Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Aug. 1-7 | Your News & Comments: Part 3

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44 comments:

  1. So I'm trying to log onto any of the 10 Wisconsin sites and this is all I see, besides ads:

    ERROR: Macro ody_breakingnews_outage is missing! ERROR ERROR: Object template NewsItem is missing!ERROR: Macro ody_frontpagemainmodule is missing!

    Oopsies.

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  2. Same for Indystar, Courier-Journal and News-Press. Guess I'll have to read Naplesnews. Scripps seems to have a system that works.

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  3. Pretty good blog on the lawsuit that involves USAT charging 75¢ to Hilton guests:
    http://blogs.forbes.com/jeffbercovici/2011/08/02/how-usa-today-slips-82-million-a-year-onto-your-hotel-bill/?partner=yahootix

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  4. Honolulu adds paywall:
    http://paidcontent.org/article/419-honolulu-star-advertiser-latest-paper-to-add-paywall-plus-ipad-incentiv/

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  5. USA Today website policy on comments gets a looking over at, of all places, a comics website. In the wake of the USA Today story on a black character taking over as Spider-Man in Marvel's Ultimates line, the Bleeding Cool website has trawled through some of the racist comments allowed to remain on the website. Here's a link: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/08/02/fear-of-a-black-spider-man/

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  6. Sounds like some layoffs are happening and not being reported here.What's up!!

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  7. The confidence crisis in Cincinnati has turned into an open, pus-filled sore. EVERYONE knows how we're blowing off the Mecklenborg DWI-stripper-Viagra story and giving cover to the blueblood establishment. Meanwhile we write about every lowlife arrested for robbery, sex crimes, etc. and spill the details for the world to see. Mecklenborg is an ELECTED PUBLIC OFFICIAL and if Washburn really means what she said about the importance of watchdog journalism (see her LinkedIn entry!), she will finally step up and order up a 50-inch blowout on Mecklenborg's secret second life. Only then will her staff AND our readers begin to trust her and recognize her as a journalist instead of another revolving-door editor passing through and pleasing bosses on the way to something else.

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  8. Will Gannett stock go below 12 today??
    Time to sell AND get out of Gannett completly!

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  9. @6:25 I came to post that but looks like you beat me to it. What bad timing for Gannett's junk circ scheme to get exposed to the average citizen! lmao

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  10. As of Aug. 1, Asbury Park Press started charging $1 for its daily newspapers.

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  11. Never seen so much building tension. It's like putting a sealed can on a stove and turning up the gas. Cr. you standing too close, cuz it's going to blow both you and Gracia away.

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  12. I heard the firing of Ed Cassidy was the final step in our transformation. Now we are ready to take on the world. Watch out!

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  13. I'm tired of all the complaining about the way Ed Cassidy was let go. The gave him a TOLL FREE number to call to find out about his severance package. They did not make him pay for the call. If that is not sign of a company that cares I don't know what is.

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  14. Thousands do not know who the hell Cassidy
    is ,or care.

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  15. 9:04.....do they have more than 20 pages TOTAL on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays? I watch people not even glance at the front page in a store anymore.

    That said, sales hasn't dropped all that much, which tells me that people still do want a paper, regardless of what the techbrains think. If they'll pay a buck for half the content thay had just 3 years ago, imagine the sales if it actually had relevant articles....and NEWS in them!

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  16. Is Ed Cassidy Stoney LaDouche?

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  17. STOCK PRICE ALERT:
    $11.72
    OUCH!

    Single digits soon.

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  18. Amen 8:52 a.m.
    The least the Enquirer could tell us is what kind of package Mecklenborg will walk away with. I'm not really into knowing about his personal life, but I would like to know what kind of support taxpayers are stuck with with this guy.

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  19. @9:50 - Maybe most of us don't know who Ed Cassidy is, but we DO care, as it's indicative of the way this company treats its people. I've never heard of him either, but he was clearly a very well respected man for his talents and execution, and it's a sad state of affairs the way he was "let go".

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  20. Another day, another useless Veep:
    http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Mitch-Gelman-named-Vice-bw-4034073444.html?x=0&.v=1

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  21. Heck, the way I got sent off after a long, award-winning career would make Cassidy's exodus look like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's Farewell Tour.

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  22. @11:57am....Thanks. I think that was your ass keeping the door from hitting mine!

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  23. Anyone know if a new VP advertising has been hired in Louisville and if so, who? Should be interesting...since Gannett bought the CJ in the 80s, not a single VP adv. has survived or stayed with the company.

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  24. Anybody who is treated badly upon unfair firing should speak up. EVERYONE cares about the way Gannett treats life long loyal employees when they finally decide to dispose of them.

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  25. @9:50 Thnx Robin Pence for stopping by with your usual compassion.

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  26. Detroit Deal Chicken new revenue to date: $7,788.50. Groupon new revenue today on one deal: $7,521.

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  27. The real reason nobody sent out a notice on Cassidy's departure was that the power structure shifted and nobody knew who SHOULD write the memo. Cassidy was a USAT employee but was fired by Banikarim, a corporate executive.

    Hunke probably did not drop the ball on this one. But he was left to clean up the mess.

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  28. Revenue continues to plummett!
    New VPs with 6 figure income skyrockets.
    This all makes sense...if you are one of those getting the big bucks.
    Do they care about poor Joe the family man or woman?Hell no. As long as they can laugh all the way to bank with their deposits. Why?
    Because Joe Gannett worker just stays and stays and does the work of 2 or 3 and does so willing just to stay employed by the mighty Gannett.There are no other places to work and poor robot Joe worker would rather stay til the end rather than leave willingly. So why complain,all Gannett employees ,especially the talented ones,are enablers.They allow these overpaid VPs to get their money because without these talented Gannett workers continueing to put out the best products possible,there would be no overpaid managers because the newspapers could not be produced.

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  29. Top story on Courier-Post internet site? "Coming tonight: Whelihan's bikini contest, round 2"

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  30. Where is Michael Moore when you need him? This Gannett story and how they treat employees would make a great documentary. Evil vs good.

    This is a very appealing film complete with corporate greed, incompetent managers, backstabbing, demise of newspapers, unfair employee treatment, the blog, the whole thing.

    Jim, this could be your next real money-maker.

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  31. 9:40 thanks for the laugh. It's truly absurd we have to call a 1-800 to figure out our severance.

    Enough said.

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

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  33. LEe on verge of bankruptcy, needs last-minute debt swap deal OR ELSE:
    http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/08/03/lee-enterprises-to-swap-debt-or-file-for-bankruptcy/?mod=yahoo_hs

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  34. In other news:

    Sun-Times Media Holdings LLC, publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times and other newspapers, will eliminate 456 jobs at its Chicago printing plant

    Full story found at: dailyjobcuts.com/

    Under August 3, 2011 Layoffs

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  35. Stand by for big layoffs at Phila Inqurier , 1 yr deal with guild expires this Oct

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  36. Everything about firing Ed Cassidy speaks negatively about Gannett.

    Why should people care? He's just one guy. I'll tell you why. This firing represents everything that is wrong with Gannett and its employee relations.

    You simply should not fire great people and leave incompetent people on the payroll. What the heck could Maryam Banikarim possibly know about Ed Cassidy's life long work and commitment to Gannett after only a few months on the job?

    It's just wrong. And the way it was handled was even worse.

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  37. I now know where Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling found the inspiration for her dementors -- the soul-sucking creatures that feed on human happiness. She must have known someone who worked for Gannett.

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  38. Resumes are out. Please, God, get me out of here!

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  39. Imagine the following which might explain and odd, but very possible scenario- Gannet top management has no clue or plans, but wants to simply milk the paychecks for a few more years. They can fire only so many "line-level" employees and to avoid being targets themselves, they hire a new group of senior/middle managers and V.P.'s. In doing this, they could buy years of exciting new people, their respective ramp-up times, time to not perform and inevitably be removed or quit. Look at the past few years and the past few months. Line level employees continue being let go, corporate people remain and there's an ongoing changeover in the middle. It's the demise of an industry giant, but starts making sense when you think about it.

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  40. More on Cherry Hill website:

    1. Deal Chicken showed up for a day or two and nary a feather from the chicken has been seen since. What gives?

    2. Since the corporate-ordered template went in place, the bottom of the home page has featured "real deals" from Indianapolis, IN 46204 and, yes, clicking it does take you to Indy deals. No one at Courier-Post has noticed this????

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  41. Looks like the Kurtz go-slow-so-they-leave-us-alone approach in IT is ending. That is a good thing.

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  42. Time Warner Reports 10% Revenue Increase and Raises Its Outlook http://nyti.ms/p5AOT6
    NYTimes report on TW Q2 earnings.

    Not all media companies are failing.

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  43. Hey 7:47 re: your J.K. Rowling reference –
    I know one USCP executive editor who was commonly referred to as Voldemort.

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  44. If you don't know how to use a computer, please stop trying. You are embarassing yourself.

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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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