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Wednesday, August 31, 2011
42 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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Period 8 was very BAD.
ReplyDeleteThe Quarter 3 looks VERY bad. Any projections as to what might be the final solution?
How are you in a position to know how the periods and quarters look?
ReplyDeleteCan we get some detail on layoffs in Phoenix (again).
ReplyDeleteI would venture that 9:06 comment reflecks budgets Gannett wide and not specific.
ReplyDeleteAd counts seem to be way down no matter which post you read and from many sites .
9:20 you sound like a pro-Gannett.Do you believe revenue numbers are sky rocketing?
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ReplyDeleteAny word on the next round of layoffs? Am praying to be among them. Last were in early June, yes? So, September is 3 months later... here's hoping!
ReplyDeleteJim, the other day i posted something about usat editor john hillkirk because it contained the word moron. Yet elsewhere, tennessean tyrant mark silverman is allowed to be called an asshole in several posts. What gives? At least be consistent.
ReplyDeleteIf you're hoping to get laid off, you should find a new job and quit while you're ahead. Stick it to the man.
ReplyDeleteSo many people in this company are content to just sit back and let things happen to them - which is why we're in this mess in the first place.
Also, 9:51, just because somebody asks for proof for unfounded claims doesn't mean they are pro- or anti- anything. Lots of people show up on this blog and make wild claims and accusations without any solid proof to substantiate them.
With so many journalists working for this company, you'd think that wouldn't be the case. Don't believe everything you read.
I'd love to find something else. There's nothing out there that even remotely matches my skill set, experience or interests and is full time. Been looking for months.
ReplyDeleteLook at http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage DWTSs is on the top along MOVE THE BUS. Great news. Just plain funny to call it a newpaper.
ReplyDelete10:58 Good point. I'll remove those comments, too.
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ReplyDeleteAll this silverman talk has me fearing he will replace hillkirk. If he fires heather frank, that would be good. But the last thing usat needs is a tyrant who promotes yes men and women. We have plenty now.
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ReplyDelete1:51 That's interesting; the same thought crossed my mind.
ReplyDeleteFormer Publisher Craig Moon came from Nashville, and so did the editor Hillkirk replaced: Ken Paulson.
I'm looking now . If I could quit today I would walk out but I can't afford to without another job lined up. I live paycheck to paycheck. Just like 10:41, am hoping to be amoung them. At least I could really focus on finding a new gig and getting my masters.
ReplyDeleteWhatever isnt working at usat - newsrooms, verticals, ad dept., business development - needs fixing. If that means change, so be it. People are miserable and bailing. Just look at the newsroom departures.
ReplyDeletePaulson was marginally better than Hillkirk. But that is off an already low base level. The transformation made the paper top heavy in managers. Hunke has made it much more so.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember the last time Usa Today had a great leader. I do know the present one may be the worst the paper ever had. He doesn't seem to care about his managers' problems or the quality of the product.
ReplyDeleteEvery editors' meeting he attends just makes me want to scream.
ReplyDeleteLet's hear it for the Dayton Daily News photo editor. He quit rather than lay off half his staff. Said he could not maintain Cox's standards with half as many photographers.
ReplyDeletePlaces like the Indy Star need that kind of honesty in its leadership ranks. The Star's union is trying to embarrass Gannett by shining light on the Star's pee-poor journalism. Many readers reached that conclusion a couple years ago. Rather than admit their shortcomings, top Star editors write columns about how much better they can do with less newspace and fewer reporters. Kudos to the Star union for showing the courage its top editors lack.
Noticed my local Gannett paper hasn't covered the Tar Sands Action. Then I remembered that USA Today prematurely endorsed the Keystone XL pipeline this spring. Is this some sinister pride at work, or just happenstance? Was there a memo sent out on the pipeline subject from up above?
ReplyDeleteYou heard it here once again. Ax to fall again soon at Florida Today. 10-15 reporters and editors (and not copy editors) to be cut by Nov. 15. The bleed continues...
ReplyDelete4:19
ReplyDeleteSad thing is the company probably appreciated the "Extra Savings" they secured by having him leave. Now one of his former reports will take his job and effectively half the staff will still be let go.
Good for him though. If it makes him feel better about himself and his standards that's worth something.
Jim, it looks like Mark Silverman knows a whole lot about passion topics. What's the deal with www.sorrysilverman.com?
ReplyDelete10:41 just go to your supervisor and volunteer. I'm sure he/she will be glad to help you out!
ReplyDeleteAnyone who is seriously considering quitting without another job lined up (or a spouse/partner with a good-paying job, plus benefits) is out of their mind.
ReplyDeleteI have been seeking a job, in journalism or PR, for the past 10 months, and have put in more than 200 applications. Yes, that figure is CQ. Sure, I have gotten interviews, but I almost always am told I am overqualified, or they hire internally. I was turned down at Starbucks and Macy's for the same reason.
In a word, it is AWFUL.
There are so many talented journalists out there, plus kids just out of school who will work cheaply.
Unless you have no family to support or mortgage/rent to pay, you would be insane to quit. I know mental health counts for something, and I don't discount that. But at least with a job with benefits and an EAP program, you can at least afford counseling to get you through.
Stay in the job and apply like crazy to other gigs. The longer you are out of work, the more skeptically prospective employers look at you.
5:12 they just laid off 20-some people is this part of that?
ReplyDeleteBeSt thing to do is stay where you are, do only what you have to to maintain your job.(a paycheck) , take their money and get out on your terms gannett doesn't dive a crap about employees.
ReplyDelete5:12pm I think you're mistaken.
ReplyDeleteI agree, 7:45. The newsroom has about 58 people, down from 145 in 2004.
ReplyDelete7:39 I bet there are a lot of companies that want someone like you on their team. Please, please, please find another job!!!!
ReplyDeleteI left USA Today last year and still can't stop reading this stinking blog. In my finals days there, it was hourly; then, after I left, it became daily; and now, it's every 2-3 days. Will I ever be weaned?
ReplyDeleteI say venture out on your own. I think in this economy the best thing to do is network and start your own business and contacts. I am one of the blessed few that has a ton of work, but not related to journalism or my current job at Gannett. Find your passion topic, so to speak, and do it now while you still have a job. I know it's tough to do both but I'm doing it and it really is working. Yes, I'm exhausted most days but what I am finding is that people actually appreciate the work that I do! Imagine that! Don't ever give up. There is a brighter future for all of us beyond Gannett. They aren't the only party in town!
ReplyDeleteWitnessed a supervisor today telling a 40 hour a week employee to lie about their overtime from last week. They told this employee to take time off this week. I thought I was in the movie “Norma Rae”
ReplyDeleteMany of the posts on this Blog focus on WestChester and New Jersey. Yes we hear from other sites but most of these repetitive posts are very East centric. Rarely do you hear from broadcast or digital. Bit damn there are some unhappy folks in Jersey and Wrstchester, Jimboliya can you give them their own blog site so the rest of us can talk about the business. I mean it did all start with some cretin leaving a dookie on the floor in Jersey!
ReplyDeleteOnline independent Tucsonsentinel.com got some well-deserved props from GCI-affiliated Arizona Daily Star:http://azstarnet.com/news/local/article_e6d0907c-d486-5240-8fdd-348a0dc93702.html
ReplyDeleteThe scoop: Contributors to Tucson Sentinel may draw paychecks one day soon
When the Tucson Citizen newspaper closed in May 2009, the paper's online editor, Dylan Smith, kept chugging along.
Along with a group of volunteering former co-workers, Smith set up TucsonSentinel.com, a nonprofit news site launched in January 2010 after spending months planning out the design, content and business plan.
Smith said he got the idea as a Gannett vice president told the newsroom the paper would shut down.
"Pretty much the first thing my colleagues and I did in the online department was walk back to our desks, shrug our shoulders and say 'We couldn't do this any worse than they have,' " Smith said.
See, there is life after Gannett! And Tucson Sentinel is consistently scooping the Daily Star and the Arizona Republic, too.
9:46, don't know how long you were at the paper, but you cannot wean yourself from the blog because like many of us who stay, we are somehow addicted to the abuse and pain of a dysfunctional relationship. That is what Gannett does to you. Once you escape, you still feel like you have a foot in the newsroom. But it's been cut--most likely by some yes man. The healing takes time. Forget about the fools you left behind. They certainly don't think about you.
ReplyDelete3:06 Paulson has a used car salesman persona, which is the only thing that made him marginally better in public. Both were/are Gannett hatchet men who are detached from humanity and out for themselves.
ReplyDeleteDon't mean to creep people out, but several years ago I worked at a small Gannett site where HR (and then the publisher) always seemed to know which employees were getting counseling. Should not stop you from seeking help if you need it, because your health and well being are most important. BTW, it turned out a whole lot of employees were getting counseling, which helped many of them find the confidence and treatment to then get away from an abusive company.
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ReplyDeleteI want to echo what 7 pm said: Make moves to get out and do it on your own terms. I was one of the layoffs, and lost a great deal of sanity in the several months leading up to my next job.
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