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.)
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
29 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."
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete10:05 yesterday had it right. Specifically:
ReplyDelete" Stay even longer -- say into your 40s -- and you risk being laid off on a whim. And during your stay at Gannett, be prepared to work long hours for low pay (or no pay when it comes to OT). Unless you kiss a ton of ass, you will work every holiday, be expected to come in when you sick, and you will not be thanked for your efforts to fight your way into the office during snowstorms, earthquakes, etc."
Even the smallest thanks for hard work? Not going to happen.
Not available to answer questions (that others know the answer to) while you're on vacation? Expect to be called into someone's office to explain why, dammit. You need to be reachable at all times.
If you can deny this is how it works, then you're at a better paper than me.
Telling the next generation that this is how Gannett will treat them is just fair warning.
If you choose to work for Gannett, look out for yourself first and get out as quickly as you can or risk getting absolutely screwed.
Former Florida Today sports editor Tom Squires, 63, dies
ReplyDeleteTom Squires, an award-winning sports journalist who was the original sports editor of FLORIDA TODAY following its reincarnation from Today in 1985, died Monday at his home in Franklin, Tenn.
He was 63 and had battled Alzheimer’s for 10 years.
Squires went on to become an assistant managing editor at FLORIDA TODAY. He also was a member of the team that launched USA TODAY and spent 17 years working at The Tennessean in Nashville.
“While his first role in journalism involved sports, Tom loved every aspect of the news business and excelled in every position he ever held,” John Seigenthaler, chairman emeritus of The Tennessean, told the newspaper.
Squires resigned from Gannett in 1998 and returned to Nashville to start three fan publications, including “Sports Nashville”, a sports magazine covering high school, college and pro sports. When Gannett, The Tennessean’s parent company, bought those publications, he rejoined the company and stayed until his retirement for health reasons in 2004.
Squires was an avid golfer and called many people in the sport and across athletics, including Major League Baseball, as close friends. He also made many friends across Brevard County.
In addition to Brenda, Squires’ wife of 36 years, survivors include son Chandler, sister Sallie Jansen and brothers Jim, John and Raleigh Squires.
A memorial service is planned at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Alzhemier’s Association, Special Olympics or the charity of one’s choice.
If you have any days off through the holidays, make sure your resume is up to date and start sending it out. Empowering yourself will help you feel better. Most of us are having financially modest holidays, but you can still express appreciation to family and friends. Can't wait to escape the awful work situation I'm in and my heart goes out to those without a job. Good luck everybody.
ReplyDeleteI have to say this... I had some good Gannett managers. Problem is they left before me or were let go. There came a time when they could not take it either.
ReplyDeleteI had some good Gannett managers as well. The number of them who left because of health issues is really telling.
ReplyDelete"How come so many of these digital initiatives have been so long in the works? It's like the complaint about apps. In the online world, things need to be implemented quickly, every week is lost market. Yet months and months pass and you hear about site redesigns and digital stuff "in the works."
ReplyDeleteI can tell you why: Because Gannett is a culture of endless, pointless meetings in which people prattle on endlessly about HOW they're going to do things instead of just doing them. Everyone's afraid in their own skin, so no one wants to take a bold step forward.
At my property, we were waaaay late in the game in launching our presence on a top social-media site. (Hint: Yes, it's one of the top social-media sites that you probably go on at least several times a day.) Our competition was ahead of us -- like six months in front. Yet, even though we knew this, we sat at meetings and plotted and determined and hemmed and hawed over how we'd present ourselves and what strategies to deploy and blah, blah, blah.
Finally -- after yet another determination to schedule yet another meeting two weeks later to TALK about doing this instead of just doing it -- I said I'm going to launch our brand on that site that very day and, if we need to make changes, we can do that on the fly. Amazingly enough, no one tried to stop me. I guess they thought if it was a failure, someone other than them was going to fall on the sword.
Anyway, the classic Gannettoid obsesses over talking about doing rather than doing. In fact, it's a sure path to getting promoted way up in the chain. But that's not a culture that's going to appeal to today's high performers. But, then again, since when did Gannett ever care about getting high performers?
They never have cared about getting high performers because they would be disruptive, 1:10pm.
ReplyDeleteA's hire A's.
B's hire C's.
And C's hire Gannett managers.
1:10...I totally agree with everything you said!
ReplyDeleteIn today's world simplicity, common sense and quick action are dismissed.
Complexity is overvalued....."If we talk about it forever and plan it out to infinity then it should work" things change so damn fast now you can't wait too long.
Everyone above middle management thinks in terms of Rube Goldberg contraptions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rube_Goldberg_machine ......a million steps to fry an egg rather than just cracking the damn egg into the pan.
The Salinas Californian's GM, Terry Feinberg, was RIF'd this morning. Thank you and Happy Holidays!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteWhy did Gannet promote a policy that requires commenters on their newspaper websites to log in with Facebook?
ReplyDeleteAm I alone in hating Facebook because of its addictive social waste of time and its privacy destructive implications that are well known to all?
Facebook is illustrative of the pied piper mentality that is pervasive in our Hollywood pop culture entertainment society where the sheeple saps are led over the cliff as though participation in the inevitable fall will be a great exhilarating experience..
We need to know that the loss of privacy is never in one's interest. If it has become in America's interest it is not a plus to our society. At least Obama has the good sense not to expose his children to this nonsense. Zuckerburg and FB have convinced foolish people to willingly participate and expose themselves to having their privacy stolen and it will follow them throughout their lives just like a tattoo of an old boyfriend or girlfriend.
People that join FB are gullible idiots. The partners and owners of facebook retain everything about you and you retain no rights. As a "member" you may change anything on FB but they still possess it in their clutches and own it. It was your life, your friends, your experiences, and you've foolishly given up the copyrights to your life and privacy.
It should be illegal and discriminatory to require any internet user to have a facebook account in order to participate in the internet.
Has anyone heard of DESC?
ReplyDelete11:01 Thank you for letting me know this- I was going thru some paper work Monday and found a pix of Tom and I at work, first time that I had seen that pix in 11 years, wow. What a great guy. Proud to have known him. God Bless Tom.
ReplyDeleteI did go to a party that they held for him in the early stages of his illness- so that his friends could let him know how much he meant to them, while he could still enjoy it.
It was an honor!
You messed up your post, 2:12. You must be one of the F's. Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteBravo and well said, 7:38... didn't think there was anyone out there who feels the same way I do.
ReplyDelete7:38 pm Great post. It's amazing what people are willing to sacrifice. I also am astounded by the number of people who spend an enormous amount of time on Facebook and other social media while at work.
ReplyDeleteHey 8:19, if you think those Corporate Gannett people in Tysons are hard at work, that's how they spend their time.
ReplyDeleteAre all gannett newspapers going to use this employment solution called the DESC, I see it posted all over CareerBuilder.
ReplyDelete7:38 - seriously dude? Get over yourself. FB and the likes weren't made for you but it doesn't make those that use it gullible idiots.
ReplyDeleteThere was some discussion here on the blog recently over "apps" by employees of AZ Republic... Just ran across an ad in one of the Republic's zone editions for an app of AZCentral.com to use on your iPad. It says, "brought to you by COX Communications!"
ReplyDeleteIf employees have developed apps, why would Republic go outside the company?
1:10, over the last few years, we have attempted to develop apps but were told corporate does not want sites creating them.
ReplyDelete@8:19, I have used Facebook to to find real people for stories who I contacted through Facebook and were willing to be interviewed by phone. At my site, we are required to have a Facebook and Twitter presence, to post stories and be visible to the on line community. At first I saw little value to Twitter until I used it to tweet town by town results in a hotly contested election and it drove a lot of people to the newspapers website. Social media, used properly, like any tool, has an important role.
ReplyDeleteNot all papers are moving to DESC but they are expanding.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete10:44 PM I was referring to employees who use social media for personal use at work.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete