Thursday, March 31, 2011

March 28-April 3 | Your News & Comments: Part 4

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55 comments:

  1. For Part 3 of this comment thread, please go here.

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  2. Serious question here......Is there anybody out there who sees this company making it in the next five years? And if so, why?

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  3. Hey, Jim:

    Is the person posting on the furlough thread the real My Boss? The sentence structure and references are markedly different (i.e., Gracia instead of Ms. Martore, etc.)

    Also, the self-congratulations don't ring true of past attitudes.

    Can you tell?

    - Just an old reporter askin'

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  4. KPHO TV5 reports that Gannett Local employee in Phoenix is Fired after donating a kidney. Is there more to this?

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  5. I have a question for those of you who are legal minded. There was recently a post speculating about forced salary cuts. How deep would a cut need to be in order for a person to quit his/her job and still qualify for unemployment?

    Typically, you can't quit and collect ... unless your job is changed "substantially." I would think a serious pay cut would constitute substantial change, but I'm wondering how deep it has to be.

    With the furlough this year, everybody is already making about 2% less, so another cut would be on top of that.

    This seems like a really desperate move, as everyone who can is already fleeing the company and most of the talented people who haven't will likely exit as the economy gets better. If this happens, I guess it would be the final indication that Gannett has thrown in the towel and the fat cats are simply grabbing as much cash as they can before the ship sinks.

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  6. 2:46 I think there is more than one My Boss.

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  7. Gannett #12 of top 50 successful digital companies!

    > cue the music <

    Happy days are here again
    The skies above are blue again
    Etc.

    Raises for everyone! No more furloughs! No more layoffs! Your work will be rewarding ,challenging, worthwhile, and appreciated once again without having to do 3+ other people's jobs!

    wait...
    what?...
    oh

    So, until that happens, or the sky falls, or upper management takes the same proportional hit the workers have, take that # 12 ranking and CRAM IT!

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  8. My Boss is correct. The crap that is going on at PointRoll these days is unbelievable. Apparently, all of our fearless leaders Rob, Sarah, Sandy, Catherine, who all thought they had Gracia Martore "over the barrel", have just learned a BIG lesson.

    They are now worried that the promises the Gracia Martore and Mr. Ehrman made are not going to be kept as David Payne has expressed his intentions to replace these mobsters.

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  9. Question for My Boss: are you hearing anything involving salary cuts?

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  10. Layoffs .....
    Friday is new quarter start.
    This is when the crap hits the fan.
    So we should know by mid-week when the
    bad news revenue numbers come in.
    I would guess they will be far reaching as budgets are not being met all over the country
    as far as posters here have commented.

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  11. Friday is not the new quarter start. The new quarter started Monday 3/28 by the fiscal year calendar.

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  12. 2:49AM is correct.

    KPHO is reporting that a Gannett Local ad rep in Phoenix was fired "weeks" before she donates a kidney to someone she doesn't know. The rep has worked for Gannett Local for 7 months and is being fired because she hasn't met her goals.

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  13. The discussion about revenue stressed that what corporate is doing is legal. But is it ethical? We hold people up to these standards in stories all of the time, and regularly hold public officials to account for deceiving the public or dissembling. Shouldn't we hold those same standards to our own company?
    3/31/2011 7:35 AM

    Hard to say if it is technically unethical. I think it is more an act of desperation. Gannett's digital revenues are truly pathetic in this day and age and considering how long they have been in the media business. Gannett missed internet and digital opportunities again and again - and is still missing them. They keep buying these little internet sites and companies hoping that one will be the next BIG THING and all they are really doing is making the owners of those sites and small companies rich. Once those companies come under the Gannett umbrella, what might have been a great start up and maybe could have grown to some significance is in no time squashed, terminated and dissolved into the Gannett machine. They only way Gannett has ANY chance of surviving is that when Craig and crew finally depart that a truly internet savy individual comes into to run the company..... and even then it is probably to late.... and they say; "that shipped has already sailed".

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  14. 2:49AM is correct.

    KPHO is reporting that a Gannett Local ad rep in Phoenix was fired "weeks" before she donates a kidney to someone she doesn't know. The rep has worked for Gannett Local for 7 months and is being fired because she hasn't met her goals.
    3/31/2011 9:30 AM

    As sad and f'd up as that is, there is nothing that can be done about it. That person is being let go because of so called work performance. The most ironic thing is that when these sales reps are let go there is not a single person from the publisher John Zidich to the individuals boss that could have performed better, but because they are in a "better" position they don't have to perform. As you move up at the Arizona Republic you life and job because easier and easier, with less expected of you, since you have more and more to shift blame to that work under you. Sadly a way of life at that once great newspaper.

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  15. sorry about the poor English on the previous post, but I have seen that happen at the Arizona Republic again and again and it is upsetting to see them screw people constantly like they are better than anyone else.

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  16. I've heard about the sales goal-setting. The company is setting up many, if not all, of the sales reps to fail, or to be easily terminated, by setting truly unrealistic goals for them. If they are fired for poor performance, they aren't eligible for TPP.
    The economy has not recovered, and advertisers are not returning as hoped/expected (see Gannett ad revenue numbers). It's not going to be possible to achieve the sales numbers of three and four years ago, and that's what sales reps are being asked to do.
    Why is KPHO courting poor publicity? Can the story be squelched in the newspaper too?

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  17. Wow!
    Just by me reading the above comment(s) give a whole nother meaning to: It's all within reach!

    Um..... reach of the DOOR, that is! SMH

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  18. I feel sorry for the rep that lost her job in phoenix but why does the company have an obligation to keep an employee who is not making goal. Seriously, most workers do their best in the first 90 to avoid termination w/o cause. but the company doesn't owe her because she is doing a gesture of goodwill. Why do half the folks on here think that gannett is a charity - it is a BUSINESS and will be run as a business.

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  19. The Arizona Republic wouldn't report on firing one of its employees. It's a personnel matter. I can't imagine many media outlets would report on firing an employee for not meeting goals. Hell, they don't report on layoffs or furloughs at the newspaper

    KPHO is a competitor to the Republic and KPNX - I'm sure their hook was the whole kidney transplant thing. I doubt they set out to embarrass Gannett Local. Gannett Local is completely able to embarrass itself without KPHO's help.

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  20. Wow. Reading this site every day fills me with despair.

    Gannett is like a house that's being burned down with a lot of people inside it.

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  21. I cannot see sales goals and revenue budgets
    being achieved or even anywhere near being met.
    The local weekly here has an attached shopper,
    which, in 2008 was at 24 pages and front to back filled with ads.Now it is barely 12 pages with pages of house ads and filler.We know that sales goals and budgets are based on previous years,
    so how can that continue when the revenue has been so badly depleated and how do those reps
    continue to be employed with budget down 50%.
    There must be a lot of game playing on their computers as they try to kill time to fill their day.The ads that ,in past just came to them ,
    have are not coming in and with a small business community ,very few new businesses come in.
    So the talk of lazy sales people is pretty accurate in this case.But why are they still employed? That is the question.I guess there are just a lot of sales employees who are just collecting salary and even though commissions have dried up, they get paid for little work.A good gig ,and they just wait for the day that
    management wakes up and gives them the layoff
    paper.Then they can sit and collect unemployment
    for a year or whatever the total weeks are now.
    So why not,it's free money .No self esteem in this method of income ,but I guess a lot of Gannett employees are in this same situation.Just waiting for that layoff day!
    I am a former Gannetteer,I got out and am working
    hard,being paid well and loving it.
    Little stress,no day after day worry about the
    layoffs coming,or more work to replace a laid off co-worker.It is great ,I loved the hard work at Gannett,but the mental stress was not worth any of it.

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  22. goals need to be realistic BUT the thought that the company is setting high goals across the board to eliminate sales people is sheer stupidity. the cost of an open territory is much more than the cost of having a bad rep cover it.

    FOLKS: can you use some common sense prior to posting. And, for those that don't have an understanding of how the total process works at a newspaper - shame on you. that type of attitude is what needs to go.

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  23. 10:18 -- Gannett isn't a business. It has become a personal money-making machine for Dubow and company. That might make it a business had it been created and founded by these people. But the CEO, CFO, etc. are employees the same as everyone else. Only thing is they have so much power that they have corrupted the system so that it only pours money into their pockets and the pockets of the board of directors that supports them.

    Don't kid yourself into thinking this is business. If it was, all of the bonus money doled out to these idiots would have been reinvested in the company or used to pay down additional debt in order to put the company in a better position moving forward.

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  24. Wow, Ariz. publisher Zidich given a new a-hole in this piece. Cronkite School of Journalism really rips into him for conflict of interest:
    http://cronkite.asu.edu/mcguireblog/?p=230

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  25. All hands meeting in Fort Collins going on. 9:15AM meeting announced at 9:00AM.

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  26. For a laugh go here and watch the recruiting video......"Hip, Cool, Fun, We Play at Work"
    http://www.gannettlocal.com/about/work-gannettlocal


    Right!!!!

    All flash no substance....Kinda like Brad R. who runs Gannett Local. And listening to the song it has a subtle message appropriate to GANNET....something about going down.

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  27. If we breach the debt covenants this summer, anyone who was responsible for the decision to reward the top brASS with bonuses should be immediately fired.

    To give money to non-performers while the business' viability takes a tremendous hit is fiduciary irresponsibility at its worst.

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  28. 11:51, what an interesting read! Ha. Did you see the comment by Tom Callinan? It's OK; just a tradition going back for years.

    No wonder newspapers are going down. ...

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  29. Just shows what a bozo Callinan is. Probably best to distance yourself from a mess like this.

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  30. Equities research analysts at Benchmark Co. boosted their price target on shares of Gannett (NYSE: GCI) from $17.00 to $18.00 in a research note to investors on Wednesday.

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  31. Just read the article from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.

    Have to saw that it is right on target and with Zidich's involvement it crosses WAY OVER the lines of conflict of interest. Can you imagine is a lower level employee at the Arizona Republic was involved with this...(they would be fired immediately) but Zidich continues in his role as President and Publisher. Their is such a sense of entitlement and "I'm better than you mentality" with the senior level executives at the Arizona Republic and Gannett itself, that they truly don't see this as a problem. I hope Zidich goes down for this, it is truly showing his "colors" for all of Arizona to see and what employees of the Arizona Republic have know all along.

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  32. Typical Callinan. He couldn't recognize a story if it bit him on the behind. Nothing to see here, sir, just move along.

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  33. Any word on what might be in the works for the
    "EAST" group?. Someone has to know!

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  34. Zidich's excuse is right up there with Pete Townsend's defense of "i'm doing research for a book on child pornography." The problem with the Fiesta Bowl dates back to 2009. Zidich should step down at The Republic.

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  35. Zidich's excuse is right up there with Pete Townsend's defense of "i'm doing research for a book on child pornography." The problem with the Fiesta Bowl dates back to 2009. Zidich should step down at The Republic.
    3/31/2011 2:34 PM

    I agree, maybe this is the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's (Zidich's) back. LOL

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  36. I doubt it. How many boards does Zidich sit on? Quite a few, I think.

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  37. I doubt it. How many boards does Zidich sit on? Quite a few, I think.
    3/31/2011 3:19 PM


    Um, that comment doesn't make sense..It's not that he is on a "board" but on one that is involved in a huge scandal and with the possiblity of a cover up that he may be directly involved in.... are you that blind?? Hello!!

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  38. 3:31....that's the reporter in you. And yes, in a perfect world, those other things wouldn't come into play between right and wrong.

    But, connections, political connections so forth always factor in.

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  39. 3:31....that's the reporter in you. And yes, in a perfect world, those other things wouldn't come into play between right and wrong.

    But, connections, political connections so forth always factor in.
    3/31/2011 3:42 PM

    Why would you assume I am a reporter (not everyone on here worked in the newsroom) I was an advertising manager at the Arizona Republic, and the fact that JZ is on other boards typically would make him toxic to them as well, the dude is pretty much screwed. See ya JZ you Groucho Marx impersonator. LOL

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  40. I read with great interest the situation going on at Pointroll. It sounded very "unGannett, " with comments from My Boss indicating that employees were calling the shots and some of the managers were determining futures and pay structures.

    As anyone who has spent any time working at Gannett fully knows, the GMC has a mindset that every single employee can be replaced. There are no exceptions.

    The only caveat is that the replacing must be done on a timeline that Gracia, Payne, Ehrman, Craig, et al., are comfortable with... not one that is determined by people leaving suddenly.

    At Gannett, you're not allowed to tell Gracia how it's going to be, or how much more money you want to stay on, or what you're going to do next. These are her calls, and the board pays her handsomely to make sure that employees have a healthy level of fear at all times.

    Pointroll managers best be prepared for these lessons.

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  41. Got the word at my La. site that department heads only will take furlough in the 2nd quarter.

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  42. If Zidich does not step down from The Republic, watchdog journalism takes a huge hit. Don Bolles is turning in his grave right now. Shame, shame.

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  43. Fort Collins just got a new publisher? Judi Terzotis?

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  44. Zidich's meddling goes back to the original stories in 2009, not to mention the Fiesta Bowl freebies enjoyed by board members. Journalism is all about the advertisers for that publisher.

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

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  46. Nervous in NJ3/31/2011 9:16 PM

    There were a lot of anxious looking editors in glass offices behind closed doors today at the APP. Is this the prelude to more furloughs, pay cuts or worse?

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  47. 3:11am I think when they say "substantially changed" it would be along the lines of going from full-time to part-time or being moved from a $25/hr computer tech to a $10/hr receptionist. You really have to show a huge difference. Now, the other argument is whether this could be taken as "constructive discharge." That's when management has made it so unbearable that you have no choice but leave. It's also very very hard to prove. You'd definitely need a lawyer if you went that way.

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  48. At our site the sales people and the digital sales people "double dip". My question is how is this possible and is the company counting the same revenue twice. Please help me to understand.

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  49. At our site the sales people and the digital sales people "double dip". My question is how is this possible and is the company counting the same revenue twice. Please help me to understand.
    3/31/2011 9:49 PM


    At the Arizona Republic double dipping was common place, they always said it never was reported to corporate that way, but the same revenue would be double, triple and quadruple counted as well as multiple sales reps and managers would get paid out on the same sale(s).

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  50. Leaving a Gannett East property in a few weeks and looking forward to joining a business venture. Found out at a meeting that I wasn't going to be replaced. Makes me wonder if I were laid off had I stayed, but who gives a rats ass.

    The gates of heaven are almost upon me!

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  51. Anonymous @ 10:18am said...
    ""Why do half the folks on here think that gannett is a charity (?)"

    Maybe its because Gannett's corporate elite treat it as one. Pigs feeding at the trough.

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  52. Kraft shareholder's have a say in CEO pay at shareholder mtng.
    Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0401-kraft-ceo-pay-20110331,0,6393721.story

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  53. Heyward McAlpin is the VP of sales who fired her for giving her kidney

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  54. Heyward McAlpin doesn't know how to run a successful sales organization, and make irrational decisions. He is the Vice President of sales at Gannett Local. No compassion was given to Amy for going through the process of giving her kidney. Heyward McAlpin needs to be fired from Gannett Local.

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

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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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