-- USA Today describing successful editorial operations at other media companies, in Building a newsroom for the future, a guide to the paper's reorganization in August 2010. Since then, the paper has hired or promoted at least 22 general managers, vice presidents and senior vice presidents to new positions in editorial, finance, sales, and other departments. The most recent was announced yesterday.
Earlier: Portrait of Publisher Hunke as 21st Century risk-taker.
USAT has done everything possible to set itself up to be an irrelevant news brand in the next 10 years. It has laid off some of the best gatekeepers in the biz. It has promoted people who were pretty good at "playing the game" but don't appear to have the necessary leadership skills or integrity to inspire people. Beware of any company that doesn't permit it's managers to speak freely! Some of these managers are just downright dishonest, so they don't see the restrictions on speaking frankly as a negative.
ReplyDeleteUSAT has hired flavor-of-the-day morons and it has constantly been beaten on posting big stories online. USAT has gone from a once-vibrant and secure place to work to an unfocused, sinking ship with little real hope for the future.
Some folks are just trying to hang on until retirement while others are in a constant job-search mode. The newer, less-entrenched employees, have little interest in journalism and will move on to next dot.com as soon as they realize that news isn't really their thing. Journalism school grads have already shunned the brand as word has spread throughout universities and the industry about what a cold, heartless place USAT has become.
The next hire at USAT probably should be someone who can investigate what has gone on here (not just listen to the same old crap from the same dishonest, self-serving people) in the last several years, then work like mad to undo all the damage that has been created by every unethical upper and mid-level manager, past and present. We don't need anymore surveys or slogans. We just need for the truth to be exposed and for there to be a will on the corporate side to fix what's wrong. It will take years. I would suggest starting now.
Paging John Seigenthaler and Bill Kovach ...
ReplyDelete11:01 I think the first committment management should make is to get rid of cry baby, stuck in the past, oh poor me folks like you. At this point you bring absolutely nothing to the table. You find negativity in every move and bring down everyone around you. If life is so terrible at USAT get out and allow the rest of us to move forward. Tom Beusse's team is going to kick ass in 2012 and bring in a ton of new revenue. The new executive editor will be charged with revitalizing the newsroom. Quite frankly there will be no room for folks like you.
ReplyDelete2:13 Perhaps Beusse and a new top editor can move the ball forward.
ReplyDeleteHowever, for your prediction to have significant credibility, it would be helpful to see you list Hunke's accomplishments since he was made publisher in April 2009.
From that point until summer 2010, his first pass at turning around the paper did not work. That's why he resorted to the August 2010 reorganization, one he told The Associated Press was "pretty radical."
Some 16 months have now passed since that reorg. What's the record show?
Let's start with the much-discussed verticals. As I post this, USAT is still promising to launch three more by the end of the year: in personal finance, personal technology and entertainment.
It seems doubtful the paper will make that deadline, given the fact there's less than two weeks before year's end. Plus, General Manager Ellwood has already made clear that the strategy wasn't working.
Bottom line: Given lots of well-paid vertical GMs and editors, USAT managed to launch just one vertical -- Your Life -- over the past year.
What about advertising revenue, another soft spot? That, too, has failed to turn around sufficiently, based on the recent shake-up in the top sales ranks.
This brings us to your prediction that Beusse's team "is going to kick ass in 2012 and bring in a ton of new revenue."
How will that happen? Can you quantify what a "ton" is? After all, as one of Gannett Blog's critics likes to say: no details = no credibility.
3:06 Jim, Hunke is a failure. Beusse has laid out his plans in past sessions. You just haven't paid attention. Do your job, it's all there. By the way, Lee Jobes and his team surpassed usat's sales goals in the fourth quarter. That's out there as well but fir some reason your negative "sources" are not paying attention.
ReplyDelete4:39 Indeed, I've read that Jones & Co. have surpassed ad sales goals -- including the so-called "stretch" target. But I haven't seen any dollar figures. And despite your assertion, I don't think those figures are "out there," because such data are typically proprietary.
ReplyDeleteDoes Beusse agree Hunke is a failure? If so, that would likely come as a surprise to Beusse's alleged boss (and I assume you know who that is).
Finally, if Beusse has such promise, why isn't he USAT's No. 2 executive, instead of Susie Ellwood?
Beusse reports directly to Hunke. His mission is separate from Ellwood. Do your homework. You've gotten soft
ReplyDeleteJim 2....Corporate cronie 0. I'm loving this debate!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I neglected to ask: How do you know, in fact, that those sales goals were reached? Who told you, and why do you believe them?
ReplyDeleteJim enough with spreading silly gossip or writing about photos on skateboard sites. There is a good story going on at USAT and you're focusing on the wrong areas.
ReplyDelete5:53 What's the good story I haven't told?
ReplyDeleteNo details = no credibility!
No improvement at USA today can happen until Susan Weiss Or whoever gets Hillkirk's job clears out the senior managers who have no clue about a 24/7 operation and jumping on news. News, Money, in particular suck at this. The senior editors throughout the organization seem to thrive in meetings and second guessing but lack ideas and management skills. Honestly, I hope she has the fortitude to make changes.
ReplyDeleteOn line is the worst, and this is the frigging future of the organization. . They are uninspired widget processors who are, for the most part, not journalists and wouldn't know the first thing about reporting a story. That's on Dave Teeuven. A guy completely out of his element.
Let's hope our new digital chief figures that out quickly. Or demands reporters staff the site instead of the current crew.
So Jim unless someone spoon feeds you the details you have no clue how to proceed or us it that you only pursue negative stories?
ReplyDelete6:20 I think the key to your post is 24/7. That's going to require a major cultural shift. But it will be done.
ReplyDeleteThe "good" story going on at USA Today may be happening in sports. Let's hope Busse knows what he is doing. At least he's doing more than talking about planning a plan. Hunke and Elllwood don't even talk a good game. They can double down all they want on the verticals, but Heather Frank's team will not putmin the hard work to make them succeed. Their concept of focusing on women is ridiculous. The content is a joke. Graphics on how to wash your face and articles on toast toppings. Really?
ReplyDelete24/7 requires more than a culture shift. It requires people. There aren't enough reporters to cover one shift of news a day, five days a week, much less 24 hours a day for 7 days a week.
ReplyDeleteAnd not more vice presidents.
6:34 I've heard the same accusation for years now from readers like you:
ReplyDelete"Jim and Gannett Blog are too negative. I want more good news about Gannett on this site. I have a good-news story to tell. But I'm not going to share it with Jim because that would make life too easy for him."
Look: If you really wanted to burnish Gannett's image on a site you say is resolutely anti-Gannett, you'd do anything and everything to get that story out here.
But you don't, and you don't -- leading me to conclude the obvious: There's no story after all.
Sorry, Jim, but that response is a big zero.
ReplyDeleteNo one is going to spoon-feed you details. Do your own homework.
7:45 Jim when you were a reporter I believe you had to actual look into issues and report. If all you are today is a conduit fir others to post information then I apologize. I thought you were still a journalist. If you've failed to look at the Beusse team you are missing a great story. But that's your choice.
ReplyDeleteBut he still wants your money, 9:36.
ReplyDelete6:20 -- Money is damn good at jumping on breaking news. The problem at Money: They have no banking reporter, in the middle of the biggest banking crisis since the Great Depression. They let the international finance reporter go to Bloomberg. Another economics reporter went to AP. And they don't have a health-care reporter. Management let the best talent go to competitors, and couldn't be bothered to shift assets to areas where news was actually occurring.
ReplyDeleteMoney is good at breaking news? Get real. they consistently miss stories and inderplay the news. im sorry, but spend a few weeks comparing vs. the competition and youll get my drift.you can blame it on staffing and lack of reporters. but honestly, it is about the competence of the editors. they have been phoning it in for years. Its not just incompetence. They dont care.
ReplyDeletePersonally, if you have good news details about the direction of usa today other than rahrah hunke pablum and new veep hires, I would love to hear. Otherwise, the tedious slamming of those who dont drink the kool aid and management boosterism needs to end.
ReplyDeleteRodney Brooks, Jimmy Henderson and Geri Tucker. That's all you need to know about the state of the influential Money section. 20 plus years of stale leadership, ineffective hiring, staff development and oversight of the news. Not one significant change under John Hillkirk/Henderson. Nada.
ReplyDeleteDont know if this crew is responsible for burying the News, or deciders like David Colton, Owen Ullman, Lee Horvich. Some awful decision making day in and day out. I figured now departed Carol Stevens and David Lindsey were to blame for missing stories and burying others.
ReplyDeleteYes, USA TODAY hit their Q4 revenue goals. Despite this, they will miss their goals overall for 2011.
ReplyDelete