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Sunday, July 17, 2011
25 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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Worst. Graphic. Ever.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wusa9.com/news/article/157281/189/Baby-Left-Unattended-In-Bathtub-Dies-Hours-Later
9:27 - did they have an instrumental 'Tiny Bubbles' as lead in/out? And did this come out of a consolidated graphic design center?
ReplyDeleteHOLY SHIT.
ReplyDeleteLougee should write an apology to the entire DC market. That is horrid.
WV: "ferts" -- what I get when I see crass, sophomoric graphics like that one paired with the story of a child's death.
Why don't you all just get the hell away from Gannett.You have had 3 years!to realize that your job at Gannett will not last.And even if it does, and you are unfortunate enough to be one of the chosen few...will you want to live with the workload of 4 or 5, and that kind of stress forever? My God ,get some self esteem and get away.Sure many will say...but I have bills to pay,kids to feed.Well what have you been doing for 3 years? Praying that you won't be next to be pushed out !Jesus!you would think Gannett is the only employer left in the whole USA.
ReplyDeleteHey 9:53 -
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with the concept you promote, for many, it's just not a possibility. Especially for the older segments of the work force, many of whom have not been given any useful training in all the social media crap that Gannett seems to think will be their saving grace.
That's the bitch slap Gannett rewards their longtime dedicated employees with. They'd rather kick to the curb the senior help and hire new (cheaper and younger) staffers because it makes the bottom line look better.
9:53 here.
ReplyDeleteI apologize to the long,long time Gannetteers.
You have dedicated your lives to Gannett and now what else to do .Sorry,Gannett is such an
uncaring ,cold employer.
Hey 10:28, man and/or woman up, ok? 9:53 is tossin' out some needed tough love to the hopelessly defeated, 'woe is me ... Gosh, we're just too old ... Gosh, we just haven't aren't getting the training we need ... Gosh, life sure isn't fair ...' types like you.
ReplyDeleteGet over the age thing. There's a whole, wide global world out there now thanks the the computer you're using right now. You can work for yourself and your employers wouldn't even know or care what you look like or how old you are.
Gannett's not "giving you" the training you need? Then go out and get it yourself. What's stopping you?
I love your line about not getting "useful training in all the social media crap ..." Hello? You're using social media right now. It ain't exactly brain surgery, is it? Besides, it's a constant moving target. By the time you'd get any of this formal 'training' you'd seek that you think would magically transform you into a viable job candidate, everything about social media will be different.
So stop feeling sorry for yourself. Stop making excuses for you and the others who remain chained to Gannett in this non-stop game of career Russian roulette that exists there, and take advantage of the opportunity of having a job now for developing a "real" exit plan. Like 9:53 says: IT AIN'T LIKE GANNETT IS THE ONLY EMPLOYER IN THE WORLD!
You know, some people just love working at a newspaper. I did for 20 years, and I loved going to work every day. It's challenging, it's fun, you have a sense that you're doing something important for your community, you meet a lot of interesting people, there's great variety in the work, there's a lot of humor and camaraderie in the newsroom.
ReplyDeleteI did finally leave the business a few years ago, for many of the reasons people here have discussed. (I wasn't with Gannett by then.) Worry about the future of newspapers, concern that I might be targeted as an older, higher-paid employee, a sense that the work didn't matter as much to the public as it once did -- you know all the reasons.
But I can't criticize anyone who hangs on because they love it, even with all the growing frustrations they're experiencing. I work in marketing now, and my job is much more stressful than any newspaper job I ever had. Yes, it's certainly possible to start over -- I did it. But working at a newspaper is the most fun and least stress I'll ever have in my working life.
Sure, it's fun, 11:24. But those who hang on -- especially in this company -- without even pro-actively assembling their next plan aren't doing themselves any favors, are they? I mean, what else do CD and Co. need to say or do to send the message that they have utterly no respect or concern or regard for any employee out there and that everyone who isn't CD and Co. are all highly, highly expendable.
ReplyDeleteOh my freakin' god, what in the world does that awful graphic contribute to the story? I am stunned.
ReplyDeleteAlso, in this sentence from the story, do the addresses really go that high in that area? Or should it be "1800 block?"
The possible drowning happened in the 18000 block of Cottage Garden Drive on Sunday at approximately 3 p.m.
The real problem is people here have had 30 months to do something resembling a professional response. Instead, they hang out here and make anonymous comments about managers.
ReplyDeleteGrow the hell up.
Hey, I can't see the graphic. Did they take it down? Did anyone get a screengrab?
ReplyDeleteBaby drowning graphic has been fixed. The original was a cartoon of a bathtub with bubbles hovering above it...
ReplyDeleteYes, really.
The original bathtub "graphic" was indeed horrible. And to think that story's been up since July 4!
ReplyDeleteMurdoch journalists hacking phones. Jounalists breaking the law!!! Jim no conversation about that. You live to write about your union brethren
ReplyDeleteMy old colleague Charles Apple posted the baby drowning article with the original graphic on his blog. To understand the angst, go here:
ReplyDeletehttp://apple.copydesk.org/2011/07/17/what-a-horrible-offensive-even-use-of-stock-art/
Also, for those who feel the need to slap distressed workers over 50, you aren't living it so you just don't know. It's worse than you could ever imagine. Please do us the greatest favor of shutting up about that which you do not know. Thank you. I feel better now.
Thanks for the link to Apple's blog. I just can't even fathom why anyone thought that was a good thing to do.
ReplyDeleteApple also notes that the story and bathtub graphic got posted on the widely read Fark site, where it's now received tens of thousands of clicks, and more than 130 comments.
ReplyDeleteJohn Reinan. Glad to see someone else posting a name.
ReplyDeleteI have posted mine ever since I was accused with the cheap shot of certainly "hiding" behind anonymity and being "outed," which one will note this tact has just been lodged against another poster in this very thread.
I just thought that "anonymity" was the style of the blog, a prudent option in which to express the First Amendment (sad, that), and the only source of information most Gannettoids have, regardless of the source's "win some/lose some" accuracy.
To those still in Gannett's clutches, it's not that big of a deal if you're in your 30's. Work is out there. But it is a bleak story if you're over 50. Very bleak.
Upside is that by this age, one should have some pretty good savings, quite unlike the 30-somethings. Me? I'm enjoying the lack of stress and chagrin -- a vacation, no matter how indefinite.
To the subject, the graphic: yeh, someone could easily post the graphic they did because they were probably being screamed to post "anything! anything!"
ReplyDeleteCorporate only wants time posted. Not content. Ever. Not content. I heard this complaint often at the Reno site, usually mutter under so-and-so friends' breaths.
And I bet then the guy or gal got reemed for doing just that (probably young, with a rubber-stamped journo degree), following the time posted deal.
Ohio state Rep. Robert "DUI Viagra" Mecklenborg resigned today, though the Cincinnati Enquirer continues to censor the Viagra hook in this story.
ReplyDeleteRe: WUSA. There is hardly anyone left on staff and all they can do is shovel the &^%&. Remember Jim's post of Washington Post story from 2008: Under an agreement this week with labor unions, Gannett's broadcast flagship will become the first station in a major market to replace crews with one-person "multimedia journalists," who shoot and edit stories single-handedly, The Washington Post says today. The station -- which is running last in the local ratings -- also plans an across-the-board cut in reporters' salaries as it increases their responsibilities. Multimedia journalists will earn 30% to 50% less than what traditional reporters have been earning, with salaries topping out at around $90,000 annually, the Post says, citing sources it doesn't identify at the station.
ReplyDelete11:52, you are a piece of crap. What's the saying here of late -- you've been eating "tainted crackers" or something? Not sure what that means, but I bet it applies to you.
ReplyDeleteChucky, thanks for the link. Also interesting that they aren't allowing readers to comment on the story.
ReplyDelete10:28: A worker in his 50's here. If you think it is any better for the "young kids" in their 20's at GCI, it is not. They earn frighteningly low wages, are given little to no mentoring to improve their skills and have to shoulder a huge workload.
ReplyDeleteYou would be surprised how many talented young journalists have not only fled Gannett (hello AOL Patch) but some have left the field entirely.
And while the free market types might cheer at that news (yes I do cheer when they leave for a well deserved bigger paycheck)it doesn't bode well for journalism, because we are bleeding talent and watching the future of the industry (whatever it becomes), march out the door.
Keep eating the young, mother Gannett.