitch...
I'm not planning mandatory subscriptions. I keep this blog as a public service, and a small source of supplemental income.

I began asking for your donations late last month -- far too late to reach my $4,000 quarterly goal. Still, with less than a week in this quarter, I've raised only $612 in contributions, plus another $139 from advertising. Plus, much of that ad revenue was collected as far back as January. So, if you have a chance, please consider throwing a couple bucks into my virtual tip jar, to keep this blog going. And to those who've already contributed: Thank you, very much!

I'm trying to earn $4,000 quarterly, mostly through sponsorships of $5 per reader, plus limited ad sales. Please use the "Donate" tool in the green rail, upper right. Or mail cash/checks payable to: Jim Hopkins, 584 Castro St. #823, San Francisco, Calif., 94114-2594.

Week March 22-28 | Your News & Comments

Can't find the right spot for your comment? Post it here, in this open forum. Real Time Comments: parked here, 24/7. (Earlier editions.)

What Obama's new appointment means for GCI

Gannett's top brass may not uniformly oppose President Obama, despite his party's less business-friendly reputation. But it's hard to imagine Corporate favors Obama's recess appointment yesterday of union lawyer Craig Becker (left) to the National Labor Relations Board. Republicans had blocked his nomination on grounds he would bring a radical pro-union agenda to the job.

The NLRB's duties include settling disputes between employers and union-represented employees, when Gannett's workforce has grown more restive after wage cuts and thousands of layoffs. About 13% of GCI's 30,000 U.S. workers are unionized, down from 20% in 1993. Earlier this month, Corporate announced a new director of labor relations in advance of long-time chief Wendell Van Lare's April 30 retirement.

Earlier: Company-wide employment plunged 16% last year

In new campaign, USA Today fires salvo at WSJ

[AdWeek banner tackles famous WSJ feature; see arrow]

Gannett's flagship is now taking on The Wall Street Journal via a series of ads in AdWeek and other trade publications -- and the paper isn't holding back. In a banner ad I saw recently, USAT not-so-subtly takes a dig at one of the WSJ's most famous daily features: "Heard on the Street," a column and related stories closely read by Wall Street investors because its exclusive news often moves stocks.

The ad is part of USA Today's new campaign focused on potential advertisers, one that emphasizes the paper's populist position in the market. The paper's line: USAT's more general readership isn't so taken with inside-baseball accounts of, in this case, the stock market. "What's heard on the street doesn't matter," the ad says. "What they really want is Money."

That, of course, is USA Today's Money section, which emphasizes personal finance, consumer technology and well-known retail brands: the public face of U.S. business.

The USAT campaign isn't risk-free. In distancing itself from harder-edge coverage like "Heard on the Street," the paper may draw unwanted attention to its reputation in some quarters for being too lightweight. That could backfire among potential advertisers seeking better-educated, more affluent readers. The Gannett paper's ad revenue remains under pressure, so this campaign's success ultimately depends on whether is spurs more sales.

It's no surprise that USAT is gunning for the WSJ. Under new owner Rupert Murdoch, the paper snatched the No. 1 circulation title last year, bolstered by its hundreds of thousands of paid online subscriptions. The Gannett paper is left promoting itself as No. 1 in print, an awkward sell when online is where the action lies.

Now, the Journal is beefing up its sports reporting, too, a key franchise for USAT. This week, The New York Observer reported that the Journal's sports reporters are getting on-the-road credentials to cover New York area pro sports teams like the Mets, aiming for human-interest features beyond game scores, a hallmark of USA Today's well-regarded sports reporting.

USA Today's campaign also comes as another national rival, The New York Times, is similarly engaged in a full-bore trade marketing effort of its own, also targeted at the WSJ.

[Image: today's WSJ, Newseum]

Corporate grades itself on GCI's stock performance

Readers have been debating the appropriate measure of Gannett's stock performance since Craig Dubow became CEO in July 2005. I'll let the company's version speak for itself. Following is from the annual 10-K report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, published last month. As the report shows, Gannett lagged.

Those who invested $100 on Dec. 26, 2004, in Gannett's stock, the S&P 500 Index, and a peer group of companies, were left with the following at the end of last year:

• GCI: $22.34
• S&P 500 Index: $102.11
• Peer group: $29.88

The peer group comprised Gannett, Belo Corp., E.W. Scripps Co., Journal Communications, Lee Enterprises, McClatchy Co., Media General and the New York Times Co.

Stock | Washington Post CEO's 2009 pay falls 49%

[Graham vs. Dubow: Whose stock performed best?]

Donald Graham's compensation package totaled $412,740 last year, down from $811,960 in 2008, according to a filing Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The drop reflected Graham's refusal to accept a bonus in 2009. He received an incentive award of $400,000 in 2008, according to The Associated Press.

Performance of stock in the Washington Post Co. vs. Gannett since July 15, 2005, when Craig Dubow became CEO, according to Google Finance:

• WPO: down 49%
• GCI: down 77%

Related: Dubow's 2009 bonus soared to $1.5 million from $875,000 the year before, Gannett's summary compensation table shows

Why next stock move by Dubow & Co. is crucial

Broadcasting division President Dave Lougee is now the most-senior of top Gannett executives to cash in year-old stock options. If CEO Craig Dubow, President Gracia Martore or U.S. newspaper division President Bob Dickey dumped shares, we'd have an interesting story.

This is the first time in years that any of their stock options have had value. Until now, all the hundreds of thousands awarded to them have been worthless.

That's one reason why they've persuaded the board of director's compensation committee to stop requiring them to take any of their bonuses in stock. Yet, at the same time, those all-cash payouts send a powerful message to Wall Street and to the employees: The top brass doesn't think GCI's stock is a good investment right now.

'Freedom begins at home' vs. 'content as product'

[An eloquent 1982 ad cherishes local editorial freedom]

Dropping USA Today's national and world news pages into Gannett's community papers is the next step in the elimination of local editorial control -- one many readers will greet with suspicion and justifible alarm. Working in the field for 20 years, I often heard residents speak about fears giant Gannett Co. was consolidating media power at the expense of local interests.

Their biggest fear focused on opinion: that Corporate would dictate editorials favoring hot-button issues like candidate endorsements, gun control and abortion. That doesn't yet appear to be part of the mission of ContentOne, the news gathering and distribution system launched in late 2008, and now run by former chief publicist Tara Connell.

But it's certainly a risk as ContentOne consolidates editing decisions over news at a small number of hubs, including the biggest of all: Corporate in McLean, Va. As I wrote last year, it's an ominous shift in a century-old policy laid down by co-founder Frank Gannett (left). He mandated local autonomy over news coverage, from school boards to presidential inaugurations, the company's history on Corporate's website says: "It was his belief that a newspaper best serves its city if its publisher, editor and all its employees are locally oriented and understand the city and its people."

His view was expressed eloquently in 1982, when Gannett published a full-page advertisement in Black Enterprise magazine under the headline, "Freedom Begins at Home." It says: "As a matter of principle, Gannett has no single voice. That principle is freedom. And that freedom is rooted in the First Amendment. Each Gannett voice is free to express its own opinions, free to serve its own community, free to meet its own professional responsibilities, free to speak as its own local professional managers see fit."

Now, contrast that with Corporate's ContentOne promise in the slick new annual shareholders report. In the cold language of an enterprise that's now an international media and marketing solutions company, top management says it will:

"continue the development and enhancement of the ContentOne initiative, through which it expects to fundamentally change the way content is gathered, shared and sold. ContentOne's focus is to reduce duplication of effort in developing and gathering content and enhancing the sharing of content across the company. A key objective is to view content as a product, with usefulness and value beyond its inclusion in the company's newspapers, television broadcasts and websites. ContentOne builds on the Information Center initiative by creating a national focal point that will serve all of the company's businesses."

Frank Gannett was a shrewd, scowling businessman, to be sure, a political animal who once sought to occupy the White House. But even Gannett sounded like he had a heart.

[Image: today's USAT, Newseum]

Letter: Gannett 401(k) plan seeks money's return

[Image shows top of the March 22 letter]

Updated at 6:35 p.m., March 24: Following is the text of the Hewitt letter provided to me by a former Gannett employee who took a buyout in 2008; I'm omitting personally identifable information.

[Name]
[Street Address]
[City, State, ZIP]

Due to a programming error, a special employer contribution was posted to your Gannett 401(k) Savings Plan account by mistake on Friday, Feb. 5, 2010. Subsequent to receiving the contribution, you requested a payment from the plan. Because the additional contribution was applied to your account in error and did not reflect actual funds owed (or due) to you, the additional contribution needs to be returned to the plan.

Repaying the Overpayment Amount
Because the plan is subject to strict IRS requirements, we must take certain steps to correct this mistake. One of the corrective actions required by the IRS is that we ask you to return the overpayment to the plan, so please remit this overpayment to the plan. Additionally, the IRS requires us to inform you that the overpayment is not eligible for favorable tax treatment accorded to distributions from a qualified plan (for example, it is not eligible for a tax-free rollover).

Please remit payment in the amount of $505.94 payable to "Gannett 401(k) Savings Plan by April 15, 2010. Money orders, cashier's checks, certified checks and personal checks are all acceptable. Please remit your payment with a copy of this letter to:

Regular mail:
Gannett Benefits Center
P.O. Box 785002
Orlando, FL 32878-5002

Overnight mail:
Gannett Benefits Center
2300 Discovery Drive
Orlando, FL 32826-3712

Please include your name and Social Security number with your payment.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience; thank you in advance for your cooperation.

From my original post, yesterday: Two former Gannett employees say they received a letter from Gannett's 401(k) plan administrator, Hewitt, requesting return of an overpayment to their accounts because of a "programming error.''

I've been given a copy of one letter. Dated March 22, it requests repayment of about $506 by April 15 to a Gannett Benefits Center in Orlando, Fla. The letter cites "strict IRS requirements" for the request.

The former employees ask if any other people received this request. And one of them also wonders whether they will suffer an IRS penalty for what would amount to an early withdrawal.

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.

Document: Broadcast's Lougee sells 11,000 shares

Broadcasting division President Dave Lougee (left) has exercised his right to sell 10,625 Gannett shares, which he bought from the company with stock options awarded to him a year ago, according to a just-filed regulatory document.

Lougee paid Gannett so-called strike price -- $3.75 a share -- and sold the block for $16.18 a share on Monday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing today shows. His profit: $132,069.

Lougee is now the fourth senior executive to take advantage of the options, which were awarded a year ago as part of their 2008 annual pay. Lougee could have traded as many as 21,250 of his allotment. He got 85,000 options last year. They become his property, or "vest," in four equal annual installments starting Feb. 25.

GCI closed today at $16.55, down 1%

Yesterday, I said the relatively few insider sales of these options suggested the top brass thinks Gannett shares are headed higher.

As Gannett fought to gain ground in digital space, directors didn't create advisory panel until 2008

Technology committee's non-executive members, left to right, from top: Chairman Louis, Elias, Shalala and Shapiro.

Amid signs Gannett's digital strategy may be faltering, public documents show the board of directors didn't create its advisory Digital Technology Committee until late in the game: July 2008, three years after Craig Dubow was named CEO. It's now led by its chairman, John Louis. The other members are Dubow, Howard Elias, Donna Shalala and Neal Shapiro.

The committee assists the board in its oversight of Gannett's digital strategy and initiatives, according to its charter. The committee met four times in 2009, and three times the year before, according to shareholders proxy reports for the two years.

Only one of the four independent members -- Elias -- has a relatively strong background in technology, however. Their bios:

• Louis, 47, was co-founder of Parson Capital Corporation, a Chicago-based private equity and venture capital firm; he was its chairman from 1992 to 2007
• Elias, 52, is president and chief operating officer, EMC Information Infrastructure and Cloud Services
• Shalala, 69, has been president of the University of Miami since 2001
• Shapiro, 52, is president and CEO of WNET, the public television company that operates Thirteen/WNET and WLIW21, the nation's largest and third largest public TV stations

Is your paper publishing a USA Today page inside?

[A Wisconsin paper's Page One promotion today]

Anonymous@12:12 p.m. asks: "Was there a nation-world page from USA Today in your local paper today? Mine had one. Anyone know anything about this?"

I checked several Gannett newspaper fronts today, and found at least one -- Wisconsin's Wausau Daily Herald -- promoting on Page One a "new daily feature: the top national and world news, from the desk of the USA Today."

The feature appears to be part of the ContentOne network, where more news gathering and distribution is handled from central hubs.

[Image: detail from the Daily Herald's front, Newseum]

Documents show digital revenue goals lag again; targets were established in Saridakis bonus plan

The U.S. newspaper division is making progress on the Web, President Bob Dickey told employees in a memo last week. "Online revenues will post year-over-year gains in the first quarter,'' he said.

But public documents tell a different story on the pure-digital side, a select group of operations overseen by Chief Digital Officer Chris Saridakis (left); they likely include Pointroll, Captivate, Ripple6 and MomsLikeMe. In regulatory filings, Gannett hasn't identified the specific operations, except to say they aren't CareerBuilder, Topix, Classified Ventures, fish4 and s1 in the U.K.

The new shareholders proxy report reveals that, for the second consecutive year, the Saridakis operations failed to reach minimum, or "threshold," revenue and profit goals last year. The goals were set under a four-year bonus contract created for Saridakis soon after he was hired in late 2007. His contract is called the Digital Long-Term Incentive Plan, or DLTIP; it's outlined in the annual 10-K report for 2008 (look for Exhibit 10-16-1).

"The company did not achieve the threshold DLTIP performance goals for either 2008 or 2009," the new proxy report says on Page 34, so no "DLTIP award" for Saridakis was earned for either year.

The shortfall is significant news. Subsidiaries such as Pointroll, an advertising software company, are meant to be crucial revenue engines in an increasingly competitive market led by Google, Facebook and other tech ventures. Moreover, CEO Craig Dubow's $3.1 million in 2008 pay was based partly on his hiring Saridakis, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission documents show.

Under the DLTIP, Saridakis is to get a targeted payment of about $4 million in February 2012 -- if the revenue and profit goals are met. However, the new proxy report shows Saridakis actually could earn up to $6 million. For competitive reasons, Gannett is keeping the revenue and profit targets confidential, under an accord reached last month with the SEC.

There's little time to waste, the new proxy report says: "The company believes that achievement of the DLTIP performance goals over the next two years will require significant effort and substantial progress toward the goals of the company’s strategic plan."

WXIA | Walker resigns for Weather Channel post

Bob Walker (left), president and general manager of Gannett's Atlanta TV stations WXIA and WATL, has been named executive vice president of marketing and cross platform development for the Weather Channel Cos., according to this press release.

In a comment, Anonymous@9:16 a.m. writes that Gannett Broadcasting President Dave Lougee "showed up here along with Rob Mennie, Anthony Diaz and a couple of other suits for a surprise meeting yesterday morning -- where Bob Walker announced his resignation."

As I post, Corporate's website doesn't have anything on this move in its press release section.

WXIA is one of the biggest of Gannett's 23 stations. Walker had been chief of WXIA since 1996 and assumed responsibility for WATL in 2006 after Gannett acquired the station. Prior to that role, Walker was vice president of broadcast and held various sales, marketing and research roles across nearly 22 years with Gannett.

NBC editor named general manager of MomsLikeMe

Corporate just announced that it appointed Carla Wojnaroski as general manager of MomsLikeMe, its franchise of websites focused on female consumers. Wojnaroski was most recently at NBC Universal's iVillage.com, where she was senior vice president/editor-in-chief for health, lifestyles and community. Wojnaroski will be responsible for expanding MomsLikeMe's audience and advertiser base, as well as overseeing day-to-day operations at the Gannett Digital Media Network subsidiary.

Corporate's statement doesn't say whether Wojnaroski is replacing someone, or filling a new position.

In the statement, Gannett Digital Media General Manager Josh Resnik said: "As we build on our past successes with the nation's largest marketers, Carla's industry experience brings additional credibility and growth opportunities to MomsLikeMe.com. Carla's addition to the team provides us with strong leadership to support even more rapid expansion in 2010."

USAT setting subscription fee for its new iPad app

[Much-anticipated device: Front, back and side views]

USA Today expects to launch an application for Apple's new iPad tablet the day it debuts April 3, according to a story in today's paper. "It will be free for the first 90 days, sponsored by Courtyard by Marriott. After that, USAT will announce subscription pricing."

Gannett's flagship was among the first to publicly disclose its plans to make its content available on the gadget. The New York Times previewed its app earlier.

"Rumors are flying," TechDirt has said, that there's a battle within the NYT on how to price their app for the iPad. "Those on the newspaper side of the house apparently believe that it should be priced at $20 to $30/month to avoid cannibalizing the print product,'' the site says.

Like Apple's iPhone, which now has about 150,000 apps, the iPad is expected to feature thousands of specialized programs from software developers, now racing to finish the work in time for the April launch, USAT's Jefferson Graham reports today.

iPads come in six versions, priced from $499 to $829. Here's a TV commercial for the gadget.

San Francisco's new digital paper closer to launch; venture follows Gannett's The Bold Italic start-up

Organizers have named the non-profit venture The Bay Citizen and announced the appointment of a fourth key executive: Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Steve Fainaru of The Washington Post will be managing editor for news. He joins CEO Lisa Frazier, Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Weber, and Chief Technology Officer Brian Kelley. The Citizen is now hiring reporters, too.

The venture's launch, expected in late spring, comes after Gannett started The Bold Italic, an entertainment-focused site that debuted in San Francisco last fall. Sites like the Citizen are starting across the country as established local newspapers and television stations cut back their own operations.

The Citizen had been known as the Bay Area News Project. Its news coverage will include government and public policy, education, the arts and cultural affairs, the environment, and neighborhoods. Some of the venture's content will be distributed via The New York Times' San Francisco Bay Area zoned section. The Citizen is backed by $5 million from San Francisco financier Warren Hellman, with contributions sought from the public.

Earlier: Prominent Gannett editor Ward Bushee was named top editor of the dominant San Francisco Chronicle two years ago. He was hired by former GCI executive Frank Vega, the Chronicle's publisher, who has appointed other Gannett executives as well.

Stock | Signs management thinks GCI's a 'buy'

Ordinarily, insiders sell when they think a company's stock is headed lower. So far, however, only three executives have exercised and sold year-old options that became theirs to play with on Feb. 25. They are retiring labor chief Wendell Van Lare; human resources chief Roxanne Horning, and Newsquest CEO Paul Davidson.

GCI closed at $15.32 a share on Feb. 25. It closed today at $16.72, amid a broad and powerful rally across Wall Street. That's a 9% gain for Gannett vs. 6% for the S&P-500 index.

[Data: Google Finance]

Tonsorial briefs |One CEO, three looks

[A Dubow tryptich]

Scott@2:46 p.m. writes: "If possible, please start using Craig's mug with the beard. That is far more entertaining."

Noted, Scott. But in the interest of accuracy, I'm waiting for word the new look is a permanent fixture. At the moment, Corporate features him three different ways (see, above).

At $989K in total fees, Director Williams tops list; report says she gets a $25K raise starting this year

The current directors, starting top row, left to right: Craig Dubow, Howard Elias, Arthur Harper, John Louis, Marjorie Magner, Scott McCune, Duncan McFarland, Donna Shalala, Neal Shapiro and Karen Hastie Williams. Their brief bios start on page 8 of this year's shareholders proxy report. All 10 are up for re-election this year.

It's often said that directors across Corporate America are paid too little for what they're supposed to do -- and too much for what they actually do.

Welcome to Gannett's board.

With last year's fees, the company's longest-serving director -- Karen Hastie Williams -- has now taken home nearly $1 million from Gannett since joining the board in 1997, public documents show. (See table, below.) Plus, starting this May, Williams gets a raise: an additional $25,000 as the designated "presiding" director, the new shareholders proxy report shows. Effectively, she's deputy chairman.

Gannett paid the nine non-executive directors a combined $963,563 in fees last year, including for attending eight general meetings, the report says. Chairman and CEO Craig Dubow, as the only employee on the board, is not paid fees, according to the company's bylaws.

Williams and Donna Shalala are the only two current members from the 2005 board that named Dubow CEO. Shalala is expected to leave within a year, should she reach mandatory retirement age of 70.

Overall, the board is responsible for protecting the interests of shareholders by hiring the CEO and overseeing top management. Last year, each director attended more than 75% of the total meetings of the board and their assigned committees, the proxy report says.

Directors who serve on committees such as compensation and audit are paid extra. Amounts paid last year:

• Williams: $97,250
• Shalala: $92,607
• McFarland: $143,049
• Magner: $74,250
• Harper: $121,449
• Louis: $163,210
• Shapiro: $104,548
• Elias: $84,850
• McCune: $82,350

What they're paid:

1. an annual retainer fee of $45,000
2. an additional retainer fee of $15,000 to committee chairs and, beginning in May 2010, an additional retainer fee of $25,000 to the presiding director
3. $2,000 for each Board meeting attended
4. $1,000 for each committee meeting attended
5. a long-term award, consisting of either 1,250 restricted shares or 5,000 stock options, granted on the first day of the compensation year
6. travel accident insurance of $1 million
7. a match from the Gannett Foundation of charitable gifts made by directors up to a maximum of $10,000 annually.

Fees paid to directors since they joined the board:

USAT's new brand campaign: 'What America Wants'

That's the tagline aimed at the advertising and marketing industries. The campaign launched today, and will be featured in print publications including Advertising Age, Adweek, Brandweek, and Mediaweek, the paper says in a statement.

Online ads will appear on adage.com, adweek.com, brandweek.com, mediaweek.com and CNNMoney.com. Ads also will run on the CNBC business channel, and on Gannett's elevator news and information network, Captivate.

"The campaign," says the statement, "emphasizes USA Today’s signature voice both in its clear and concise format as well as its balanced and unpretentious reporting on the issues that matter the most to Americans, whether that is American foreign policy, last night’s big game or American Idol."

As was its "Never Gray" predecessor tagline, I suspect the "unpretentious" jab is aimed at competitors The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. (New York Times Co. Chairman Arthur Sulzberger wasn't too keen on Never Gray, however.)

PR Daily notes 'the big deal' on Gannett layoffs

The public relations trade website highlights Gannett Blog's coverage of executive bonuses, in a post to subscribers this morning.

Health care | Director Shalala's two faces, Part 2

In a statement on just-passed health care reform, published this morning by The New York Times, Gannett board member Donna Shalala said: "This historic legislation recognizes two fundamental rights: First, people who get up every day and go to work have a right to good health insurance for themselves and their families. Second, that every child no matter where they live or what their family’s income has a right to a healthy life. Medicare honored the most vulnerable — the elderly and disabled. We now honor working Americans and all our children."

It's noteworthy, yet again, that Gannett's board of directors has rewarded top management for thousands of layoffs that cost dedicated employees their medical coverage.

What's more, Gannett's top executives -- known as named executive officers (NEOs) -- are entitled to post-retirement medical benefits, plus supplemental coverage, according to the new shareholders proxy report. That benefit extends to their eligible dependents -- even after the executive dies:

"The company would continue to provide supplemental medical insurance coverage for the executive’s eligible dependents up to an annual maximum of $12,500 per year, in addition to the regular post-retirement medical insurance coverage available to the NEOs on the same terms as provided to company retirees generally, for the duration of the life of the eligible dependents."

Finally, last year, Gannett paid Shalala $92,607 in director fees.

Earlier: On health care, the two faces of Director Shalala

Survey | How much do you pay for health care?

Against a backdrop of Congressional healthcare reform, and the sweet deal on medical care given to CEO Craig Dubow last year, please answer the following questions, Gannett employees:

1. What does your medical coverage cost, per pay period?
2. How many people does that cover?
3. What is your take-home pay, per period?

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.

Layoffs | 'I know I am not alone, but it still hurts'

In another tragic post-layoff account, Anonymous@10:58 p.m. writes that they're 53 years old. Excerpts from their full comment:

These were suppose to be my prime earning years. Instead, I got laid off and have been out of work for about a year and a half. Exhausted all my unemployment. Savings will be gone in the next six months, maybe a year if I stretch it. . . . Despite having a wide range of skills and a vast managerial background, I have not had a single offer. I know I am not alone, but it still hurts. I've been willing to relocate, even though that wouldn't be easy. Still, I can't find anything in or outside of the industry. Non-newspaper jobs aren't as willing as they once were to take a chance on people wanting to transition to other professions. That's a simple fact. Not a reflection of me or my efforts. . . . I get upset when I hear the word layoff. Layoffs always meant that when conditions improved, competent ex-employees would be rehired. Does anyone know of a single layoff victim who has been rehired by Gannett? Any over the age of 50?

A cardboard box on an empty desk. A final conversation. Job applications and phone calls going unanswered. Please share your layoff story in three or four paragraphs. Post replies in the comments section, below. Or e-mail via jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.

Page One | Historic health care reform, in print

A selection of Gannett newspapers following last night's history-making passage of health care reform, starting with The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss.:


Florida Today in Brevard:

And New York's Rochester Democrat and Chronicle:

Got a Gannett front page to recommend? Find it in the Newseum's page one database, then post a link in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

[Image: Newseum]

Week March 15-21 | Your News & Comments

Can't find the right spot for your comment? Post it here, in this open forum. Real Time Comments: parked here, 24/7. (Earlier editions.)

On health care, the two faces of Director Shalala

You've got to hand it to Gannett board member Donna Shalala (left), who was secretary of Health and Human Services in the Clinton White House. She told talk show host Charlie Rose last month that she backed Congressional health care reform because it would help cover millions of families who don't have it.

Yet, this is the same Shalala who was OK with paying CEO Craig Dubow $4.7 million last year, largely for cutting off 6,000 employee jobs -- and their health insurance, too. Plus, Dubow's own medical plan is so rich, he gets supplemental coverage at Gannett's expense, the new shareholders proxy report shows.

Watch the Feb. 25 Rose show episode below. It's a live analysis of President Obama's health-care summit, featuring Shalala and other guest panelists. In the transcript Shalala told Rose, on reform: "We can eliminate preexisting conditions, we can eliminate caps, we can cover 30 million people who desperately need health insurance for themselves and for their families."

The show starts with former U.S. Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee:

How to nominate a director to Gannett's board

The current directors, starting on the top row, left to right: Craig Dubow, Howard Elias, Arthur Harper, John Louis, Marjorie Magner, Scott McCune, Duncan McFarland, Donna Shalala, Neal Shapiro and Karen Hastie Williams. Their brief biographies start on page 8 of this year's shareholder proxy report. All 10 are up for re-election this year.

In an e-mail via Facebook, a reader asks: "Do you have any idea (with the May 4 shareholder vote coming up) how a 'movement' of Gannett employees could enlist a replacement director on the board?"

The deadline has evidently passed, according to the new shareholders proxy report. The earliest deadline for nominating a director or place a proposal up for vote for the 2011 meeting is Nov. 17, if you want the company to help you solicit votes ("proxies"). The later deadline, Jan. 24, 2011, is for shareholders who do not want the company's assistance. Following are the proxy report's relevant passages, with information about how to gather names of interested shareholders:

How do I submit a shareholder proposal or nominate a director for election at the 2011 Annual Meeting?
To be eligible for inclusion in the proxy materials for the company’s 2011 annual meeting, a shareholder proposal or nomination must be submitted in writing to Gannett Co., 7950 Jones Branch Drive, McLean, Virginia 22107, Attn: Secretary, and must be received by Nov. 17, 2010. A shareholder who wishes to present a proposal or nomination at the company’s 2011 Annual Meeting, but who does not request that the company solicit proxies for the proposal or nomination, must submit the proposal to the company at the same address no earlier than Jan. 4, 2011 and no later than Jan. 24, 2011.

How can I obtain a shareholder list?
A list of shareholders entitled to vote at the 2010 annual meeting will be open to examination by any shareholder, for any purpose germane to the 2010 annual meeting, during normal business hours for a period of 10 days before the 2010 annual Meeting and during the 2010 annual meeting at the company’s offices at 7950 Jones Branch Drive, McLean, Virginia 22107.

Related: Please join me as a friend on Facebook

Layoffs | 'I lost my job, house, sense of purpose'

In a heartbreaking comment, Anonymous@11:09 p.m. yesterday writes about the consequences of being laid off in their 50s:

It sickens me to see the leaders in this company rewarded for throwing me out of a profession that I gave a good portion of my life to. The fact that they prosper and sleep well at night while I and many others still look for work are indications of how evil they are. Do these heartless people know how hard it is to find work in one's 50s? The layoffs of 2008 and 2009 were morally criminal and will leave a stain on Gannett for many years. I lost my job, my friends, my house and my sense of purpose. My family has suffered, too. I never made much money in the newspaper biz, but I never thought it would end this way. It's been virtually impossible to find my way back into the profession despite years of experience. I am close to giving up. The fact that Gannett targeted a lot of experienced employees might have been good for business in that we earned a bit more than entry-level workers, but it has devastated so many people who have nowhere to turn anymore and have run out of hope and options.

A look in someone's eyes. A cardboard box on an empty desk. A final conversation. Please share your layoff story in three or four paragraphs. Post replies in the comments section, below. Or e-mail via jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.

Wilmington | Ad production shift is 'live' Monday

In a comment, Anonymous@8:58 p.m. yesterday wrote about the latest phase in Gannett's moving advertising production to two new work consolidation centers, in Des Moines and Indianapolis. The following concerns The News Journal at Wilmington, Del.:

Ad consolidation started on Friday at Wilmington. Monday will be the "live" day. Cannot report anything until then. It appears there are eight other papers that have gone live, but no news about them. Will report next week to let you know how things go. I imagine it will be quite insane for quite a while. I recommend any paper that is next, to put all your advertisers in a row and offer your services on a freelance basis. From what I have seen, the advertisers will not be happy with this and will want someone who can offer them a personal touch, rather than having their ad put with thousands of others. This is going to be a total failure for Gannett.

[Image: today's Sunday News Journal, Newseum]

Would you reward them for fixing your foundation?

For days, supporters have defended top management's seven-figure paychecks, arguing their quick action saved Gannett from ruin last year. "Kwityerbellyaching,'' Anonymous@1:31 p.m. wrote in a comment today. "We coulda been closed down, bankrupt. We aren't."

Thursday, just hours after 2009 bonuses were disclosed, Anonymous@10 a.m. wrote, without a hint of sarcasm: "Bravo. Good for them. They all deserve their bonuses. Stop complaining. Look at the stock."

Not so fast, now.

Consider this analogy: You employ a contractor to shore up a building's foundation, which is suddenly in danger of collapse. Instead, their work leaves the building even more vulnerable. Then, in a further outrage, the contractor demands millions of dollars more to fix it -- arguing they are the only ones with intimate knowledge of the building's weakness; after all, they did the shoddy work in the first place.

That's precisely what happened at Gannett. The board of directors hired Craig Dubow as CEO five years ago, with a mandate to shore up the company's finances at a time of unprecedented competition. "Craig has all the skills a 21st century media CEO should have,'' his predecessor, Doug McCorkindale, said at the time.

But instead, Dubow and his finance chief, Gracia Martore, took a very last century approach. They piled up unsustainable debt through a misguided $1.8 billion stock buyback. They compounded the situation by waiting too long to cut the dividend in order to pay down that debt. They missed a chance to sell underperforming assets when investors were willing, and financing was available. Finally, in desperation, Dubow and Martore ordered thousands of layoffs on top of company-wide wage cuts.

Now, they're bragging "efficiency efforts and cost restructuring" helped pull Gannett from the brink of bankruptcy. "As a result," Martore told a conference of Wall Street stock analysts on Thursday, "the company expects to reduce debt by well over $200 million in the quarter and will end the first quarter with a debt balance of approximately $2.8 billion."

And for all of that, the board of directors says, bravo.