Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Sept. 26-Oct. 2 | Your News & Comments: Part 3

Can't find the right spot for your comment? Post it here, in this open forum. Real Time Comments: parked here, 24/7. (Earlier editions.)

27 comments:

  1. BIG meeting for Phoenix circulation staff set for Friday morning. With the reduction of customer service hours and the fact we're losing 50% of incoming callers daily, can't get any worse, can it? Not with winter visitors season right around the corner.

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  2. Jim, is today a record for lack of comments?

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  3. So exactly what IS being announced on Thursday?

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  4. People are tired of the baseless speculation here. They are tuning it out.

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  5. Yes, 2:17, people like you are tuning it out alright. Oh wait. You're here, aren't you? Nevermind. Maybe we should call it what it really is: A slow news day before an apparently biggie later this week.

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  6. All the publishers and general managers were on a mandatory conference at 8pm EST last night. It can't be good news at that time of day. Anyone hear the outcome?

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  7. Oh, and if the "biggie" doesn't happen, it would be so predictable for people like 2:17 to use it as an excuse to discredit the entire blog. But that would be pathetic of the CP C-Suite who organizes such sabotage here. Because those here following the site for news realize that it's a model that depends upon crowd-sourced news gathering. And that model will inherently run the greater risk of misinformation (either intentionally so or not) with the upside being greater flow of information.

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  8. 2:35, I'm laughing at the gullibles like you and 2:38. You just keep buying into the rumors.

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  9. Is it true that wonder boy and Hunke buddy Rudd Davis has a couple new VPs reporting to him? If so, what do they do?

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  10. I know, I know, 2:53. All the baseless rumors reported here first ... the furloughs ... the layoffs ... the consolidations ... the ever-growing, inexplicable top-heavy management appointments ... the insane executive compensation for producing shrinking revenues ... ALL of these baseless rumors tossed about here for the gullibles to soak up and run with.

    Oh wait. All of this happened. And most of it would have remained under wraps if it weren't for Jim.

    BTW, Jim: How much value HAS Gannett lost in the CD era?

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  11. 3:11, you left out the false claims of cuts at Nashville. Or the exaggerated cuts at Tulsa that never have been tallied. Or the thing Jim posted that he had to pull down.

    The list could go on. But a lot of things that didn't happen have been claimed here, too.

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  12. NEWS: NO SPRING CHICKEN --
    McClatchy now has its dealsaver Daily Deals in all its markets:
    http://finance.yahoo.com/news/McClatchy-Launches-dealsaver-prnews-3844369764.html?x=0&.v=1

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  13. Tell us something we don't know, 3:48. That's how crowd-sourced, forum-posted news gathering works. Given the choice between having the blog and getting news that's sometimes wrong, or not having the blog at all, what option do you think nearly all of the people here would choose? (CP-dispatched trolls excepted, of course.)

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  14. 3:10, yes, and rumor has it one of them has already made a staff cut.

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  15. Trouble at Army Times/Defense News/Federal Times:



    GGMC Staff,



    The economic news facing our nation and our company is daunting, and market conditions are declining rapidly. We made it through the first half of the year with difficulty, but it seemed then that with belt-tightening and aggressive sales efforts, we would be able to pull through in the latter part of the year. Your efforts to curtail spending since early summer have certainly helped. But unfortunately, economic conditions have worsened in the past month and our own revenue projections have followed that trend.



    We find ourselves today in the vortex of three dynamic forces:

    The ongoing migration of advertising from print to digital;
    Global economic uncertainty affecting consumer manufacturers and suppliers, whose ad dollars are critical to our Military Times products;
    And intensifying deficit reduction efforts which will seriously affect defense spending -- and advertising -- in the years ahead.
    All this is happening as we enter the fall, the critical months when we traditionally produce most of the company's annual revenue. As a result, we now project missing year-end revenue by 6.5 percent and profit goals by 24.5 percent.



    Faced with this reality, I have no choice but to implement some very difficult contingency plans. These include:

    A one-week furlough for all employees in the fourth quarter, which runs from October through December. Under US labor law, non-exempt, or hourly, employees will be able to take furloughs in increments of a single day, but exempt employees will have to take their furloughs all at once. Your manager will work with you on scheduling your furlough and discuss with you how this will work.
    Further budget cuts for 2012.
    Please review the attachments to find answers to some of your questions and to see what steps need to be taken to prepare for your furlough. If you have further questions or need further guidance, please see your manager.



    I deeply regret having to make these decisions, which we understand will have a serious impact on your own personal economies. We hope that by making this decision now, you will have more time to plan for this hardship and bear with us, as you have in the past, in this difficult time. I remain bullish on the company's future and assure you I am working hard to identify new sources of revenue to offset these losses.

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  16. The Military Times memo was from President and CEO Elaine Howard.

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  17. Blog update on the deal with US Presswire at:
    http://photobusinessforum.blogspot.com/2011/09/update-us-presswire-gannett.html

    Notice there's a link to a high school football game they recently shot.

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  18. A furlough would be a blessing to all of us at Gannett. We can still collect unemployment and work under the table — plus, have a much needed vacation. Bring it on!

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  19. Re: the 8 p.m. conference calls to publishers and GMs. They were told they would be:

    -- Forced to begin contributing the first $50 toward their country club dues.

    -- Limited to fewer trips on the company jet.

    -- Required to hire a lower-priced personal valet/chef.

    -- Taking a $100 cut in their annual clothing allowance.

    -- No longer allowed to leave the office to take Pilates classes or see golf swing doctors. From now on those will take place IN the office.

    -- Forced to withdraw from tuition-paid classes in treating employees and customers with respect.

    I understand that exceptions were made throughout the organization. A senior editor in Asbury Park will continue to be paid for commutes to and from home. The Indy publisher got to keep her Indy 500 skybox, and the Jackson, MS, publisher got to keep her front-row seats for the pig race at the county fair.

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  20. The Courier Post still has their group of pricey seats at Philadelphia Philllies games. Seats used mostly by the OC and other management do-nothings.

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  21. RE: 9:19PM, not to get all grammar police on you but "management do-nothings" is redundant. Like 7AM in the morning. :)

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  24. So prior to this "Thursday Announcement" I'd just like to say "Thanks" to the true, one and only -My Boss said.. For many of us on this horrendous journey through Gannett Land you were “right” more than wrong and many of us came to the blog more often looking for your next post. I applaud your courage and tenacity for being able to post without retaliation. I’m ecstatic for you that you made it to retirement as many of us fear we won’t see that day. I’m sad that we won’t have that someone who “looks out for us” as you did. Enjoy the future and can’t wait to read those last documents you send to Jim. I can only guess you have enough to pen a stunning memoir - perhaps appropriately titled “That’s All Folks” !

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  26. I will take a furlough, which is a paycut — but an actually pay cut I will not take. I will give my two weeks and wish all well. I have more work than I can handle outside of Gannett and really don't need them now. They can shove their pay cuts up their CEOs ass!

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  27. 3:59, thanks for redefining "crowdsourcing" for us for the umpteenth time. That's the usual response when erroneous information ends up here yet again.

    And yes, we know you welcome the erroneous information. You and others with an agenda don't care if the information is true. You only care if it's slanted.

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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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