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.)
Thursday, January 12, 2012
55 comments:
Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
To the person who claimed Q4 revenue exceeded expectations at Florida Today. the proof is in the pudding. Look for yourself at the thin pages and sections day after day and the absolute lack of digital ads. The big new product "Style" had eight pages Sunday and just 1 commercial advertisement. All the other ads were Gannett creations pushing Deal Chicken and Florida Today event sponsorship. Once corporate sees how bad the ad sales really are here, expect a bloodbath of layoffs. Love your optimism fella, but the eyes don't lie. This time glass office people go for sure and maybe some of their "pets."
ReplyDeleteGracia must have gotten tired of all the MB puff-piece promos in the trades and voila, she's got one of her own now:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinehoward/2012/01/11/recipe-for-a-female-ceo-a-chat-with-gannetts-gracia-martore/?partner=yahootix
Wouldn't it be cool to watch a claymation "Celebrity Deathmatch" between Maryam and Gracia?
Now that would bank some dead presidents for Gannett on Pay-per-View!
Someone asked if there would be raises this year... FLMAO. You must be new.
ReplyDeleteTo fourth quarter revenue post:
ReplyDeleteOur shoppers and papers have,probably 5 times more house ads and promos than paid advertising.
The page numbers could easily be split in half if for just real content and revenue.
It makes no sense that they waste printing pages and incurring that extra expense.I believe just to make it appear to readers that they are not at the point where it is not worth printing.
In summary,4th quarter very bad.
I guess Jim doesn't know when the 2011 Financial Reports are finalized and made public either.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone?
Or no, let's just pretend that they will be great.Then no one will need to worry about the layoffs that will follow if the report is as bad as we all believe it will be.
It's only been two days since new Vice presidents were forced on to USA today's bloated management team. It's time for Gannett to follow course. Gracia, your turn.
ReplyDeleteExceeded expectations does not mean made last year's numbers or made goal, necessarily. Just means better than expected.
ReplyDelete12:15 am Weird article. Like Craig, she may have been successful in furthering her career, but she certainly has not been successful in leading the company....like Craig. Must have been a slow day for Forbes.
ReplyDeleteAnybody else received UnitedHealth's Happy New Year surprise? Gannett has uped the ante for 2013: now we (and spouses/domestic partners covered by the health plan) have to complete the online health assessment AND get a physical AND have the doctor submit blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and body mass index information to UnitedHealth/Gannett Benefits.
ReplyDeleteWhile I resent the intrusion, what makes me angriest is the way the company is spinning this BS. The information packet says employees can earn "rewards" by completing the required actions. No, you a**holes, there's no reward, just the threat of financial PENALTY and the assumption that we must be unhealthy and thus more expensive to the company if we don't comply.
The health assessment is total bull -- just a roadblock to try to trick people into paying more -- or everyone paying more by forcing people to go to the doctor when they don't need to. In group insurance plans, no one is underwritten so a health assessment has no relevance. I cannot believe how many of my coworkers received a "suprise" surcharge.
ReplyDelete9:08 I wrote about the fourth-quarter and full-year earnings release here. It's scheduled for Jan. 30.
ReplyDeletethe paywall plan along with BIG subscription and SCS price increase will be at all papers by mid year 2012. a few every month. watch the print orders drop like a rock ! Single Copy will take the biggest hit, and that's what they want to reduce expenses.
ReplyDeleteFlorida Today on life support and it will take a miracle to get retain any subscribers once the paywall hits. Meager/scant content will NOT have readers flocking to the site and potential advertisers have already begun a migration to other sites. Many of us on the staff are preparing resumes and bracing for the inevitable.
ReplyDeleteIf Gannett was a record compnay, they would have been out of business a long time ago.
ReplyDeleteAgrees with 12:17. Fla Today is shlock at best and getting worse.
ReplyDeleteAll is going according to Corporate's plan. This company will close its doors in about two years and all the VP's and the CEO will walk away with whatever cash is left.
ReplyDeleteWonder if the Orlando Sentinel will re-establish a bureau over there? Would be a smart move.
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting to see if the new Brevard Community College president to-be will continue to give Florida Today more than $500,000 annually to film the half-hour TV show nobody watches. If that money is withdrawn, it's possible this place then goes down the tubes a lot faster than anyone might imagine.
ReplyDeleteThe Florida Today will be just fine. The $3 Sunday price is well worth it. There is a lot of excellent content for that price. The addition of pay walls will no doubt raise the circulation of the printed product. Mr Campbell has done an excellent job at keeping quality on that end superb he is an excellent leader.
ReplyDelete1:43 pm Check back with us 6 months after the paywall has been established and let us know how Florida Today is faring.
ReplyDelete1:43 pm Sarcasm or delusional?
ReplyDeleteSorry 1:43: Florida Today is a shell of its former self. No advertising. No news. You sound like a Gannettoid when you use terms like "There is a lot of excellent content for that price." You are dreaming pilgrim.
ReplyDeleteThere are lots of dreamers and la la land believers here.
ReplyDeleteAll the dead wood has been removed from the Florida Today and what is left is the best of the best. It is ready to move forward with nothing in its way to slow the momentum. They are just in the right place at the right time.
ReplyDelete12:48, the Orlando Sentinel could not find its ass with its own hands. There will be no bureau. Now now. Not ever.
ReplyDeleteYou can add drug screening to the health assessments. And if you're on any benzies or xanax, watch out. You'll need six to eight weeks off of it to get it out of your system before the test.
ReplyDelete@1:43, are you serious or on drugs! @3:27,you're probably right, but if Tribune still owned, you can bet ther would be a bureau in Brevard again. And why do you say "never" like it's never been done before? There used to be a great bureau in Brevard, before Gannett bought Florida Today. There was true competition back then.
ReplyDeleteWhich has more vice presidents, USA Today or Corporate?
ReplyDelete3:48, the only competition is between you and your partner in the game of tainted crackers.
ReplyDelete10:43...You make me laugh... Especially with the Mr. CAMPBELL stuff.
ReplyDelete10:43 why do you laugh? He is your leader and you better follow
ReplyDeleteA couple of those Florida Today comments sound as if they were written with the publisher or editor looking over the writer's shoulder.
ReplyDeleteI hope the koolaid tastes sweet.
@5:38. Florida Today doesn't have a publisher. So, at least half of your post is wrong.
ReplyDeleteJim: I like the new commenting format. Nice upgrade.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know whatever happened to Robin Pence? Was there even an announcement?
ReplyDeleteOn LinkedIn, Pence lists Vice President, Special Projects at Gannett, as her current position and Vice President, Corporate Communications, as her former. What's up?
ReplyDeleteJIM: is this going to be the new look for the blog? a pop up window to read the comments?
ReplyDelete3:24 have you seen this month's traffic numbers? Best of the worst if you ask me. Did Bob personally ask you to apply for your job? Did you re-touch up your cherry red hair dye before your interview?
ReplyDeleteDamn! You folks at Florida Today remind me of the New Jersey crowd from a couple years ago! Should we be expecting a Southern Poopgate?
ReplyDeleteThings in new jersey, specifically the courier post, home of poopgate, are pathetic and getting worse on a daily basis. We still have the mostly useless and incompetent clowns in ad sales who are more interested in happy hour parties than doing their job.
DeleteAnd as Gannett increases the focus on digital, the New York Times is offering me home delivery of its Sunday print product (at a steep discount) with complete NYT Website, smart phone and tablet apps thrown in for FREE. I've never subscribed but the offer is so attractive I'm considering it.
ReplyDelete9:56, there is no shame in subscribing to the NYT... Looking at the competitor's product, makes you a stronger contender... As, you will be more aware of what they offer readers.
ReplyDelete9:15 This explains the change in the commenting form.
ReplyDeleteSome of the comments here sound very Stepford. True Believers? The cracker guy, on the other hand, is at USCP; I know who he is.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I actually like this pop up thing, Jim. And it's smart; keeps people on your main page while getting click-throughs. Seems efficient for stickier visits.
Love the Sunday Times. Sounds like their offer is too good to pass up.
ReplyDeleteI'd suggest a Sunday USA Today, but that's not an option for a variety of reasons.
Don't go there. I smell something odorous. Senior vice-president of Sunday strategy.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete11:10 If you're going to say someone left a company, please avoid the word "fired" unless you have something to back that up.
ReplyDeleteBelieve me, the biggest clowns are at the Crystal Palace.
ReplyDelete3:24 have you checked out the staff of the delivery desk? No dead wood there, right?
ReplyDelete1:43. >>There used to be a great bureau in Brevard, before Gannett bought Florida Today. <<
ReplyDeleteGannett didn't buy Florida Today. Gannett created Florida Today.
9:44, that brings back memories. This place was at its most useless when the New Jersey crowd was running free here. I think someone said those people had not evolved into humans yet. It was an accurate statement.
ReplyDelete"If you're going to say someone left a company, please avoid the word 'fired' unless you have something to back that up." Right on, Jim. I've seen that a lot myself. Very angering, but very revealing with some people's mindsets. Leaving or even being laid off is not a reflection of competence; firing is. Big difference especially for those who leave on their own volition or for those whose positions disappeared through no fault of their own nor reflection on their competence. I Thank you.
ReplyDeleteTo 3:24. Very little "dead wood" remained at Florida Today after the Dec. 2008 and March 2011 layoffs. The folks let go in the August 2011 layoffs were nothing more than salary dumping. Plain and simple. So go on believing you are so superior to any of those who left. You are aboard a dying sinking ship friend and your time is coming soon.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete