Friday, February 10, 2012

Feb. 6-12 | Your News & Comments: Part 5

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49 comments:

  1. anyone know how high up the food chain the buyout offer went? executive editor? Publisher?

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  2. I'm moving this to the new thread in the hope more people see it and can answer my questions:

    Since those eligible for the buyout will be working three full months of 2012, aren't we entitled to one week of vacation time or pay?

    If so, if I qualify for the maximum 52 weeks of buyout pay, can I get that vacation week in pay as well for a total buyout of 53 weeks? Or do I have to take five vacation days before March 31? Or do I get screwed out of the five vacation days I accrued?

    Anyone know the answer?

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  3. I would take it during the waiting period to be sure. You technically don't get terminated, you are left on the books as an employee, but don't go to work. When exempt or non-exempt are termed, they get paid out.

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  4. The buyout is not available to anyone at the department head level or publishers.

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  5. One of our hot cougars (her description) was a bit mortified when she was called in to get her buyout letter. Seems she may have, ahem, 'misrepresented how many anniversaries of her 45th birthday had gone by' to her various prey in the building.

    Good (needed) laugh for her and the rest of us.

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  6. 4 have been offered in Asheville. The final blow to our IT department and 3 very valuable, experienced journalists. All employees before Gannett arrived and began to dismantle our hometown paper.

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  7. I used to think I could make a difference here. Now I just want something different than here...

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  8. 8:23: Do not put off looking for a job. Start now. You would be surprised how your skills will transfer nicely into another industry. Figure out what type of job you'd like to work in and just start interviewing. It's liberating, and you will find something.

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  9. Is it true that the offer will be extended to USA Today staff next week? I see my VP and others scurrying back and forth to Ellwood and Hunke and I can't help but get nervous. What a horrible weekend this is going to be waiting for yet another bomb to drop on us. Can anyone confirm this?

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  10. Look, Gannett management: Leadership!

    Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger takes pay cut

    Editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger reduces annual salary by 10% and asks company to halve its contribution to his pension

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/feb/09/guardian-editor-takes-pay-cut

    Instead of decimating the ranks of people who do the work, why not cut some of the compensation from individuals who already are more than comforable?

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  11. 8:59 sleep well. No offer to USAT employees

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  12. Any other papers not offered a buy-out if the eligible employee works in advertising?

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  13. Any word from Cincinnati on Buyouts

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  14. For those of you who have moved on to other industries, what kinds of jobs are you finding?

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  15. 11:12 No advertising employees at the courier in Louisville were offered the buyout. My wife is 61, has 33 years with the courier and she did not qualify. She would have taken it in a heartbeat.

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  16. Oh my . . . how many folks that got the early retirement offer have called Gannett Retirement Plan, Employee Services Team? I just did to see how to request the estimate for the annuity option (for long-term employees that still is an choice). They quit doing estimates two years ago because of staff cutbacks! If you accept the buyout offer and really retire, then they will do the estimate for you as part of the final package but until you decide one way or the other, no dice!

    The person I talked with was actually quite helpful and used an estimate they'd done a number of years ago that we used when doing some retirement planning and gave me his "best guess" of what I might expect but of course was clear that the final could be very different.

    The only information they are providing is the lump sum amount that you got in the mail last month.

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  17. Shout-outs clog the blog. Relevant stuff is important.

    Mike Lopresti of Gannett is your typical bigfoot sports columnist. Today he urges big-league baseball clubs to lower ticket prices. Maybe he should talk about the USA Today sports section where the only women featured are WAGs, hotties and cheerleaders. At this moment the lead story on USAToday.com/sports is the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

    Why is this relevant? While USA Today panders to the fratboy element, the student daily at an Ivy League college outed ESPN for urging people to complain about women broadcasting sports. Not only that, a sports-talk radio station in an NFL city fired its morning host this week for anti-woman comments he made on the air.

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  18. 11:56 ... You call that disjointed rant 'relevant'?

    First of all: Mike is a fine columnist. A columnist by nature writes about ongoing story developments. While columnists may find stories original and to their own, more often they're writing about stuff that's already reported. That's their job. It's not 'big footing.' But that's how bitter beat writers put it, to make themselves feel better. Other beat writers, however, perceive it as a validation of their good work to have a column written about something they've been covering.

    What Mike has to do with your second argument is, well, actually nothing. But to that point: USAT goes above and beyond in providing fair space to women in sports.

    I don't even like the sports section -- it's a vapid collection of uninspired, often hackneyed writing. But these two shots are unearned, my friend.

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  19. "For those of you who have moved on to other industries, what kinds of jobs are you finding?"

    Downsized from editorial quite some time ago. But read writing on the wall and prepared for it far, far in advance. Started my own side thing and segued post layoff into writing for corp clients. All kinds of writing needed and these clients can't write so they don't want to. Take your pick: speeches, blogs, white papers, annual reports, the old fashioned press release, first-person byliners for execs, op-eds, custom publication work, etc.

    That, combined with writing for trades (yes, you can do both at the same time) amounted to very nice (far, far greater than Gannett) self-employment earnings.

    Eventually hired fulltime by a client. Took a while. But I wasn't hurting at all for income in the meantime. Which meant that I conveyed no sense of desperation during interviews and was able to demonstrate that I was active, working, staying professionally connected, etc.(which employers like to see). Another advantage was that the client who hired me already knew and liked my work because I already was producing for them. (Takes out fear of the unknown factor that stops some employers from hiring a candidate.)

    Anyway: Better to be active and working (even if you're collecting buyout pay or severance) than going to an interview saying that all you've been doing is sending out resumes. If you can't find paying work, start off with some volunteer PR/content for non-profits, etc. and use that to market yourself.

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  20. Did any folks in broadcast get this offer or not?

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  21. GPS staff not offered any buy outs

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  22. February 9, 2012

    TO: Local Employees
    FR: Publisher
    RE: Voluntary Early Retirement Opportunity Program

    Dear colleagues:
    As previously announced today by USCP President Bob Dickey, Gannett is offering a voluntary Early Retirement Opportunity Program to 665 eligible U.S. Community Publishing employees who are age 56 with at least 20 years of service, as of March 31, 2012, and who are in certain departments and/or job categories. This offer is being extended to USCP employees only and GPS employees are not included. The offer provides for salary continuation of two weeks’ pay for each complete year of service, capped at 52 weeks, and ongoing health, dental and vision coverage during this period.
    As part of this, Journal & Courier media Group is offering 4 of our valued employees this program in the following departments:
    • Finance
    • Newsroom
    A total of 4 offers will be accepted due to ongoing operational needs. All employees eligible for this program at Journal & Courier Media Group will be notified and provided with an Acceptance Agreement, which provides an individualized analysis of how they benefit from the offer. Eligible employees have 45 days to accept. It’s important for everyone to know that the program is completely voluntary and the company’s offering is as attractive as any in our industry.
    Please let me know if you have any questions.

    Best regards,
    Gary Suisman, President & Publisher

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  23. Anon@12:05: Bigfoot columnists travel from major event to major event. Less glamorous reporters dig up real news. By that definition Mike Lopresti is a bigfoot columnist.

    ESPN's woman-hating was exposed when a (female) reporter wondered why ESPN was not televising the Harvard-Penn men's basketball game tonight. Harvard are in the national rankings alongside Duke, a school Lopresti has often written about.

    Preaching about diversity is one thing. Rampant sexism is another.

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  24. Corporate reads Hopkin's blog every day, but even the corp types are getting kinda skitty, looking for the next pad in their pond. And they're millionaires.

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  25. Why not let a longtime editor take a buyout? I'll bet they entertain ANY property requests meeting the age and service category.
    I mean, do you want a publisher who wants a buyout to stay longer just because he/she can't get a buyout. They won't speak up unless they qualify because they are better off trying to hold on and get some things done.
    The property might benefit from new energy. Can you think of some?

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  26. Very few columnists got entry-level jobs as columnists. They get those gigs most often by proving themselves with top tier reporting/writing on the beat or GA level over years. So dispense with the counterproductive bitterness over someone else's success. Instead, evaluate what people need to do to get to the positions you seek -- then top them at it.

    That said: While SOME columnists get those jobs with pedestrian writing talent, the general rule of thumb is that the columnist is one of the better writers on staff. So there are many beat writers who can report the hell out of a story and beat anyone. But will never get a column due to writing deficits/a lack of ability to convey interesting personal perspectives/lack of voice, etc.

    Which means the 'next step' there is overseeing a project team (if your newspaper still has them) or editing.

    So see? With this kind of sage career advice, no need to get all a-twitter over what people like Mike do by using cheap labels like "big foot." He's earned his place. He does good work. His job description demands that he go to events and write about them. So what?

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  27. No columnist gets to be a bigfoot without kissing people's ass. Look how the national media continue to worship Tiger Woods, a womanizing man with a shattered marriage and many lost sponsorships.

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

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  29. 3:22 Calling people "idiots" and urging them to "suffocate" themselves gets your comment removed.

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

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  31. 12:36
    Lopresti rocks. Let me guess - your not allowed to go cover something, so you are taking it out on Lopresti, right?
    Baby.

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  32. Anonymous said...
    Betcha miss the "old guard" at USAT now, don't you? Craig Moon, Brett Wilson, Lori Erdos, Wendy Matney, Ed Cassidy, Susan Lavington, Jeff Weber, Michael Davidson.

    All bounced and shoved out for the likes of Maryam Banikarim, David L. Hunke, Sandra Micek, Jill Heymer, Lee Jones.

    I suppose we can always have a serious discussion and voice our concerns with hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil Susie Ellwood or better yet, get engaged with our employee engagement officer Angela Phillips.

    Talent traded for an ever-shrinking bottom line.
    -----------------------------

    Well said, anonymous, except that I would take Ellwood any day over Hunke, though that really isn't saying very much. Looking forward to more travelogues from Banikarim as she watches boxes being packed up. And when are the 30th anniversary celebration parties being planned?

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  33. So at 11:29 a.m., Appleton posts the story with this headline "AP sources: President Barack Obama to change birth control rule."

    At noon, President Obama announces the changes.

    Wouldn't you think that by 3:48 Appleton would have put up an updated story on its website?

    Must all be suffering from "the buyout hangover effect". Or maybe there waiting for someone to supply some video via their smartphones.

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  34. Production workers left out in the cold in Louisville. Some workers who qualify to the n'th degree I guess are just too important to be afforded the opportunity. Feels like high school again. Some groups are "special" and are invited to the party. (Others are left to watch in jealousy and resentment).

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

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  36. 2:35. Please go away

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  37. There was talk on the blog yesterday about the latest purge of workers could save the company in the neighborhood of $60 million a year. Seems high, but I won't quibble.

    If the company wants to realize some big gains, why doesnt it sell the white elephant Crystal Palace and the adjacent lot? There is way too much unused space here and the properties should fetch some decent scratch. Gannett could go back to renting office space a lot closer to Somethhing other than a giant shopping mall. The only reasons we moved out here was to be closer to the homes of Doug mccordindale and Tom Curley.

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  38. Anonymous said...
    Betcha miss the "old guard" at USAT now, don't you? Craig Moon, Brett Wilson, Lori Erdos, Wendy Matney, Ed Cassidy, Susan Lavington, Jeff Weber, Michael Davidson.

    All bounced and shoved out for the likes of Maryam Banikarim, David L. Hunke, Sandra Micek, Jill Heymer, Lee Jones.

    I suppose we can always have a serious discussion and voice our concerns with hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil Susie Ellwood or better yet, get engaged with our employee engagement officer Angela Phillips.

    Talent traded for an ever-shrinking bottom line.

    -----

    So true - those were the good ol' days. Lots of other people you could add to that list.

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  39. They quit doing retirement estimates after they froze the retirement plan in 2008. Something they forgot to tell the local HR folks until I requested one for an employee.

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  40. With a few exceptions, I'll take the new USA Today folks, thank you.

    Nothing wrong with what was, but there comes a point...

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  41. The new guard is awful. They have no love of USAToday. No loyalty. Just hired guns. The former guard had a true interest in seeing USAToday succeed.

    That is now gone.

    With the latest round of buyouts, there will be a dramatic talent void at Gannett. Other companies who have offered buyouts to its senior talent, never fully recovered.

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  42. I hope all these buyouts mean I get the full 37 million the board gave me to resign. So far I only got 28 million this year. CD

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  43. You can keep everyone that's new at the CP. I'll take the old guard back. At least they knew what they were doing! There was never this much angst amongst the ranks.

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  44. Fat chance, 5:59: Martore, Lougee, Mayman, and the rest of the suits live close to Crystal Palace. Do agree that the building, property, maintenance, etc. are a huge waste of money.

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  45. Has there been any word on the weekly's people receiving buyouts.
    Strangely quiet.
    How about LH's Des Moines site?Nothing from there either.

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  46. Florida Today person here. Is Gannett for real? Sunday draws. Last week single copy came in with 38% +/- returns. Unbelievably they actually INCREASED some people's draws! Some of these poor carriers came in with 800...900 returns and they ADDED to that? Is there a real reason behind that or just Gannett/Florida Today arrogance? They're so worried about cost cutting...cut backs and buyuts and furloughs and layoffs...yet they throw newsprint and ink out like running water. And the poor carriers get nothing extra for unnecessary work. Sorry but this just really befuddles me.

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  47. 6 buy out in Alexandria

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  48. Just have to ask, what part of USCP only did you not get with the questions on whether GPS, Broadcast, Corporate, Newsquest, Captivate or even Army Times was included? What part of the note a month ago on here's your pension number do you not remember. I mean, come on people already. Do you read anything. I for one generally don't, but for big things like this I can't imagine you don't read things. Read things already.

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  49. 4:46 - For a fact, Broadcast is part of Community Publishing at some sites. Pension info sent last month does not include annuity info and the "Services Team" will not give estimates to anyone including those offered the early retirement opportunity. I read and work to understand the questions people are posting, do you?

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