Sunday, December 04, 2011

Nov. 28-Dec. 4 | Your News & Comments: Part 7

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29 comments:

  1. When do we hear the news of all the web breaks the press operators were going to cause?

    Oh, that's right -- it's just another rumor someone decided to throw at the wall here.

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  2. I got my paper on top and right in the middle if the driveway And Dave Hunke us still at Gannett. But this is an award winning Blog. Of course Jim always forgets to tell is that the award was for his work on the Newseum folks, a non Gannett organization. A great piece by the way. But why worry about facts, a lucite award is cool!

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  3. What is the point of making the GPS. Just curious, don't know. Are they able to out source or consolidate printing with non GANNETT with this.

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  4. If your smart I wouldn't trust any managers!
    They don't even like their selves, look how they treat people. Their second rate!
    and who really cares they are abusive.

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  5. This is truly a rumor -- passed to a confused former Gannettoid on vacation: The plan is to move the printing of Florida Today to Orlando. Why? To save salaries and benefits. AND so the huge, now mostly empty building can be SOLD!

    Florida Today used to be the flagship paper of the community division. It's a Big-Al fancy structure.

    Is this really likely? Even possible?

    But then . . . Is it likely the company would keept the half-empty building? Are there any new programs in the works at corporate that could fill it and justify the cost?

    I haven't read any discussion on this site as to what GCI will do with all the physical properties.

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  6. Elmira- over 4 hours late
    Brevard- 40 minute late start, multiple web breaks
    still gathering info. Here is link to The Elmira paper Elmira was very late

    http://www.stargazette.com/article/20111204/NEWS01/111204001/SG-delivery-delayed-by-4-hours?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

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  7. 10:19..hopefully just a rumor. What I heard was USA was buying the Orlando paper and moving everything there. A confusing part however...it would still be majority Orlando news with a section devoted to Brevard. They just hired a new trucking co. to truck the papers to the DC's. Would either of them have signed a less than one year contract? How would that impact the distribution of the papers? Both Orlando and FT have their own contractors, and Orlando's are not equipped to handle FT's loads.

    Be interesting to see how this rumor goes on...if there's anything to it or not. Sure would mess up a lot of people's lives. Of course we all know Gannett doesn't give a rat's hiney about anyone but themselves!

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  8. Gannett's board of directors and senior management could give a damn about their fiduciary duty to the shareholders (the owners). It's pretty clear that they are going to milk their captive newspapers and TV stations of profit all the way to the end. What a Malthusian business plan: Cut the workforce and news product gradually but constantly to maintain artificially high profit margins and pay for undeserved executive bonus plans. Then close and consolidate printing plants and other functions, ostensibly to "drive out" costs but which disembowel newspapers to the point where will neither be able to fend off online competition nor draw top dollar in a sale. One has to suspect that content generation, online posting, ad sales and back-office functions will all end up in Myanmar. And the top execs and directors will continue to hoard money as if nothing had changed.

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  9. 12:12 -- I totally agree with you.
    An ex-Gannetteer

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  10. Ft doesn't really have a load anymore! It will be done, only makes sense. The paper already has hardly any content to read. Huge pictures instead, and it already looks like the Orlando sentinnel. They hardly put a ft logo on pages anymore! They have done this type of thing before- it will be done again.
    I had a big manager tell me they weren't far behind in leaving!

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  11. 12:12 what a silly post. Newspapers are yesterdays news delivery system. It's over. This is how a company manages the demise. It's all digital today, tomorrow and forever. Enough with management doesn't care. They are managing a terminal cancer patient. Strengthen your digital web skills and move into that arena.

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  12. 2:31, you must be the vulture sitting on Martore's shoulder.

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  13. 3:33 where does that come from. Make your case. Why would an intelligent, tech savvy consumer want their news delivered once a day on paper? I'm waiting.

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  14. If digital is the future, then why.all the layoffs? Digital doesn't bring in the ad dollars yet, if ever. For now, you need print and digital.

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  15. Re: 2:31 I think you're right about the newspaper on paper. There is still a market for strong original reporting and photography though. It's that the delivery has to be immediate and digital.

    The problem with this company is that consumers are becoming more discerning in what they'll pay for. They know they can get free crap almost anywhere and they won't pay for free crap or reader provided second rate content. They will pay for first rate original reporting (look at the NYT or FT models). Gannett has never created much first rate content. Some of the regional papers, like Louisville and Des Moines were outstanding before Gannett bought them.

    Then the recession hit and the company started slashing to maintain unmaintainable margins. Now we're barely better than Patch sites. Online revenue is driven by nightclub and party slideshows and serious journalism is a thing of the past. People won't pay for what we offer. So we can't look at online to save us. There's nothing there for us to sell.

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  16. An excellent piece of journalism in the Arizona Republic this morning. A photographer and reporter followed a group of undocumented immigrant teenagers through their senior year of high school.

    http://www.azcentral.com/news/immigration/arizona-immigrant-students/students-index.php

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  17. "However, we are all acutely aware the economy is not improving as quickly or as strongly as we wish and companies across America, and globally too, have had to respond to a difficult economic environment. "

    Is it any wonder that the economy is not improving when company's like Gannett take money from the working class and reward themselves annually. We are told the economy is the reason for pay freezes or raises less than 2% which for someone making $30k amounts to only $600 a year, yet corporate execs are doubling their million dollar annual packages(salary, bonus, addition comps)

    The power to change the economy lies in the hands of the same people who use it as an excuse to justify actions that contribute to the ongoing decline of the economy.

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  18. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  19. I've heard the rumor also. In the depressed market in Brevard, there is no one to buy the property. There is many large commercial buildings available in the area, most have been vacant for years.

    Of course, what do I know, I'm just a peon.

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  20. What is the corprate execs Annual Bonus?
    -
    As reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission-Annual cash bonus is based on the Committee’s assessment of each NEO’s contributions to Company-wide performance and achievement of key performance indicators.

    WHY????

    Retention. To reward performance in attainment of individual and Company qualitative and quantitative performance goals.


    WHAT ARE THESE GOALS??

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  21. Who cares about sick time when you never get a raise in two years. Oh wait Craig got 37 million! I bet he was happy.This is what happens when the government looks the other way with these big corporations. Gannett is the next Enron and the Layoffs and Furloughs continue. This company is a friggin joke and that's putting it mildly.

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  24. Excellent piece of journalism 6:27 PM? Perhaps, but frankly it smacks of the media’s agenda setting powers something a silent majority are increasingly tiring of especially those who play by the rules and/or came here legally only to watch as illegal aliens get a free ride.

    Prohibiting comments to it and other like stories (best to edit out reader comments that cross the line instead) turns off readers even more.

    It may feel good, but risky without balancing with stories on the other side in that what they are doing is clearly illegal and done so at everyone else’s increasing expense.

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  25. Excellent journalism in azrep? Read it. BADLY in need of an editor. about 5 times too long for a non-80s newspaper.

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  26. I have jobs to post from my new-ish (6 months), non-Gannett media gig. Would anyone care? Do they belong here? Just asking. I see people say "You have no job or you would give details!" Well I've had a good post-layoff job for some time now and have hired 20 media folks on my own since. 2 post-Gannett folks; the rest from elsewhere. Does anyone want to really see these jobs? Just consider it a poll. One current one would pay about 50k, another well into 6 figures (sales)....

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  27. 11:30 - why not just post a link to the site that has these jobs advertised? I doubt Jim wants to turn his blog into a jobs board ...

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  28. The latest rumor about Florida Today moving presses to Orlando and selling the building is just that, nothing but an unsubstantiated rumor. Gannett couldn't sell the building if it wanted to. Brevard real estate sales are among the worst in America and with the demise of the shuttle launches, a buyer would have to be crazy to take on a huge aging property like that. I would say, however, that the rumors about a change in top management, both publisher an executive editor, is feasible and would be welcomed by the staff. In fact, it would be a major boost for morale. The options are limited for selling the paper now that pagination and photo scanning have been centralized elsewhere. So to sum up, they can't sell then paper as it has little value. They can't sell the building as there are few (if any) buyers for a structure so large in the county. That leaves only management change or shuttering the newspaper. If Bob Dickey schedules a trip to Melbourne anytime soon I would say you can kiss it goodbye, just like Tucson.

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  29. Maybe Big Al could have the Freedom Forum buy the FlaToday building. He probably could use the extra storage space and not clutter his Cocoa Beach mansion.

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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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