[Gracia Martore and Oliver Twist]
I ask you: What are the odds?
An estimated 200 volunteers descended on an elementary school in southeast Washington's predominantly poor, African-American community on Saturday as part of the annual Make a Difference Day of volunteering launched by Gannett's USA Weekend in 1992.
And of all those volunteers, the company's WUSA-TV chose one in particular to interview and quote -- extensively.
"On a crisp autumn day," correspondent Andrea McCarren says in her report, "at an inner-city school scarred by budget cuts and the passage of time, a transformation is underway. On this Make a Difference Day, Gannett CEO Gracia Martore is leading the charge."
Indeed, there was Martore, in a blue Make a Difference Day t-shirt that barely concealed her wireless mic pack, industriously stacking books and telling McCarren:
"Gannett's mission is to inspire the greater good in the 100-plus communities that we serve. In addition to providing news and information that is important to our readers and viewers in those communities, we feel compelled to make a difference in those communities."
Has Chief Marketing Officer Maryam Banikarim been re-reading Charles Dickens in her new, post-Robin Pence world?
My favorite part of the WUSA transcript are the quotes attributed to the beneficiaries of Martore's noblesse oblige. They're identified as follows: "a young boy," "a girl nearby," "another classmate," and "a little girl."
(I'll add: Please, sir, I want some more identification -- like that important white lady over there!)
That's Martore (center) in the frozen frame of the video:
Earlier: GCI's board of directors visits an Iowa workhouse. Plus: Martore directs another $15,000 in Gannett Foundation money to her alma mater.
So what? I think Gannett is terrible, but it's nice to see Gracia doing something positive and smiling.
ReplyDeleteMore than I've seen from most leadership.
8:03 WUSA says, "the volunteers came here to give back to their community."
ReplyDeleteNow, perhaps Martore regularly leaves Zip Code 22066 to volunteer in Southeast Washington public schools. Maybe she's a regular in Southeast's food pantries, ladling out soup to homeless folks.
Or maybe this was just a publicity stunt in Banikarim's campaign to refashion Martore's image, post-Dubow.
What do you think?
Oliver Twist?
ReplyDeleteROFLMAOOOOOOOOOOO
I guess she would make a very impressive "Miss Nancy" but who would get the vote ti be the dapper Bill Sikes? And, let us not forget the admirable one "Fagin" with his most memorable quote: "What's become of the boy? Speak or I'll throttle you!"
No need to mention who the "Artful Dodger" would be........(giggle)
CORRECTION:
ReplyDeleteWho would get the vote TO be the dapper.....
This is the best laugh I've had all day - thanks, Jim! But seriously, it's not a laughing matter - it's actually sad. I don't believe Martore has stepped anywhere outside her bubble to work with the less advantaged. You're absolutely correct - someone's trying to soften her image, but we're no fools.
ReplyDeleteGannett never gave a sh!t about USA Weekend's Make a Difference Day -- until about two years ago when they realized that philanthropy tested well with readers. Now, the CEO (is she technically the CEO yet?) is out there in the trenches. If you'd asked her three years ago, before the USAW/USAT editorial merger, I bet she wouldn't have really known what Make a Difference Day was.
ReplyDeleteThat's disgusting. It should be packaged as a house ad. If Martore wants to go down there and help out, that's great. I applaud her efforts. But to force WUSA (or is it WUSS, I sometimes forget) is just wrong and bad journalism. The reporter should have talked to (and gotten the name of) a truly LOCAL volunteer. Do a story about how locals are coming together to help their school. Interviewing Martore is bad, cheap, journalism and patronizing in the extreme. Instead we're treated to a self serving bit of flotsam of the rich white woman helping the disadvantaged black kids.
ReplyDeleteShe could start by treating her thousands of employees with dignity and decency. Not possible at a imploding publicly traded company. Her job is to methodically reap whatever profitability is left in the slow speed train crash also known as the newspaper industry.
ReplyDeleteDoing good is good business, but Gannett carries the "see how much good we're doing" to the extreme. It did not go unnoticed in our city that Gannett contributed much less to the community than the former owners of the property, but made such a huge deal about the small amounts they did contribute.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, why is it so bad that she did something good? I despise Gannett, but give the woman credit. She did something positive. When did you EVER see craig do anything but play golf? I know she has the same giant bonuses, but for goodness sake, at least she is trying. Cut her a freaking break!
ReplyDeleteI bet Andrea McCarrken is the only Gannett reporter to get a bonus this year j/k. I sure hope for her sake that she can claim this was something she was forced to do.
ReplyDeleteIt makes me sad to see this. I can give Grace some credit for the attempt. I know charitable things will fall short of the full 18 years needed. I also know that many Gannett children have been screwed.
ReplyDelete9:55 I'm all for doing something good.
ReplyDeleteIn this case -- and correct me if I've got this wrong -- you are suggesting that Martore decided to volunteer at this elementary school entirely on her own. No one in the P.R. department suggested she do this. No one chose this particular elementary school for her.
Also, she went there with no publicist in tow. She did not know in advance that she would be interviewed, and so she did not rehearse what she would say if, by chance, a TV reporter was there doing interviews.
When she was approached by the reporter, she was surprised. She demurred and said, no, thank you. Why don't you interview one of the many other volunteers here? Then, only after a persuasive pitch by the reporter, she consented -- still reluctantly -- to an interview.
As for Dubow, I never saw him playing golf. And who knows? Maybe he did all sorts of volunteer gigs. Just because he didn't seek out publicity for it doesn't mean it didn't happen.
In an e-mail, a reader asked me to post the following:
ReplyDeleteI'm going with shameless self-promotion. Corporate sent out an email last week, "from Gracia", describing her plan to volunteer. The email invited the troops to volunteer in the good deed of their choice for Make a Difference Day. I gagged a little then deleted it. Wish I had saved it so I could share it here. At least my site has the grace to write about other organizations when covering Make a Difference Day.
"Why is it so bad that she did something good?" misses the point. Of 200 volunteers the reporter picked his/her boss to interview. It's either lazy journalism or a journalist forced to participate in the boss' self-promotion. Sad either way.
ReplyDeleteJim is an expert on self-promotion. He must have grown tired of blowing his horn about Dubow's buyout.
ReplyDeleteThe story is even deeper than the obvious PR attempt by Gracia. Gannett is suddenly putting a big push behind "Make a Difference Day" in order to grab sponsor dollars from non-profits and for-profit companies who want to advertise around do-good opportunities. Did anyone see Maryam on the Today show this past Saturday discussing "Make a Difference Day?" - this is all part of the same effort to raise the profile of MDD in order to make money from it. What I also find interesting is that NBC is also listed as a sponsor on the "Make a Difference Day" website.
ReplyDeleteThe Today Show segment was actually Debbie Goetz, not Banikarim. You can google it on youtube.
ReplyDeleteThen there must have been two segments because I definitely saw Maryam on the weekend Today show on Saturday.
ReplyDeletei would like to know how much ass kissing can Dave Lougee do with this editorial crock of shit report on his "boss".
ReplyDeleteCome on Dave...Are you kidding? Do you need to suck this much ass?
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ReplyDeleteGee, a TV station, OWNED BY Gannett, just happen to interview, the CEO of GCI. Set up if I ever saw one. What I would like to know and was not asked, was this Martore's FIRST TIME on Make a "Different day"?
ReplyDeleteI'm totally rooting for Gracia and glad she was involved in Make A Difference Day. I don't like the taste of turning her good works into a corporate PR spin run by company-owned news stations. Just feels wrong.
ReplyDeleteBut go Gracia. I'm hoping you have a lot of success in your new role. Lead from your own intuition about how to connect with the workers ...not some marketer's idea of what you SHOULD be doing.
Maybe gracia can direct foundation matching dollars to the needy instead of her alma mater from now on. or a fund for the children of 20000 laid off gannettoids.
ReplyDeleteTo those of you thinking Martore has changed or will change now that she's ruling the roost, give it up. She was probably relieved and couldn't wait to get out of her Make a Difference participation. She was out of her comfort zone in the hood, and it was probably one of the few times she stepped into D.C.
ReplyDeleteAs the old saying goes.....
ReplyDelete"If you do a good deed and more than 2 people know about it, then you did it for the wrong reason."
Interesting that she would try to help needy families considering how many of them she and Dumbow created over the last 6 years.
ReplyDeleteYes the segment did run twice: once with Debbie Goetz and once with Maryam Banikarim. Those were actually pretty nice segments celebrating Make A Difference Day.
ReplyDeleteWUSA is typically last in DC's TV ratings so we can take comfort in knowing 5 -- maybe 6 -- people saw the laughable/sad report.
ReplyDeleteHow duplicitous can this woman get? Gannett's mission is lining theocrats of senior management. It doesnt care for shareholders, employees or the communities it serves. Yeesh. We have five more years of this before she retires.
ReplyDeleteWow Jim, you appear to be committed to denigrating Matore no matter what she does. It takes real venom to attack a new CEO for trying to do something to give back. You attack her motives and push your minions to do the same. There are many reasons to go after senior executives but to spearhead this kind of shameless attack just diminishes you. I guess the real you is a bitter, angry, unhappy man. This post really is you jumping the shark. And for the record I don’t give Gracia a free pass. There are a lot of challenges ahead. But this post is a true disgrace.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, 11:55.
ReplyDelete11:55 says Martore is "trying to do something to give back."
ReplyDelete1. My doubts about the motive behind her appearance at this Saturday event are best summarized in my comment at 10:41 last night.
2. Whether Martore is truly being altruistic doesn't excuse this bad bit of broadcast journalism.
3. I thought you could only jump the shark one time?
Here's Banikarim's Make a Difference Day appearance on the Saturday edition of the Today show. (Now I know how to pronounce her last name.)
ReplyDelete122:24 I don't think you can dance away from this one Jim. THis string clearly demonstrates yourhatred of the company and distain for Gracia. To attack one's motives is way over the line. Good deeds are good deeds. Where were you last Saturday, having a latte in the Castro? Shame on you. THis is right up there with the Ellwood post. If one can jump the shark twice you;ve found a way to do so. How can you do something as great as the Freedom Forum story and then resort to this sarcastic, angry crap?
ReplyDeleteActually, 12:55, there's someone here who gets his thrills reciting what Jim had for breakfast. Sad but true, and not all that surprising, considering the descent of this blog.
ReplyDeleteMartore visited my site recently. What a joke. She walked onto our floor, lackies in tow, said hello to the first sales assistant she saw (a young kid just 2 months out of college) said a couple of words to someone down the hall and left just as quickly as she came in. Like her visit to this DC school....all show. Really....why even bother.
ReplyDeleteWhy even bother to post that crap, 1:18? What a joke. I assume it's not even true.
ReplyDelete2:47 - absolute truth. But, you are free to believe whatever you'd like, of course.
ReplyDelete12:55 Here's what would have made Martore's participation look like a genuine act of volunteering.
ReplyDeleteImagine someone sent me a link to a WUSA video report, a version where another volunteer was interviewed. Then, imagine the sender said, "Look: isn't that Gracia Martore there in the background? I'm surprised they didn't try to interview her."
Instead, Corporate used one of its TV stations to turn a laudable, non-profit community event around volunteering into an infomercial promoting Gannett. Her appearance has zero credibility, especially when she's quoted saying:
"Gannett's mission is to inspire the greater good in the 100-plus communities that we serve."
If that were true, then Martore would restore some of the reporting resources to newsrooms that have been, in WUSA's words, "scarred by budget cuts."
Gannett's mission is to make more money this quarter than it did during the previous quarter. That is its legal obligation under federal securities law. Never once have I heard a Wall Street analyst asking Martore how the company's doing in terms of "inspiring the greater good."
This WUSA report makes Corporate look bad. It makes Martore look bad. And it makes the station look especially bad.
I wonder if Gracia was inspired enough to go and read to these children on a monthly basis, without a camera crew in tow.
ReplyDeleteJim, is that a new mission statement or has that been around for awhile? "Gannett's mission is to inspire the greater good"
ReplyDelete"Instead, Corporate used one of its TV stations to turn a laudable, non-profit community event around volunteering into an infomercial promoting Gannett."
ReplyDeleteFor the record the piece also ran in Phoenix. That makes at least 2 stations. Now tell me the station in Phoenix was not told they had to run it. If it smells like a skunk it is a skunk.
Thanks for posting the clip of MB's appearance on the Today show. I wonder why NBC did two pushes for MDD? MB's seemed very rushed and awkward like they were trying to fit her in. And, I agree with Jim that the entire endeavor seems very insincere, especially since both GM and MB make more of an effort to mention GCI than telling people how they can get involved in MDD. MDD has been around for 21 years and I bet this is the first time anyone in corporate has ever participated in it.
ReplyDeleteStarted in 1992? I'm no math expert, but that's not 21 years ago.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a bitter, hate-filled band most of you are, led by Jim. It's an apparently successful national day of volunteering. Started by THIS company. So why would it be odd for this company to send its prez out to talk? If it's my company, and we started this seemingly good thing, then I certainly am in front of the cameras. and I have no problem if they are MY cameras either. Volunteering is good. Covering volunteering as news is good. Covering a national day of volunteerism is perfectly proper. Interviewing the head of the company that started this day of volunteerism is right on the money. This entire journalists creed that we can't mention ourselves is crazy. I've been in newsrooms where the business news department would write a story about wonderful things a competitor was doing. And it never occurred to them to at least mention that the newspaper did it first and did it better. It wasn't good journalism. And if Gracia shelved 10 books, that's 10 books someone else didn't have to shelve. THAT is what volunteerism is all about. I think many of you, Jim included, have lost your moral compass as you are blinded by hatred.
ReplyDeleteto 8:24 p.m. wtf??!! moral compass??!! How many fucking years later did we "send our president out. ... " whatev.
ReplyDelete8:24 Call me Monsieur LaFarge.
ReplyDeleteJim - We are so poor, we do not even have a language! Just this stupid accent!
ReplyDeleteMerde! That should be Defarge.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete10:41 I remove comments that involve name-calling, including variations on the word "troll." (Note: I remove these whether they are written by my supporters or my critics.)
ReplyDeleteHere's an edited version of 10:41's comment:
ReplyDeleteJoke all you want Jim but 8:24 and others are correct. A CEO finally does something in the community and you and your bitter, ignorant pals urinate all over it. Your agenda is clear and sad. You have no sense of fairness when it comes to Gannett leadership. Matore us actually trying to be a different leader and you refuse to give her an inch. So be it. Send in those dollars [XXXXX]!
I think the people that piling on Jim and others critical of Ms. Martore's performance are missing the points. No one upset that she appears to have volunteered and may have done a nice thing. (Qualifying it because we don't know how long she was there or how much work she actually did.)
ReplyDeleteWe're upset because she turned a good thing into a naked PR ploy. If she was really interested in doing good there are any number of things she could have done instead of the bad photo op.
She could have deferred to other volunteers at the school and let them get the credit they deserve and avoided the limelight. She could have started a foundation help some of the 20,000 Gannett employees she's laid off. She could have publicly taken a pay cut with the statement that the money she was giving up would go to either preventing layoffs and furloughs or bolstering local news products. Three things that would have meant something. Instead she turns a good thing into a really bad PR stunt.
A change in style from her predecessor but in some ways much worse than what he ever did.
@ 11:06 PM - Well said!
ReplyDeleteAMEN!
B-R-A-V-O!!!!!!!!!