Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Dec. 12-18 | Your News & Comments: Part 2

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53 comments:

  1. Steven Colbert's take on citizen journalism, with a USA Today angle:
    http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/403149/november-28-2011/stephen-colbert-s-me-reporters

    Nice rip on the Communist News Network!

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  2. The big "announcement" isn't pay walls. Though Gracia will be making that soon. The site publishers will be announcing production consolidations.

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  3. Has anyone purchased the gannett.xxx domain yet?

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  4. Money indeed was set aside to buy up many .xxx domains, including usatoday.xxx and others.

    Not sure about gannettblog.xxx.

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  5. Is there any layoff news?
    It seems there were a few reported and then nothing.

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  6. @7:43 a.m. doesn't everyone already know about their production consolidations? Do you mean the pagination hubs? What more could they say, unless they're talking about timelines and training for CCI.

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  7. Closings of print sites are not always outright announced, we'll see!

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  8. Gracie already announced pay walls for all gannett sites in 2012 as posted on this site. Confirm memo Jim ?

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  9. We had meeting in Wilmington this morning. Paywall coming Feb. 1.

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  10. I think 7:43 is wrong, as evidenced by 1:21.

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  11. I would very much like to hear more about the paywalls ... all content covered or just select stories? will abbreviated versions of stories be available for free? will it only be for paper subscribers or will online-only be allowed?

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  12. 1:11 Yes: Martore already disclosed plans for paywalls.

    Confirm which memo?

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  13. Muncie Circulation Manager was let go last Thursday. This was a very dedicated individual who often worked 60+ hour weeks and had been with the company more than 25 years. They are not replacing him. If it can happen to him, it can happen to YOU!

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  14. One of the June 700 checking in. I took a very good job offer today, nearly six months to the day I was let go. I never would have sought out this opportunity had I not been laid off, and I have no doubt that this job is going to bring me more satisfaction than the old one.

    To all the others who were laid off and still looking, stay strong. I know how scary it can be out there, and how easily despair settles in. But you can and you will come out the other side of this.

    To those still at Gannett, you stay strong as well. Keep your eyes open for opportunities and don't be afraid to chase after them. And should the ax come swinging your way, be brave. You'll find a community of comrades out there who have walked that trail before you, and they can help you find your way out of the woods.

    As for me, I'm so relieved to have found good and meaningful work again. I don't think I'd jump at the chance to go through this trial all over again, but I know I've become a better person for it.

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  15. 3:28 congratulations! Your post was very moving. So happy you have found something meaningful to be excited about. Life is actually way better on the outside of G. I'd equate getting out of Gannett with being released from prison.

    Onward and good luck.

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  16. 3:37, just walking out the door of Crystal Palace feels like walking out of prison!

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  17. Thank for that post 2.22. it helps as i am one of the 700 also good luck

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  18. What has this become the Dr.Jim blog. You people need to check your mess

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  20. 3:28 Thank you. Inspiration and hope needed more than ever.

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  24. Jim, how about giving us a poll to vote on who should be the next editor of USA Today. Let us have a say (or at least some fun). Start us with five candidates you see, and then restart the polls as others emerge. You could even have "Outside Gannett" as a candidate.

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  28. Editor of a Gannett paper in the south is beginning a two day visit to a neighboring Gannett property. Possible job interview?

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  29. What's up with circ managers being laid off and
    positions being eliminated?. DM's answering to managers of transportation or related depts.that are clueless to field operations etc.

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  30. 10:34, where is this happening?

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  31. I was reading about the Olympus scandal recently, and realized that the way that Gannett has torn thru failed web initiatives in the last several years would provide a similar opportunity to shift losses from the main business. That's not an accusation, but it does make one wonder a little bit.

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  32. Brian Tolley, editor of the Lafayette Advertiser, is at the Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger today and Thursday. He is meeting w/ (the couple remaining) OC members and then newsroom editors to talk about that latest, greatest Gannett mandate -- Passion Topics. Mr. Tolley is either an expert on Passion Topics or this is a stealth interview for the editor's job that has been vacant since Ronnie Agnew left in early August. Stay tuned.

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  33. Sharyn Bovat12/14/2011 3:07 PM

    I'm big into "Passion Topics" & a birdie told me something is happening Thursday in Mclean.

    To ALL the Gannett reporters PLEASE remember that their are "two" sides to every story.

    People on this blog say the Gannett HQ is a prison or a palace. As an outsider trying to get the attention of the QUEEEN I suspect it's a bit of both.

    Thanks Jim for providing transparency via your blog to those in the news business and to workers of Gannett.

    What you do is important to society.

    Sharyn

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  34. 10:42, Muncie and Rochester NY lost circulation folks last week. Over 30 yrs. of service each!

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  35. More smoke and mirrors tomorrow at Brevard:

    Please plan to join me tomorrow Tuesday – Dec. 13 – at 4:00 pm in the Community Room for an employee meeting to give you an update on the product changes / accomplishments in 2011 and plans going forward in 2012.

    I appreciate all your efforts and look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

    Mark Mikolajczyk



    Anyone have anything to report on this???

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  36. If you're going all digital why do you need circulation folks?

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  37. I had heard Asheville is losing some circ. folks that paper is very heavy in circulation employees even though their circ. is falling big time.

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  38. How long does anyone think it will be before we go all digital?. I think Gannett pay walls with most of its papers will be slow to come...

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  39. 4:52 this should be an eye opening week for you.

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  40. I sure hope no one thinks the Lafayette Advertiser and the Clarion Ledger or anywhere in the same class or even the Oxford Eagle (the town newspaper)and the Clarion Ledger. The Lafayette Advertiser is simply a little two or three sheet page advertising bulletin with a few tidbits added. Roonie and this person in the came journalist field? I think not!!!!And I live in Oxford!!!!!

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  41. 4:52 Newspapers need press people and carriers just like restaurants need cooks and wait staff to pay the bills. Just look at debt service that GCI carries. Can we transform overnight? I don't think so!

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  42. correction 4:59 not 4:52

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  43. Seriously, I think it's a mistake to view print as dead. Print is just another medium. After all, the movie business -- the movie experience -- is still thriving, despite first Beta, then VHS, then DVD's, and now "streaming."

    The experiences are distinct in their difference.

    Digital is great, but it's not going to ever be exclusive. The news in print, ads in print, don't disappear if one's ISP has a glitch and one is off-line.

    I'm not into holding onto the past, but I don't automatically reject one platform in favor of another.

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  44. 5:02, as a staff member of The Daily Advertiser in Lafayette, LA, I take exception to your comments. We're a smaller market so we are bound to have a smaller paper. Yes, our Monday and Tuesday editions are small -- thanks to Her Highness Hurst who is publisher of your much esteemed Clarion-Ledger. She decimated our staff, leaving us with 3 1/2 reporters at one point. Let's see you guys publish quality journalism with that size staff! But we did! And we made money and won awards! Thank heavens we have a new publisher who is rebuilding our staff again. Despite your comments, I hope she doesn't do to y'all what she did to us -- all to increase her own bonus!

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  45. Honestly stop eating each other alive it's not your fault.

    Occupygannett

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  46. They did knowingly, willfully and with malice destroy the company. Shorting and betting against it. Stop blaming yourselves.

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  47. Starting in mid-February, readers will have to pay for all content at Florida Today. Newspaper subscribers will be asked to pay for content across all platforms -- online, hard copies, mobile. It's about time. Why does Gannett keep giving away locally generated content (expanded with photo galleries and videos) online and expect people to pay for a subscription when they simply can view everything -- free of charge -- on our website. I welcome this change. Sure, our subscribers will decrease, but the online only readers will have to pay up to read our stories. This eventually will be beneficial to the company. It will take time and there will be a lot of backlash, but watch our revenues increase. A great move that other publishers have done long ago. IBD, Wall Street Journal, NYT to name a few. We have a product that people want. Believe it. You can't get enough Brevard news from the Orlando TV stations and paper. And this will happen at all sites. Watch.

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  48. Florida Today is nothing like IBD, Wall Street Journal, NYT You're CRAZY! People will not pay to read it.

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  49. Unfortunately,I agree with 10:09PM. With all the cuts there's not much left worth reading, either in print or online.

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  50. Simply put, the public will not purchase marginal content, unappealing sections and a poorly produced product like floridatoday.com. Any attempt at a paywall for crap like what's being generated currently at Florida Today is pure folly. Throw in furloughs and more layoffs and that will only accelerate its demise for good. Hope Mr. Stover has his retirement plans in order and soon.

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  51. The idea that people will pay for Gannett content is dubious. Here in Cincinnati, 90% of the content of the Enquirer is duplicated on the local TV stations' web sites. While no paywall has been announced for Cincinnati - yet - does anyone really think that readers will pay to read the very occasional actual piece of newspaper journalism the Enquirer produces? Ha.

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  52. I know for sure my GCI site is going to a paywall in 2012. I fear it's too late. After years of decimating the quality of its product, Gannett now thinks people should pay for it. A paywall requires content appealing to the small sliver of intellectual/civic minded people who would even consider paying for it. As a company, we have been trafficking in shallow, lowest-common denominator journalism for years. There is no way a paywall will succeed unless we get a different philosophy like, yesterday.

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  53. In fact come to think of it - why do you need reporters?

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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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