Sunday, April 03, 2011

March 28-April 3 | Your News & Comments: Part 6

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43 comments:

  1. How very interesting that Gannett itself has bought up the domain name "gannettblog.com" (according to a whois search).

    http://www.whois.net/whois/gannettblog.com

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  2. Jim,

    I like the new mobile browser format. Much easier to read. Kudos.

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  3. Home Depot, which used to be a big advertiser in USA Today, is shifting its advertising budget online because it gets a bigger bang for bucks spent there.

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  4. State tax benefits banked, Gannett closes Tulsa call center, costing 500 jobs:
    http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=46&articleid=20110401_46_0_Mediag213377

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  5. The Tulsa customer service call center closed 3/31 leaaving another 100+ Gannett employees to hit the unemployment line.

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  6. Anonymous said... at end 3-31 -2011 westchester site lose 100 jobs.

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  7. Which 100 jobs? Are those the truck drivers' jobs getting outsourced?

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  8. Thank you. I've got to research Tulsa to get the final number.

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  9. writing the first draft of history4/02/2011 12:06 PM

    Can you say "corporate welfare?" Enjoy those bonuses Craigy, (dis)Grace and you other Chief Failure Officers. May history portray you as the bloodsuckers you are, feasting on the still living corpse of this once great company while inflicting the death of a thousand cuts on the company, the shareholders and the employees.

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  10. Furloughs are the new corporate crack.

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  11. Still searching for our Steve Jobs.

    But until he shows up, let's endulge in a fantasy.

    Craig, Gracia and Bob, moved by the posts on this blog and embarassed to be lavished with riches as a reward for such brutal cost-cutting, gather Monday in a room near the Blue Ball on their lofty floor of the Crystal Palace.

    They recognize that their bonuses and perks give the impression -- just the impression, mind you -- that they are out of touch or out of sync with the workers and line managers of the corporation.

    They agree, reluctantly, to give one half of their bonuses and stock perks to the Gannett Foundation for a special emergency pool for displaced workers with more than 15 years with the corportation. Local site managers will be directed to send out queries and forms to those laid off since 2009 to make application for grants of up to $10k each. They also direct the pool be used to increase the number of Jennings scholarships offered each year from five to one per GCI unit.

    Sure, it's a loss for their personal fortunes. But they will still keep millions. And, thanks to funnelling this through the foundations, they will see some tax benefit for their effort.

    Finally, on Tuesday, they call Larry St. Cyr and direct him to restore the company benefit of compensating employees for tuition reimbursement, but make it conditional upon said employee longevity. Sure, it's costly. But Larry can find the money somewhere.

    Then, as a act of confidence in the future of GCI, Craig agrees to forgo all salary and bonus, being paid only by stock grant and option. He's going to retire in 24 months anyway, and get his $24 million payout from that, so why not go out as a Steve Jobs wannabe?

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  12. 6:28 -- Tuition reimbursement never went away, at least on a national level. So, if you're site doesn't allow it, that could very well be something only your paper or TV station is doing.

    It would be nice to see the other things you mention happen, but I'm afraid it's a dream. Just thought I would mention that most people can still get tuition reimbursement. I know numerous people who get it at my paper.

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  13. The Tulsa call center closure is old news. As usual, Jim is in the dark.

    Some other people here could stand to light a candle, too. "You're site"? Seriously? "Endulge"? "Embarassed"?

    Look, idiots, you know you can copy your text into Word, spellcheck it, and not look so ignorant? Right? Probably not. You are too lazy, too dumb, and too apathetic.

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  14. 2:33 I believe you missed this, and this.

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  15. 2:33, miserable person much?

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  16. Oh, were, Oh were did the little Ads go, Oh were oh were could they be? Has anybody ever heard of a Gannett's paper doing this. Not have one ad, flyers in a Sunday's paper?

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  17. We see a lot of going on and on and on about the GMC and how horrible they are to the workers of this company.

    Life sucks. Go to a real company.

    What I don't understand is how the shareholders don't see how useless they are? How can you reward someone with so much cash for NOT moving the company forward?

    Why haven't they been removed?

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  18. The fact is 833 is that the GMC and others are doing exactly what the Board and the shareholders desire Clearly. Unequivically. That's the deal. Period.

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  19. Jim, wouldn't a balanced report on job losses include all the new jobs that have been added...like digital jobs which did not exist before. Just asking. There seem to be a lot of job openings posted.

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  20. Rumor has it hundreds of jobs have been added. It's a virtual free pass to hiring.

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  21. 10:27 I would certainly post figures on new jobs added, if I could get that data.

    Consider this, however: Gannett certainly added jobs last year, and hired to fill vacated positions. But the net result was fewer jobs across the company. I suspect that will be the trend for many more years.

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  22. On the Gannett website, under Careers, there are several links to new job postings. Here is a FB page for sales jobs.

    https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gannett-Media-Sales-Professionals/180234201989780?v=wall

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  23. Anyone read Sunday's Doonesbury (4/3)?
    http://www.doonesbury.com/

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  24. Yes, 1:17, and which CEO first sprang to mind upon reading that clever strip? Trudeau had the guy as a banking exec, but, clearly, the lack of values is highly transferable here.

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  25. 2:33 This point has been made several times on this blog, but it worth repeating that there are a number of posters here whose job does not involve writing. I want to hear from them, and I really don't give a damn if they can spell or write properly because I am adult enough to figure it out for myself. We don't want to exclude people who are shy about writing their thoughts. It is the content of the posts, not the spelling or grammar that counts.
    Also, if you download Windows 9, Microsoft now offers a spell check program so you don't have to write in MS Word.

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  26. 3 p.m.: You're wrong. That point is not worth repeating, except for you and the other stupids who try to use it as a defense.

    What is worth repeating: How you present your ideas matters. If they are coherent and without numerous misspellings, you will do better. Doesn't matter if you are "a writer" or not.

    Now -- stop repeating the same garbage again and again. You are wrong. Always have been, always will be. Which is why you fit right in here at Gannett Blog.

    Back to Jim: Yes, you did have a couple of references to job losses in Oklahoma. But wouldn't you have then been on top of the number of jobs at stake? You've had weeks to get that information, you know.

    For someone who claims to be providing all of this vital info, you don't seem to have much of it nailed down. THAT was my point. Sorry you didn't get it, but that is just another day for you.

    Here's a tip, since you seem to have trouble figuring out how a journalist should operate. If you know WEEKS in advance of an event that said event will take place, it's a good idea to start trying to get some details RIGHT THEN. You might not get them all, and you might have to be subtle about how you get them. Based on your posts from a year or so ago, which you titled "How to FOIA (info)," I get the idea that you are not very subtle, and that you think no one else knows how to do those things.

    Let me know if you need any more guidance for how to get information when you have several weeks to do so.

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  27. 4/03/2011 4:58 PM: Most people don't choose to read the negative. Your first graph spewed negative--look back and READ.

    ALL the rest of your words fall on deaf ears BECAUSE no has the time or inclination to read five more paragraphs after that negative. TIP 4 U: Shut UP or write short.

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  28. What is da point 4:58. You want to know how many jobs lost in Tulsa. Check there. You want to know how many were added in Airizona, check there. Is this supposed to bea the bible of everytihg that goes on in the company? I think not. Just sayin.

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  29. Good to know you are too dumb to read more than 3 paragraphs, 5:15. Thanks for proving my point.

    If you and your like wouldn't say so many dumb things, those posts would be shorter. I had to respond to your ilk and to Jim (who is probably in the first group, too), so that's why there was more material.

    Hope this didn't strain your brain too much ...

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  30. what's the story behind the vp/adv in louisville now out? and was there any further info on what happened to the previous pub in ft collins?

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  31. 6:40, I took your advice. The first segment says there are 150 jobs, and the second says there are 500. I'm sure the TV station got the first number wrong, but as usual, Jim was too dumb to confirm the number or to correct it at any point.

    Thanks for guiding me there, though, so I could point out yet another example of Jim's stupidity. Take 5 IQ points for yourself out of petty cash.

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  32. I've already posted some of this on another thread, but I'll repeat it here:



    As I wrote on Jan. 31, the Tulsa, Okla., customer service center had 150 employees when Gannett announced it was closing the operation by March 31.



    However, Gannett said it would add 131 jobs elsewhere in the company. So, the net job loss was 19. These figures are based on a company FAQ leaked to me at the time.

    Originally, the center was to employ as many as 500 people, which is where that higher figure originated.

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  33. In other words, Jim, 6:40 was wrong with his brilliant but lazy suggestion that all the information was just waiting at the Tulsa link.

    Also, good of you to post that correction in one, unrelated place and NOT with the articles themselves! Another wise move on your part, and one that fits right into the pattern of your meticulous care to provide accurate information at Gannett Blog.

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  34. WHERE are new jobs being created? WHERE are new job positions being filled? Not at our site, or any site I know of. Me thinks a troll is posting here again. Yes, Gannett is SO WONDERFUL, you little troll. Full of intelligent people, so intelligent they didn't figure out until the last minute our bandwidth was woefully inadequate to handle the load for us to go to the GPC. We knew about that 3 years ago, BEFORE they took our only IT person. Brilliant, yes, I know, you little troll, but I am sure you think that was in the best interests of everybody. WRONG, AND WRONG AGAIN! So now, two weeks before launch date, we can't launch! Bwahahaha! Who is our back up if we go down and can't print at our off site printing place? Hey little troll, you tell me since no one at my site can tell any of us, no back up plans that any of us are aware of. Hey little Troll, tell me! Water dripping everywhere over our equipment, little troll, this is wonderful, huh? Jim isn't posting this information, I am. He is not distorting this information, I am reporting the truth, something you, little troll, seem to be incapable of doing. Are you one of the over $80,000 a year destined to do another furlough, hmmmmmm?????? Are you being paid every time you make a stupid comment against Jim and this blog???? Hmmmmm?????? When they do hire outside of the company to replace the few that they HAVE to replace, they are completely inferior. A joke. So little troll, trash what I have written, tell the blog I am wrong, when you know every word I write is the truth, plain and simple. Write some of that crap Craigy baby does that says absolutely nothing at all.

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  35. @2:33, @4:58, @8:36 ... I think you might need to experiment with this a bit: http://ex-lax.com/

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  36. damned if 9:07 reminds me of Mike Przyblek, after he'd been to lunch.

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  37. 4:58 et al. Get over yourself.

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  38. I like how the stupids discount the various inaccuracies.

    Jim, there is a huge difference between 150 and 500 jobs. You failed to get the real number, and then you just ran with two varying assessments, just like you usually do.

    Lemming trolls, just keep defending this pattern. This shows what you are about and what Jim is about. He reports 500 jobs will be lost, and the reality is 131. Big difference.

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  39. Jimmy,
    Don't you think it's about time to do a check-in with Ms. Hurst in Jackson? You know she's missing you...

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  40. Ok, so when corporate tells us something that is true, we're supposed to believe it blindly - except when it's false, then we should question it and find corroboration through crowdsourcing of anonymous sources, some with excellent motivation to lie.

    This all has to be reported immediately, or the story is being sat on; but if later information comes to light and the story is updated - well then due diligence wasn't done.

    If errors are found, the entire event string leading up to the error has to be shared, the corrected story rerun in its entirety. Links are not good enough.

    Expecting any payment is beyond the pale, oh, and we'd appreciate it if you would please delete any comments without proper spelling and grammar.

    Does all this seem correct? Because if it seems reasonable, please post your link to your independent website on Gannett. Heck, post anyone else's website. Let's go big - post the link to any one-person website that covers any corporation, enterprise or government of any size - where the above 'reasonable' assumptions work.

    You're expecting NYT-like coverage out of a blog about Gannett. Our papers don't even create NYT-class coverage. If you don't like the sand in this sandbox, feel free to go crap in your own.

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  41. UH-OH!

    Something BIG is about to go down!

    Let me stock up on more popcorn!

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  42. 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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