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Tuesday, February 08, 2011
61 comments:
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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How's your week looking?
ReplyDelete...unemployed and runnin out of credit. hope my marriage lasts 'till I find a real job.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to all still Gannettoids.
ReplyDeleteI hope you all find a way out.
These days, it has to be hell beginning yet
another new week with total uncertainty as to
what your future has is store.
And worse yet to have Gannett dictate your happiness and well-being.How de-meaning it must still be.Find a way out.
Laid off on Friday. On Saturday had no access to my website, no way to answer questions from readers wondering what happened. Classy Gannett.
ReplyDelete9:12
ReplyDeleteWhat site were laid off from?
We would like to know if we are even closer to
that day.
Another day, another reminder that Gannett brass got bonuses while the rank and file suffered furloughs and cuts.
ReplyDelete9:12: How could GCI remove your access to a public Web site? I wouldn't think that would be possible.
ReplyDelete5:14, I know things seem bleak. Both my GCI career and marriage came to an end at the same time (both unrelated). But things really are brighter now on both fronts. You need to be pro-active though. Living on credit is not a long-term solution for anything (and not really a good short-term one either). If you have skills, just get out there and find work, no matter how short-lasting or trivial it may seem. Best way to rebound is to work. Don't resign yourself to saying, 'there's nothing out there.' Think temp jobs, side jobs ... shovel snow ... Whatever. Incorporate yourself and you're no longer shoveling people's snow for a living. You're running a business and that makes a difference in employers' eyes.
Laid off today in Ohio. I don't know how extensive this was here. I was told that it was a cost-cutting move, pure and simple. I can't imagine that taking me off the payroll is going to reap huge gains for the company......
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to learn just how dispensable you are, though. I think they made a mistake, but in the end, I guess no one is indispensable when a company is in a downward spiral.
@12:50, was it only your position or were there more from Ohio?
ReplyDeleteQuestion: Jim, do you or anyone else know if any layoffs will happen at the Arizona Republic? It just seems that with the TV station there now that there will be consolidation of reporting and/or editing functions.
ReplyDeleteA bit worrisome...
I could be totally wrong here, but was CareerBuilder mentioned at all in last night's Super Bowl ad?
ReplyDeleteI only saw the ad once - it or a variation may have run twice - and all I recall seeing is the monkeys in the parking lot scene. I didn't see anything about the company.
At my (former) site, I was repeatedly survived the "cost-cutting measures" because my department was already at bare bones. "Too valuable," I was told after the buyouts. "Exceptional work," I was told after the first round of layoffs. "Incredible experience, loyalty, flexibility and skill sets," I was told after the next round of layoffs and the next. That is, until they laid me off. After months with no job, my longtime career just pink mist, I've found contract work since. I'm editing some manuscripts for peanuts, one background Gannett never used me for because I have no degree -- just an evidently useless lifetime of experience and reputation. No insurance benefits, though. At least I can work from home even if the pay is awful. At last I'm free of my health deteriorating, worrying each day, "Am I next? Am I next?"
ReplyDeleteAttention Gannett execs:
ReplyDeletePOTUS is speaking to YOU:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/02/07/obama_corporate_profits_have_to_be_shared_by_american_workers.html
Wouldn't it be great if one day all Gannett employees would simply not work...
ReplyDeleteImagine what would happen. The board would freak out as the stock plummets with the spreading news of a Gannett work stoppage... upper management and mid-level management would be sacked before the day is out.
History shows us that Frank Gannett was a fascist in the 1930s, and only opposed fascism when the U.S. entered WWII. How hard of a stretch is it to see that today's Gannett leadership is cut from the same cloth?
Oh well... most journalists are cowards, I don't really expect any of you to do anything for your own best interests.
9:12 meant ,no doubt ,that he had no access
ReplyDeleteprivileges to web site which would allow him/her to be able to write and save to his website for all to see and read.
Probably his email address and contacts were no longer available to him either .That email account probably was disabled within hours of his depaparture.
That was my scenario just a short time ago.
So if you all have large email contact lists, you may want to transfer them to a private email address.Because they will be gone before you have
a chance to react.
This is what I'm talking about. My mycentraljersey.com - the HNT and CN website - was disabled. The contacts I had on the site are gonzo
ReplyDeleteHeard in the halls that Bob Dickey is leaving Crystal Palace for a bit and is roaming about the Gannett landscape. I don't know where he's going this week but I hear it may be, er, uncomfortable for his hosts. Anyone care to venture a guess? Anyone know what he's up to?
ReplyDeleteWhen I worked there I was taking the name off the website, locking down the email, turning off the phone, and sometimes pulling the name off the parking space within minutes of someone being let go.
ReplyDeleteHere's a question for publishers and other operating committee members; it follows an e-mail exchange with someone close to the West Group:
ReplyDeleteHas Corporate recently asked you for OC organizational charts? If so, why?
Confidential and FYI to very, very senior Corporate staffers!
ReplyDeleteA reader has sent me a photo they say shows one of your college-age daughters taking a hit off a bong -- and it was on their Facebook page!!! Not good for future employment possibilities. (No: I'm not publishing the photo or your daughter's name.)
Helpfully yours,
Jim
Hey Jim, is Rudd Davis in that picture, too?
ReplyDelete[Rolls eyes.]
ReplyDeleteBoy you've really sunk into the gutter, Jim. You should see if TMZ wants to start an outlet in San Fran. You'd be perfect for that kind of job.
ReplyDeleteWhat does that have to do with Gannett? I've never posted before, but that's just trashy, Jim.
ReplyDeleteHey 4:33, take a long run off a short pier.
ReplyDeletelove from journalists who's pencils you're not worthy to sharpen
I like it, Jim.
ReplyDeleteOhio 12:50 the new publisher from St Cloud take you out? I figured they took him from here to clean house in Ohio. Pretty two faced.
ReplyDeleteI have a pointer for any Gannett employee. Take your business cards with all your contacts and keep them in your car. Make a copy of your account list. Make a copy of your outlook address book. I had a good feeling I would be let go and I had everything. Do not keep files toss them. Keep notes for yourself and your accounts. If you are let go contact all your past customers and have them help you look. You should have all the contact info. The close ones stop in and see them let eveyone know Gannett let you go. Do not provide any information to the Publisher or HR and for god sakes do not sign anything. If you are let go leave once you find out. They may ask if you want to stay. You should have everything already. I also would take copies of rate cards and any other information that can help you remember what your current clients are spending. Target those customers the minute you get another job. One way to communicate with past customers until you get a new job is Linkedin.com. Also when hired by a new company radio or whatever send a letter to all your past customers and start pulling them to you. You will not believe how good it feels to walk into a new job and have everything you need to bring your customers back. Good luck. Don't get caught take the stuff out piece by piece. A lot of other places will take you.
ReplyDeleteIn New Jersey, we had several weeks notice, so I had a chance to gather my news clips, phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Anything that can help me get a job in the future.
ReplyDeleteOrg charts have been updated at least annually and in some places quarterly for the last several years.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to 9:55PM's tips I would add:
ReplyDeleteIf you ever use company issued computers for anything personal, whether it's shopping at Amazon, posting to this blog, booking travel anything at all, stop doing it immediately. That computer and all of your personal information goes back to G the day you're laid off.
If you have access to system CDs, be they Mac or Windows, and you have time reformat your computer's hard drive and reinstall the system before returning it. That won't wipe out all of your personal info, but will make it harder to find.
Regarding 10:04AM's advice, the first part is good. I would add that using your company PC/laptop at work to play solitaire, or to mess around with your Facebook page, isn't a good thing to do. It doesn't always go unnoticed by people, including supervisors, wandering past your space. Even though you might be taking a much-needed break, the message, deserved or not, is: This person doesn't have enough work to do.
ReplyDeleteAs regards the second part of 10:04AM's post, I wouldn't recommend trying to reformat or wipe your drive before handing in your computer. It's a big red flag that somebody may be trying to hide something. That's when the drive, rather than being routinely reformatted by a harried IT person for the next user, may be packed up and sent to forensic techs for a real look. Just sayin'.
I AM HEARING RUMORS OF LAYOFFS OF APPROX 4100 BETWEEN NEWSPAPERS N BROADCASTING ANY ONE ELSE HEAR ANYTHING LIKE THIS
ReplyDelete1:02 Nope.
ReplyDeleteTop PointRoll reps from each region have handed in notice to join former managers at new companies, six in total with several more to come. Ops teams are sure to follow. Tafler has not been at HQ for weeks and Conshohocken is a graveyard.
ReplyDeleteGot any Super Bowl web traffic data yet?
ReplyDeleteJim, you missed a big opportunity!
ReplyDeleteYou should have asked the "bong parent" for a "donation", LOL!
Remember, never let a crisis go to wa$te! ;-)
i heard the rumors about the layoffs in few months?
ReplyDeleteSo you know, the Press & Sun Bulletin just deployed the new ContentOne layout.
ReplyDeletedoes anyone see the irony in gannett's jobs 2011 campaign while it is laying off people at the same time? i'm baffled by the corporate logic. yet, it's pleasing to wall street, hence the stock price runup.
ReplyDeletei see all the postings about layoffs and scratch my head. layoffs are coming to each paper as it goes live with a design studio. folks, you have to recognize this. good luck to us all.
Ironic, indeed.
ReplyDelete1:12 - that's priceless! "Bong parent" must be so, so proud -- could this offspring be a future GCIer in the works??!!
ReplyDeleteMcClatchy had a bad earnings report today, with print ad declines continuing at higher than expected levels. Just sayin'.
ReplyDeletei thought once the budget (or whatever) was done at the end of February, My Boss would be updating everyone...so - did My Boss get outed or ousted??? if you're reading this My Boss - still waiting to hear from you :)
ReplyDelete*end of January, I mean...
ReplyDeleteI think it's pertty heartless to keep beating the piss out of "bong parent". Like most of you F**K ups haven't ruined your parents life at one point.
ReplyDeleteNot to mention..... Who hasn't taken a bong hit?
Total non story.
"corporate logic"...isn't that a contradiction in terms
ReplyDelete5:55 PM isn't "corporate logic" an oxymoron? Yea….
ReplyDeleteMy Boss is a she. I am going to drop hints over the next few weeks.
ReplyDeleteAnyone know at what OH paper did 12:50 get
ReplyDeletethe ax?
Something is going down soon in the south, VPs are acting stranger than normal.
ReplyDeleteOh Boy! What a Break! Gannett is coming to 200EVB in Phoenix to film a commercial this Sunday and Monday. They want to shoot employees using iPads, mobile TVs, for a commercial and corporate video. We're giddy with excitement.
ReplyDeleteThe note invited people to come to auditions tomorrow, Wednesday February 10. The director is a guy from KARE 11 in Minneapolis.
A couple of things come to mind 1) What calendar are they using? On most Wednesday is Feb 9. 2) Why do they need to fly someone in from Minneapolis for this? Doesn't KPNX have the expertise to handle it?
Don't drop any hints regarding MY BOSS at all!
ReplyDeleteMe. I've never taken a bong hit. I'm assuming a lot of people haven't, you pothead.
ReplyDeleteTwo readers have now told me that operating committee organizational charts are being reviewed, with an eye toward possibly eliminating some higher-paying positions.
ReplyDelete"I'd say they're going after managers now,'' one of these readers tells me.
These readers haven't given me a timetable on any managerial job reduction decisions, however
For what it's worth, I saw someone working on an org chart at the APP in NJ last week.
ReplyDeleteSorry 11:50 but her time has come. You can't be rude to people and have a secret identity!
ReplyDelete@Jim & others in the know: Us minions hear about the OC, but typically what positions comprise it? Publisher and department heads? We've already had some management trim @ my site since 2008. Not sure what's left to cut.
ReplyDeleteOC is the operating committee:
ReplyDeleteAdvertising Director, Circulation Director, Marketing Director, IT Director, Customer Service Director, etc. This does not comprise middle management managers– which in my opinion, there are too many – no offense to anyone.
Just noticed a new masthead on CN. At the top, Thomas M. Donovan, President/New Jersey Press Media. Next, Hollis R. Towns, VP/Editor and Gary Schoening, Managing Editor of same. PG listed as General Manager/Editor, Courier News, JJC is Assistant Editor, CN. This is new as of Monday.
ReplyDeleteNot one HNT person listed on the HNT's masthead.
ReplyDelete