Monday, July 11, 2011

July 11-17 | Your News & Comments: Part 1

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43 comments:

  1. Never said that 7:47am. It's just another step into the deep dark abyss all newspapers seem to want to fall into. Why the exggerated knee jerk response?

    People already stopped buying this faux newspaper when it went to 75 cents and cut content at the same time. Others have stopped when they started seeing USA colums and articles say ing if they wanted to buy USA Today, they would.

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  2. It's all trivial,in the Gannett world of layoffs and cut backs.
    What diiference does any of this make if you are on the unemployment roll.
    Think about it,will any of this matter when you are preparing hundreds of resumes and getting no response?
    Why care to even think about what is wrong with Gannett? Does it matter to the the power mongers who are making the layoff lists?
    Hell no.Will the fact that you are dedicated to this company and would do anything to solve the problems help get your keep your name off the upcoming layoff list.NO

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  3. Chicken had all these countdown clocks going in Detroit and Rochester, maybe other places. Now the countdown is over, and there's still no deals.... To think they've been placing her charming picture inside of Sunday newspaper inserts for an entire month and its still not launched.

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  4. The heck with Deal Chicken. Where's the Viagra follow up out of Cincinnati?

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  5. 12:17 Perhaps it should be called chicken shit?

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  6. Jim, you are a witty man.

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  7. This link is just a frickin sad commentary on the state of affairs in NJ Gannettland:
    http://www.app.com/article/20110711/NJNEWS/307110051/Shooting-Wall-leaves-one-critical-condition?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage

    This points to three bylined graphs about a shooting on SATURDAY night in a community that is less than seven miles from Asbury Park's headquarters. This is a middle-class neighborhood, not one prone to violence at all and certainly not shootings. This is news. Couldn't they send a reporter (or an intern) to the area, make some calls to neighbors, work their sources to report something? They have no reporters. They have no sources. This poor kid probably doesn't even know if Wall is in their coverage area.

    This is the bread-and-butter stuff that people are interested in. Putting an incomplete report on your web site isn't going to change the opinion of the former Press subscribers that this company has just plain old given up on its mission.

    Saturday night? And this is what gets reported 36-hours later? Good lord, it's time to turn out the lights.

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  8. Get ready for the single-copy price increase. Default setting: Buck daily, two bucks Sunday.

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  9. Re 1:27 PM - You should read the reader comments to the story. Half (there are 8 right now) point out that the story is so limited and ask where the reporters are.

    Watch out APP your news hole is showing.

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  10. The reason the Tea Partiers do not want a millionaires tax is because the millionaires are the "job creators." How are the millionaire heading the Gannett empire doin at creating jobs?

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  11. 12:17, This is a classic case of a newspaper that was badly beaten on a major story downplaying the story. Good newspapers (and editors) respond to getting beat by coming back with stronger follow-up coverage. No sign of that at the Enquirer. Makes you wonder what in the heck is going on. The Detroit Freep won a Pulitzer thanks to Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's racy texts. The Enquirer could do the same with the texts alluded to by the stripper who posted on Cincy MomsLikeMe.

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  12. You know I'm also finding I am reading the comments more these days. When they first came out, I kissed them off as just empty rants because there was a lot of political screeds on them. Now readers are picking up on holes in stores and elaborating on stories. and ridiculing reporters for getting things wrong or not doing their proper jobs. So if you are interested in the general subject, you get a richer viewpoint thanks to comments. It seems to work. Some papers have very good comments, others not so good. You pays your money, and you takes your chances.

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  13. 1:49 Yes, it's all within reach.

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  14. The APP has few people left who even know anything about Monmouth and Ocean counties. Even if they were to hire kids fresh out of J school there would barely be anyone to train them.

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  15. 1:27...is the shooting a "passion topic" or something people are just interested in?

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  16. 1:29 PM said: "Get ready for the single-copy price increase. Default setting: Buck daily, two bucks Sunday."

    All this Chicken talk, is making me hungry!
    Here a Chick, there a Chick, everywhere Chick! Chic! One Buck, two bucks, everywhere Buck Buck!
    It's gonna drive everybody "cluckin' Crazy" !!!!!!

    Buck-buck-buck-buck BUCK-AAAWWWWW!!! ROFLLLLLLLLL

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  17. Where are the Home News Tribune reporters? Any left after the layoffs? Friday's edition had nine stories with "staff report" attributions and no bylines from HNT staffers in the news section. Hard to believe there's nothing happening in a circulation area of 28 towns.

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  18. Does anyone know if Craig and Gracia are going to visit all the properties? And if they are, why?

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  19. Shakeup on the corporate national team, Colleen Brewer is leaving! Anyone have details?

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  20. http://www.statesman.com/business/statesman-names-veteran-executive-brewer-to-be-vice-1593219.html

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  21. @1:27 a.m., that's been happening for years in Oshkosh, only it's getting worse now. They also run a skeleton of an AP story, that ran in full in Milwaukee's real newspaper. Interesting that readers will post links to the full story that's on jsonline. Who needs us anymore?

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  22. Craig Sevier7/11/2011 6:44 PM

    The news ghostland of Gannett reminds me of a few weeks back when there was a river rescue... not out in the boonies, but conveniently just right downtown. I heard the dispatch on my public safety radios and circumstantially happened to be right there. I saw all the first-responders.

    Maybe I was supposed to stop and take the photos as a reader, rather than a shat-upon former employee.

    After all, I always have a camera (and, no, not a cell phone "camera") in my vehicle.

    Nah. Didn't know if it was legitimate or just a realistic exercise, but I actually still figured with so many witnesses to it that I'd see somethin' about it in the next day's paper.

    Old habits, I guess. Nothing, and the crowds were lining both banks.

    I am NOT slamming the surviving news staff! They've still got some outstanding reporters. Just no bodies to spare unless it's literally a train wreck, while the river rescue was of far more immediate relevance to the "local" news focus we keep hearing about.

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  23. Interesting to note that the Cincinnati Enquirer can't continue to cover the Viagra-popping, drunk-driving state rep., but it can sure feature prominently a number of contributors, read that freelancers, on its web site. Looks like between layoffs and vacations they having trouble filling anything.

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  24. 5:40, that's nothing. Here's the top story on Fond du Lac's Web site, and note that it is now 6:44 p.m. This is the entire "story."

    A severe thunderstorm watch remains in effect until 11 a.m. today for Dodge County, according to the National Weather Service.

    The watch also includes Washington County.

    Milwaukee and other counties in extreme southeastern Wisconsin are under a severe thunderstorm warning.

    WT absolute F?

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  25. Craig Sevier7/11/2011 8:38 PM

    7:44, I'm surprised a Gannett property didn't run a kindergarten-level sidebar about how to stay dry in the rain.

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  26. Craig Sevier7/11/2011 8:40 PM

    Then, again, it's the perfect opportunity to feature wet boobies with Metromix.

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  27. Out traveling this week and happened to be in Indy. Picked up a hotel copy of USAT and a copy of the Star. Hard to tell the difference.

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  28. Groupon and LivingSocial are scraping to offer daily deals in my town. They're getting lamer and lamer. I'm guessing the shine is off those gigs. But if I was a vendor considering a pitch from them, I doubt I'd opt instead for a Deal Chicken. I don't think I'd want my brand hooked up with that. But I'm not a marketing professional like our top-notch guys, so what do I know?

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  29. Two points:

    The Tap that Ad videos are pathetic. Production quality is worse than something you'd find on YouTube. In the Hilton ad, the guy holding the iPad is shaking.

    There are no ads on the USA TODAY iPad app. How could USA TODAY and Gannett miss the opportunity to feature one of its great advertisers on the app? There must be a good reason.

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  30. The absence of ads on the wildly popular USA TODAY iPad app is mysterious, given the app started with ads sold out for months.

    Might be the rate was and is too high, but the app debuted with many ads, and no other news app has topped usat on the I pad for popularity and use ability.

    Yet another blown chance by who else, the advertising department.

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

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  32. The Colleen Brewer departure is significant. Consider how much USCP revenue is at stake now that there is a leadership void? Thought she was a strong sales leader with very influential ties to our largest clients? Hope they announce soon who will lead this sales group that has such a vital role to the company. The impacted revenue is vital to our USCP sites because local sites lack control over these mammoth advertisers. Communication is needed from corporate and the local properties can't continue to hemorrhage national advertisers.

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  33. The Colleen Brewer departure is significant. Consider how much USCP revenue is at stake now that there is a leadership void? Thought she was a strong sales leader with very influential ties to our largest clients? Hope they announce soon who will lead this sales group that has such a vital role to the company. The impacted revenue is vital to our USCP sites because local sites lack control over these mammoth advertisers. Communication is needed from corporate and the local properties can't continue to hemorrhage national advertisers.
    7/12/2011 1:19 AM


    You are kidding right?

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  34. 4:01 p.m. said: "Does anyone know if Craig and Gracia are going to visit all the properties? And if they are, why?"

    Don't know if Craig and company are going to drop in on all the sites, but they'll be visiting Jackson, Miss. Employees at The Clarion-Ledger got this email Monday

    --

    From: "Hurst, Leslie"
    Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2011
    Subject: Gannett CEO to visit

    Everyone,

    Craig Dubow, Gannett's CEO, along with Gracia Martore, president, and Bob Dickey, president of Gannett's USCP division, will visit Jackson Wednesday, Aug. 17. To the best of my knowledge, this will be Craig and Gracia's first visit to The Clarion-Ledger. Bob was here last March for the first time.

    I don't have many details, but they will host a town hall meeting during which there will be a Q&A. I will let you know timing and other details as I know them.

    - Leslie

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  35. Those who have had town meetings with the 3 stooges at other sites. Should Jackson be scared?

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  36. Anyone know what the #'s coming from Leslies team are? Are they up, way up, flat, down or spiraling down?

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  37. 1:27, I got a better one for you:
    http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20110703/NJNEWS10/307030007/Gunmen-leave-1-dead-one-wounded-Plainfield

    The real estate writer (who also blogs about knitting) had to cover this story and apparently there were no editors to correct the missing words, wrong spelling and general disarray of this report. It went online as is, in feeble contrast to the Star-ledger coverage.

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  38. Jim,
    Do you ever think you are documenting the decline of the industry and not just Gannett? Gannett may have particular issues made ripe by bad decisions about leadership over the years, but the bigger issue remains: What is next for journalists who love what they do? If you looked at the trend lines and issues facing Gannett (and toss the extremes), you'd face realities off payroll and revenues. We can beef up the content and get back to basics, but digital media has broken the model. Can it be fixed or rebuild in time?

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  39. "Rebuilt" Sorry

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  40. 7:37 Those are all terrific questions, and I hope to tackle them over time.

    Just FYI: Al Neuharth's son was working on a book two years ago about the fall of the newspaper industry. I don't know where he is on that project, however.

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  41. 3:33 Are they nuts. They bring Gracia and Craig into this climate and they'll get pelted with garbage and won't get out alive.

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  42. In midevil times, the king and his minions visited the throne's outposts to collect their tributes. TThis emperor has no clothes.

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  43. The emperor has no common sense or managerial expertise, either. A pathetic excuse for a ceo if there ever was one. Neuharth would have kept this guy as a sales manager at a local tv affliate.

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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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