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Tuesday, March 13, 2012
40 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."
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Jim,
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see a poll on which Gannett newspapers are running Doonesbury this week and which are wimping out with a substitution. Who makes these decisions, anyway?
Tx.
Regarding the paywalls.....it really sucks that I don't live in the market and can't read one story. Oh well, I guess I will get my news elsewhere. Gannett's loss will be someone else's gain.
ReplyDeleteJust 2 weeks before buyouts and then the layoffs that will also follow.
ReplyDeleteDoes everyone,for the six time in in three years, have their exit plans ready to implement?
The Central NY newspaper subdivision is a joke. I have never worked for a comapany who did less for there community. It was all about the bottom line. You never heard good job from any of management. Management would put you up against 20-35% sales increase over the previous years goal despite the company being down 40% in advertising revenue. Customers (business owners) were treated like they were idiots and should take whatever advertising package we give them. Our managers would contradict themselves constantly and blatently lie to your face. I personally had a manger who would always want you to push the highest priced package first despite the customers needs. I understand this is a business and making money is the goal. But why would she go to a customer and sell him on the lowest package we offer without ever offering a better packae that would bring more revenue to the comapany. Because she was a horrible salesperson and did not deserve her job. She was handed the job over 3 more qualified people because she was tight with her manager. They fired (laid off) the best sales person I have ever worked with because she was outspoken and would stand behind her sales reps when she knew they were right. Bottom line is this is a horrible company to work for. I recently called the corporate HR director to discuss some concerns over how employees were being treated and never called back.
ReplyDeleteIona's men's basketball team has been the big story of March Madness, gaining a surprise bid to the tournament. What has the Journal News done for coverage? First, yesterday they ran a story on Iona on Lohud that used a file photo of the Iona Prep high school team instead of the Iona College team. Today, they just have AP stories on Iona and apparently are not even staffing the tournament games in Ohio for Westchester's only Division One program.
ReplyDeleteNot me. i like living in a constabt state of upheaval and dark clouds
ReplyDelete10:03 hope you have plan b ready I contacted corporate hr a few years back and they acted concerned and conducted a full scale investigation. Funny thing happened after over a dozen years of above average work reviews it was found out I was late to work, made personal phone calls and was on eBay on company computer. All true but I was fired and threaten with a Libel law suit. I encouraged them to pursue but never heard from them. Funny thing was that not once was any of those three things were mentioned in a single review. I guess they must think their mis managers are incapable of noticing such details. Special thanks to Delores Pinto for be able to see from Delaware what my immediate supervisor working with me wasn't able to. No wonder she won that ring:)
ReplyDeleteChris Erwin
Does Leslie Gialombardo stll work for Gannett corporate?
ReplyDelete/
Florida Today employees lost a fine HR co worker June Phillips of Melbourne, Florida. How sad!
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ReplyDeleteSorry, but... what is in Doonesbury that would cause a problem for papers?
ReplyDelete"The emperor hath no clothes."
ReplyDeleteReduced to its most basic model, GCI is attempting to produce a product, sell it, and distribute it to customers. They also want to make a profit while doing so through ads and subscriptions. If nearly equal attention isn't paid to each of those top three functions, the others will also fail. It won't matter how many bracket games the company promotes on its clunky websites or how they fawn over NASCAR advertisers. There are dozens of places users can go to get the same things. And they know it.
Right now all of the attention seems to be concentrated on distribution methodology. Of course the company has to pay attention to digital trends (just like town criers had to pay attention to those new-fangled printing presses), but if there is a poor product to sell, it won't matter how slick the distribution channel is because people won't buy it, no matter how it is distributed.
Aside from USAT, the unique product that GCI previously controlled was creation of and access to local information in small and medium sized markets. Gutting the ranks of content developers (reporters and editors) gives up control of that unique product. We can see TV stations and free weekly shopper-type publications leaping into the breach Gannett has opened, and advertisers gravitating toward those instruments. The market demand is there - customers have always wanted and needed information about their communities, but GCI is ceding it to other content providers. (Ask any public librarian what patrons request most often, and the answer will be "local information.") If local users find that day after day Gannett isn't providing what they need, they will turn to other sources for the information they need. And, really, who would pay to jump a wall for access to a newspaper's website when only two or three new articles are posted each day because there isn't enough staff to generate more?
I hope this company gets it together quickly and does some long term planning, because it ain't lookin' good.
12:16 is certainly correct.
ReplyDeleteBear in mind that Gannett sees its strength as a national network that can profit off local and national advertisers.
But that network is rooted in more than 100 local communities in the U.S., Guam and the U.K. If the company stops delivering what those individual communities want -- exclusive, local news that has broad impact -- than the whole thing falls apart.
This is why I continue to be amazed that Gannett would reduce the number of content producers -- journalists and ad sales people -- at the local level. They are all that distinguish the network from anyone else.
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ReplyDeleteLiz Rogers, one of the Cincinnati Enquirer’s recent Top 20 Professional Women to Watch in 2012 just surrendered to local authorities.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the Enquirer will spend a little more time actually vetting the people they select as this is truly an embarrassment.
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120313/NEWS/303130085/Mahogany-s-owner-turns-herself-in
She was a woman to watch, do the perp walk, that is!
ReplyDeleteYeah, and the Enquirer editor was another "Top 20 Professional Women to Watch in 2012" - Do you really think that anyone in Cincinnati takes the paper seriously anymore?
ReplyDelete"They’re smart and successful, at the top of fields ranging from fine food to high finance,'' the Enquirer writes of its “20 Professional Women to Watch in 2012” (http://tinyurl.com/6pd9o78).
ReplyDeleteApparently, not all as Channel 9’s I-Team exposed Rogers' bad debts and deals (http://tinyurl.com/7pek82m) barely two weeks after and the Enquirer’s newsroom stayed silent about that noteworthy news - impacting one of Cincinnati’s most visible developments in clear view of Washburn and Buchanan's offices, for nearly a month until Rogers' court appearance forced it to write the story.
Readers already question the Enquirer’s credibility, selecting Rogers and sitting on that news until now harms it even more. Pathetic.
Has anyone answered their survey yet? The questions are very telling for what's ahead for employees. Another shakeup on the horizon. Appears they will make us all reapply for jobs.
ReplyDelete4:55 Which survey?
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ReplyDelete10:03 Any hint as to the initials of your bad and poor manager?
ReplyDeleteSurvey monkey - flinging poop. So apropos.
ReplyDeleteAugusta Murphy has been running around SXSW too.
ReplyDeleteFollow @augustamurphy on twitter
Do you mean Augusta DUFFEY? She's Gannett Graphics Executive Creative Director and is @gustad.
ReplyDeleteWhen oh when oh when can we expect another "on the road" again with Maryam-Willie-Nelson-Banikarim???
ReplyDeleteWe're all just dying to know about your expense account that allows you to flit around to all those irrelevant social engagements.
Yes Augusta Duffey.
ReplyDeleteHandle is @gustad
Her twitter profile says she is Exec Creative Director Gannett Digital including USAToday.com
I didn't get too excited about it, but I was one of the people who thought that the SXSW trip seemed like a fun little junket without much relevance. (And people were shocked, SHOCKED, to find corporate execs traveling someplace fun for work.)
ReplyDeleteBut, I've gotta say, I've been seeing tech news breaking out of SXSW all week. Clearly, it's where the action is, and if Gannett wants to be a player (perhaps a wannabe now, but still), it seems like the place to be. I hope Jodi comes back with some ideas.
For the fourth time since leaving Gannett, I have been contacted by one of the salespeople I worked with to freelance on a special project. Seems like they have no one "in house" to create an advertising campaign for several platforms, and the customer wants to work with someone local. I politely declined the offer because I don't want my hard work to make Gannett look good. I feel bad for Gannett's salespeople and customers, but this is what happens when designers, artists, writers, programmers, photographers and videographere are let go from the company. Gannett really threw out the baby with the dirty bath water.
ReplyDeleteSame thing happened in my department - IT. They called me to come back to help them in their time of need and I was like, why bother? They figured I hadn't found employment yet so I would love the opportunity to make some money. Apparently, I'm not as desperate as they are.
ReplyDelete6:43. Thanks for the laugh. I'll never read Maryam/Willie' s on the road blahg again without a hoot.
ReplyDeleteWow. The President of the US and Prime Minister of England are attending Iona's NCAA Tournament game, but the Journal News isn't. Amazing.
ReplyDelete11:12 - I worked with June for several years and I agree, she was a great HR person.
ReplyDeleteThe challenges of working for a newspaper - newspapers are at one end of the chart and internet at the other:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.neatorama.com/2012/03/12/newspaper-americas-fastest-shrinking-industry/
I can't help but thinking that this business strategy is such an obvious failure to real business people; so much that some private equity guys are going to come in and buy this whole mess. Seriously, you could probably run a "under new management" promotion and boost circulation by 5 or 10% in some of these markets on that alone. Move upmarket a bit and add another 10% back. Then sell these papers off. This race to the bottom thing is a joke. Business case studies will be done on this strategy and they will point out how the internet and a recession provided cover for a total strategic failure of management.
ReplyDeleteRe: Doonesbury
ReplyDeleteA chance to pretend to ponder a deep question and to pretend to be connected to actual journalism, followed by a complete wuss-out.
It sounds as though it was made for Gannett.
We received a survey from corporate today asking for our input on the company's move forward in the digital age. And yes, it did sound like we will all need to reapply for our jobs. What a freaking joke!
ReplyDeleteCan someone from Maryam's visits to the fiefdoms reel me of she actually met with anyone and what the conversation was like. I get the impression MB did some sightseeing and shopping, dined with management and then limped back to the airport.
ReplyDeleteThese on the road reports of her's are about as iinsightful as photo captions.
Wait, great HR person? Ship her to Reno.
ReplyDelete