Friday, July 15, 2011

July 11-17 | Your News & Comments: Part 5

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71 comments:

  1. Do you really care

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  2. Jim,

    Do you think that was the real My Boss posting the other day or some corporate hack?

    Has been a lot of activity from trolls recently. Something must be in the works. I do remember reading on the other Gannett site from a corporate executive that in a year or more we would not recognize the new Gannett. I think this man's words are becoming a reality.

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  3. Amid the talk of furloughs, I wonder how USA TODAY's staff would feel about verticals team members staying at the swanky W hotel in California this month, not to mention other travel plans. Meanwhile, reporters by and large can't get money for reporting trips.

    Perhaps drywall and office-construction supplies are rising, too.

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  4. I'm starting to wonder if the original, "real" My Boss is still with the company. There have not been any recent posts with the greater point-by-point details of late. He/she didn't always have it right....but generally had fairly credible, and juicy, details. No recent posts of that detail has me wondering if My Boss got a pink slip.

    Here come more troll posts and cheap imitations. They've been rampant this week!

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  5. Interesting article posted on the RTDNA website today:

    Staffing and Profitability - 2011 TV and Radio News Staffing and Profitability Survey

    The latest RTDNA/Hofstra University Annual Survey found that 2010 marked a
    turnaround year for local TV news. Stations added 750 jobs last year, recovering all the
    losses of 2009 (400 jobs lost) and making a dent in the 1,200 jobs lost in 2008. In fact,
    the survey found that anticipated hiring in 2011 could bring the industry back to its precrash
    peak by the start of 2012.

    Total local television news employment is now 26,522. That's an increase of 2.9 percent
    in the last year. That's still 1,295 behind the 2007 peak of 27,817. The American
    Society of News Editors (ASNE) reports that newspaper employment rose by 100 in
    2010 (up 2/100 of a percent) to 41,600. That's down from 55,100 in 2007.

    Overall, there are now 745 TV stations originating local news, running that news on
    those stations and another 223 stations for a total of 968 stations airing local news.

    To read the full report:

    http://www.rtdna.org/pages/media_items/2011-tv-and-radio-news-staffing-and-profitability-survey2033.php?id=2033

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  6. 10:46 don't forget the Lemming Trolls, they too are out in force!

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  7. The W is less swanky than the Ritz near Tyson's. That's where Heather puts up her buds when they come in on "business."

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  8. Ritz? Swanky? It's in a shopping center which is half empty because it has so few customers.

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

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  10. How come anyone who defends the company is considered a corporate troll? Gannett still has many things going for it and I am happy to be working for the company. I don't work at corporate, I'm at one of the sites and I will continue to defend the company when I think it necessary because I like Gannett.

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  11. 11:27, please share what Gannett has going for it. I need some inspiration. I'm hoping your enthusiasm is contagious.

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

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  13. What is the coventry thing? Jim, please explain or stop allowing these insider comments.

    I used to stay at the Ritz at least once a month. For a few years. The price was no more than the other nearby hotels (esp. since I got free shuttle and free bottled water) because we got a good deal, but I didn't much like it. Stuffy, and no loyalty points! Didn't stop staying there until 2010.

    Now I stay at nice places, but my savings is paying for it, not Gannett. (Color me GONE. And no, not because I stayed at the Ritz. That was a decision my boss made, not me. It was routine. I never ate there, though! Pricey and not much good! I do miss that seafood place a block away; it was tasty.)

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  14. 1:24 I loved that seafood place. It closed!!!

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  15. 9:59 Yes; I genuinely care.

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  16. If you like seafood, have heather taken you out on her expense account. She and her crew spend plenty of time dining out instead of actually working. Matt, christine, hello? Better yet, have Gracia fly you up on the corp jet to her pad on cape cod. The fresh fish is to die for. Just ask her.

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  17. 10:15 I never know the true identity of posters to this site, unless they ID themselves privately in an e-mail to me.

    If you are referencing a post about rumors of an impending layoff of 1,100 employees, I have no direct knowledge of that.

    But I've heard second-hand of an impending and possibly sizable layoff within the South Group. I have not confirmed that, however.

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  18. 1:24 I Googled that word and found this.

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  19. Duh. Original estimate by My Boss 5000, and we've seen only perhaps half of that, so one shoe, maybe two left to fall. My guess on My Boss has always been some exec motivated by an effort to try and head off what he/she sees as a debacle. It didn't work, ergo he/she has withdrawn and is regrouping and not ready to drop something new. His/her idea didn't work, so why bother posting here again.
    As for id, I have seen this before. Nice try. No cigar. I am involved in something much bigger and more interesting, and this is one of the things I do in a multitasking life. You have already come about as close as you ever can.
    BTW, Siever isn't Belgian/Flemish, it is Franco-Norman, probably St. Malo area maybe Mt. St. Michel. In addition to being a link to a fishing net, it could also be a condom. They have a peculiar wry sense of humor there, and the priests at Mt. St. Michel had mistrssses. They laughed back then, for god's sake.

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  20. Why does Gannett treat municipal reporters with such disdain? The thing I keep hearing from people all over Monmouth County in NJ is that there's nothing to read in the paper. What they mean is, there's no local news, nothing about my town or even the surrounding town/region interesting enough to make me keep a subscription. Why doesn't Gannett understand that no one buys a local paper for national and world news anymore? Municipal reporters are the lifeblood of any paper. If you axe them you destroy your newspaper, simple as that. Whatever strategy that Gannett brain trust is going to dream up with "passion topics" is going to be so much perfuming of manure. You can't fix the fundamental mistake they've been making for the past several years beyond the obvious: Hire more reporters, restore the value of your products.

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  21. p.s. Since we have the trolls locked up in Coventry for the time being (I can hear they are trying to get out), can we all get back to figuring out what the hell we are going to do to straighten up this company and get everyone to sail a true course? It's a hell of a blog, so let's have some ideas/posts.

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  22. ANONMOUS SAID... WESTCHESTER SITE 7-15-11 TEN EMPLOYEES LEAVING TODAY AS PART 47 EMPLOYEES BEING SHOW THE DOOR. AND TWO WEEKS AGO 1 H.R MANGER LEFT AND H.R DIRECTOR ANNOUNCE RETIRING AND FEW MORE LEAVING AT END MONTH 7-31-11 IT IS AND DISGRACE AND SHAME AT THIS GCI SITE.

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  23. Thank God for people who STILL POST IN ALL CAPS.

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  24. 7:28 No, th
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Send_to_Coventry

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  25. What's with all the deleted comments from yesterday?

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  26. Just because you have reporters, doesn't mean they can write, and just because you have people called editors, doesn't mean they can edit.

    Twelve months ago, XXX XXXXXX took the reigns of an XXXXXXX public school system battered by years of frequent leadership changes, perennial budget cuts and divided public support.

    Ah yes, the old reigns versus reins debate. Whatev.

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  27. 9:36 I removed a lot of off-topic nonsense, following a request from several readers.

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  28. Unfortunately, some of the several readers were the trolls launching a misinformation offensive because they were trapped and surrounded. Bet they are regrouping.

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  29. Keep deleting all that junk, Jim. It's like the Russkies trying to jam Radio Free Europe.

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  30. My Boss left the company several months ago. All the pretenders that have followed are just trying to roil things.

    This blog is at an all-time low the last few days, by the way. Especially at a time when big unpleasant things are really happening and there's no need to make things up.

    As for the trolls, please Jim keep weeding out the noise, as 11:30 says.

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  31. @11:46, what big unpleasant things are really happening? All seems quiet at our place.

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  32. Well let's see: 700 people laid off, maybe more to come; furloughs in Detroit (maybe more to come); consolidations of production, design, editing which may bring efficiencies but are surely aimed at reducing staff; how to do better with less as the new mantra.

    Things like that maybe?

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  33. Does anyone have any news on the phoenix ad production department consoludation?

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  34. It is interesting the Examiner media chose Westchester to launch a new site - it shows that folks are still hungry for printed news and that advertisers will still pay to reach that audience. It is a shame to see what has happened there....my experience there was a great one and worked with some exceptional people as well (it was during the Sherlock days, and yes, if you weren't prepared Gary could be quite the pill but he knew the business and we certainly had a solid team while working very hard (and it being enjoyable) and making a good profit as well.

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  35. @12:16pm There are also 23 patch sites in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam (so far) and they are filling the huge void being left by TJN.

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  36. In addition to Patch, a new hyperlocal group of news sites for 31 towns in Westchester just launched. Could be the final nail in the Journal News coffin...

    http://www.thedailywestchester.net/

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  37. To be honest, if I had an earnings call come up I would try to populate a contrarian blog like this with a lot of off-topic nonsense, homophobic claptrap, etc. The result being that should the topic be brought up by an analyst, corporate could be dismissive of the entire blog by pointing out the silliness. Likewise if an analyst does a bit of homework before the call, they question the relevancy/accuracy of the information here.

    By making the site seem irrelevant, the corporate talking points stand on their own.

    Is this definitely the case? Who knows. But even those of us with aluminum foil hats know that PointRoll has crude and vulgar marketing campaigns and we're flying editors instead of videoconferencing -- regardless of who has been sent to Coventry.

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  38. That's an interesting theory, 1:16. So interesting that it's time to unveil a new feature: The Cracker Techniques. As necessary, a cracker "holding" technique will be described.

    West Hollywood Squares: The standard carrying technique. A saltine is placed into the carrying area. Very cheap but very popular.

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  39. Perhaps Gannett faces this kind of future as they starve the company before dumping it ... Journal Register Co., emerging from bankruptcy, bought by a hedge fund. Top people preach digital first, accepting that they will run the company on digital dimes rather than newspaper ad dollars. Newspapers are starved while the big shots get big salaries (digital dimes don't apply to their paychecks). They'll say/do anything about a bright digital future while people at their sites are serfs.
    http://paidcontent.org/article/419-digital-first-journal-register-sold-to-hedge-fund/

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  40. @12:43 p.m. - lol, I clicked on http://www.thedailyrye.com/ and was struck immediately by a few things. One, why are these sites trying to look like USA Today? Two, true to form to hyperlocal crap, the main story is a totally uninteresting piece on two old guys who like to chill at the senior center for the cheap eats. Seriously.

    --"I just come here to eat," said Rye resident Bill Malin, who paid the suggested donation of $1.50 for a slice of turkey, sweet potatoes, canned peaches and milk.--

    Please, no one wants to read shit like that. This is why I think hyperlocal as a news trend is going to die a horrible, flaming death in a ditch sometime in the next 2-5 years. The sad thing is what will happen when Patch goes down and takes 800 people with it.

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  41. Wow. Google's stock rose $69 a share today, closing 13% higher after an unexpectedly strong earnings report.

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  42. $9 Billion in revenue will do that to a stock.

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  43. Jim @4:43 p.m. -- so maybe Google will buy GCI and run it as a public service to prove that they aren't evil, as there motto famously says?

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  44. Has anyone heard anything solid about company wide about layoffs/furlough? Arnie is quoting the typical corporate line and I'm seeing numbers thrown around but nothing solid except in specific locations.

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  45. I'm hearing 4 day work weeks (32 hour pay days instead of 40 hours) are ahead. Anyone else hear this?

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  46. @6:21 p.m. - Not sure if you can do that to your labor force as a way to avoid paying them health benefits.

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  47. Jim,

    Here's interesting perspective from a reader in Wilmington:

    "We've seen so many changes with the paper over the last couple years in their frantic attempt to save money and retain subscriptions from a dying populous who receives the actual newspaper (like us) vs. those who get it on-line."

    Wait until this reader sees what Stoney LaDouche and Ledford have to do to make room for passion topics. WOO-WEEEE!

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  48. @6:21, is this for all papers and all positions or a just a select few? When are you hearing this is going to start?

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  49. Asking 6:21 for more details is really silly.

    Just someone posting a rumor. Really, people.

    This blog IS valuable and lots of great information is revealed here. But please stop reacting to every idiot who posts something.

    It's the preponderence of evidence, not some bored guy posting an empty warning.

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  50. Same old story. 6:21, post a source or admit you're flinging B.S.

    No source = falsehood. This was proved with the lies about layoffs at The Tennesseean a couple of weeks ago.

    Great moderation as usual, Jim. Way to keep that credibility below sea level.

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  51. 6:21, wrong. No talk of going to reduced hours.

    Signed, I like Gannett

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  52. 11:34,Gannett has several things going for it.
    Strong employees
    Billions of revenue and strong margins
    Great brands
    Top notch journalism
    Good sales teams
    Very strong websites and traffic
    Excellent partnerships
    Strong future

    Signed, I like Gannett

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  53. The 32-hour workweek rumor comes and goes each quarter.

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  54. I haven't heard anything about schedule changes at my location but I think it's wrong to chastise others for sharing information simply because others have lied before.

    I would like to hear, even if it is hearsay. At least I can be on guard.

    I realize some readers here don't like information without direct sources but you scare off a lot of people who are new here and don't understand how things work. If you nit pick at everything you will eventually cease to get any information. Rudeness is unnecessary. I shared the information with jim about the courier meeting and in return I was called a troll.

    It does make me eager to share anything else. I do have things I could share but what's the point when you're called a liar regardless. :/

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  55. How in the world can you possibly feel good about Gannett? How many co-workers have you lost. you have seen profits decline, there is no real plan for this company. PLEASE tell me the good you see?

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  56. Craig Sevier7/15/2011 11:13 PM

    10:08, personally I admire a commitment, this ideal I had before I found myself cast overnight to a gutter -- well known at my site, absolutely anonymous on curbside.

    "What? You want to cash out your 25-year pension? We'll get lickety-split right back to you... umm... except we outsourced all that trivial stuff you earned to receive it. Not our prob."

    If only Gannett was all that is described clearly by this notoon such as 10:08's, who grasps the irony and might regret, as I, those cited qualities gutted like a slaughter -- brains hydraulically hosed out of skulls to another tier of zero income.

    Per chance if these radical concepts of 10:08's could be ramped, say, upstairs!

    Oh. I see.

    Never mind.

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  57. Craig Sevier7/15/2011 11:17 PM

    Like Gannett? As a major public trust, I think its board of directors should brought up on treason. Look it up.

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  58. With every passing day, the end of Gannett comes closer.

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  59. @10:08, 11:34 here. I happen to know some of Gannett's strongest employees and they're all looking to get out. I'm talking about Publishers, Directors, several people in Editorial, Advertising. The biggest problem Gannett faces right now is that nobody understands the direction Corporate is taking this company in and it's frightening.

    If there's billions in revenue and strong margins, why is there a third furlough, or any furloughs at all for that matter, especially when the corporate execs are taking all money saved by way of a bonus?

    Top notch journalism? At the various sites I've worked at the communities complain loudly about how horrible the papers are. Circulation is declining rapidly.

    I wish you could have shared Gannett's vision with me instead of its pipe dream because I, too, want to like Gannett again. Unfortunately, you haven't convinced me that there is anything new in the works so I'm still looking to get out too. I wish Gannett luck.

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  60. Hey 9:59!
    Those layoffs in Nashville did happen; they just happened in the last week of June instead of the first week of July.
    Better to save another months worth of Health Insurance payments.
    If you are going to complain, at least know your facts. Everyone is entitled to their own truth...but there is only one set of facts.

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  61. That post about how great Gannett is actually is what corporate SHOULD be saying.

    The problem is, they can't say that and then in the same breath order furloughs, worry about too-high payrolls, cut journalism and production, scrimp on website development and paint an internal picture of we're going out of business.

    They can't have it both ways. we're either a surviving, vibrant company or a shrinking, dying enterpise. They need to pick one and act accordingly.

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  62. Exactly right @12:25. I was really hoping 10:08 would tell me something new that would renew my faith in this company. I like my job, but I don't like Gannett anymore, and I don't have the faith in this company to stick around and ride out the storm.

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  63. Craig Sevier7/16/2011 2:14 AM

    The corporate folks remind me of the skinny kid whose dad bought he or she some four-grand Eddy Merckx EMX5 just to watch, guaranteed, the kid make it a write-off for the sake of dad and mom who think instead they, passion long absent between the two, will just have another since first idea failed.

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  64. Jim, are other newspapers consolidating their sports departments into regional clusters? Or is this just unique to use in Elmira, Ithaca and Binghamton?

    http://www.journalismjobs.com/Job_Listing.cfm?JobID=1269793

    http://www.journalismjobs.com/Job_Listing.cfm?JobID=1269791

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  65. I think 10:08 p.m. was tipping a few on a lonely Friday night. And I don't mean cows.

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  66. Gannett has ruined every paper it's taken over, and if you look at their individual histories, nearly every single one of the owners who sold - at some point - say they regret doing so.

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  67. Heh 2:14 Severe, what the he'll is that the longest Haku in history!!!

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  68. Craig Sevier7/16/2011 9:11 PM

    Thanks, 8:13. Someone with a sense of humor!

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  69. Craig Sevier7/16/2011 9:12 PM

    I mean 8:31.

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  70. 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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