[Marymont, Martore, Dickey]
Corporate has scheduled a web conference today at 3:30 p.m. ET to talk about "journalism priorities and explain a new training program to support the many initiatives underway -- the CCI installation, Design Studio implementations, Content Evolution and the new business model rollout."
That's according to a memo from News Department Vice President Kate Marymont. Also expected to make remarks are CEO Gracia Martore and U.S. newspapers division President Bob Dickey.
And the new business model is......
ReplyDeleteMore layoffs,stealthier staffing,
more unpaid overtime for those still employed,bigger bonuses,more unpaid interns,more age discriminitory layoffs, buyout plans that are very weak,more VPs
many less workers.
Close all those damn money draining weeklies and underachievers.
ReplyDeleteWhere can I view the web conference? Please Help!
ReplyDeleteHow many bad ideas are a group of people allowed to make? Seem like same ideas with different catch words. Basically putting lipstick on a pig.
ReplyDeleteThose 'damn ... weeklies' actually MAKE money in some hubs, and save the Daily's bacon. Or are you angling to preserve your daily reporter job?
ReplyDeleteShould we point out that AP style lists "under way" as two words, not one as it's used in the corporate memo?
ReplyDeleteNah, that's a JOURNALISM thing. The day the journalism died in Gannett was long, long ago.
CAN SOMEONE TELL ME HOW I GO ABOUT VIEWING THE CONFERENCE?
ReplyDeleteToo many bad things have occurred here in the last three years for most of us to believe in any new business models or initiatives. Too many lies. Too many layoffs (done in a horrible manner). Gannett / USAT betrayed our trust in ways it didn't have to. I am done with this place!
ReplyDeleteLINK?
ReplyDeleteIt's going to be an Oprah moment in reverse. "You lose your job! You lose your job! And you in the corner there? You lose your job!"
ReplyDeleteWeb first, regular updates, lots of video with the smartphones you'll be handed that the editors don't make off with (because you know they will) and paywalls coming soon.
ReplyDeleteI think that pretty much summarizes what you will hear/see.
Looking forward to having you watch.
-G-
The webcast should be on the Gannett corporate intranet.
ReplyDeleteCan somebody please attach a link to watch the conference. I dont see it on Gannetts site!
ReplyDeletecorporate decided not to make it available to anyone. they are woried that someone might steal their secret sauce!
ReplyDeleteThere's not a single mind left at Taggert Transcontinental!
ReplyDeletehttp://phoenix.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?p=irol-eventDetails&c=84662&eventID=4699937
ReplyDeleteWhat about Dickey's tee time? He must have moved it up.
ReplyDeleteHighlights from Thursday's meeting:
ReplyDelete-Matore praising the company's "careful financial approach" allowing it to be in position to invest in technology, training, etc. How's that for a euphanism for vicious layoffs?
-Dickey saying after Matore's talk that it was the first time he's heard our CEO speak with such passion in his 20+ years. If that's true, can we demand some of Craig & Co.'s millions back?
-Dickey also used the word impactful, which makes reasonable people shudder.
Also, the new buzz phrases appear to be "platform perfect" (replacing "platform agnostic") and "we will win with quality."
ReplyDeleteThe top news item was the announcement of some form of paywalls coming to most or all USCP sites sometime this year.
They also talked about the content evolution process, training and the CCI conversion. Apparently, 20 sites have made the switch and seven are in progress. They acknowledged the serious CCI technical issues being experienced this week and said they're being worked on.
Finally, they unveiled what I'm sure they think is a revolutionary chart showing how Audience Understanding and Content Evolution lead to Content of Consequence.
Hey 9:25, did the crowd go wild with all these innovative ideas?
ReplyDeleteI smell a huge pile of consultant speak here. Not the good kind. I wish some of these managers would crawl down to newsrooms and other areas and experience what it's like to work with faulty systems, mindless mantras from the top and senior editors who hide in their offices all day. Except for meetings, of course.
ReplyDeleteWhat did Kate Marymont say? Did it make any sense, or is she still spouting corporate gibberish?
ReplyDelete9:16 a.m., get some new material. You post the same things every day in the same style. It's obvious. It's tired.
ReplyDelete1:51, please go away and do not return.
10:45 a.m. Sounds like you just described yourself in the firsr sentence. Aren't you that predictable corporate weekend poster?
ReplyDelete9:42: My site was very quiet.
ReplyDelete10:23: Kate was the presenter for the second half of the program. Most of what I wrote above was from her. Mostly corporate gibberish.
Don't forget the "we must be one" message in yesterday's presentation. No longer should we consider the USCP sites as individual, but part of the larger corporate whole, Martore said.
ReplyDeleteI never heard "paywalls". Dickey said "new subscription model". He also said the "new revenue stream" will allow sites to add resources and create that "content of consequence." I winced at all the buzzwords, especially the "We will win with quality" slogan.
Boy, for a comment thread by and for a bunch of journalists (and ex-journos), there such is some pathetic reporting about this big web confab from corporate. Can't anyone still remaining in GannettLand give a complete rundown of what was said? Remember, there are many EX-Gannettoids and others who are still interested in this inside look at the company. Thanks in advance!
ReplyDeleteMarymont is speaking corporate gibberish whenever she talks. I don't believe she's ever had an original thought. She's like a parrot.
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ReplyDeleteThis thing was such a joke. Even with a journalist audience, these people are incapable of speaking without platitudes and buzzword-laden gibberish. The actual substance boiled down to, since the way news is consumed has changed, we are all getting iPhones. That is such a bold move on the part of these visionary stewards of the company. Except that the iPhone came out FIVE years ago! Oh and to show how tech savvy our newsrooms are becoming, they showed a photojournalist-produced puff piece video about gannett. I am not making this up -- the sound didn't work. We watched it in silence.
ReplyDeleteVery little concrete information was offered at this event. A lot was painted in broad strokes, all of which seemed to boil down to three things: change is coming, iPhones are coming, and digital/multimedia is the focus.
ReplyDeleteNothing new, to me: I think we all know change is coming. The iPhones are nice, though late to the game. And we all know digital needs to be the focus.
But the most striking part of this whole show was just how bad the presentation was, coming from a company and a web presentation that was supposed to espouse video. It was a relic from the 1990s.
There was no ongoing video, most of the time -- just static images on screen accompanied by stiffly scripted and often poorly rendered dialog. The two videos that were offered suffered from technical glitches, and the one that was an example of how to use an external microphone with the iPhone mentioned that we needed to "notice the TRS" on the connector.
I wonder how many folks got what that meant.
Lackluster presentations that deliver more hype and promise than facts are a hallmark at Gannett. We ar treated to th same horseshit at USA today. They do spice up the PowerPoint presentations with hip music, though. Someone's 12 year old taught them how.
ReplyDeleteMost of us are still steamed by the 90 minute waste of time Gannett's marketing officer put us through a couple of weeks ago.
Ellwood and Hunke keep jabbering about transparency and keeping people in the loop, but playing verbal air guitar doesn't cut it with anyone but Kool aid quaffers.
ReplyDeleteWhen are we getting something of substance? No, I don't mean more management shuffling and hires of sale enablement veeps.
Where is Silverman's contribution to the new USCP plan. There was great fanfare in August After corporate said he would be part of the planning process.
ReplyDeleteI cannot believe the sound didn't work. Classic.
ReplyDelete