Thursday, February 16, 2012

Press ops | This post is for production comments

It's one in an occasional series of department-specific open forums to draw readers and comments from across the company. Today's is for news and comments related to press operations. (Earlier editions.)

9 comments:

  1. Moving comments from another thread, Anonymous@1:36 a.m. wrote:

    In reference to the enormous transportation costs involved with the printed product... Has anyone approached a product that is formatted for production on a RISOGRAPH machine for print-on-demand/on-location? This maybe especially useful for our Sunday-Insert magazines... They could be printed on-location at the newspaper-partner site, to avoid exorbitant shipping costs.

    And The Happy Pressman quickly replied at 2:01 a.m.:

    Keep dreaming, their is no way this will ever happen. Although I admirer your idea to cut costs this is about the most unrealistic idea I ever herd. Lets try to come up with some thing else. The cost to purchase for all sites far out weighs the shipping costs.

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  2. Thanks Jim for Production post spot.
    I do not want to anger any fellow press operators, however I have taken a very close look at many of the GPS larger metro's. The layers of management is some what way out of line, to many chiefs making large as in 3 figures salaries and supervisors doing very well, above 60k a year. This is why Cincinnati is closing shop. I was a former manager, but had enough, and taken a lesser role in running our press room, but we are non union and still are paid well, not over paid. I am not anti union, used to be in the GCIU, so guys don't hate on me. Just look at the facts

    The Happy Pressman

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  3. I'm not at a Gannett paper, but some brilliant mind at ours decided to up our Tuesday draw from around 125,000 to around 170,000. The reason? What better way to say "Be My Valentine" than a newspaper? I haven't been able to find out the returns yet.

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  4. Happy – Compensation is a piece but Buchanan’s desire to get out of printing is one she’s had for a long-time, one she demonstrated five years ago by shutting down press operations at the Community Press in Cincinnati and other plants in Central Ohio a few years later.

    A key piece of her calculus in transferring Community Press printing to Lafayette, Indiana was that she’d take advantage of the new Berliner format and that increased revenues, in part because full color would now be on every page (many advertisers wanted black and white to stand out), would flow. They didn’t.

    Same game seems to be playing out now with Western Ave’s closure. Shipping the Enquirer to Columbus will create a new, near magazine size paper one she’s claimed will still deliver the same newshole and improved coverage. Smart money says it won’t.

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  5. All GPS locations should have someone on Mr.Campbells level. In Ft.Myers we have nobody. Pete should consider him for a reginal position. Vinzzini and Cambell could troble shoot and problem solve.

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  6. 2:47 I agree completely, more ways than you know

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  7. 7:42 Yea, we need more production directors making 100k, coming up with more brilliant ideas..please save me.

    Happy P.

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  8. 7:42...All V and C know how to do is delegate downward. If they knew how to troubleshoot FT wouldn't be in the shape it's in.

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  9. Mr. Campbell doesn't even know what delegate means. He's only good at is screaming orders, treating employees like shit and playing solitaire.

    Never will understand why Zanmiller picked him.

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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."

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