Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Feb. 20-26 | Your News & Comments: Part 3

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46 comments:

  1. Anonymous2/22/2012 5:39 AM

    Big meeting here in Greenville tomorrow. Word is, substantial price increases will be announced with subscribers forced to take a combo digital/print subscription. Street price will as much as double on Sunday. Well that's just great to hear. Speed up the exodus of our readers dramatically for the sake of some short-term revenue increase. What do you think our readers are going to do in the face of huge rate increases. That's right, go to a path of lesser resistance to get their news.....and there's plenty of them out their and always will be. With buyouts, furloughs, and layoffs part of our daily culture, taking steps like this that reduce our circulation 20-30% is going to be great for morale.

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  2. Anonymous2/22/2012 6:13 AM

    It's worked great in Brevard so far. People are clamorong to buy the $3 Sun paper and have called to thank us for the 40% rate increases. Advertisers will also call us to thank us for saving them dollars when they get to pay lower prices for our decreased circ volumes. .

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  3. Anonymous2/22/2012 7:12 AM

    Brevard...what in the world is going on? Third week now the single copy carriers came in between 40 and 44 percent returns. That's 600 to 1,000 returns each carrier. Wonder what they will report as paid circulation...the 85,600 printed or the estimated 75,000 actually "sold"?

    Now, add in to that, USAT going out of this world with draws. A minimum of 6 per store, regardless whether they sell maybe 2 a week or not. Now coming in with 50 percent returns there.

    Furloughs to save money just to throw it out the door at carriers and stores. Don't sound right to me.

    Stores are still upset but starting to laugh it's so sad. One even told a carrier "they are either dumb as a box of rocks or crooks...cooking the numbers somehow".

    Why is Gannett/USAT throwing us under the bus?

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  4. Anonymous2/22/2012 7:22 AM

    wow. I left Gannett last May in what was then a risky move. I depart in the morning on vacation from my new job, and I love knowing A:I can afford the trip, and B: the job will be there when I get back!

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  5. Anonymous2/22/2012 7:48 AM

    Management (if you can call it that) in Brevard is totally clueless. Press on despite the increasing rate of returns, lackluster support among staff for the paywall idea, outright contempt by the public for print and online subscriptions and the childish early 1980s designed pages. Throw in furloughs, buyouts, no publisher, decimating staff cuts and a ridiculous emphasis on pandering to the affluent, women and boomers only and you have a lethal and fatal mixture. Bon voyage to a once-decent and respectable newspaper.

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  6. Anonymous2/22/2012 8:51 AM

    Why is Gracia's audio so low-quality on this morning's webcast? It sounds like she's broadcasting from the conductor car of a subway train. Wouldn't you think a major communications company -- one making its case and trying to impress investors -- would have at least decent audio? #SMH

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  7. Anonymous2/22/2012 8:59 AM

    8:51 - I agree. Sometimes she sounds like an adult in a Peanuts cartoon.

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  8. Anonymous2/22/2012 9:06 AM

    The more customers that quit, the lower the pay for the delivery people. This will cause them to quit, causing service issues and even fewer customers. Indeed this seems like a death spiral for print.

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  9. Anonymous2/22/2012 9:18 AM

    I am 2 years removed form Gannett.
    It is hard to believe that so many of the complaints now are very similiar to the scenarios that were happening years ago. Layoffs on the horizon,ad revenue way down,weak content,circulation down,
    furloughs,morale terrible,good people gone,management terrible,buildings closed,no raises,insurance costs up,way,way overworked and on and on.It was very bad 2 years ago. I would guess that it is very,very difficult to deal with the same stresses day after day for years,and keep your sanity as well.

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  10. Anonymous2/22/2012 9:18 AM

    Anyone blogging/tweeting on the investor conference?
    Ref technology: A memo about the employee Web cast this afternoon asked us to view it in a large group to avoid too many users logging on and overloading the network. Really???

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  11. Anonymous2/22/2012 9:33 AM

    Doctor Zzzzz sleeping in today and not blogging about the first Investor Meeting Gannett has ever produced? Nice work

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  12. Anonymous2/22/2012 9:47 AM

    GCI shares are rolling this morning. Up about 5% now.

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  13. Anonymous2/22/2012 10:05 AM

    7:48 - Who is in charge at Brevard these days?

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  14. Anonymous2/22/2012 10:09 AM

    Is anyone watching the stock price? Clearly the investors are impressed with what they are hearing this morning. Of course, most here on the blog will find a way to spin this negatively. God forbid something not follow the narrative of doom they have created.

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  15. Anonymous2/22/2012 10:22 AM

    10:09 You're missing the point of this blog. It was not set up with the intention of being PRO-Gannett. It is unapologetically ANTI-Gannett. Which is fine. Critical viewpoints are needed - just have to have someone listen to them. Don't waste your time with looking for positives here.

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  16. Anonymous2/22/2012 10:23 AM

    10:09, you are so funny. I am not trying to spin the negative, but the stock price always goes up a few cents the day you speak to the investors, but then falls again once reality sets in. I am one of those people that has a ton of worthless stock unless the price goes back up to around $75.00. Let's see where we are in a week. It's too soon to bring in the marching band.

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  17. Anonymous2/22/2012 10:43 AM

    I remember when the stock was at $90/share. #thosewerethedays

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    1. Anonymous2/22/2012 11:11 AM

      And I remember when newspapers were the only game in town. The world changed. Ok you hate Gannett. But ever other Newspaper company is either out of business or the stock is in the toilet. So is every executive in every newspaper company stupid or did the world change?

      Delete
  18. Anonymous2/22/2012 10:46 AM

    Up to $16 right now. Go Marge,Go Gracia, Go Maryam, Go Debra, Go Sandra, Go Bob, Go David!

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    1. Anonymous2/22/2012 1:18 PM

      Yea, go! Get the hell out of here!

      Delete
  19. Anonymous2/22/2012 10:46 AM

    $16.14!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  20. Anonymous2/22/2012 10:47 AM

    Yep, us blog posters invented the gloom that is over Gannett. It is a figment of our imagination. Maybe unpaid furloughs and massive layoffs are also just a bad dream. Our posts put such a bad spin on the markets the we all in fact had a mass hulicination that led all of us to believe that the stock as dropped from 70 to 2 at one point. We all need to wake up out of this self created stuper to realize that this was all just a bad dream. In reality gannett is doing great! Look the stock went up 5%!

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    1. Anonymous2/22/2012 10:51 AM

      The reality is that while much of your post is true there is never a moment when you and your friends ever recognize a positive move. Your hate clouds your judgement.

      Delete
  21. Anonymous2/22/2012 10:51 AM

    9:33 you do realize that Jim lives in the western time zone. I see what he makes and I don't think I would be working at 6:33 for that. Think Jim treats blog as hobby/passion more then ft job. But by all means if you feel you would/could do better you should go for it.

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  22. Anonymous2/22/2012 11:02 AM

    Well Jim did punt the RD story so stands to reason sleeping beauty would pass on this as well. Gossip is much more fun than real journalism.

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  23. Anonymous2/22/2012 11:02 AM

    9:18 - thanks for posting your story .... again.

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  24. Anonymous2/22/2012 11:03 AM

    Why does The Cincinnati Enquirer lie to its customers? Another story without comments enabled. I thought Facebook was supposed to change this?

    http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120221/NEWS01/302220016/-Sugarland-response-angers-injured?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|p

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  25. Anonymous2/22/2012 11:07 AM

    I live the smell of money in the morning!!!!!

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous2/22/2012 11:08 AM

      I'm so giddy I can't type! I meant Love!!!!

      Delete
  26. Anonymous2/22/2012 11:22 AM

    9:18, get some new material. You post the same thing the same way every day.

    Enough.

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  27. Anonymous2/22/2012 11:24 AM

    Gannett boosted its dividend today and said it will be able to return more than $1 billion to shareholders by 2015.
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-21/brocade-dell-la-z-boy-texas-roadhouse-u-s-equity-preview.html

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  28. Anonymous2/22/2012 12:14 PM

    You got breaking news, Jimbo:
    http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Gannett-Holds-Investor-prnews-2988340143.html?x=0

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    1. Anonymous2/22/2012 12:17 PM

      Now that's some goooood news! Finally a look at the future. Thanks Gracia. Nice first couple of months on the job.

      Delete
  29. Anonymous2/22/2012 12:15 PM

    Dear colleagues:

    Today, Gannett’s senior management and I are holding an Investor Day at our offices in New York, which is being webcast from 8:30 a.m. to noon (ET) via www.gannett.com.

    I can’t tell you how excited the entire leadership team is about the efforts under way across the company. An enormous amount of work has been done to get us to this point. But this is just the beginning. Together, we have what we need to win.

    This afternoon, senior management and I will hold a companywide Town Hall videocast at 4 p.m. (ET) to share highlights of our blueprint for success.

    Where possible, you and your local leadership will gather in a central location for your local Town Hall that will coincide with the New York videocast. During your Town Hall, I encourage you to talk about what we shared with you, offer feedback and help us forge ahead. The videocast can also be viewed on Gannett’s intranet at http://gannett.gci.

    If you can’t make the live companywide Town Hall videocast, a replay will be archived on our intranet at http://gannett.gci the following day.

    We look forward to our time with you this afternoon.

    Best regards,

    Gracia Martore
    President & Chief Executive Officer

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  30. Anonymous2/22/2012 12:19 PM

    Re: the price increases. There is some belief in the newspaper industry that it's worth losing signficant circ through price increases because what you have left are loyal, die-hard readers who are fully engaged with the product. This enables you to sell advertising at a premium because you're selling quality over quantity (which will require some sales training after all these years!). It will be interesting to see if the model works and whether they're left with enough addresses to justify the cost of sending out carriers for delivery (especially with gas at $5 a gallon). I just reduced my subscription back to a Thurs-Sun because my discount ran out. The Monday thru Wednesday papers are so thin that it's not worth paying for them, and I'm about as loyal a reader as you will find.

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  31. Anonymous2/22/2012 12:20 PM

    Jimmy can you hear me? Jimmy? Jimmy? Where for art though our pessimistic pal?

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  32. Anonymous2/22/2012 12:21 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  33. Anonymous2/22/2012 12:38 PM

    Good news, to a degree, I guess, if spun properly, but at what cost? Layoffs, furloughs, buyouts and cutbacks have destroyed morale while gutting the newsrooms that will be charged w/ providing the content that will make people willing to subscribe. When will gracia, bob and Kate get that?

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  34. Anonymous2/22/2012 12:42 PM

    So fools who invest in a dying company for a guaranteed dividend that comes at the expense of the workers put in charge of said dying product is good news? For whom? The investors involved in a pseudo pyramid scheme perhaps, but really who else? Not the worker, not the reader and not the advertiser....

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  35. Anonymous2/22/2012 12:53 PM

    10:46 who is Debra? Another stealth overpaid executive? You list all these top execs and then someone named Debra?

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  36. Anonymous2/22/2012 1:03 PM

    Anybody know for sure just when the alien invaded the body of Kate Marymont and took over what had been the brain of a fine journalist?

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  37. Anonymous2/22/2012 1:04 PM

    It's hard for some of us to get excited about Gannett's future when we know we're getting laid off when pagination moves to the design centers.

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    1. Anonymous2/22/2012 1:22 PM

      No you won't get laid off. Your just having a bad dream. A bad dream caused by too much negative posting on this site. Gannet is doing great! Why would they lay you off? Look the stock is up 5%!

      Delete
  38. Jim Hopkins2/22/2012 1:38 PM

    I believe 1:22 is being facetious. (I hope, anyway.)

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  39. Anonymous2/22/2012 1:40 PM

    And the stock has gone from $16.14 back down to $15.14. I predict it will be back around $14.25 by next week. Reality always beats out fantasy.

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  40. Jim Hopkins2/22/2012 1:47 PM

    Please continue to Part 4 of this week's Real Time Comments open thread.

    ReplyDelete

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