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Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Westchester | A N.Y. amusement park battle over Muslim headscarves, and the fight for local news
As Gannett disclosed details of another effort to improve news content yesterday, a story broke in New York's Westchester County that offers a vivid example of bruising competition on the local news front, especially from the 500-plus site Patch news network.
Although this involves The Journal News, it could easily have taken place in any of GCI's more than 100 U.S. newspaper and broadcast markets, where newsroom staff have been whacked to pieces in recent years.
The story: A brawl erupted among 30-40 people at the Playland Amusement Park in Rye, N.Y., after Muslim visitors became angry when the park, citing safety concerns, enforced its ban on headgear and prohibited the women from wearing traditional head coverings on some rides. Police from nine different agencies were called in. At least 15 people were arrested.
The story is now all across the Internet. New York media, naturally, have played it up: The New York Times featured a two-byline staff report on its homepage early this morning. So, too, did the New York Post and the Daily News. Yet, media as far away as The Washington Post took a bite, too.
'They got smoked'
Not surprisingly, it's the most popular story on the Journal News' LoHud.com website -- well ahead of the Hurricane Irene story featured most prominently on the site. And that's where Gannett Blog's Anonymous@12:44 a.m. weighs in.
They wrote a detailed account of how news coverage unfolded at several media outlets, focusing on the Journal News. "They got smoked by the competition, including the start-up, Patch.com,'' 12:44 said. "Great story, possible national interest."
To be sure, that's only 12:44's version; I haven't seen any comments from the Journal News' side, and I would love to get them.
But a review of timestamps shows, indeed, that the Patch site in Rye was at least competitive -- and appears ahead on photos and video. Its first account was posted by at least 5:08 p.m.; that's when the first of 64 reader comments appears.
The Journal News' first account came earlier -- but not by much, judging from reader comments. Its story was posted by 4:15 p.m., according to the first of 173 reader comments.
Patch has two stories, at least 10 photos, and four videos. The Journal News essentially has one story, two photos and no video. (To be precise, I see two LoHud versions of what appear to be the same story; the paper is featuring the second one, with just 20 comments, on its homepage.)
Last stand: local news
Now, perhaps the Journal News was having an unusually bad day. Once more, its supporters could provide valuable context.
But one fact is certain: Local news is GCI's last stand. If the company can't hold that franchise, the game will be over.
That fear got underscored yesterday, when Nashville's Tennessean reported that its top editor, Mark Silverman, is moving to Corporate's News Department. There, the paper said, he "will be part of a team helping the company's news organizations transform their coverage and increase their local impact.''
His appointment comes after the department convened a meeting earlier this month of editors at the top 31 newspapers. They gathered to address a central question, according to a memo: "How can we create unique, high-impact journalism with smaller staffs?"
That was a reference to the latest round of newsroom cuts that came during the June round of 700 layoffs across all newspaper departments.
Yesterday's Playland Amusement Park story is just one example. No doubt, the Journal News will swing back today.
But as more stories like this one get lost to Patch and other rivals, GCI's decline will continue in a death by 1,000 local cuts.
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.
The story is now all across the Internet. New York media, naturally, have played it up: The New York Times featured a two-byline staff report on its homepage early this morning. So, too, did the New York Post and the Daily News. Yet, media as far away as The Washington Post took a bite, too.
'They got smoked'
Not surprisingly, it's the most popular story on the Journal News' LoHud.com website -- well ahead of the Hurricane Irene story featured most prominently on the site. And that's where Gannett Blog's Anonymous@12:44 a.m. weighs in.
They wrote a detailed account of how news coverage unfolded at several media outlets, focusing on the Journal News. "They got smoked by the competition, including the start-up, Patch.com,'' 12:44 said. "Great story, possible national interest."
To be sure, that's only 12:44's version; I haven't seen any comments from the Journal News' side, and I would love to get them.
The Journal News' first account came earlier -- but not by much, judging from reader comments. Its story was posted by 4:15 p.m., according to the first of 173 reader comments.
Patch has two stories, at least 10 photos, and four videos. The Journal News essentially has one story, two photos and no video. (To be precise, I see two LoHud versions of what appear to be the same story; the paper is featuring the second one, with just 20 comments, on its homepage.)
Last stand: local news
Now, perhaps the Journal News was having an unusually bad day. Once more, its supporters could provide valuable context.
But one fact is certain: Local news is GCI's last stand. If the company can't hold that franchise, the game will be over.
 |
| Silverman |
His appointment comes after the department convened a meeting earlier this month of editors at the top 31 newspapers. They gathered to address a central question, according to a memo: "How can we create unique, high-impact journalism with smaller staffs?"
That was a reference to the latest round of newsroom cuts that came during the June round of 700 layoffs across all newspaper departments.
Yesterday's Playland Amusement Park story is just one example. No doubt, the Journal News will swing back today.
But as more stories like this one get lost to Patch and other rivals, GCI's decline will continue in a death by 1,000 local cuts.
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Aug. 29-Sept. 4 | Your News & Comments: Part 2
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Nashville | Silverman joins Corporate's News Dept.
In a story this afternoon, The Tennessean at Nashville says of the new job for its top editor, Mark Silverman:
"Silverman will be part of a team helping the company's news organizations transform their coverage and increase their local impact at a time when the media landscape is changing rapidly. This will be Silverman's third tour of duty on the Corporate staff. He also has served as top editor in Detroit; Louisville, Ky.; Rockford, Ill., and at Gannett News Service."
He starts in mid-September.
Silverman's first tour at Corporate was in his role as a prime architect of News 2000, a quality control campaign launched in mid-1992 under Phil Currie, who ran the News Department at the time.
Kate Marymont is now chief of the department, which has broad oversight of the editorial content and staffing at virtually all the 82 U.S. newspapers. The Tennessean doesn't say whether Silverman will report to Marymont, however.
It's my understanding that Silverman was involved in developing the latest quality control campaign, dubbed passion topics on this blog.
The Tennessean story says the paper is looking for Silverman's replacement. He's been the paper's editor for nearly five years.
Earlier: Silverman says Nashville's journalism will improve after the loss of 20 newsroom jobs. Plus: He wins a Ben Bradlee editor's award.
 |
| Silverman |
He starts in mid-September.
Silverman's first tour at Corporate was in his role as a prime architect of News 2000, a quality control campaign launched in mid-1992 under Phil Currie, who ran the News Department at the time.
Kate Marymont is now chief of the department, which has broad oversight of the editorial content and staffing at virtually all the 82 U.S. newspapers. The Tennessean doesn't say whether Silverman will report to Marymont, however.
It's my understanding that Silverman was involved in developing the latest quality control campaign, dubbed passion topics on this blog.
The Tennessean story says the paper is looking for Silverman's replacement. He's been the paper's editor for nearly five years.
Earlier: Silverman says Nashville's journalism will improve after the loss of 20 newsroom jobs. Plus: He wins a Ben Bradlee editor's award.
USAT Watch | An iconic brand stays on message
-- Sandra Micek, June 20, on being named USA Today's senior vice president for marketing.
"USA Today is an iconic brand. . . . I’m looking forward to being part of this dynamic team committed to providing consumers with the best news and information anytime, anywhere."
-- Laura Del Greco, yesterday, on her appointment to the newly created position of vice president of client solutions.
Sweet 16!
Del Greco is at least the 16th senior executive appointed or promoted by Publisher Dave Hunke since he announced a major turnaround effort a year ago. (The previous 15.)
Earlier: With quote-a-matic, it's deja vu -- all over again.
USAT Watch is an occasional progress report on a high-profile reorganization launched in August 2010 to boost advertising and readership at Gannett's struggling marquee daily.
Stock | After Monday's run-up, a rally again today?
Gannett's stock finished at $11.56 a share, up 87 cents, or a whopping 8.1% -- ranking its performance in the middle of a group of shares I follow. (See chart, above. Bigger spreadsheet.)
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 255 points, or 2.3%, to 11,539. The S&P 500 index, a broader measure of overall market activity, rose 2.8%, to 1,210.
Yet, even with yesterday's gains, publishers have a tough slog ahead in order to recover year-to-date losses. For one, GCI is still down 23.4% since the start of the year -- once more, in the middle of the pack. The S&P, meanwhile, is down a far smaller 3.8%.
Entering the final stretch of the current quarter, the revenue outlook isn't encouraging, The Wall Street Journal's Russell Adams reported last week.
"Newspaper companies are resetting their advertising expectations," he wrote, "after a discouraging first half of the year, a shift that could spur a return to more of the job cuts and other belt-tightening moves that spread through the industry in 2008 and 2009."
"Right now," one newspaper executive told him, "I'd have a hard time presenting a plan with revenues flattening out."
Monday, August 29, 2011
Aug. 29-Sept. 4 | Your News & Comments: Part 1
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Here's the new single-sponsor cold/flu website
Sponsored by Swiss drug company Similasan, the site was to launch today across Gannett newspapers and other websites. In a spot check of several sites, however, I could find only one example immediately, from The Cincinnati Enquirer. It includes content from The Indianapolis Star; New York's Poughkeepsie Journal -- and USA Today, drawn from that paper's own cold and flu page.
A screenshot from the Enquirer's:
Seen other examples? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.
A screenshot from the Enquirer's:
Seen other examples? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.
DealChicken | Facebook's good news -- or bad?
The social networking giant has dumped its daily deals site, barely five months after it was launched.
Facebook's retreat comes as Gannett expands DealChicken to more than 50 markets by year's end.
Earlier: warning about industry leader Groupon's slowing growth.
Earlier: warning about industry leader Groupon's slowing growth.
Burlington | Don't miss: 'Quiet Vermont life elusive for newspaper heiress after sensational murder'
From Mike Donoghue's nicely-written story yesterday in Vermont's Burlington Free Press:
When Victoria Scripps-Carmody was 3 years old, the newspaper family heiress witnessed her father kill her mother with a claw hammer as she slept in their Bronxville, N.Y., mansion on New Year’s Eve 1993.
Her father drove his BMW to the Tappan Zee Bridge and took his own life by jumping off into the icy water of the Hudson River. The case generated enormous headlines in New York City, and inspired a made-for-TV movie. Then, in a bizarre copy-cat suicide years later, her older sister killed herself the very same way, right down to the make of her automobile. She left a note to Scripps-Carmody, bearing a haunting message.
Now, Scripps-Carmody, 21, of Burlington, is accused of having 193 bags of heroin tucked away in her 2006 BMW when it was pulled over in Brattleboro, Vt., on Aug. 10. She told a detective she had a six-bag-a-day heroin habit that she needed to feed.
How Scripps-Carmody went from orphaned heiress of an E.W. Scripps fortune to a young woman with a $120-a-day heroin addiction is a tale of good intentions gone bad, and the ripple effects of a long-ago family tragedy -- all set against the famously peaceful Vermont landscape.
Read Donoghue's full account here.
Related: The Free Press' weekday circulation is 32,089, and 40, 482 Sundays, according to ABC's lookup database.
When Victoria Scripps-Carmody was 3 years old, the newspaper family heiress witnessed her father kill her mother with a claw hammer as she slept in their Bronxville, N.Y., mansion on New Year’s Eve 1993.
Now, Scripps-Carmody, 21, of Burlington, is accused of having 193 bags of heroin tucked away in her 2006 BMW when it was pulled over in Brattleboro, Vt., on Aug. 10. She told a detective she had a six-bag-a-day heroin habit that she needed to feed.
How Scripps-Carmody went from orphaned heiress of an E.W. Scripps fortune to a young woman with a $120-a-day heroin addiction is a tale of good intentions gone bad, and the ripple effects of a long-ago family tragedy -- all set against the famously peaceful Vermont landscape.
Read Donoghue's full account here.
Related: The Free Press' weekday circulation is 32,089, and 40, 482 Sundays, according to ABC's lookup database.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Aug. 22-28 | Your News & Comments: Part 7
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Saturday, August 27, 2011
Aug. 22-28 | Your News & Comments: Part 6
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.)
USAT | Showing urgency, a headline packs punch
Here's a screenshot of USA Today's homepage taken at 4:40 p.m. ET, as Hurricane Irene barrels up the Eastern Seaboard:
Indy | Union launches 'Save the Star' campaign
The Indianapolis Newspaper Guild has just launched a website urging readers to contact Publisher Karen Crotchfelt and protest cutbacks at The Indianapolis Star, austerity moves the union says threaten the paper's viability. The labor group is publishing office phone numbers and e-mail addresses for Editor Dennis Ryerson and for Crotchfelt.
"Tell her the Star’s profits need to stay in Indianapolis,'' the union says. "Tell her it’s time to reinvest in the Star by adding more journalists, not cutting them, and to pay them competitive wages. Tell her you want more local news, not less."
The chapter says it represents more than 120 employees.
The site, which appears to have launched yesterday, warns readers: "Pressure is building to run messages produced by private businesses and advertisers in news positions. If the line blurs further, readers will start questioning what’s real news and what’s an ad."
The site also warns about plans to outsource page design and production to one of the five News Design Studio hubs:
"Gannett wants to move some of the Star’s newspaper production jobs -- people who proofread the stories, write the headlines and design the look of the news pages -- from Indianapolis to Kentucky. Gannett wants people in another state who know nothing about Indianapolis to design the Star’s news pages. This is sure to hurt the quality of the Star. This could also give the paper more of a franchised feel -- less local."
To be sure, this isn't the first time the Indianapolis chapter has tangled with management. In September, Gannett agreed to pay a financial settlement to eight former Star employees represented by the Newspaper Guild in return for their dropping a lawsuit against the company, challenging their layoffs in July 2009."
But in trying to draw public pressure, this latest move sharpens the rhetoric even more. Could a boycott effort be next?
Related: The Indianapolis chapter's Facebook page.
Earlier: Settlement reported in union strike against Newsquest.
The chapter says it represents more than 120 employees.
The site, which appears to have launched yesterday, warns readers: "Pressure is building to run messages produced by private businesses and advertisers in news positions. If the line blurs further, readers will start questioning what’s real news and what’s an ad."
The site also warns about plans to outsource page design and production to one of the five News Design Studio hubs:
"Gannett wants to move some of the Star’s newspaper production jobs -- people who proofread the stories, write the headlines and design the look of the news pages -- from Indianapolis to Kentucky. Gannett wants people in another state who know nothing about Indianapolis to design the Star’s news pages. This is sure to hurt the quality of the Star. This could also give the paper more of a franchised feel -- less local."
To be sure, this isn't the first time the Indianapolis chapter has tangled with management. In September, Gannett agreed to pay a financial settlement to eight former Star employees represented by the Newspaper Guild in return for their dropping a lawsuit against the company, challenging their layoffs in July 2009."
But in trying to draw public pressure, this latest move sharpens the rhetoric even more. Could a boycott effort be next?
Related: The Indianapolis chapter's Facebook page.
Earlier: Settlement reported in union strike against Newsquest.
Big Al | USAT fumbles on the one-yard editing line
In his $100,000-a-year-for-life column yesterday in USA Today, Founder Al Neuharth takes on the college football scandals at the University of Miami and Ohio State -- then squarely assigns responsibility.
"Whenever anything goes wrong at work or at play, the boss ultimately is to blame,'' he writes. "The boss at colleges or universities is the president. Not the athletic director or the coach."
At Miami, that would be Donna Shalala -- a fact Neuharth notes, even though he says it's "difficult," because he's known her personally for a long time. He then sums up her career in three sentences:
"Shalala has been Miami's boss since 2001. She came there after eight years in President Clinton's Cabinet as secretary of Health and Human Services. Her educational administrative credentials include heading Hunter College in New York and the University of Wisconsin."
But as Anonymous@10:21 p.m. asks: "Anyone guess what salient piece of information he chose to omit?"
Me thinks 10:21 is referring to the fact that Shalala was a member of Gannett's board of directors from 2001 until just four months ago.
Now, USAT is generally good at reporting Gannett's role in news stories. That's a step quality newspapers take to alert readers to possible conflicts of interest. As a reporter there, I once wrote about lax supervision by the board of directors at GlobalCrossing, the bankrupt telecommunications giant. Appropriately, the paper disclosed in the story that then-CEO Doug McCorkindale was one of those board members.
Neuharth's columns, however, have always appeared to get very light editing. Yesterday's was one of the more egregious examples.
Earlier: Shalala's statement on Miami's football scandal.
 |
| Neuharth |
At Miami, that would be Donna Shalala -- a fact Neuharth notes, even though he says it's "difficult," because he's known her personally for a long time. He then sums up her career in three sentences:
"Shalala has been Miami's boss since 2001. She came there after eight years in President Clinton's Cabinet as secretary of Health and Human Services. Her educational administrative credentials include heading Hunter College in New York and the University of Wisconsin."
But as Anonymous@10:21 p.m. asks: "Anyone guess what salient piece of information he chose to omit?"
Me thinks 10:21 is referring to the fact that Shalala was a member of Gannett's board of directors from 2001 until just four months ago.
Now, USAT is generally good at reporting Gannett's role in news stories. That's a step quality newspapers take to alert readers to possible conflicts of interest. As a reporter there, I once wrote about lax supervision by the board of directors at GlobalCrossing, the bankrupt telecommunications giant. Appropriately, the paper disclosed in the story that then-CEO Doug McCorkindale was one of those board members.
Neuharth's columns, however, have always appeared to get very light editing. Yesterday's was one of the more egregious examples.
Earlier: Shalala's statement on Miami's football scandal.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Aug. 22-28 | Your News & Comments: Part 5
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Irene spurs tech emergency response plan launch
[Satellite image of Hurricane Irene at 1:28 p.m. ET]
Gannett Media Technologies International, which provides technical support to the company's websites, sent the following memo today:
GMTI has invoked our Emergency Response plan in preparation for Hurricane Irene. A mandatory evacuation has been issued that affects our Norfolk, Va., location beginning Saturday morning. Today, a team was dispatched to our Cincinnati office in advance of the approaching storm. That team will assume all duties to seamlessly maintain continuity of all services.
Our network engineers conducted a thorough review of key applications and services in anticipation of a surge in traffic and usage spurred by hurricane coverage. We will continue to monitor performance and address any issues with the utmost urgency.
Following the storm we will evaluate conditions to determine when operations can resume in the Norfolk office.
[Photo: Weather Channel]
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Aug. 22-28 | Your News & Comments: Part 4
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By the numbers | Stock performance vs. exec pay
[Jobs, Dubow]
Steve Jobs resigned as Apple's CEO yesterday, spurring countless stories about his extraordinary impact on technology and corporate life generally. Annual figures for 2010:
+53%
performance of Apple's shares
$1
Jobs' total compensation as CEO
+1.6%
performance of Gannett shares
$9.4 million
CEO Craig Dubow's total pay
[Data: Google Finance, regulatory filings]
Gannett is launching 'sponsored' cold/flu website; project among first led by unit given to Banikarim
Testing newsroom ethical boundaries and local editorial independence, Corporate's advertorial department is launching a specialty website on Monday focused on seasonal ailments. The cold and flu portal will publish through the end of September across Gannett sites, including U.S. newspapers, TV stations and MomsLikeMe.
It's being sponsored by a single advertiser: Similasan, the Swiss maker of over-the-counter products including Similasan's Nasal Allergy Relief.
The site is one of the first to be created by a former ContentOne department -- Custom Publishing -- since it was turned over to Chief Marketing Officer Maryam Banikarim in May, when ContentOne (the former Gannett News Service) was split after the retirement of its manager, Tara Connell.
The project comes as GCI struggles to shore up revenue after a recent quarter where newspaper advertising fell 6.5%. And it follows GCI's ongoing shift toward becoming a "marketing solutions" company, and away from a traditional news producer.
Risking newsroom credibility
Custom Publishing produces what's generally known as advertorial: news stories, video and other matter meant to cast a subject in a favorable light, one that's pleasing to potential advertisers.
But when produced by newsrooms, advertorial risks undermining the editorial staff's credibility by creating the impression advertisers can dictate the content of news columns. At the best publications, advertorial is produced outside the newsroom, and is presented in typefaces and design that clearly separates it from traditional news.
The Custom Publishing department is not directly demanding upbeat, non-critical coverage. Editors have been told the site "will feature quality cold and flu content from Gannett news sources." They've been advised to place an online link to the portal "with any content you may be running locally about cold/flu season.''
Mandate to participate
Yet, by telling editors in advance that Similasan is the sole sponsor, Corporate is nonetheless pressuring newsrooms to produce material that doesn't, for example, mention cold and flu remedies that would be competitive with the Swiss manufacturer.
There's no doubt that local news sites are expected to participate. Because it is a sponsored site, all U.S. newspaper and broadcast sites, "are expected to cooperate in promoting the portal and making efforts to drive traffic to it."
The project comes as newspaper newsrooms, especially, are struggling to produce the most basic public-service content -- such as government watchdog reporting -- after a big layoff in June. Editors of the company's 31 biggest papers met only last week to learn about a new editorial initiative dubbed "passion topics."
What's more, the cold and flu site is the latest example of Corporate dictating news content across the entire company, a shift from the company's historic practice of deferring to local editorial control.
The site is among the more high-profile signs of the direction Banikarim may be leading the company since her March appointment as GCI's first CMO.
Memo: boost revenue
When Banikarim inherited ContentOne's Custom Publishing, COO Gracia Martore said in a memo:
"It will create and manage a corporate editorial calendar, develop content and enterprise packages and further develop Gannett’s custom publishing business. The goal will be to generate additional revenues for the company and add scale while leveraging our vast content portfolio."
Banikarim came from NBCUniversal, where she was senior vice president of integrated sales marketing. In that role, she was responsible for "working across NBCUniversal’s portfolio to develop custom, innovative ad sales solutions on behalf of clients as well as overseeing marketing for NBCUniversal,'' GCI said at the time.
The site is one of the first to be created by a former ContentOne department -- Custom Publishing -- since it was turned over to Chief Marketing Officer Maryam Banikarim in May, when ContentOne (the former Gannett News Service) was split after the retirement of its manager, Tara Connell.
The project comes as GCI struggles to shore up revenue after a recent quarter where newspaper advertising fell 6.5%. And it follows GCI's ongoing shift toward becoming a "marketing solutions" company, and away from a traditional news producer.
Risking newsroom credibility
Custom Publishing produces what's generally known as advertorial: news stories, video and other matter meant to cast a subject in a favorable light, one that's pleasing to potential advertisers.
But when produced by newsrooms, advertorial risks undermining the editorial staff's credibility by creating the impression advertisers can dictate the content of news columns. At the best publications, advertorial is produced outside the newsroom, and is presented in typefaces and design that clearly separates it from traditional news.
The Custom Publishing department is not directly demanding upbeat, non-critical coverage. Editors have been told the site "will feature quality cold and flu content from Gannett news sources." They've been advised to place an online link to the portal "with any content you may be running locally about cold/flu season.''
Mandate to participate
Yet, by telling editors in advance that Similasan is the sole sponsor, Corporate is nonetheless pressuring newsrooms to produce material that doesn't, for example, mention cold and flu remedies that would be competitive with the Swiss manufacturer.
There's no doubt that local news sites are expected to participate. Because it is a sponsored site, all U.S. newspaper and broadcast sites, "are expected to cooperate in promoting the portal and making efforts to drive traffic to it."
 |
| Banikarim |
What's more, the cold and flu site is the latest example of Corporate dictating news content across the entire company, a shift from the company's historic practice of deferring to local editorial control.
The site is among the more high-profile signs of the direction Banikarim may be leading the company since her March appointment as GCI's first CMO.
Memo: boost revenue
When Banikarim inherited ContentOne's Custom Publishing, COO Gracia Martore said in a memo:
"It will create and manage a corporate editorial calendar, develop content and enterprise packages and further develop Gannett’s custom publishing business. The goal will be to generate additional revenues for the company and add scale while leveraging our vast content portfolio."
Banikarim came from NBCUniversal, where she was senior vice president of integrated sales marketing. In that role, she was responsible for "working across NBCUniversal’s portfolio to develop custom, innovative ad sales solutions on behalf of clients as well as overseeing marketing for NBCUniversal,'' GCI said at the time.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Aug. 22-28 | Your News & Comments: Part 3
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Urgent: Ailing Steve Jobs resigns as Apple's CEO
In a letter, Jobs had recommended Cook, 50, to the board. His eventual appointment had been expected.
The Wall Street Journal says the timing of the announcement, however, was a surprise and raised questions about the health of Jobs, who was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2004 and underwent a liver transplant two years ago.
Still, it seems unlikely the board would have named Jobs chairman if his health had entered a new, more serious phase.
In late trading, Apple's stock recently sold for $355.50, down $21, or 5.5%. It closed in regular trading at $376.18, up 2.6%.
Related: Here's The New York Times' story, and USA Today's.
Full text of Jobs' letter
To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:
I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.
I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.
As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.
I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.
I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.
Steve
[Photos: Apple]
Appleton | GCI loses appeal over webcasting suit; 'national implications' said for school sports events
From a new story on The Post-Crescent website in Appleton, Wisc.:
The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association is constitutionally entitled to sign exclusive contracts for Internet streaming of high school sporting events, a federal appeals court affirmed today.
The decision has national implications for media organizations that hoped to produce online broadcasts of sporting events free from restrictions by state athletic associations. It stems from a lawsuit against the Post-Crescent, GCI, and the Wisconsin Newspaper Association.
The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association is constitutionally entitled to sign exclusive contracts for Internet streaming of high school sporting events, a federal appeals court affirmed today.
The decision has national implications for media organizations that hoped to produce online broadcasts of sporting events free from restrictions by state athletic associations. It stems from a lawsuit against the Post-Crescent, GCI, and the Wisconsin Newspaper Association.
DealChicken | Groupon's 'rapidly' slowing growth
As Gannett pushes forward with its later-to-the game online coupon site DealChicken, brokerage Wedbush Securities notes that industry leader Groupon's second-quarter revenue growth slowed dramatically, spurring a 20% plunge in the company's value.
The Wedbush figures, released yesterday, come as Groupon readies plans to take itself public; the Chicago-based company filed a so-called S-1 registration statement with government regulators in June, saying it hopes to raise $750 million in an IPO.
Yet, in a research note to investors, according to this Reuters story, Wedbush warned: "Groupon's recently amended S-1, indicating rapidly decelerating Q2 growth, did little to help drive investor interest in the shares.''
Second-quarter revenue at the company, which offers group-buying deals on everything from spa treatments to flying lessons, was up 36%, down from the 63% increase it posted in the first quarter, Reuters said.
Groupon's market valuation has dropped 20%, to $16 billion, in the latest private auction of shares, according to Wedbush.
To be sure, slowing growth doesn't necessarily spell the end of a company's prosperity. That's because it's difficult to maintain the same growth rate on larger and larger revenue bases.
Still, Groupon's trend comes amid GCI's national rollout of DealChicken, which formally launched a month ago, and is aiming for more than 50 U.S. markets by year's end. Hundreds, even thousands, of other coupon site start-ups also are entering the crowded market.
GCI is hiring dozens of new employees for DealChicken as revenue continues to slide, especially in the company's biggest division, U.S. newspapers. During the second quarter, overall revenue fell 2.2% on an even steeper 6.5% ad revenue drop among the newspapers.
Yet, in a research note to investors, according to this Reuters story, Wedbush warned: "Groupon's recently amended S-1, indicating rapidly decelerating Q2 growth, did little to help drive investor interest in the shares.''
Second-quarter revenue at the company, which offers group-buying deals on everything from spa treatments to flying lessons, was up 36%, down from the 63% increase it posted in the first quarter, Reuters said.
Groupon's market valuation has dropped 20%, to $16 billion, in the latest private auction of shares, according to Wedbush.
To be sure, slowing growth doesn't necessarily spell the end of a company's prosperity. That's because it's difficult to maintain the same growth rate on larger and larger revenue bases.
Still, Groupon's trend comes amid GCI's national rollout of DealChicken, which formally launched a month ago, and is aiming for more than 50 U.S. markets by year's end. Hundreds, even thousands, of other coupon site start-ups also are entering the crowded market.
GCI is hiring dozens of new employees for DealChicken as revenue continues to slide, especially in the company's biggest division, U.S. newspapers. During the second quarter, overall revenue fell 2.2% on an even steeper 6.5% ad revenue drop among the newspapers.
Layoffs | GCI Calif. news partnership cuts 120 jobs; eleven newspapers consolidated under two names
Taking regional publishing up a notch, the San Francisco Bay Area News Group is consolidating its 11 daily papers under just two nameplates, reducing overall employment by 8%, or 120 jobs.
The papers are mostly owned by Denver-based MediaNews Group, but minority owners include Gannett through the companies' California Newspapers Partnership.
MediaNews developments such as those disclosed Tuesday are of particular interest to Gannett Blog readers because the company's experience could influence GCI's direction.
For example, MediaNews instituted regional copy and design desks in Northern California well before GCI announced plans a year ago to establish five page production hubs to serve virtually all its 82 U.S. newspapers.
GCI has also been experimenting with more regional approaches to publishing, including single publishers and regional news over multiple publications, in Wisconsin, Central New York and, most recently, in New Jersey. This, too, has resulted in job losses. For example, in New Jersey, three dailies said they were reducing newsroom employment nearly in half last January.
Community news loss
Tuesday, MediaNews said it was making the changes to emphasize its regional approach to news coverage and free up resources to funnel into its digital initiatives, according to a report in one of the papers, the Oakland Tribune, across the bay from San Francisco. The move to streamline the group's operations will help reduce expenses as print advertising revenue continues to fall.
Left unsaid, however, is the fact that in a regional news approach, less attention is paid to town-specific coverage, further weakening competitiveness with online start-ups like AOL's Patch network.
MediaNews is the second-biggest newspaper publisher by circulation. GCI is No. 1, with USA Today included.
MediaNews and GCI also are partners in the Detroit joint operating agency, which publishes the GCI-owned Detroit Free Press and MediaNews' Detroit News. The two companies are also affiliated in publishing operations in Texas, New Mexico and Pennsylvania.
Partnership ownership details
GCI owns a 20% interest in California Newspapers Partnership, which includes 19 daily California newspapers, and a 41% interest in Texas-New Mexico Newspapers Partnership, which includes six daily newspapers in Texas and New Mexico and four newspapers in Pennsylvania, according to GCI's annual 10-K report to federal securities regulators.
The third investor in the California partnership is Stephens Media Group of Las Vegas.
The 10-K doesn't identify the California newspapers by name. On its Facebook page, however, the California partnership lists many of the newspapers included in yesterday's BANG announcement.
MediaNews developments such as those disclosed Tuesday are of particular interest to Gannett Blog readers because the company's experience could influence GCI's direction.
For example, MediaNews instituted regional copy and design desks in Northern California well before GCI announced plans a year ago to establish five page production hubs to serve virtually all its 82 U.S. newspapers.
GCI has also been experimenting with more regional approaches to publishing, including single publishers and regional news over multiple publications, in Wisconsin, Central New York and, most recently, in New Jersey. This, too, has resulted in job losses. For example, in New Jersey, three dailies said they were reducing newsroom employment nearly in half last January.
Community news loss
Tuesday, MediaNews said it was making the changes to emphasize its regional approach to news coverage and free up resources to funnel into its digital initiatives, according to a report in one of the papers, the Oakland Tribune, across the bay from San Francisco. The move to streamline the group's operations will help reduce expenses as print advertising revenue continues to fall.
Left unsaid, however, is the fact that in a regional news approach, less attention is paid to town-specific coverage, further weakening competitiveness with online start-ups like AOL's Patch network.
MediaNews is the second-biggest newspaper publisher by circulation. GCI is No. 1, with USA Today included.
MediaNews and GCI also are partners in the Detroit joint operating agency, which publishes the GCI-owned Detroit Free Press and MediaNews' Detroit News. The two companies are also affiliated in publishing operations in Texas, New Mexico and Pennsylvania.
Partnership ownership details
GCI owns a 20% interest in California Newspapers Partnership, which includes 19 daily California newspapers, and a 41% interest in Texas-New Mexico Newspapers Partnership, which includes six daily newspapers in Texas and New Mexico and four newspapers in Pennsylvania, according to GCI's annual 10-K report to federal securities regulators.
The third investor in the California partnership is Stephens Media Group of Las Vegas.
The 10-K doesn't identify the California newspapers by name. On its Facebook page, however, the California partnership lists many of the newspapers included in yesterday's BANG announcement.
Nashville | No bull: This one peaks over Summitt
Even so, at the moment, this bizarre traffic accident story beats Summitt's among the newspaper's most popular online.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Aug. 22-28 | Your News & Comments: Part 2
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How are your readers reacting to TV book changes?
"If we tried to charge 25 cents a week for it, there would be a crowd of senior citizens at the front door with pitchforks and torches! Any increase in revenue would be offset by a loss in circulation. It just would not make sense."
Is your site moving in this direction? What's the per-issue cost? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Aug. 22-28 | Your News & Comments: Part 1
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WSJ: Newspaper publishers reset ad expectations
From a Wall Street Journal story today:
Newspaper companies are resetting their advertising expectations after a discouraging first half of the year, a shift that could spur a return to more of the job cuts and other belt-tightening moves that spread through the industry in 2008 and 2009.
The cost-cutting scenario that could be facing more newspaper companies already has played out at Gannett, the largest U.S. newspaper publisher by circulation and a bellwether for the industry.
In the second quarter, Gannett reported a 23% increase in digital revenue at USA Today and 9% at its U.S. community newspaper division, which consists of 80 papers including The Arizona Republic, The Cincinnati Enquirer and The Indianapolis Star. Yet total publishing ad revenue for the period was down 6.5% to $646.9 million, following a 7.3% decline in the first quarter, as declines in the more-expensive print ads dragged down results.
Related: GCI's second-quarter 10-Q report to regulators.
Newspaper companies are resetting their advertising expectations after a discouraging first half of the year, a shift that could spur a return to more of the job cuts and other belt-tightening moves that spread through the industry in 2008 and 2009.
In the second quarter, Gannett reported a 23% increase in digital revenue at USA Today and 9% at its U.S. community newspaper division, which consists of 80 papers including The Arizona Republic, The Cincinnati Enquirer and The Indianapolis Star. Yet total publishing ad revenue for the period was down 6.5% to $646.9 million, following a 7.3% decline in the first quarter, as declines in the more-expensive print ads dragged down results.
Related: GCI's second-quarter 10-Q report to regulators.
KSDK | As revenue strengthens, TV stations add newscasts and even some employees, NYT reports
Three years after the TV broadcasting industry buckled under the weight of the ad recession, the more popular stations in markets like St. Louis -- where Gannett owns KSDK -- are adding newscasts and in some cases employees, though not as many as were dismissed during the downturn, according to a New York Times story today.
"Station economics affect the nation’s news diet," the NYT says, "because local TV news is consistently identified in surveys as the top news source for most Americans."
Why now? Advertisers are coming back. So-called retransmission fees are climbing. And the recession forced stations to innovate, especially around news-gathering, according to the NYT.
GCI's 23 TV stations have buoyed overall revenue. For example, in the second quarter, broadcasting revenue including Captivate rose fractionally, at 0.2 of a percentage point, to $184 million. But in GCI's largest division, newspapers, advertising and subscription revenue fell 5.2%, to $912 million, regulatory filings show.
Last year, on the strength of Olympics and political advertising, broadcasting accounted for 14% of GCI's overall $5.4 billion in revenue, according to the company's annual 10-K report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In 2009: 11% of $5.5 billion.
That's translated into a net increase in broadcasting jobs, even as GCI's overall employment tumbled once more. Last year, the division ended the year with 2,550 employees -- up 2% from 2009. In the U.S. newspaper division, by contrast, employment fell 9%, to 22,400.
Why now? Advertisers are coming back. So-called retransmission fees are climbing. And the recession forced stations to innovate, especially around news-gathering, according to the NYT.
GCI's 23 TV stations have buoyed overall revenue. For example, in the second quarter, broadcasting revenue including Captivate rose fractionally, at 0.2 of a percentage point, to $184 million. But in GCI's largest division, newspapers, advertising and subscription revenue fell 5.2%, to $912 million, regulatory filings show.
Last year, on the strength of Olympics and political advertising, broadcasting accounted for 14% of GCI's overall $5.4 billion in revenue, according to the company's annual 10-K report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In 2009: 11% of $5.5 billion.
That's translated into a net increase in broadcasting jobs, even as GCI's overall employment tumbled once more. Last year, the division ended the year with 2,550 employees -- up 2% from 2009. In the U.S. newspaper division, by contrast, employment fell 9%, to 22,400.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Aug. 15-21 | Your News & Comments: Part 7
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Cincy | Dickey: innovation needed from local level
In a column today, Cincinnati Enquirer reporter Laura Baverman notes that the paper's vice president of new media, James Jackson, has been promoted to senior director of product development, a Gannett-wide position. He'll remain based in Cincinnati.
Baverman also describes a range of R&D efforts at the newspaper, some of which she may report on in a new blog and in her column, Innovations. Her column apparently is taking an unusual turn within GCI: she's writing about the paper from an arms-length perspective. (It's not clear whether this is an ongoing effort, however.)
"I got access to Enquirer executives," she says. "And my bosses found an independent editor from Arizona State University to review this."
One of those executives, U.S. newspaper division President Bob Dickey, told her: “We believe very firmly that innovation cannot be a Corporate mandate. We want it to come from the local level. And, sometimes, it’s personal innovation, willingness to do something different."
Related: In a video, Editor Carolyn Washburn talks about new developments at the Enquirer.
"I got access to Enquirer executives," she says. "And my bosses found an independent editor from Arizona State University to review this."
One of those executives, U.S. newspaper division President Bob Dickey, told her: “We believe very firmly that innovation cannot be a Corporate mandate. We want it to come from the local level. And, sometimes, it’s personal innovation, willingness to do something different."
Related: In a video, Editor Carolyn Washburn talks about new developments at the Enquirer.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Aug. 15-21 | Your News & Comments: Part 6
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Friday, August 19, 2011
Aug. 15-21 | Your News & Comments: Part 5
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KTHV | Media General's Caplan appointed GM
From a statement Corporate issued today:
The Broadcasting Division has named Michael Caplan president and general manager at KTHV in Little Rock.
Caplan most recently served as group leader for Media General's multimedia operations in Myrtle Beach/Florence, S.C. In that role, he oversaw multiple operating units, including TV, print and web properties.
Caplan succeeds Larry Audas, who in April was named president and general manager of Gannett's WFMY in Greensboro, N.C.
The Broadcasting Division has named Michael Caplan president and general manager at KTHV in Little Rock.
Caplan most recently served as group leader for Media General's multimedia operations in Myrtle Beach/Florence, S.C. In that role, he oversaw multiple operating units, including TV, print and web properties.
Caplan succeeds Larry Audas, who in April was named president and general manager of Gannett's WFMY in Greensboro, N.C.
Poynter says: News sites using Facebook comments see higher quality discussion, and more referrals
The journalism training center's story is here. Note: Starting last week, Gannett began testing Facebook comments at The News-Press in Fort Myers, Fla., and The Des Moines Register.
Comments, and my challenges in policing them
You'll likely see versions of the following note on a regular basis. I'm publishing it here, to give it the widest possible audience.
This addresses readers' very legitimate complaints in this thread about inappropriate comments on Indianapolis Star Publisher Karen Crotchfelt. But it applies generally to all comments on Gannett Blog.
The Blogger software platform I use doesn't allow me to build an exceptions list, which would block comments that include specific words. And even if that option were available, I'm not going to block all posts that include certain names; that would eliminate legitimate ones.
I will do my best to remove any inappropriate comment as quickly as possible. These include making fun of people's appearance and -- in the case of the Star's publisher -- their name.
Sometimes, there are lags between when comments are posted, and when I'm back online to take them down; I'm not here 24/7. Other times, I miss inappropriate comments entirely. Much the same happens at every Gannett website -- including, ironically in this case, at the Star itself.
For example: On Dec. 22, the Star reported news of the paper's just-appointed publisher. Among the comments posted:
I checked that story just moments ago, and those comments are still there -- eight months after they were posted, and five days after I first pointed to them in a comment of my own.
If the Star and its more than 500 employees can't keep up, you can imagine the challenge I face.
[Updated on Oct. 9, 2011: Those two comments are still on the Star's website.]
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.
The Blogger software platform I use doesn't allow me to build an exceptions list, which would block comments that include specific words. And even if that option were available, I'm not going to block all posts that include certain names; that would eliminate legitimate ones.
I will do my best to remove any inappropriate comment as quickly as possible. These include making fun of people's appearance and -- in the case of the Star's publisher -- their name.
Sometimes, there are lags between when comments are posted, and when I'm back online to take them down; I'm not here 24/7. Other times, I miss inappropriate comments entirely. Much the same happens at every Gannett website -- including, ironically in this case, at the Star itself.
For example: On Dec. 22, the Star reported news of the paper's just-appointed publisher. Among the comments posted:
- "The name makes me think of TSA screening at the airport."
- "There's a name you don't want to Google Image Search without turning on the Safe Search feature."
[Updated on Oct. 9, 2011: Those two comments are still on the Star's website.]
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Aug. 15-21 | Your News & Comments: Part 4
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Jackson, Tenn. | EEOC files 2nd disability lawsuit
In the second such case against a Gannett subsidiary this year, federal workplace regulators have sued Tennessee's Jackson Sun, claiming the paper fired a disabled print manager, David Dubois, because of his back injuries.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed the suit on Monday against Gannett Satellite Information Network, doing business as Jackson Sun Media Works, and Gannett Co.
"In February 2008," the EEOC said in a statement, "Dubois went on medical leave for back surgery due to a herniated disc. During the surgery he sustained permanent spinal cord damage that limited some lower body functions. According to the EEOC’s suit, the Sun terminated Dubois one week after he returned to work and expressed a need for reasonable accommodation. The company told him that it had eliminated his job."
Publisher Roy Heatherly told the newspaper that he had not been served with the lawsuit and could not comment, the Sun reported yesterday.
Earlier: EEOC sues GCI, saying Arizona worker fired for mental disability.
"In February 2008," the EEOC said in a statement, "Dubois went on medical leave for back surgery due to a herniated disc. During the surgery he sustained permanent spinal cord damage that limited some lower body functions. According to the EEOC’s suit, the Sun terminated Dubois one week after he returned to work and expressed a need for reasonable accommodation. The company told him that it had eliminated his job."
Publisher Roy Heatherly told the newspaper that he had not been served with the lawsuit and could not comment, the Sun reported yesterday.
Earlier: EEOC sues GCI, saying Arizona worker fired for mental disability.
Ex-director Shalala on sports scandal at her UofM
Show me the money: Shalala, right, holding a $50,000 contribution check athletics booster Shapiro, center, says he gave to the University of Miami in 2008. She was on Gannett's board at the time.
That's retired Gannett Director Donna Shalala, president of the University of Miami, in a statement yesterday on allegations by athletics program booster Nevin Shapiro, who says he provided thousands of impermissible benefits to at least 72 athletes from 2002 through 2010, according to Yahoo Sports.
Shapiro, in prison for a $930 million Ponzi scheme, said the benefits included cash, prostitutes, entertainment in his Miami Beach homes and yacht, jewelry, bounties for injuring opposing players -- even an abortion payment, according to Yahoo Sports. The NCAA is investigating.
Shalala, 70, has been UM's president since 2001, and was a GCI director during the eight years Shapiro says he provided the benefits. She retired from GCI's governing board four months ago.
Earlier: the household chore Shalala likes least.
[Photo: Yahoo Sports]
"I am upset, disheartened, and saddened by the recent allegations leveled against some current and past student-athletes and members of our athletic department."
That's retired Gannett Director Donna Shalala, president of the University of Miami, in a statement yesterday on allegations by athletics program booster Nevin Shapiro, who says he provided thousands of impermissible benefits to at least 72 athletes from 2002 through 2010, according to Yahoo Sports.
Shapiro, in prison for a $930 million Ponzi scheme, said the benefits included cash, prostitutes, entertainment in his Miami Beach homes and yacht, jewelry, bounties for injuring opposing players -- even an abortion payment, according to Yahoo Sports. The NCAA is investigating.
Shalala, 70, has been UM's president since 2001, and was a GCI director during the eight years Shapiro says he provided the benefits. She retired from GCI's governing board four months ago.
Earlier: the household chore Shalala likes least.
[Photo: Yahoo Sports]
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Aug. 15-21 | Your News & Comments: Part 3
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With Cincy, a quickening in GCI's pace of change; more to come amid shifting economic landscape
[New logo and tagline introduced in March]
The Cincinnati Enquirer's surprising disclosure yesterday that it's considering a dramatic reduction in print paper size is only the latest in a fast-growing list of major initiatives Gannett has launched in the past year alone. Yet, they're now aimed at a newly tumultuous marketplace in a potentially weakening economy. |
| Dubow |
That came after Dubow's company-wide advisory in March, where he wrote: "It is critical that we accelerate our internal rate of change to address the rapid rate of change taking place within our industry for consumers."
But serious obstacles remain. GCI's revenue continues to fall, most recently in the second quarter. There are fears of a slowing global economy, already pinching consumer spending. That's adding further pressure to the stock price, which has fallen 27% so far this year, and spurred only vague messages about plans for more layoffs.
Indeed, the pace of change is quickening. Consider these examples, listed in reverse chronological order -- and all since July 2010:
- Reorganization of the U.S. community newsrooms, reportedly around a new editorial focus we've dubbed passion topics. Senior editors of the largest U.S. newspapers by revenue -- the T-31s -- reconvene this morning in the second of a three-day meeting to plan the future of their ever-shrinking newsrooms.
- Relaunch of all U.S. community newspaper websites, plus USA Today's. This is a major initiative under David Payne, hired as chief digital officer in March.
- DealChicken, the company's answer to the hugely successful online coupon sites Groupon and DailySocial. GCI's version is planned for more than 50 U.S. markets by the end of the year.
- Broadcasting's digital video production center based at WXIA-TV in Atlanta.
- Doubling of the quarterly dividend, and a buyback of stock that could total $100 million over the next 12 months.
- Enormous job cuts -- again -- that included 700 newspaper layoffs in June. Work consolidation continues, including the latest: centralization of information technology in the Midwest Group, reported just yesterday.
- Major new marketing effort under Maryam Banikarim, also hired in March. Her appointment came just a week after the start of Corporate's "It's All Within Reach" branding campaign.
- National sports news network based at the company's best-known brand. The USA Today Sports Media Group is led by President Tom Beusse, hired in January. This is part of a USAT reorganization and staff reduction a year ago this month.
- Restructuring of four regional newspaper groups, including a rare shift in leadership. Promoted: John Zidich of The Arizona Republic, to president of the West Group. Retired: Curtis Riddle of The News Journal in Wilmington, Del., from the East Group.
- Smaller formats for The News-Star in Monroe, La., this month, and at The Times of Shreveport, La., last September. Big unknown: is yesterday's Cincinnati move a sign of more to come?
- Consolidation of page production at virtually all the 82 U.S. newspapers to five central hubs, a project expected to reduce overall design and copy desk employment by as much as 20% at least through summer 2012.
- More furloughs of approximately 1,000 higher-paid U.S. newspaper employees in the current quarter, and the second. These followed unpaid weeks off for nearly all newspaper workers in the first quarter.
- Paywalls. Three Gannett papers began charging for various levels of online access in July 2010. Dubow has given only fuzzy reports on progress at those dailies: Florida's Tallahassee Democrat; South Carolina's Greenville News, and The Spectrum in St. George, Utah.
Memo: Midwest information tech in big reorg
Anonymous@12:47 p.m. yesterday posted the following comment. The text is attributed to Phil Legler, Midwest Group IT director of Gannett's U.S. community newspaper division, and vice president for information technology at The Des Moines Register. This memo would confirm recent speculation on Gannett Blog. Here are some excerpts:
I am pleased to announce that effective today, we are establishing a Midwest Group Information Technology department. This is a move from local IT direction and structure at each of the operating units within the Midwest group to a department that will serve the entire Midwest group. (List of Gannett's four regional newspaper groups.)
Over the past 24 hours each of the IT employees within the group have been directly notified of this change and how it will impact their role. The change today is the beginning of an evolution, not a sudden change, which will provide positive changes in how information technology is supported and provided throughout the group.
The goal is to establish a cohesive organization that strives for consistency in process and technology allowing for greater business opportunity and value. We will be achieving this goal by aligning resources within teams of specific disciplines.
The structure of the department will align resources under three teams that include Client Services, Infrastructure Services, and Business & Analytical Systems. Each of these three teams will be under the leadership of a director-level position.
In the short term, the IT staff in each location will continue in their role as they have in the past. The initial phase of this new department structure will be discovery. During discovery we will focus on fully appreciating the people, priorities, needs and requirements of each operating unit. The discovery phase will allow for opportunities to be identified and implemented. Again, I want to emphasize that our new department is an evolution in change and not a sudden change in the way we perform our jobs.
Our long term goal is to be a cohesive organization that efficiently and effectively provides a high level of service while being a strong business partner.
If there are any concerns or questions, please don’t hesitate to contact myself or any member of my leadership team listed above. Our team is focused on being as transparent as possible as well as fluid in our ongoing approach.
Phil Legler
Midwest Group IT Director,
USCP Vice President/Information Technology
Des Moines Register Media
I am pleased to announce that effective today, we are establishing a Midwest Group Information Technology department. This is a move from local IT direction and structure at each of the operating units within the Midwest group to a department that will serve the entire Midwest group. (List of Gannett's four regional newspaper groups.)
Over the past 24 hours each of the IT employees within the group have been directly notified of this change and how it will impact their role. The change today is the beginning of an evolution, not a sudden change, which will provide positive changes in how information technology is supported and provided throughout the group.
The goal is to establish a cohesive organization that strives for consistency in process and technology allowing for greater business opportunity and value. We will be achieving this goal by aligning resources within teams of specific disciplines.
The structure of the department will align resources under three teams that include Client Services, Infrastructure Services, and Business & Analytical Systems. Each of these three teams will be under the leadership of a director-level position.
In the short term, the IT staff in each location will continue in their role as they have in the past. The initial phase of this new department structure will be discovery. During discovery we will focus on fully appreciating the people, priorities, needs and requirements of each operating unit. The discovery phase will allow for opportunities to be identified and implemented. Again, I want to emphasize that our new department is an evolution in change and not a sudden change in the way we perform our jobs.
Our long term goal is to be a cohesive organization that efficiently and effectively provides a high level of service while being a strong business partner.
If there are any concerns or questions, please don’t hesitate to contact myself or any member of my leadership team listed above. Our team is focused on being as transparent as possible as well as fluid in our ongoing approach.
Phil Legler
Midwest Group IT Director,
USCP Vice President/Information Technology
Des Moines Register Media
Sponsors | This just in, from a repeat donor: $15
This reader has given two other times, all within the past year. Thank you! With their gift, plus advertising sales, I'm now at 48% of my quarterly goal. The breakdown:
- Reader donations: $602
- Advertising: $1,335
Editors of top dailies in second day of meetings
Senior news executives at Gannett's 31 largest newspapers -- the T-31s -- continue their planning sessions today at Corporate's headquarters in McLean, Va. On the agenda of the three-day meeting, we believe: passion topics, and how they will drive newsrooms forward, post-layoffs.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Aug. 15-21 | Your News & Comments: Part 2
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Bulletin: Cincinnati Enquirer considers moving to smaller format; GCI signs agreement with Columbus Dispatch; Cincy printing would close in Q4 2012
From a statement released moments ago by Corporate:
Gannett today announced that it has signed a letter of intent with The Columbus Dispatch for the possible printing of The Cincinnati Enquirer and The Kentucky Enquirer in a new, more compact, easy-to-use format. The change would begin in the fourth quarter of 2012.
"We are committed to serving the greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky communities -- and providing consumers with the best news and information anywhere, anytime. We are also committed to listening to our customers and responding to their ever changing needs. As a result of research we've done and the feedback we've received from readers and advertisers, we have signed a letter of intent with the Columbus Dispatch to print the Enquirer in a new compact format that would be brighter, more engaging and easier to read," said Margaret Buchanan, president and publisher of Cincinnati Enquirer.
"While covering the same amount of news as the previous format, this new approach would enhance the user experience by allowing for a fuller use of color and photographs and improved readability. By better serving our readers, we would continue to provide advertisers a trusted environment with which to engage their consumers."
Dimensions of the newly formatted Enquirer would be 10 ½ inches by 14 ½ inches and all of the current content in the Enquirer would remain in the redesigned newspaper, if the agreement is finalized. In addition, the Enquirer's production facility would close fourth quarter, 2012.
In related news, Pressline Services, Inc. and the Columbus Dispatch have signed a letter of intent for a project to produce a new compact format for the Dispatch newspapers based on a new press system called 3V(R) developed by Pressline Services.
Related: In April 2009, trade site News & Tech reported the following: "The Cincinnati Enquirer is considering whether or not to dramatically shorten its cutoff to approximately 15 inches and further narrow its web width in a bid to save on consumables."
Gannett today announced that it has signed a letter of intent with The Columbus Dispatch for the possible printing of The Cincinnati Enquirer and The Kentucky Enquirer in a new, more compact, easy-to-use format. The change would begin in the fourth quarter of 2012.
"We are committed to serving the greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky communities -- and providing consumers with the best news and information anywhere, anytime. We are also committed to listening to our customers and responding to their ever changing needs. As a result of research we've done and the feedback we've received from readers and advertisers, we have signed a letter of intent with the Columbus Dispatch to print the Enquirer in a new compact format that would be brighter, more engaging and easier to read," said Margaret Buchanan, president and publisher of Cincinnati Enquirer.
"While covering the same amount of news as the previous format, this new approach would enhance the user experience by allowing for a fuller use of color and photographs and improved readability. By better serving our readers, we would continue to provide advertisers a trusted environment with which to engage their consumers."
Dimensions of the newly formatted Enquirer would be 10 ½ inches by 14 ½ inches and all of the current content in the Enquirer would remain in the redesigned newspaper, if the agreement is finalized. In addition, the Enquirer's production facility would close fourth quarter, 2012.
In related news, Pressline Services, Inc. and the Columbus Dispatch have signed a letter of intent for a project to produce a new compact format for the Dispatch newspapers based on a new press system called 3V(R) developed by Pressline Services.
Related: In April 2009, trade site News & Tech reported the following: "The Cincinnati Enquirer is considering whether or not to dramatically shorten its cutoff to approximately 15 inches and further narrow its web width in a bid to save on consumables."
Marketing | By the numbers: Who likes who
Note: Current Gannett employees concerned about being outed as one of my fans will want to proceed cautiously.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Aug. 15-21 | Your News & Comments: Part 1
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.)
Iowa City | Exec editor post held by Lewers since '03 is gone; 'new reporting resources' to be added
The small Iowa City Press-Citizen has eliminated the traditional top position in the newsroom and replaced it with two newly defined positions held by current editors, General Manager Gabriel Aguirre told the paper in a story today.
Jim Lewers had been the executive editor since 2003. His job, and that of another staffer Aguirre didn't identify, were eliminated in what he called a restructructuring of the paper's newsroom. Some Gannett Bloggers say the second position was that of the local-news editor.
Aguirre, who has been GM since December, said "new reporting resources" would be added, but he did not detail what they would be, nor when they would appear.
The vagueness of his pledge left open the possibility that the paper could turn to outside community contributors, paid and unpaid. That appears to be the direction some of Gannett's papers are taking as they adopt so-called passion topics after the June round of layoffs.
“These staffing adjustments today," Aguirre was quoted saying, "were made to ensure we’ve got our valuable resources in the very best places so that we can deliver the high-quality journalism our readers deserve and demand."
The Press-Citizen's circulation: weekdays: 10,034; Saturday, 12,060. It has no Sunday edition, according to the ABC's lookup database.
Aguirre, who has been GM since December, said "new reporting resources" would be added, but he did not detail what they would be, nor when they would appear.
The vagueness of his pledge left open the possibility that the paper could turn to outside community contributors, paid and unpaid. That appears to be the direction some of Gannett's papers are taking as they adopt so-called passion topics after the June round of layoffs.
“These staffing adjustments today," Aguirre was quoted saying, "were made to ensure we’ve got our valuable resources in the very best places so that we can deliver the high-quality journalism our readers deserve and demand."
The Press-Citizen's circulation: weekdays: 10,034; Saturday, 12,060. It has no Sunday edition, according to the ABC's lookup database.
Ethics | A tasteless ad, on barely credited work
[Screenshot of Allstate pre-roll on Indiana fair collapse video]
Two readers -- one at USA Today, the other here on Gannett Blog -- make critical points about the newspaper's use of amateur cellphone video in its coverage of the Indiana state fair stage collapse, which killed five people and injured 45 others on Saturday.
On its site, the paper has embedded video of the incident from YouTube user cavaliers60, and then inserted a pre-roll: a 15-second paid Allstate ad that looks unintentionally
USAT reader trx430ex says in a comment: "Pretty lame USAToday using a cell phone video from a user then putting a commercial in front of it, AP or Reuters didn't have film?"
Indeed, trx430ex says another YouTube user -- JSilas7 -- offers far, far better footage. And they're right; it's amazing.
Credit's hard to see
What's more, USAT doesn't directly credit the video to the YouTube user. Viewers only figure that out at the end. (Cavaliers60 notes the video was actually taken by someone else.) Plus, there's nothing to indicate USAT is sharing any of the Allstate revenue, either.
Compare all this to The Indianapolis Star, which uses the same raw video posted by USAT. But the Star prominently credits cavaliers60 -- and the paper isn't running any pre-rolls, either.
The video's use raises ethical if not legal questions about a large, for-profit publisher directly profiting from the work of a citizen journalist. USAT certainly earns advertising revenue from pageviews generated by reader comments. But in this case, the Allstate bucks are tied directly to the work of an individual.
Who monitors adjacencies?
There's also the issue of control over ads when their content is accidentally tied to editorial subjects. In the print world, advertisers typically have had standing orders to pull or move their ads to avoid bad adjacencies. For example, airlines don't want to pay for advertising when the news is dominated by an airplane crash. I assume this is still the case in the digital world.
Maybe Allstate likes this adjacency. But I doubt it; why would the company want to look so calculating? [Updated at 9:49 a.m. ET: Anonymous@9:38 a.m. correctly and smartly points out in a comment, below, that Allstate pre-rolls now appear on all USAT videos on all subjects.]
Here's the video as it appears on the newspaper's site, with the Allstate preroll still appearing as I post this. And here it is on cavaliers60's YouTube page.
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