Following is a memo U.S. newspapers division President Bob Dickey sent to employees today. I'm posting this from my iPhone (!), with limited Web access.
Dec. 21, 2011
Dear colleagues:
Our journalists have earned a reputation for innovating with tools and technologies that help us deliver valuable content faster and better than ever.
Readers’ speedy adoption of new technology for news consumption creates new opportunities for us to uniquely serve them. To do so, we must ensure our journalists are equipped and trained on the tools to work in new ways.
We’re excited to announce a significant investment in our newsgathering tools. This week, we have purchased thousands of new devices for many of our journalists. These include:
In addition, we’ll provide the devices to create a “digital workstation” at each of our local Information Centers to monitor the content experience we provide across digital channels — tablets and smart phones, in particular. This will give us a vital point of view so we can adjust our storytelling with greater precision.
Along with the investment in equipment, there is a robust investment in comprehensive training to ensure our journalists can maximize these new tools. Taken together, the tools and training should not only make our journalists more effective at their existing work, but also enable them to do new things we can’t even imagine yet. We are counting on your inventive and pioneering spirit to push the boundaries of what we think is possible.
Equipment will begin arriving in January; training will start several weeks later. In the next few weeks, each publisher and editor will receive specific guidance on how the equipment will be distributed.
This is an exciting step forward for us. It sharpens our competitive edge. It is a key pillar of the Content Evolution initiatives. As we expand our digital portfolio in the coming months, we’ll be ready to prepare content that is truly platform-perfect. And above all, these tools support the important work of our journalists: to create unique, impactful, high-quality local content in the communities we serve.
Wishing you happy holidays,
Bob Dickey, President
Kate Marymont, VP/News
Maribel Wadsworth, Digital News Executive
Earlier: GCI wants all its newspaper reporters to start producing news videos again. Plus: Here's why.
My $10M idea
Nearly four years ago, I suggested that Corporate spend less than $10 million to equip each of the company's journalists with iPhones and the then-required two-year AT&T contracts.
Dec. 21, 2011
Dear colleagues:
Our journalists have earned a reputation for innovating with tools and technologies that help us deliver valuable content faster and better than ever.
Readers’ speedy adoption of new technology for news consumption creates new opportunities for us to uniquely serve them. To do so, we must ensure our journalists are equipped and trained on the tools to work in new ways.
We’re excited to announce a significant investment in our newsgathering tools. This week, we have purchased thousands of new devices for many of our journalists. These include:
- iPhone 4S and related accessories such as microphones to enhance audio for video
- iPad2s and lightweight Netbooks
- MiFi wireless internet hotspots or tethering via the iPhone
- Microphones, cables and other accessories
 |
| iPhone 4S |
Along with the investment in equipment, there is a robust investment in comprehensive training to ensure our journalists can maximize these new tools. Taken together, the tools and training should not only make our journalists more effective at their existing work, but also enable them to do new things we can’t even imagine yet. We are counting on your inventive and pioneering spirit to push the boundaries of what we think is possible.
Equipment will begin arriving in January; training will start several weeks later. In the next few weeks, each publisher and editor will receive specific guidance on how the equipment will be distributed.
This is an exciting step forward for us. It sharpens our competitive edge. It is a key pillar of the Content Evolution initiatives. As we expand our digital portfolio in the coming months, we’ll be ready to prepare content that is truly platform-perfect. And above all, these tools support the important work of our journalists: to create unique, impactful, high-quality local content in the communities we serve.
Wishing you happy holidays,
Bob Dickey, President
Kate Marymont, VP/News
Maribel Wadsworth, Digital News Executive
Earlier: GCI wants all its newspaper reporters to start producing news videos again. Plus: Here's why.
My $10M idea
Nearly four years ago, I suggested that Corporate spend less than $10 million to equip each of the company's journalists with iPhones and the then-required two-year AT&T contracts.
Are there "thousands" of reporters still working in Gannett?
ReplyDeleteHmmm the other day a poster recommended Gannett buy iPads fir all employees. This isn't all employees but.......? Can't wait to see the haters spin this.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know how to load "Angry Birds" on a iphone?
ReplyDeleteShooting video with an iPhone is for amateurs. The quality is crap, and there are no user-defined options to tweak to improve the quality.
ReplyDeleteGiving these to the clueless kids that have replaced the skilled veterans won't generate clicks.
Buy some Nikon D3s and Canon Mark IVs and send the users to NPPA video seminars to learn HDSLR video journalism if you want to draw eyeballs.
Of course, that would cost money, so that ain't gonna happen.
OMG ... does this we'll have to leave our desks and phones? We can't just rewrite press releases all day, making a couple calls to get a couple quotes? Are we all supposed to be ambulance chasers now?
ReplyDeleteJumping in on Apple tools now is like your auto repair shop saying "Hey, we just bought these cool things called wrenches and screwdrivers."
ReplyDeleteWhoop-dee-doo, and the suits make it sound like these tools are Christmas presents.
No matter what, GCI is going down for good... just look at ad revenue in Q4, 2011. Buh-bye, GCI.
To whom was this memo sent? No one at our site knows anything about this.
ReplyDelete6:55...you're right on target. All these morons at the top think that technology is the key to winning over readers/visitors. I love technology, but it has ruined photo journalism. In fact, it's ruined the entire business. People at the top can't even recognize a great image or well-crafted story anymore. It's all about speed and cutting corners. Gimmicks and more gimmicks. Then they wonder why business continues to trend downward. Here's an idea Gannett -- how about distinguishing yourself from the crowd by hiring top-shelf journalists. Oh wait, you can't do that because you keep hiring these high-priced execs who come up with ideas like using iPhones to document the news. Guess there's no money left for real innovative thinkers and artists.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, Gannett is not alone in this junk-food approach to journalism. When was the last time you saw a quality documentary? Have you watched 60 Minutes lately...they seemingly have forgotten how to do an investigative piece. Even National Geographic isn't doing the great journalism it once did. CNN has gone from a pretty reliable source of news to just another TV station with self-serving anchors and garbage shows.
Someone is going to figure out eventually that by elevating their work and distinguishing themselves from the crowd, they will be able to turn a buck. It won't be Gannett or USA Today. They've been putting out crap even before it became fashionable. But someone will step forward with a quality news product with professional images, video and stories.
These will go to the editors. Reporters and photographers won't be included, though they are the true content producers.
ReplyDeleteHey 655 thanks for the great input. It's so wonderful reading your wise, sage advice about how things should be. Except the world has passed you by. Nobody cares how you take a photo, only that there is one. Nobody cares about the quality of video from Egypt, just that there was some. Send to a seminar to take a photo? Is that like on the planes when they say, fasten your seatbelt low and tight....here's how you buckle like you are helpless. Damn.
ReplyDeleteWill Martore be handing out the leftover candy to her ass-kissers?
ReplyDeleteFrom the PR, "These new tools will help our journalists meet the demands of the NEW news cycle..."
ReplyDelete"New" news cycle? Where the hell has this guy been for the last 5 years? If real time and rapid response reporting is "new" to Gannett Execs then this company will end up being sold off in chunks much quicker then I anticipated.
There's been talking in Phoenix of iPhones for years but nothing has come of it. It will be interesting to see if this is true and if it is, who gets the new devices. The few folks at the Republic who have iPads and smart phones, whether it be a POS Blackberry, iPhone wannabe Android or a real iPhone are bosses who never leave the office. They text each other and check on the competition in news meetings.
ReplyDelete7:47 p.m., same here. Our site didn't receive this memo today, either.
ReplyDeleteMy site didnt see that message either.
ReplyDeleteThe worker bees at my site (us content producers in the newsroom) didn't get this today, either.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteGannett may actually be on the cutting edge of news gathering being the leader in low quality pictures, video and audio. Let's face it, there doesn't seem to be a business model for newspapers that makes sense anymore and Gannett apparently has the most reporters anywhere and the video camera idea of a few years ago didn't work so why not try to see if we can market poor quality. By the way, we have print editors who are being eliminated in favor of regional centers, who's going to edit pictures, video, audio and content?
ReplyDelete8:02, another stuck in the 1980's fella who hates change and needs to justify why he never learned the skills necessary to compete in today's media environment. What ge is really saying us folks gave discovered the emperor has no clothes and journalists can snap a photo on their phone and send it to the newsroom in ten seconds. These folks can't and won't deal with it so they disparage anyone and everything associated with the future.
ReplyDeleteWay to go Mr Dickey. Great decision and a great way to start 2012.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis choice doesn't have to be about just one or the other.
ReplyDeleteNewsrooms can be equipped with both smartphones for making and transmitting quick videos/photographs, as well as more professional-grade cameras for producing moving and still images of a more serious nature.
And Gannett steps boldly into 2009....
ReplyDeleteI'd imagine there would be plenty of money available for neat toys considering all the people jettisoned to the unemployment line recently. I guess its easier to file that one story to those three papers that have been consolidated to your region with a new iPhone. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
ReplyDeleteDylan Smith: Or 2007? That's when the iPhone first hit the market.
ReplyDeleteWhen are we going to stop calling this the "new" news cycle? The 24-hour news cycle has been going on for years. If Gannett brass still views it as new, it's no wonder why profits are dwindling. This step should have been taken years ago.
ReplyDeleteOk wait if Gannett is so bad why are all you people working for them
ReplyDeleteThey aren't, 12:44. Some of them haven't for three years. But they still come here and whine.
ReplyDeleteGannett keeps overtly trying to reinvent itself, but it is always trite and contrived. It is always a gimmick, and it always -- always -- falls flat. Blogs. Information centers. News 2000. Deal chicken... haha. Video cameras in the newsrooms. The DIG. Blah blah blah. Same old crap every year, and always the same results. Crap. Somewhere along the way, Gannett forgot why people used to pick up a danged newspaper, read it and buy ads. Watchdog stories? Smart, quality content? Reputation and diversity? Professional journalism? Rather, Gannett keeps going in the opposite direction that has led to annual layoffs, buyouts, furloughs, declining readership and years without raises and certainly no bonuses for most remaining Gannett workers. At this point, I say "keep going!" By all means, Gannett, don't stop! I, for one, anticipate the day when we can rejoice when this wretched company is gone. Announcements like this one smell of fear and desperation. There seems to be no direction of purpose. We only hear that having these items dispensed to various newsrooms and training, yeah, training!, will result in a competitive advantage. Haha, good luck with that. Gannett, you're failing. Your competitors are better than you at everything. It used to not be true. But that is why you are failing now.
ReplyDelete@Jim: 2007 was the year they blew major bucks on giant cameras that recorded to tape, wasn't it? Genius move, that. Real easy to edit on the fly when you've got to input a fricking tape to Avid before you can do anything.
ReplyDelete1:17 would you provide a list of print centric media companies that are doing well financially, have not laid anyone off and employee the tools and methods you espouse?
ReplyDeleteHeh Dylan 3:08 never heard of you or your site. I'm sure in typical former employeee fashion your making double the money, pay almost nothing for health benefits and You are free of all stress. You appear to be a media expert so please enlighten us.
ReplyDelete@5:24: I'm having the time of my life, actually reporting the news and not being stuck on endless conference calls discussing the latest news management catchphrase. Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's just Gannett way to downsize further: http://youtu.be/4KGSi0AoJYs
ReplyDeleteJim, where did this memo go originally? Nobody in our newsroom got it either. However we did get a mandatory order just last night to fill out a Gannett survey about phone usage. I wonder if they are trying to determine who gets the iPhones and iPads. Typical Gannett, they buy a few but not enough to go around. Wholesale reinvention, as long as it is on the cheap!
ReplyDeleteiPhone 3 is free now with 2-year plan ... who wants to bet that (if this is true) we're all getting technology from two generations ago?
ReplyDeleteThis new initiative sounds very similar to the MoJos that were deployed in Ft Myers back in 2006.
ReplyDeleteThink Dickey or Marymont could actually operate an iPhone? Yeah, what I thought.
ReplyDeleteI am guessing that most of Gannett's smaller markets are not yet covered by AT+T's 4G footprint. Not like GCI is springing for the newest phones anyway...but watching reporters lose their mind while trying to upload via GPRS or EDGE would be funny.
ReplyDeleteAlso, quality of the video.......the move "Cloverfield" comes to mind, maybe even "Blair Witch". Every report from the field is going to look like it was shot by an epileptic.
At usatodaytheybought ipads but just for editors. ifeelspecial.
ReplyDelete@1:17AM: "Somewhere along the way, Gannett forgot why people used to pick up a danged newspaper, read it and buy ads. Watchdog stories? Smart, quality content? Reputation and diversity? Professional journalism?"
ReplyDeleteYou mean, classifieds, obits, and the police blotter, right? Maybe if a local scandal breaks out. For everything else, news.google.com.
It's a reporters, bob. Remember all of those you laid off? iPhones Don't replace them!
ReplyDeleteso many Gannett employees posting about the sad state of the company and how disenfranchised they are. get a life. if you dont like the company, go find a new job.
ReplyDeleteWOW! First time into this blog, and I find the most fascinating information is not the iPhones but the acid indigestion any mention of Gannett still produces, especially from anonymous posters. Yes, I'm lucky--I retired from The Honolulu Advertiser eight years ago before the real bleeding began, and before any of us--I think--had any idea how bad things were going to get, with a combination of bottom line thinking, tech revolution and economic disaster here and around the world. But I wish any news organization and all journalists well. I hope this works, and if it doesn't that there are still people around who will try to make something else work. Aloha, all. --Walter Wright
ReplyDelete8:42 The memo was supplied to me by one of Gannett Blog's readers.
ReplyDeleteIt hasn't been distributed to all newsroom employees, apparently, although I don't understand why.
Did anyone catch the IPad2 and netbook line? Netbooks? Do you suits read your own product? Netbooks never did really catch on and are considered dead in the water by computer makers.
ReplyDeleteBob Dickey, President
ReplyDeleteKate Marymont, VP/News
Maribel Wadsworth, Digital News Executive
wow...just..wow, am I glad not to be working for these people. No surprise things are going downhills. It's just a shame the good people (the ones needed for good news) are always let go first and the 'sayers' stay to buy iPhones. Wake up people.
Trickey Dickey is a legend! And a hero of mine. I bet when the ship finally sinks, he will be the last one to go down. That's because he is selfless and thinks of Gannett worker bees first. Hile! :)
ReplyDeleteI've apparently been given a big promotion; the following is from a report on Digital Journal:
ReplyDeleteNews company Gannett has recently purchased thousands of dollars worth of tablets, smartphones, wireless hotspots, and other tech gadgets for their staff of reporters.
Poynter reports on the memo sent out by president of the United States newspaper division of Gannett, Jim Hopkins, which details the upgrade on new, tech-savvy equipment which will be arriving for use in January.
Bob Dickey, President
ReplyDeleteKate Marymont, VP/News
Maribel Wadsworth, Digital News Executive
Three very unimpressive folks leading the charge into the 21st century - an advertising guy who does not know a lick about news or gathering it, a self promoter who fooled everyone with her MOJO reporters in Fort Myers and her sycophant who she brought along to corporate when she got promoted.
As many posters have noted, where has Marymont's leadership been in this turbulent time in our industry? What new initiatives have any of these folks come up with?
That's not a promotion, Jim.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas!
Wrong decision to order Apple products insteqad of open Android devices. Well, Apple must have made you a good price, right?
ReplyDeleteI do believe that the barn door is now locked. Too bad the horses, cows, pigs, chickens and all the other livestock have left.
ReplyDeleteSigned,
One of the livestock.
It's not an all-the-way bad idea, but the toys are the easy part. Designing and implementing an efficient workflow, implementing an ONGOING training program (not just a 2-week rah-rah), providing budget for operational expenses, replacement hardware, providing 24x7 support so that when the reporter manages to get the BIG STORY into their phone and has trouble someone can help, and lots more.
ReplyDeleteThat's all grown-up stuff, and it doesn't end after you cut the check and open the boxes. Anyone can buy toys. Smart companies design the process, workflow and ongoing operational model FIRST, then buy whatever toys are needed to support it.
Unfortunately this initiative sounds like something that probably started at a "brainstorming" session with someone saying "..what if we just buy everyone iPhones? Blanket the cities with technology? Did you see those kids at 'Occupy'? We should do THAT. We just DON'T HAVE ENOUGH TECHNOLOGY. If we only had some money for iPhones, we'd be able to TURN THIS COMPANY AROUND."
Emails were sent, meetings were held, bagels were consumed, and another "Made-for-10-Q" initiative was born...