[Hunke, Frank]
USA Today Publisher Dave Hunke has lavished big bucks on a still-unproven concept for ginning up more ad revenue and readers: so-called vertical websites. The paper describes them as "vertical content experiences that expand our relationship with consumers and provide new integration opportunities for advertisers." He's put Vice President Heather Frank in charge.
How's it going? Some relevant numbers:
2
3
173
257
$2,491,765
how much Hunke got paid last year
USAT Watch is an occasional progress report on a high-profile reorganization launched in August 2010 to boost advertising and readership at Gannett's struggling marquee daily.
Dear Heather,
ReplyDeleteYikes! 257 days is equivalent to seven years in Internet time.
What the heck have you been doing all these months with those three other verticals?
Some day,
ReplyDeleteShe'll be
Living in a great big city
And all you're
Ever gonna be is mean...
To Jim, with apologies to Ms. Swift
Deal Chicken to the rescue!
ReplyDeleteJim,
ReplyDeleteAre these "Verticals" for real? "Your Life" has the weakest compilation of stories I've ever seen.
I've never visited one of Gannett's "Verticals" until tonight. My god.....here's some front page stories -
1. Healthy Nails are within reach
2. Uninterrupted Sleep critical for memory
3. Avoiding Ticks and .....
4. More Grandparents take on parenting
If they expect these sites to become "Favorites" in everyone's list and generate ad revenue they are mistaken. If I have a nail or tick or bed bite problem I'm using Google for problem solving info.
I've heard that the page views on the Verticals are really low.
ReplyDeleteAwful doesnt begin to describe this hot mess, inept, lazy management. Lousy concept, poor execution and no hope for a turnaround with heather or her current crew, nno one outside her AOL mafia can stand her.
ReplyDeleteSorry about the earlier typos. Texting in the car when you are angry is not a good thing. But like anyone with a hint of pride in what remains of USA Today, I am upset about the brand damage Heather and her team of no nothings has done to the paper. I can handle her roughshod treatment and imperial attitude (my people MUST have their own offices!). But the drek on the verticals is crazy, stupid batshit. Women arent interested in our crappy pieces about nails and recipes. We used to have a sophisticated audience of men and women. But her editorial decisions are as big a joke as her management team. She must really have something on Hunke to last this long with so little tangible results.
ReplyDeleteWhy did Heather kill the perfi vertical? Jealous of Mindy Fetterman, who sold more ads than her entire hand picked team? Isnt the point of the verticals to bring in new ad revenue, or is it to build personal fiefdoms composed of BFFs? Heather, please clue us in on your strategy.
ReplyDeleteIt is clear that Plan A isnt working. Is there a Plan B?
ReplyDeleteSince when does Gannett ever think beyond a few months how many extra papers they will sell with one of their lousy gimmicks?
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of when they started their "Information Center" stuff. Management divided the newsroom into several separate entities, mixing reporters, copy desk people, sports people, photogs and graphics people all into a group of teams. Kind-of like the Laff-A-Lympics. Each team was supposed to implement a part of the "Information Center" concept.
Only, hardly anyone had any time to do any of the stuff, and only one team ever lasted more than a few months. That idea, like every other lousy idea, faded away.
11:12 If the personal finance vertical has been canceled, what's the new lineup? Does Fetterman return to reporting? What public explanation was given to staff for canceling this one?
ReplyDelete@11:42 p.m. I was in a newsroom when they transformed it into an Information Center, and it was a hot mess. I will say that just about the only good thing that came out of the chaos, at first, was the ability to respond quickly to breaking news situations and getting stuff up on the web. But this was done at the cost of taking away resources from day-to-day town coverage, which I personally believe is what people need if you're going to keep your newspaper viable. Once they started slashing positions though the whole concept ceased to function.
ReplyDeleteHunke makes $9,800 per issue?
ReplyDeleteVerticals? I guess I'd know what those were if I ever had reason to go to the USA Today website. Too many other quality websites to get information from to use McPaper.com
ReplyDeleteHunke's Plan B?
ReplyDeleteRetire with a smile on his face and a spring in his step while the rest of us clean-up the mess from HIS disaster. That's the way of things, unfortunately.
Will that mean new appointments? Vice president for post hunke cleanup and a chief morale officer? How about a senior management team deconstruction officer?
ReplyDeletePost Hunke, we will need a SVP of Reconstruction. Person would be responsible for re-investing in our core brands, communicating a cogent vision to the staff, and providing the excitement necessary to really motivate people.
ReplyDeleteI would love to hear exactly what our mission is and how we are to execute. I would like to know what justifies 15 vice president level titles with nebulous job duties. I would like to know why Heather Frank is in charge of an operation that is drawing few readers and fewer advertisers. I would like to know when susie ellwood will be introduced to editorial staffers. She has been here over a month. Is hunke that afraid of meeting with the paper's staff?
ReplyDeleteWait until Heather submits her five figure expense report for her team's trip to L.A. ka ching!
ReplyDeleteFetterman is in the Twilight ZOne, that strange limbo area between far fetched dreams (the fantasy of Ms. Frank's vertical strategy) and reality (a putridly dated concept run by lazy incompetents). Hey, at least she is drawing a DME sized salary for doing nothing. Like all the rest of the AOL mafia who dont deal with her because she isnt liked by Heather.
ReplyDeleteAll these comments have me wondering what is being done to corral this management mess. How long will this be allowed to go on? When can we expect advertisers? Does Frank and her team need to be replaced? If so, when, and should it be with someone with an actual news background?
ReplyDeleteUSA to Nation's Newspaper: "Yawn."
ReplyDelete3:54 pm asks "Does Frank and her team need to be replaced?"
ReplyDeleteWell, that's just crazy talk (heavy sarcasm)!
Most of us just laugh when heather walks by. Despite all the power grabs, we see through her b.s., unlike the Hunkster.
ReplyDeleteShe doesnt walk. She is carried, cleopatra like, by her AOL courtesans. Let the rest of the staff walk while her Highness' royal offices are constructed.
ReplyDeleteThe entire ex AOL crew have that sense of entitlement about them. Is that to mask a lousy work ethic?
ReplyDeleteI have to laugh when I hear about all these ex-AOL folks walking around. AOL....really? Didn't AOL have the market by the balls a few years ago only to be crushed to dust by Google, Yahoo and MSN?
ReplyDeleteThey may have once had the market by the balls, but this entire crew was out of work, AKA consulting, before being revived with non descript $100k plus jobs here.
ReplyDeleteHunke has everything under control for reviving the moribund verticals. He is bringing in several more vice presidents to accelerate business initiatives, content interfacing and cost expansion management.
ReplyDeleteJust a thought, but why does no one offer support of top management? Surely they've done something well other than upsetting most of the workforce. Anyone? How 'bout the new guys? Come on! Speak up!
ReplyDelete5:46,
ReplyDeleteYeah, that was kind of my point. We brought in a bunch of people who gave-up a dominant market position to three other companies. And these are the folks that will transform USAT? God help us......