No, you cannot get married at the Crystal Palace

Got a shindig, but no venue to accommodate guests? The economy being what it is, Gannett is now renting out its conference and dining space at the 10-year-old Crystal Palace headquarters in suburban Washington, D.C., according to one of my readers.

Outraged bride

"Our expansive and light-filled atrium lobby can accommodate receptions for up to 1,800 guests,'' Corporate says on its website devoted to marketing the building. Rental prices aren't provided. (See HQ photo, below.)

Word for word, here's the rest of the pitch:

"This elegant, state-of-the art building affords the perfect space and amenities to meet all your needs. In addition, free parking is plentiful. Our catering staff is among the most creative and talented in the metropolitan area and our sales event representatives are seasoned professionals. Available space includes eight conference rooms and a state-of-the-art auditorium which seats 290. Our fine dining space includes six dining rooms, the largest of which seats 200."

But Corporate says there's one big limitation: "Our facility is not available for weddings."

NYT: Google reportedly close to buying Groupon

The multibillion-dollar deal for the pioneering Web discounter would be Google’s boldest foray into local business online advertising -- a large and untapped market it has been trying to enter, most recently by promoting top executive Marissa Mayer to oversee the local business.

Citing people with direct knowledge of the matter, The New York Times' DealBook blog says a deal, in the $5 billion to $6 billion range, could be struck as soon as this week. The paper's sources cautioned that the talks still could fall apart.

Paulson got $443K in Freedom Forum pay in 2009; new tax documents also show Prichard got $265K

Freedom Forum paid former USA Today Editor Ken Paulson $443,185 in 2009, his first year as the No. 2 executive of the non-profit journalism foundation and its signature project, the financially hobbled Newseum, according to newly released public documents.

Paulson

Paulson's pay, which included a $93,270 contribution to his employee benefit plan, and a $70,055 expense account, came during a year when the Washington, D.C., museum about news eliminated 13% of its jobs amid a fundraising shortfall. Paulson, with little explanation, quit the job three months ago.

The documents also show that Paulson's predecessor, Peter Prichard, got paid $265,084 during the year. When Prichard stepped down as president and chief operating officer at the start of 2009, the foundation said he would spend the next 12 months working on unspecified special projects, and then retire.

A sudden shakeup
Paulson, USAT's top editor at the time, was named president and COO of the high-profile foundation and museum in December 2008, making him heir-apparent to current CEO Charles Overby, and to the mantle of its legendary founder, Al Neuharth. His tenure was unexpectedly cut short, however.

In mid-August, Paulson left his Freedom Forum and Newseum post during a management shake-up, and was not replaced. It appears the position was eliminated, perhaps as a cost-saving measure. He is now chief executive of the First Amendment Center in Nashville, Tenn., which is a Freedom Forum project.

Prichard

Paulson's 2009 compensation was substantially less than what Prichard made during his last year as president and COO. He was paid $665,927 in 2008. However, that included a one-time $225,000 bonus -- one of several such 2008 special bonuses paid to top officers in connection with the Newseum's construction.

The compensation amounts were disclosed in the annual 2009 tax reports filed with the IRS by the foundation and the museum, and dated Oct. 29. The Newseum gave me copies of these Forms 990 yesterday after I requested them under federal open-records law. Until now, Paulson's first year's pay had not been made public. Pay figures for 2010 won't be reported until sometime next year.

Haven for ex-GCI execs
Freedom Forum, which shares space with the Newseum, is one of the largest charitable foundations devoted to journalism. Neuharth, the retired Gannett chairman and CEO, launched the foundation in 1991, with $650 million in seed capital from GCI shareholders. The money comprised the corpus of the original Gannett Foundation. Over the years, Freedom Forum and the Newseum have hired a number of former GCI executives for senior positions. For example, Prichard, like Paulson, also was once USAT's top editor.

Yet, the two editors left USAT at starkly different times: Paulson's exit came as the top daily was retrenching; cutbacks over the past three years have now eliminated 25% of newsroom jobs alone.

The Freedom Forum foundation initially supported a variety of journalism causes worldwide. But over the past decade, it began devoting more of its resources to the Newseum, which in its early years was run in smaller quarters in nearby Arlington, Va. It relocated to its much larger, 250,000 square-foot D.C. home in April 2008 -- three years later than planned, and $200 million over its initial $250 million construction budget.

Since relocating, the museum has undergone two rounds of job cutbacks. By the end of 2009, Paulson's first year, the staff had been reduced to about 180 positions from 250 in spring 2008, according to The Washington Post.

Related: Download free copies of the 2009 tax reports. Here's Freedom Forum's. And here's the Newseum's.

Earlier: As Freedom Forum stumbles on big Newseum bet, documents reveal spending often veered far afield

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.

Nov. 29-Dec. 5 | Your News & Comments: Part 1

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.)

Note | I'm online, but working on a new project

I'll be posting only occasionally during the next day or so because I've assigned myself a special project, based on a series of documents I've just received. This is indirectly related to Gannett.

Holidaze | Worth watching, even without the kids

It's The Polar Express (2004), and you can rent it at Netflix.

Week Nov. 22-28 | Your News & Comments: Part 2

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.)

Sponsors | Thank you, to my first U.K. supporter!

This is a first: Via snail mail, I've just received a contribution from overseas: £10, from a reader in Birmingham, England. At current exchange rates, that's U.S. $15.60.

I'm trying to earn $4,000 quarterly, through donations of $5 per reader, plus advertising 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.

50,000 pages. 10,000+ Gannett readers. Only $150

My audience is one of the news industry's biggest, and most engaged: more than 10,000 journalists and other professionals, inside and outside Gannett Co., the nation's top newspaper publisher. GCI employees direct more than $2 billion in retirement assets, and control multimillion-dollar corporate budgets. They're viewing an average 50,000 pages here every week.

Try the 728x90 "leaderboard" spot across the top of every page, exclusively yours for only $150 a week. That's a CPM of just $3, based on my weekly 50,000-pageview average. You'll communicate directly with publishers, general managers -- and Gannett's top brass.

You need only choose your ad campaign dates, and supply a creative in GIF, JPG, or PNG formats.

By the numbers
Gannett Blog is a rare media-buying opportunity: Fewer that 5% of blogs report 25,000 or more weekly pageviews, according to researcher Technorati's 2011 State of the Blogosphere Report.

Gannett Co., based in suburban Washington, D.C., employs 35,000 coast to coast, in Guam and the U.K. Its businesses comprise 100 dailies including USA Today, plus 23 TV stations, top jobs website CareerBuilder, and hundreds of other media properties.

Sponsors | Thank you, to my newest donor!

I've just received a $25 contribution from a reader in Arizona.

I'm trying to earn $4,000 quarterly, through donations of $5 per reader, plus advertising 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.

Alexandria | Your best Thanksgiving story yet

"For some people, nothing says
holiday dinner like raccoon."

-- reporter Jeff Matthews, writing Wednesday in The Town Talk of Alexandria, La., about area resident Wayne McBride, who's been selling holiday time frozen raccoon meat for years. "There are a ton of ways to cook them," he told Matthews. McBride prefers cooking over an open flame, like you would a hog: "When you do it that way, it tastes a little like pork."

State health officials had other ideas. After reading Matthews' story, they shut down McBride, citing regulations banning the sale of raccoon meat for consumption unless it's been processed at a licensed facility.

This video has nothing to do with Gannett, but...

. . . it's pretty sweet, and this is a holiday week, so why not? It's Pierre, a Hole with a View, written and directed by Danger Brown. Also, despite the frame visible, below, this video is 100% G-rated. Total run time is about 6:40 minutes.

USAT | A marketing campaign as a news series

USA Today launched a new series of stories and videos this morning with a long publishing timeline -- it will continue into the spring -- on a very broad topic.

The paper, according to a news release, "will poll Americans about subjects ranging from how they'd describe the American Dream to how much they value leisure time. Armed with the results of the polling, USA Today reporters will search for individuals and communities that have excelled in promoting programs that enhance key values as identified by the polls."

Two things immediately caught my attention. The series, scheduled to run through early March, has a single sponsor: automaker Toyota. This comes as the paper strives to more tightly unite its advertising and editorial content following a recent reorganization to boost advertising revenue. That raises an ethical red flag, because it could result in advertisers dictating editorial content.

Fortunately, that's not the case in today's first installment. The stories and an accompanying video are straight-up: The American Dream isn't limited to buying Toyota products, it seems.

In a less-subtle melding of commercial and editorial content, however, the title of the series is, "What America Wants."

If that sounds familiar, it is. Last spring, USAT launched a branding campaign carrying the exact same tagline. Indeed, "What America Wants'' remains an integral part of the paper's online marketing materials. It seems unlikely this is merely a coincidence. The question: What's to be gained?

Related: USAT's growing online "verticals" such as Your Life provide "new integration opportunities for advertisers."

Marketing experts, start your engines! 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.

Cincy | Want to be a newspaper's top editor?

Corporate has now posted the job for executive editor of The Cincinnati Enquirer, following today's confirmation that Tom Callinan, 62, is retiring, effective Jan. 1, after eight years. The paper is one of Gannett's biggest, with daily circulation of 157,574, and Sunday of 255,037, according to the latest ABC data, as of Sept. 30. (Updated at 11:53 p.m. ET on Sept. 24: I've posted a revised version of this job posting, after Corporate corrected the original.)

Earlier: As Callinan pivots, three possible successors with Ohio ties

Related: CityBeat has Publisher Margaret Buchanan's memo to staff

Stock | Of GCI, Cramer says, 'sell, sell, sell, sell'

With the notable exception of New York Times Co. shares -- rallying for a second consecutive day -- newspaper stocks are down across the board today, as the overall market tumbles amid heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula.

Gannett's stock recently traded for $12.61 a share, down 29 cents, or 2.3%. The S&P 500 index, a broad measure of stock market activity, is down 1.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is off 1.4%.

GCI's tumble also follows high-profile stock picker Jim Cramer's advice yesterday, urging investors to sell the company's shares -- along with those of other newspaper publishers. Watch the exchange during a viewer call-in, where Cramer talks with an Idaho investor, starting about minute 0:55.

Week Nov. 22-28 | Your News & Comments: Part 1

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Cincy | Is Tom Callinan's future in the past tense?

[Updated at 11:34 a.m. ET on Nov. 23: Callinan announced today that he's retiring, effective Jan. 1. Publisher Margaret Buchanan said his replacement would be announced "in the coming weeks." Also, Corporate has now posted the job opening.]

The following short biography has now appeared on the University of Cincinnati's website. Note that it says, "Since 2002, Callinan was . . . "

"Tom Callinan joins the University of Cincinnati in the Winter Quarter 2011 as McMicken Professor of Journalism. Since 2002, Callinan was Editor of Vice President/Content of Enquirer Media, which includes the daily Enquirer, 27 community weeklies and Cincinnati.com and its more than 230 web sites and social media initiatives."

A mistaken use of past tense -- or a Freudian slip? This comes amid growing speculation that Callinan, 62, is about to leave his post as top editor at The Cincinnati Enquirer, one of Gannett's biggest newspapers by circulation. He's been executive editor eight years.

USAT | Handicapping Murdoch's 'Daily' iPad app

As the USA Today aircraft carrier slowly turns toward the iPad, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. is rapidly pouring $30 million into The Daily, an iPad-centered newspaper with a staff of 100, set to appear at the beginning of next year. New York Times media columnist David Carr has some doubts, however.

Murdoch

"As innovative as it seems, The Daily will be a newspaper, an ancient motif on a modern device,'' Carr writes today. "It will be produced into the evening, and then a button will be pushed and it will be 'printed' for the next morning. There will be updates — the number of which is still under discussion — but not at the velocity or with the urgency of a news website."

Murdoch will have not of that. He told News Corp.'s Fox Business last week that The Daily is his "No. 1 most exciting project."

Cincy | Report: Callinan to take an academic post; editor says any Enquirer decision 'a separate issue'

Cincinnati Enquirer Executive Editor Tom Callinan has accepted an academic job at the University of Cincinnati, a published report says today. When I asked him about the report, however, Callinan, 62, said only that his future at the newspaper "is a separate issue."

Callinan

The Daily Bellwether's report this morning follows Gannett Blog speculation last week about a possible change in top editors at the paper, one of Gannett's biggest. The Cincinnati blog says:

"There hasn't yet been an official announcement or a press release. Wags say that's why there's been nothing in the newspaper Tom Callinan edits -- without handouts the Enquirer is lost. But University of Cincinnati insiders tell The Daily Bellwether that Tom Callinan has already accepted a job in the school's Journalism Department and will start teaching winter quarter. Callinan will have the title McMicken professor of journalism. The insiders said Callinan will give up the editorship to become a full-time academic."

Callinan, in an e-mail to me, wrote: "The blog you reference seems to infer that this is a full-time position. It is a 3-credit adjunct faculty job, one evening class a week. Over the years I have done similar work with The University of South Dakota, Michigan State and Arizona State while the editor in those places."

He adds: "Any decision about leaving The Enquirer is a separate issue."

Possible successors?
Speculation making the rounds today is that an announcement could come very soon.

In a Gannett Blog post Thursday, three names surfaced as possible successors, should Callinan leave. They are the top editors at three GCI dailies, and all of strong Ohio connections: Rick Green of The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, Calif.; Beryl Love of the Reno Gazette Journal, and Carolyn Washburn of The Des Moines Register.

Last week, Callinan and Green addressed the issue with Cincinnati alternative weekly CityBeat.

Callinan said: “Regarding the rumor, I am telling inquiring reporters the truth: My wife and I have an appointment with our financial advisor next week. She is self-employed and does not have health care insurance so we would need to be very careful about any decisions."

Green, an Enquirer editor before the Sun, said: "It would be incredibly hard for me at this time to leave my team and the opportunities at hand here in Palm Springs to return to Cincinnati — even if there was a vacancy."

The papers' circulation:

• Cincinnati: M-F, 157,574; Sunday, 255,037
• Des Moines: M-F, 109,095; Sunday, 205,662
• Palm Springs: M-F, 34,419; Sunday, 40,893

Sponsors | Thank you, to a New Jersey reader

I just received $40 from a long-time supporter in the Garden State!

I'm trying to earn $4,000 quarterly, through donations of $5 per reader, plus advertising 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.

I've just added Twitter, Facebook sharing tools

Now, you can quickly share Gannett Blog posts on your Twitter, Facebook and other sites, using the tools at the bottom of each of my posts. Here's a screenshot of a recent post, with the new tools circled:

Got another suggestion to improve this site? 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.

Survey | When you left Gannett, what did you do with your company pension and 401(k) money?

Gannett eliminated more than 11,000 jobs since 2007 -- often through layoffs that forced employees to confront a major decision: How should I handle my pension plan and 401(k) money?

Many Gannettoids took their money with them, rolling it into an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). This resulted in the transfer of many millions of dollars from one custodian to another.

I'm considering selling advertising directly to marketers, including financial services companies. To prepare for that, I'm now gathering information from readers who left GCI in recent years.

The question
Concerning your pension plan and 401(k) money, did you:

• Leave the money in Gannett's care
• Roll it into an IRA at a bank
• Roll it into an IRA at a stock brokerage like Charles Schwab
• Take an early distribution and pay any taxes and penalties
• Other (please specify)

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.

Week Nov. 15-21 | Your News & Comments: Part 3

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Did you get your Cigna disability sign-up forms late?

I've now heard from two frustrated readers, saying they received paperwork on the new disability income plans only yesterday -- the deadline by which recipients needed to enroll.

Gannett has switched to a new carrier, Cigna, offering a plan for short-term and long-term disability income -- but with lower benefits than under the previous plan. Under Cigna's long-term plan, disabled employees earn 50% of eligible pay, down from 60% under the old plan, according to documents given to employees.

When did you get your enrollment forms? 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.

7x7: Among new digitals, Maness may unlock secret

From an article last month in San Francisco's 7x7 magazine, about a new generation of unconventional online publications.

Amid all the excitement, though, the elephant in the room is the basic fact that not one of these publications has clear plans for future issues, advertising, or sustainable business models. Not yet, anyway.

But if anyone can figure out the business end of the new publishing paradigm, it just might be Michael Maness, the vice president of design and innovation at media conglomerate Gannett, which publishes USA Today.

Maness

Last fall, Maness chose San Francisco as the home of Gannett’s unconventional project, The Bold Italic, a magazine-like website that asks its writers, called Bold Locals, to tell their personal stories of discovering people, places, and scenes within San Francisco. Gannett chose to launch the Bold Italic here for a reason. "From a digital lifestyle perspective,” says Maness, "if you can stay abreast of what goes on in San Francisco and what people want to read here, then you’re going to be ahead of the curve."

The Bold Italic hosts bimonthly microhood get-togethers around the city, the ticket sales from which partially fund the articles they publish. The site is clear of ads, and its first-person stories are read by 20,000 unique visitors a month -- not a bad number for an online niche publication. Maness says, "This could be the prototype we’ve been looking for."

Sponsors | Don't apologize: Every dollar counts

Via snail mail, I recently received a $5 bill from a reader somewhere in Gannettland. It was wrapped inside a hand-written note bearing an apology (see, above). Then, a long-time Nevada reader sent $10 through PayPal. Soon after, a California reader sent another $10, and a New Yorker, $6.

In the microfunding economy, small amounts really add up. Consider this: I've got well over 10,000 monthly readers. If each one gave just $5 a year -- less than 2 cents daily -- I'd earn $50,000 annually. Yikes!

To be sure, I don't expect to make that much. Indeed, so far in the current quarter, which ends Dec. 31, I'm slightly more than halfway to my $4,000 quarterly goal. The breakdown so far:

• Reader donations: $569
• Advertising: $1,463

Related: What Hopkins and Obama have in common

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.

Hubs | Nashville now set for March-April launch; Brevard would be first 'remote' daily to go online

Following Wednesday's web-based conference on the planned page design and production hubs, more details have emerged about the timetable, operations, and hiring, according to an internal memo and one of my readers.

As expected, Nashville, Tenn., is the first of the five hubs scheduled to launch. The executive editor of The Tennessean there, Mark Silverman, sent a memo to staff clarifying how "wire" stories will be edited. Silverman also discussed how and when the first hires will be made for the hubs, called "Design Studios." (Memo text, below.)

The project, first disclosed in July, will consolidate page production for all of Gannett's 81 community dailies at the five hubs. The other four are at papers in Asbury Park, N.J.; Des Moines; Louisville, Ky., and Phoenix. A new CCI-brand front-end computer system will be installed at the 81 papers, to unify word processing, and make possible online page design over great distances. The project is set to roll out over two years.

Nashville gets CCI first
The goal is to cut costs while simultaneously improving page design. Savings are to come through efficiencies: The hubs will employ fewer people doing work remotely -- sometimes, hundreds of miles from assigned papers -- that is now performed by many more locally at each of the 81 sites. Some designers will be transferred to the hubs; others will be laid off; exact figures haven't been made public.

Nashville is expected to gets its CCI NewsGate installation by early December, according to one of my readers. Training is set for late February or March, "and the paper should be up and running by the end of March or beginning of April," the reader says in an e-mail.

"Florida Today will be the first paper scheduled for sometime in June,'' the reader says. "Then one paper or group every other month until [Nashville is] up and running fully. [Nashville will have] all of Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and possibly Staunton, Va."

(Spreadsheet shows five hubs and their assigned papers, as of July.)

Text of Silverman's memo
Folks,

Please let me clarify something that may have been unclear during the Design Studios webinars this week.

The plan is to have a group of wire copy editors in each studio  -- not two as the table of organization at the webinar seemed to suggest. The exact number will be determined by the amount of wire content used by the newspapers using each studio. As newspapers are added to the studios, more wire copy editors will be hired.

They will work as a team, in the same way that teams of designers are envisioned as working on a particular newspaper or groups of newspapers. In hiring the wire copy editors, we will look for knowledge of various subject areas -- sports, entertainment, business, etc.

One more thing: In December we will post the Tennessean producer jobs -- positions that will include local copy editing and headline writing as well as Web work. Interested people can apply for both positions -- those local producer jobs as well as wire copy editor jobs. You don't have to pick one or the other. There will be conversations between staffers, the Design Studio managers (and me) and appropriate Tennessean editors to go through the needs of each job and the interests of staffers. No decisions will be made before January.

I'll be away for a week, but please see me when I return if you have additional questions about the copy editor and producer positions. We will have another staff meeting in early December, and we'll spend a portion of that on the Design Studio issues as well.

Thanks.

-- Mark

[Image: today's Tennessean, Newseum]

Digital's Resnik on 2011's money-making focus

In a Q&A published today on Programming Blog, Josh Resnik, vice president over the Gannett Digital Network, talks about competition, aggregating audiences, and selling advertising. An excerpt:

Resnik

Q. So what will your focus be on in 2011 in terms of monetization?

A. Two things: Targeted audience segments (like moms or parents) and devices. There’s so much going on with mobile content, especially. We expect to build up USA Today’s presence on a variety of devices in 2011, including Google TV. I just saw a demo of USA Today for Google TV, and, I really think that device is going to change the way all content owners think about TV. We’ll also scale out more of our local content for devices as well.

Martore 'put a lie' to claims of plunging profits

That's The Guardian's Roy Greenslade, writing about the run-up to the two-day strike among workers at The Argus, one of the 17 dailies and hundreds of weeklies in Gannett's U.K. newspaper group, Newsquest. Through today, they're striking over plans to move jobs to a central editing hub, and management's imposition of a two-year wage freeze.

Martore

"Their employer, Newsquest/Gannett," Greenslade wrote yesterday, "has got away with plenty of cutbacks in the past by claiming that plunging profits have necessitated editorial budget reductions. But Gannett's chief financial officer, Gracia Martore, put a lie to those claims last month when she told U.S. analysts that Newsquest was making profits. Healthy profits."

Greenslade continues: "But Newsquest/Gannett cannot have it both ways. Either she told the truth to analysts, meaning that Newsquest's executives have been telling porkies to their newspaper staffs. Or she was 'economical with the truth' when addressing sceptical U.S. analysts."

Newsquest | 'Jobs should be kept in Brighton'

In a video, Journalism.co.uk's Rachel McAthy reports on the two-day strike at The Argus, where workers are protesting plans to move editing jobs to a central hub in Gannett's U.K. newspaper division, Newsquest.


Newsquest strikes from John Thompson on Vimeo.

USAT | This just in, from the royalty content ring

Word for word, from a USA Today statement distributed this morning:

MCLEAN, Va., Nov. 19, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- USA Today, the nation's top-selling print newspaper, announces the availability of A Royal Wedding, a 100-page glossy publication, commemorating the engagement of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. Retailing for $7.99, A Royal Wedding is available at newsstands nationally and online at royalwedding.usatoday.com.

Commemorate the biggest event in the royal family in years with this special keepsake edition. Full of gorgeous photos of the couple and all the background on their eight-year courtship, A Royal Wedding also looks back, remembering the wedding of Charles and Diana. Own a piece of royal history and be ahead of the curve on the wedding of the year.

This publication includes:

• Timeline of William and Kate's royal romance
• Three of the hottest fashion designers sketch dress ideas for Kate
• Family tree of the British royals
• Special look back at Charles and Diana's wedding
• Kate's style evolution through the years

Related: In a New York Times story today, the First Lady of magazines, former USAT Publisher Cathie Black -- and her $47,600 Bulgari bracelet

Pop Quiz | What product does this business sell?

In a written statement announcing the appointment of a new manager, a top executive of a U.S. company said the following yesterday:

"________ is an experienced advertising executive with a solid track record of building sales and competitive market share. He will be an important member of our team as _______ continues to expand the ways we provide business clients with customized solutions and engage consumers."

Lordy, why striking U.K. reporters deserve support

"Even in the era of cyber communications,
we need a local paper."

-- Lord Bassam of Brighton, Labour Party opposition whip, House of Lords, in a statement of support for striking employees at The Argus, one of Gannett's 17 dailies in the U.K. Newsquest division. The two-day strike over transferring jobs to a page production hub is set to end today.

Sponsors | Thanks, to my newest big donor!

I just received another $50 (!) contribution, this time from a reader in New York.

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 Nov. 15-21 | Your News & Comments: Part 2

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.)

Cincy | Callinan is said noncommittal on future; Green says it would be 'incredibly hard' to move

Callinan

Amid published speculation during the past 48 hours that he may be leaving as executive editor of one of Gannett's bigger dailies -- The Cincinnati Enquirer -- Tom Callinan has now told alternative weekly CityBeat in an e-mail: “Regarding the rumor, I am telling inquiring reporters the truth: My wife and I have an appointment with our financial advisor next week. She is self-employed and does not have health care insurance so we would need to be very careful about any decisions."

Callinan, 62, has been Cincy's top editor eight years; his first GCI job was in 1975, at Minnesota's St. Cloud Times.

Green

CityBeat, meanwhile, asked Executive Editor Rick Green of The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, Calif., about rumors he might succeed Callinan: “What I do know,'' Green said, "is that the past six-and-a-half years here in Palm Springs have been a tremendous chapter in my life, professionally and personally. As much as I loved Cincinnati and the Enquirer staff during my 15 years there, coming out West has been the best move of my career. Frankly, it would be incredibly hard for me at this time to leave my team and the opportunities at hand here in Palm Springs to return to Cincinnati — even if there was a vacancy.”

Two editors with Ohio ties
Green has been a rising editorial star: He was one of three top winners of President's Rings in May. And that was the first time he'd snared one of the newspaper division's top honors. Also, as a former Enquirer editor, he has Ohio connections.

Washburn

Another star editor with deep ties to Ohio is Carolyn Washburn, now executive editor at The Des Moines Register; she grew up in a rural area west of Cincinnati. Under her, the Iowa paper won a Pulitzer Prize for photography this year. As well, Washburn became a five-time ring winner in May, garnering her a coveted Chairman's Ring.

I worked with Washburn at The Idaho Statesman during the mid-1990s, when she was that paper's managing editor and I was projects editor. When I've been asked in the past about a possible vacancy in Cincinnati, I said I'd recalled Washburn expressing an interest in one day leading the Enquirer. I have not spoken to her in many years, however, so do not know her current plans. She's made one appearance here on Gannett Blog, when she posted this comment.

Circulation compared

• Cincinnati: M-F, 157,574; Sunday, 255,037
• Des Moines: M-F, 109,095; Sunday, 205,662
• Palm Springs: M-F, 34,419; Sunday, 40,893

Earlier: In a Cincinnati riddle, when is a rumor not a rumor?

Related: Ex-publisher Keating would accept $1.3 million to settle suit; his $50,000 monthly expenses

Sponsors | Thanks, to my newest snail-mail donor

I just received a $50 (!) contribution from a reader in Maryland.

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.

Meanwhile, in news unrelated to Prince William...

"Thanks for all your support from
over the Pond, guys."

-- Argus newspaper employee Tim Norman, commenting on today's strike over Newsquest's plans to move copy-editing jobs to a central hub within Gannett's U.K. newspaper division.

Newsquest | Brighton staff launches strike today

[Pickets outside Argus House in Hollingbury, Brighton]

National Union of Journalists employees at The Argus of Brighton -- part of Gannett's U.K. Newsquest division -- began a strike today over plans to move copy-editing jobs to a central hub, 80 miles away. Read the workers' blog. Plus, watch a slideshow of today's events:

Urgent: Curtis Riddle retiring; Philly's Griffin named pub; departure follows rumors of broader shake-up

Riddle

Curtis Riddle is retiring from Gannett's U.S. Community Publishing division, Corporate has just announced, and Philadelphia Inquirer advertising executive Howard Griffin has been named president and publisher of Riddle's News Journal in Wilmington, Del., according to MarketWatch.

Griffin is vice president of national advertising for Philadelphia Media Network Inc., the parent company of the Inquirer, the Daily News and philly.com, according to a statement by Corporate.

Riddle, 60, is also president of the East Group of newspapers, a portfolio of 18 titles including those in New Jersey and New York, The News Journal said in its story on his retirement. Corporate's statement doesn't disclose Riddle's successor in that high-profile job.

Bigger management shift?
Riddle has been with GCI since 1982. His departure follows recent speculation on Gannett Blog about a large management shake-up set for the U.S. community newspaper division as early as this month. Today's announcement follows a round of newspaper layoffs that eliminated nearly 250 jobs during the past two weeks.

Riddle, who is African-American, is among GCI's highest-ranking minority executives, and one of the most senior in the newspaper industry. His retirement comes after GCI just laid off two other high-ranking African-Americans: the managing editors at The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss., and The Times at Shreveport, La.

Historically, GCI has led the media industry in hiring and promoting minority employees.

Related: The News Journal's Riddle story

What other shoes are about to drop? 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.

Blogger: Fantasy vs. reality in Freedom's offer

Barely eight months after emerging from bankruptcy, Freedom Communications, parent of the Orange County Register, has put all its newspapers and television stations on the block. That's a combined 100 daily and weekly newspapers, all of them much smaller than the flagship Register, plus eight TV stations in mid-sized markets, the largest West Palm Beach.

But the Poynter Institute's Rick Edmonds writes in a new post today:

Putting media properties up for sale and actually selling them are two different things. The Boston Globe, the newspaper holdings of Landmark Communications, and the Austin American-Statesman were all pulled off the market in 2008 and 2009 when owners ended up dissatisfied with the bids they received.

Still, the Freedom offer will be worth watching both as a potential indicator of a thawing acquisition climate and for further clues on why the bargain-hunting private equity crowd likes newspapers so much when few other investors do.

What are the chances Gannett will bid on any of these properties? 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.

Urgent: Saleh gets $600K base, $150K sign bonus

Saleh

In a new filing with federal regulators, Gannett has disclosed terms of newly appointed Chief Financial Officer Paul Saleh's annual compensation, plus other benefits. Following is the full text of the 8-K document filed moments ago with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission:

On November 15, 2010, Gannett Co., Inc. (the “Company”) issued a press release announcing that Paul N. Saleh had been appointed its Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately. A press release announcing the appointment of Mr. Saleh is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 and incorporated herein by reference.

In connection with Mr. Saleh’s appointment, the Executive Compensation Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors approved a base salary of $600,000 and a sign-on bonus of $150,000. Mr. Saleh received options to purchase 180,000 shares and 65,000 restricted stock units under the terms of the Company’s 2001 Omnibus Incentive Compensation Plan (amended and restated as of May 4, 2010), subject to the Company’s standard vesting schedule, except that these stock grants would immediately vest in full if the Company were to terminate Mr. Saleh’s employment without good cause, as defined below. As a member of the Gannett Management Committee, Mr. Saleh will be eligible to receive other benefits customarily provided to Committee members, and will be a participant in the Company’s Transitional Compensation Plan (amended as of May 4, 2010). Mr. Saleh also will be eligible to participate in the Company’s Key Executive Life Insurance Program under which, subject to completion of underwriting by the insurance carrier, the annual life insurance premium payable by Gannett on his behalf for 2011 is expected to be approximately $41,038 and his right to receive future annual premium payments will vest if his employment terminates after attaining both five years of service at Gannett and age 55.

In addition, the Company and Mr. Saleh entered into a Termination Benefits Agreement (“Termination Agreement”) attached hereto as Exhibit 99.2 and incorporated herein by reference. Under the Termination Agreement, the Company may terminate Mr. Saleh’s employment for good cause. “Good cause” means (1) an intentional misappropriation of funds or property of the Company by Mr. Saleh; (2) unreasonable and persistent neglect or refusal by Mr. Saleh to perform his duties, which he does not remedy within 30 days’ notice; (3) Mr. Saleh materially breaches the non-competition and confidentiality provisions of the Termination Agreement, which he does not remedy within 30 days’ notice; or (4) conviction of Mr. Saleh of a felony. In the event of termination of employment by the Company for good cause, Mr. Saleh would not receive any post-termination payments or benefits under the Termination Agreement.

Mr. Saleh may terminate his employment for good reason. “Good reason” means (1) Mr. Saleh is not elected or retained in his current positions (or such other senior executive position in which he may agree to serve); (2) the Company acts to materially reduce Mr. Saleh’s duties and responsibilities, and this situation is not remedied by the Company within 30 days’ notice; or (3) the Company materially breaches the Termination Agreement, which breach is not cured by the Company within 30 days’ notice. In the event of termination of employment by Mr. Saleh for good reason or by the Company without good cause, and subject to delivery by Mr. Saleh to the Company of a customary release of claims, the Company would make a cash lump sum severance payment to Mr. Saleh equal to the sum of (i) his annual base salary in effect on the termination date and (ii) the greater of (A) his most recent annual bonus as of the termination date or (B) the average of his three most recent annual bonuses as of the termination date. If Mr. Saleh is entitled to receive a change in control payment under the Transitional Compensation Plan or change in control plan then in effect, the amount determined under the prior sentence shall be offset by the amount paid to Mr. Saleh under such other plan.

Gracia C. Martore, who was appointed the Company’s President and Chief Operating Officer on February 1, 2010, and continued to serve as its Chief Financial Officer since that time, will no longer serve in that position.

Mr. Saleh is 53 years of age.

Pay compared
In 2009, prior to being named COO, Martore got paid $659,615 in salary, plus a $950,000 cash bonus. Her total compensation for that year, with stock options and gains in her retirement account: $4 million. At the time of Saleh's appointment, Martore had been CFO for eight years. (2009 pay for GCI's top five executives.)

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.

Cincy | Riddle: When is a rumor not a rumor?

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.

GCI, partners name Diez as CEO of quadrantONE

Another key post in Gannett's executive line-up has been filled. The company and its three business partners announced today that Mario Diez has been promoted to CEO of quadrantONE. Based in New York, quadrantONE sells advertising on behalf of its partners: GCI, Tribune Co., the New York Times Co., and Hearst.

Diez has been senior vice president over sales since April. The CEO job had been vacant for 222 days, the period since former CEO Andy Ellenthal's departure was first disclosed.

Diez' promotion is the second involving a high-profile vacancy. Monday, GCI said it had hired Paul Saleh as chief financial officer, filling a job that had been vacant for 287 days.

Still to go: the chief digital officer's position, now vacant 224 days. Plus, the CEO's position -- assuming it's to be filled -- at Ripple6; that post has now been vacant more than 60 days.

Newsquest | Brighton staff sets Thursday strike

In an e-mail, an employee at The Argus of Brighton -- part of Gannett's U.K. Newsquest division -- says members of the National Union of Journalists there plan a strike tomorrow and Friday. The issue is one familiar to U.S. employees: Newsquest is moving copy-editing jobs to a central hub, 80 miles away. The reference below is to Newsquest CEO Paul Davidson. The note:

"We're protesting against the company's proposal to move our copy-subs to a central hub in Southampton, where Newsquest has the Southern Daily Echo offices. The company's case has been very poor and management refuses to address the staff in an open forum, still less let us look at the books, as I see has been the case in Detroit. We're also protesting about the ongoing pay freeze on the back of the news that last year Paul Davidson handed himself a 20% pay rise."

Protesters will blog about the action at brightonargus.blogspot.com. The employee adds: "Our main point -- as I hope is evident from the blog -- is that only local copy editors can effectively edit local copy."

Newsquest employs one in seven of GCI's 35,000 global employees -- a total of about 5,100 -- at 17 dailies and hundreds of weeklies. Newsquest cut 23% of its jobs last year, more than any other operating unit, according to regulatory filings. GCI bought the U.K. operation in the summer of 1999 for about $1.5 billion.

[Image: an NUJ poster]

Week Nov. 15-21 | Your News & Comments: Part 1

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.)

Layoff notices given today in HR reorganization

Two readers say the nationwide consolidation of Gannett's human resources departments has been completed; layoff notices were given today to those HR employees whose applications were rejected for any of the new jobs in the reorganized departments.

In total, about 30 jobs were eliminated, according to one of the readers; I haven't been able to confirm that figure yet, however.

The jobs cut were all across the company, from Corporate in McLean, Va., to individual newspapers and other worksites.

Newspaper cuts rise
Also today, a reader says six jobs were eliminated at Missouri's Springfield News-Leader during the recent round of layoffs and other reductions among the U.S. community dailies.

I've  added this new information to my running tally of estimated layoffs and pay cuts during the job reduction that began Nov. 3. These figures are based on information supplied by my readers. (Site-by-site numbers.) As of 11:35 p.m. ET today:

• Newspapers reporting: 63 of 81
• Estimated job cuts so far: 249 (excludes USA Today's 130)
• Estimated papers imposing pay cuts: 6

Note: GCI has about 25,000 U.S. newspaper workers, out of a total 35,000 employees worldwide. (Breakdown by major division.)

Keeping an eye on the media and marketing books

"Paul will be a great partner with the senior management team as we continue to transform Gannett as a leading media and marketing solutions company."

-- Chief Operating Officer Gracia Martore, in a statement today on Paul Saleh's appointment as GCI's new chief financial officer.

USAT | The numbers: Politics vs. the Red Carpet

[Choose your poison: Pelosi vs. Palin]

USA Today has distributed revised newsroom flow charts, showing staffing under a recent reorganization to boost readership and revenue. The documents are dated Oct. 21-22; I obtained copies from a source. I believe this is the first time USAT's editorial staffing breakdown has been made public. Some of the key numbers:

5

reporters to cover Congress

27

reporters to cover entertainment

Related: staffing flow chart. Plus: content distribution chart

Earlier: Welcome to your vital, valuable media brand. Plus: Publisher Dave Hunke's Aug. 26 memo to staff on the reorganization

Can you name your Congressional representative? How about Bristol Palin's standing on Dancing With the Stars? Please post your replies in the comments section, below.

USAT | A staff flow chart by Rube Goldberg

USA Today's new content distribution staff chart is like something from the Rube Goldberg School of Organizational Management. But it's worth examining, given USAT's high-profile reorganization this fall. If other publishers adopt this structure -- as they did the paper's design in the 1980s -- get ready for a roller-coaster ride. A reader slipped me the chart yesterday; read and download a copy.

Urgent: Replacing Martore, GCI names new CFO

He's Paul Saleh, a former Sprint Nextel chief financial officer from 2005 to 2008, who most recently was managing partner of Menza Partners, according to a statement just released by Corporate. Menza, based in Vienna, Va., is a financial advisor to media, telecommunications and technology companies.

Saleh

Saleh, whose age was not given, replaces Gracia Martore, who has been Gannett's CFO for eight years.

Martore was promoted to chief operating officer and president -- the company's No. 2 position -- in February; she had remained CFO as well. In her current role, she's the clear favorite to succeed CEO Craig Dubow -- a switch that could now take place at any time, now that she's offloaded the finance duties.

In the statement, Martore was quoted saying: "Paul will be a great partner with the senior management team as we continue to transform Gannett as a leading media and marketing solutions company."

Unless I'm mistaken, Saleh is the first CFO who didn't come from within the company's ranks.

Wikipedia says he was born in 1957, making him about 53 years old.

He also is a member of the board of directors of Citadel Broadcasting, the radio company.

Next: What he'll be paid
Within a day or so, GCI will likely file a statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, laying out the terms of Saleh's hiring, including his base pay and any stock awards given as part of his employment contract.

In 2009, prior to being named COO, Martore got paid $659,615 in salary, plus a $950,000 cash bonus. Her total compensation for that year, with stock options and gains in her retirement account: $4 million. (2009 pay for GCI's top five executives.)