Thursday, February 24, 2011

Week Feb. 21-27 | Your News & Comments: Part 3

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40 comments:

  1. For Part 2 of this comment thread, please go here.

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  2. Pointroll employee2/24/2011 6:07 AM

    Well if we thought PointRoll's Revenue and NIBT was way off for January, then I can say that February is even worse. Our revenues and earnings will decline so much in February that it will look like 2008.

    Pointroll is falling apart and by looking at our performance I blame the current immature management team and the Gannett leadership for neglecting this company.

    We have seen five more people resign in last week, bringing a total of 31 employees that have resigned in the first month and a half of this year! meanwhile, all the promises Mrs. Martore made to the management team has everyone laughing as we are now required to cut deeper into the organization to help us fund some of our new initiatives like mobile and a better version of ad control.

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  3. Can you say Tailspin? I know you can, boys and girls.

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  4. Tail spin for sure. The only way to save any value this company has is to break it up and put the pieces in more competant hands.

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  5. The worst part is that all the clowns in McLean continue to get hefty salaries and bonuses, no matter how poorly the perform. Is there ever any accountability? Any at all?

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  6. Just because JN reporters didn't announce the sale of the building on this blog doesn't mean they weren't aware of it. Everyone working there knows about it and has known about it for some time. Don't assume things that you obviously don't know anything about.

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  7. I further comment and agree with 9:37.
    Not 100%, or even close to it,of everything happening within Gannett is reported here.
    I know people would like to believe that if it's
    not talked about here,it isn't happening.The small weekly that I am at,has lost people,the building is for sale,the ME left and won't be replaced.These numbers are not on spread sheet.
    I know that no one at my site would ever have the balls to post here for fear of being found out.I am certain to be the first.
    The place is like a morgue and no one wants to be next on the slab.The fact that 10 are left
    out of 40 is an indication of what is ahead.
    Revenue continues to drop like a rock,with no hope of recovery.
    Therefore, I question the layoff number as being much higher.There must be more,many more sites like this that do not post here.

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  8. When there is no accountability at the top, there is no accountability at the bottom. From a creative and managerial standpoint, Gannett is a very sick company. The problems in its culture are systemic. I've seen my share of dead-weight "managers" at my (former) site whose income appeared to be determined more by their business attire than by competent management. Just as Gannett's clownish board should be an embarrassment to the entire concept of leadership, too many of glad-handing, bottom-level managers were a joke to the few talented managers who somehow remained. As above, so below.

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  9. 1PM meeting in Westchester...Ugh oh.

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  10. Not a troll, but amazing ho so many 'predictions' didn't come true. Dubow leaving? Major Friday announcement. Etc.

    Far more interesting, and who knows what will happen, is Westchester. Wow.

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  11. What does Gannett have in common with Egypt and Libya? All 3 have been run to long by a dictator that does not look out for the people just themselves Employees and shareholders should take back this country (Gannett) also.

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  12. I wonder how many more times it will be stated on this blog that upper management is way over paid.Do you all really think that will ever change?
    Hell no ,it won't. Do they care that you all state it here as being so unfair ? No.
    You are the worker bees ,nothing you say or do deserves a even a minut thought to them.
    You are nothing to them ,absolutely no more
    than an expense number on a spread sheet.You know,the part of the balance sheet that is not revenue.Maybe,if you all came to this mind set
    you wouldn't take this so personally.
    You are worker # 10,999 ,and your dollar expense to the corp is $40,000 or whatever your income is.Therefore worker 10,999 your income of $40,000
    can become a zero on the expense side of the balance sheet when you are laid off and that means an increase of $40,000 on the revenue side.
    Very simple to do by these bean counters.

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  13. Publisher & VP of Advertising GONE in Westchester.

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  14. Were these announced as "resigneations" in Westchester???

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  15. 1:37,
    Very sad, but also very true. The sooner we all realize it the better.

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  16. We they laid off or did they quit?

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  17. Mike Fisch is a loss to Gannett. I had the good fortune to work for him in Honolulu. He was as good a Publisher as you can find anywhere.

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  18. Who is the VP of Advertising at Westchester?

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  19. Here's idea - Why doesn't everyone at Gannett(the people who actually do the work) quit on May 1st - it's just a matter of time before you're on the list.

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  20. Giants....the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Yahoo! that!

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  21. Here's what yesterday's annual 10-K report to federal regulators says about the Gannett Production Centers, which produce advertising artwork for newspapers at hubs in Indianapolis and Des Moines:

    "The objective is to maintain high quality and service for advertisers while improving efficiency. At the end of 2010, ad production work was being completed for 54 sites, producing nearly 20,500 ads weekly. The remaining sites will transition to the centers by mid-year 2011."

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  22. Mike Fish gone from TJN, also VP Sales Jandell Herum. Tom Donovan is "interim" publisher -- still holding his post in Asbury. They're looking for replacements, they say.

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  23. "The objective is to maintain high quality and service for advertisers while improving efficiency. At the end of 2010, ad production work was being completed for 54 sites, producing nearly 20,500 ads weekly. The remaining sites will transition to the centers by mid-year 2011."
    ↑↑↑
    The work coming out of the GPC is NOT high quality - a 5th grader could spell better and design better than some of the crap these fools are doing. NO creativity. Meanwhile the process has overloaded the sales reps with more and more paperwork. Guess what that means. Sales reps dont have as much time to sell.... in return guess what leaders...that means less money. DUH

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  24. Anonymous said... westchester site top heavy circlation dept. need to share some blame and not run hide it is time to clean house.

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  25. 6:31 is right on target with the gpc and sales reps. It's become such a burden I've seen sales reps walk away from revenue because they knew there was no chance in hell the GPC could deliver on ads.

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  26. Good news keeps rolling: Gannett corp heads revealed pay scales this week for "design studios" ... They show massive drops for designers from metro papers, but small raises for staffers from smaller papers. Tennessean designers already told they face salary cuts by up to $20,000/year.

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  27. Did Mike Fisch quit? He had a terrible hand dealt to him when he arrived at The Journal News, and I think he did the best he could. I wouldn't blame him if he quit. Only surprised it took so long if that's the case.

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  28. Jackie Kucinich jumps from Roll Call, where she's been covering Capitol Hill, to cover politics USAT. She will focus on the upcoming the Republican primaries and general election. Isn't she Dennis Kucinich's daughter?

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  29. Meanwhile, the Journal News scooped on the ouster of its own publisher by this site! Typical. Still not a word about Fisch's forced exit on LoHud.com.

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  30. I heard furloughs were budgeted in 3rd quarter. Can anyone confirm?

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  31. Yes, she is Kucinich's daughter.

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  32. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  33. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  34. Fisch"s "skill" in Honolulu was so good he helped guide the paper into closure. Another SCJ hire that ends up not so much. What was the announced reason? Left to pursue other interests??

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  35. What's going on in Phoenix? AZ Republic did not get furloughs. Not sure about KPNX. They're all in the same building now. Rumor has it big layoffs scheduled for tomorrow (Fri) - I've heard anywhere from 15-20% of staff. Not sure if KPNX included or not. Anyone heard anything?

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  36. Seriously, Jim? @9:29. There was nothing wrong with exposing that!

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  37. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  38. I for one would like to hear more real world feedback on the GPC centers....as we are going live soon.

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  39. Furloughed Fury2/24/2011 10:50 PM

    Dear 3:34
    Great idea troll, quit and spare the company from paying unemployment and severance. I tell you what, you go first, tell us how it worked.
    And by the way Genius, May 1 is a Sunday.
    Let us know when your bonus check arrives.

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  40. Re: 9:38PM
    Both the Republic and KPNX were exempted from first quarter furloughs, because KPNX moved into the Republic's building in January and there is tremendous pressure to make this forced marriage work.

    We haven't heard anything about layoffs, certainly nothing in that range, but merging the TV and newspaper operations doesn't make any sense unless Gannett sees a way to layoff a bunch of people to pay for it. Time will tell.

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Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."

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