Saturday, September 10, 2011

Sept. 5-11 | Your News & Comments: Part 6

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33 comments:

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  4. 9:46 and 11:09 I removed those comments for reasons outlined here.

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  6. Seems as though few people have anything of value to add to the conversation anymore.

    How is Deal Chicken working in the areas that it has rolled out. I have seen deals "hatch" with as few as 1 purchased and there are only 2 bought for the whole day. Haven't seen any big numbers yet here.

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  8. Well, the Deal Chicken deal in Wilmington this weekend is up to 163. Who can beat that?

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  10. Ryerson is pressuring Crotchfelt to reduce the number of layoffs scheduled in December. Ryerson gave Crotchfelt a reduction in force list for December along with a plan to transform the newsroom. Next thing you know Indy will be like Cincinnati. A second rate newsroom with too much fluff.

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  12. 2:47 Do you have first-hand knowledge of such a list?

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  13. Reduction lists are sent to Kane and Lemere in Rochester. A copy is sent to group HR office for review. Announcements will be made in November. If third quarter is as bad as predicted, look for announcements to be accelerated to October. Finance is preparing budgets for next year and these reductions were already factored into the 2012 budget. Next year will be even worse in terms of expense reductions. If you do not have a backup plan, you better have one before the end of the year.

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  14. Does anyone have any information on the time line
    for Wilmington to go to Ashbury Park?

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  15. Are there rumors of more layoff this December?

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  17. I don't usually respond on this blog, but I hate irresponsible fearmongering.

    I'm one of the department heads in the east group whose job it would be to draw up layoff lists if they were requested. It's not happening. What's more, 3:03's claims are riddled with inaccuracies. No one is preparing 2012 budgets yet because numbers haven't come from corporate yet. Layoff lists are never prepared thre emonths in advance. And if 3:03 was someone in a position to know, he'd also know the correct spelling of Don Lemire's name.

    General layoffs (as distinguished from ongoing consolidations, like design studios) may or may not come in the future, but none are planned now. Don't allow your blood pressure to rise because of some idiot.

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  18. In addition there is no such thing anymore as a Group HR Iffice so 5:18 is correct, this poster has NO inside information. Relax everyone.

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  19. 5:18's post should be deleted because of its end.

    Start being consistent, Jim.

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  20. 5:18 Why can't more executives and corporate leaders have the decency to explain this to the employees? By not saying anything can be just as stressful.

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  21. Unfortunately 5:18 isn't completely accurate. The budgeting process begins in late July / early August at each site with payroll templates. The second part of the process is the revenue / expense budgeting which takes place in August. This is all submitted to Corporate who then comes back and gives us the NIBT number they want us to meet. The whole process is finalized sometime around early-mid November.

    Meanwhile, the Publisher/GM/Operating Committees have to figure out how they're going to meet the required number. Therefore contingencies are created which, yes, includes headcounts.

    I don't completely disagree with 5:18, but there is more to it than was portrayed.

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  22. This year is different. Nothing has been sent to the sites yet about 2012. That's the truth.

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  23. Don Lemire is one of the good guys. He is just doing his job like everyone else. I take everything that has been said with a grain of salt. We have already been told Wilmington's non-daily pubs are moving to Ashbury Park, it's just a matter of when. We also know our page pagination is also moving there. There will be layoffs and or reductions as corporate like to call it. It's just a matter of when. I assume it will be after October and probably near the end of December but that is just my guess, not fact.

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  24. I think the more important question Wilmington needs to address is the forced OT with no compensation. Employees are told to falsify their time sheets by their supervisors. It has already been reported to the federal wage and labor laws department in Philadelphia. If you are an East group head you better address this issues first before you are held liable for your actions. It is against the law to force an employee to take comp time when they work over 40 hours per week but weekly employees are intimated by their supervisors to falsify their time sheets and are told no OT is allowed. You are violating federal labor laws and you better talk to your VPs and supervisor heads to make them aware of the federal guidelines or else Gannett can look forward to a class action law suit against them for defaulting labor policies.

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  25. Newseum's 9/11 contribution. Video half-way down page.
    http://hollywoodonthepotomac.blogspot.com/2011/09/911-at-newseum.html?spref=fb

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  26. Another informed comment.
    I am former advertising manager.
    My revenue budget was DUE in early October.
    So you bet your butt I was working on it in September.
    I did not have the priviledge that the Senate has to put it off 2 years.
    If my budget was not finished when my Publisher asked for it, there would be hell to pay.

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  28. Fear mongering or fact, the overhang at most gannett papers is more layoffs. Morale would Alaric management could tell us layoffs are over. Since it can't, or won't, pele are scared, morale sucks and good people continue to leave. Maybe that is what the Crystal Palace really wants.

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  29. When do the people losing their jobs to the design studio consolidation get notified - the usual - day of?

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  30. @5:18-

    Maybe you haven't seen any planning because you're on the list.....

    I can't say whether there will be layoffs or not. What I can say is that so far the Q3 numbers are dreadful. Even in some of the typically stronger papers.

    When numbers are bad. Layoffs follow. It's just plan logic.

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  31. 5:39PM, while there may not be group HR offices per se. There are group HR directors, which I would think have offices. Just saying.

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  32. So you are just sayin wrong. The group hr offices were disbanded a year ago. Period.

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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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