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Friday, April 20, 2012
66 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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"I can't speak to Jim's other ventures, but I know one thing: he has succeeded in great measure at being a major peeble in the shoe and thorn in the side for Gannett, giving us all a forum to vent. And I know for certain they are reading."
ReplyDeleteI wholeheartedly agree. Jim-bashers, you don't have too many fans on this forum.
Like it or not, Jim's blog is forever marked in history. It's become a respected source among mainstream media, as we all watch the human toll that a shift from print to digital journalism is taking on America's newsrooms.
ReplyDeleteI think he's a brave journalist to have started it. The fact it has gained the attention of Columbia Journalism Review, Romenesko, Poynter, etc. is just more proof it often has the real story.
What a load of crap. Thanks for the chuckle. I needed that.
DeletePayne speaking today:
ReplyDeleteRT @gannett: Gannett making transition from media company to media and marketing solutions company. - Payne #MAMSummit
2:05,
ReplyDeleteExcellent point. I wonder how many other blogs covering one company exists. Jim has been a trailblazer in that regard.
Thank you, Jim. Today is my last day as I am shown the door like so many others around here. Without you and others' insights I would not have been prepared for this. While it hurts at least I am leaving proud of the work I have done and wish everybody the best of luck. It goes without saying what I will not miss about Gannett. And to Jim, thank you for the courage to launch and maintain the Gannett Blog. No one else cared about the staff except you.
ReplyDeleteIf there's any Jim bashing on here its done by order (if not by themselves) of Gracia Martore, Mariam Banikarim, Steve Hyatt and Angela Phillips. No doubt others have been instructed to discredit Jim and postings on here.
ReplyDeleteAnd that is a fact.
Thank you Jim!!
ReplyDelete3:14 You're welcome!
ReplyDeleteSurely, they must be able to tell by now that everyone sees through their little charade.
ReplyDeleteSad, really.
Any more news on publishers being cut from the earlier thread? It's about time some of the brass gets axed. Some of these properties are getting top heavy, and you know corporate won't be cut.
ReplyDeleteRule #1 of the new Social Media world, that David Payne and Maryam Banikarim like to talk about on industry panels, but really don't understand is this:
ReplyDeleteIf you don't use social media to LISTEN first, you have no idea what it's all about.
Jim's blog is social media at the 100th degree. It's a place employees come to seek the truth, hold management accountable and support one another.
Gracia, Maryam, David, etc should spend some time reading the blog and they'd realize Gannett employees are fed up, burned out, and untrusting of management.
They should listen to their own advise about "the new social media order". LISTEN.
4:57 Following a specific comment about the paper in Lafayette, Ind., I've just called eight different numbers in the Journal and Courier's major departments and all I get is voice mail -- including for the publisher, Gary Suisman.
ReplyDelete4:59,
ReplyDeleteThere are words you will rarely ever hear at USAT:
"What's your opinion"
"What do you think"
How should we handle this"
We do not do LISTENING very well.
5:29
ReplyDeleteWhat?
Couple Publisher's let go this up coming week
ReplyDeleteLafayette, In.
Richmond In.
Appleton, WI.
Great Falls Mo.
Sioux Falls SD.
Staunton VI.
Mansfield OH.
More to come in the weeks ahead. Corp has seen the light, that these positions are no longer needed, which equals a huge savings
I have herd the same about the Publishers starting to get the axe. Its about time..lots of dead weight
ReplyDeleteDid you hear it here?
Delete3:20 total BS. Way to moderate Hopkins
ReplyDelete6:21, wait. You mean that unsourced material might not be accurate, yet Jim has allowed it to stay live for hours? Say it isn't so!
ReplyDeleteThis is why Jim has failed at everything and will continue to fail at everything he does. He lacks either the will or the ability to sort through the B.S.
Jim Hopkins: Failure at a journalism career.
ReplyDeleteJim Hopkins: Failure at getting accurate facts on a blog that he, and only he, controls.
See a pattern? The only conclusion:
Jim Hopkins: Failure at life.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteBashing on Jim? Do just leave. Are there no adults in this room? Good Lord!
ReplyDeleteLet's see: Bash Matore ok. Bash Hopkins bad. So much for freedom of speech
Delete6:46: Failure at attempting to discredit Jim
ReplyDelete6:46: Failure at convincing readers here that Jim presents nothing but inaccurate facts.
See the pattern? The only conclusion.
6:46 needs to get a life.
Bashing typically happens when bad news is coming. Stay tuned.
ReplyDelete7:02 - I agree. Or, if Jim is onto the truth. They want to divert everyone's attention from the facts stated and get everyone focused on having to defend Jim. It is so incredibly obvious. The shit is about to hit the fan, people.
ReplyDeleteWent to the Cincinnati Enquirer's craptacular website just now on my iPad, and it crashed Safari again.
ReplyDeleteYeah, sign me up for that online subscription.
For some reason, couches have appeared in the newsroom (information center) at my site. There are four couches that seat two people apiece. There are also three coffee tables and a red chair that seats one person.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great setup for NFL Sundays.
Let's have girls in thongs serve beer, hot dogs, high balls and munchies. There is a strip joint down the street. Perhaps my site is trying to put it out of business.
Bad news coming is that Pointroll has failed its done. The Jim basher is pointroll management.
ReplyDeleteThey do provide a fairly accurate bellwether - snarkier they get, the more we need to pay attention.
ReplyDeleteUsed to be a time when newspapers were loaded with full page advertisements from supermarkets _ Shop Rite, Pathmark, etc. on Wednesdays where I live. These days, the bulk of those ads are gone. Do newspapers have something against promoting those stores? What gives?
ReplyDeleteTo the corporate folks who keep posting here and bashing Jim:
ReplyDeleteHas it occurred to you how much trouble Gannett is in if you have been given the job of calling him names on a blog?
Has it occurred to you how worrisome it is that your boss actually assigned you the job of calling an ex-employee names?
Has it occurred to you that since you went ahead and did it, that you may be a reprehensible person?
Gannett, has to kick me as I get shoved out the door. Exit interview. What the frick is wrong with this company? Who decides the inhumane way they treat people.
ReplyDeleteJim bashers note: Columbia Journalism Review, American Journalism Review, Poynter, Nieman are others are lapdogs funded by back by media companies, foundations, universities and trade groups that keep their dirty laundry from being aired. I trust Hopkins and Romenesko. They know what it's like to be screwed over by bad employers and have forged their own independent careers.
ReplyDeleteHeard there was a big hire today in Nashville. Anyone know anything?
ReplyDeleteJim, at what time did you try to call Lafayette? After 4 p.m. eastern time? On a Friday? Zero chance you'll get anyone at that time.
ReplyDelete8:26, thanks for the 411 on the strip joint. Gannett's marketing solutions team is on it.
ReplyDeleteAt least one of the sites listed for publishers getting the axe doesn't have, and hasn't for quite some time, a publisher on site.
ReplyDeleteMartore the Knife is coming for you. This above it all persona is just a big act. she is a heartless phony. A smart, lethal one.
ReplyDeleteI am a long tenure employee of Gannett and was told this week I no longer have a job. Our publisher "DB" is the leader of destruction at our site. He does not know the employees, city, advertisers, or this culture. He sent his people to tell me with his coward self. We bash the managers/directors when we know all their directions comes from the Crystal Palace. If the local sites were able to run the day-to-day operations of the company it would be better. Every department is run from the Crystal Palace. IC about to adventure a reorganization (corporate driven); IT going through restructure (corporate driven with their sorry help desk); Advertising going through restructures (corporate driven with publisher leading); Circulation spunned away from local control (Corporate driven with sorry COE); HR spunned away from local control (Corporate driven with sorry Gannett Bemefits Center); Production (spunned away from local control); Finance employees about to loose their jobs (Corporate driven). I could bash the executives who told me I was fired but I already know this was not their decision. I wish the publisher would have told me and not be a coward. Maybe the Crystal Palace executives could have come down to tell me. They are so to blame for all these firings.
ReplyDeleteThose of you left please keep peace amongst yourselves. The Crystal Palace would love to see us bashing our fellow coworkers. Do not give them this satisfaction. They are reading this blog laughing at us bash each other when they are to blame for the big mess they are causing. They love Jim's site because they know we come out here to vent so they get to see they are successful at making our lives miserable. We tell each other to go get another job if we are so unhappy and the Crystal Palace knows we have given them the best years. They do not care if we leave them know. We bash each other for procedures and 800 numbers the Crystal Palace puts in place. We need to direct our anger to the people responsible THE CRYSTAL PALACE!
fuck GPS and all the clowns that run it, it is truly a cluster fuck.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteYesterday I called the COE to change my subscription from daily to Sunday only. It's gotten to the point that I wasn't reading it until bedtime and by then, I'd read all of the stories or heard them multiple times already. I can check the obits online, for now. The rep was very nice, especially since I told her I was a former Gannett employee and knew she was in Greenville. She didn't attempt to get me to keep my 7-day. Just don't let the retention reps start calling.
ReplyDeleteThe Jim bashing taking place is the work of either corporate zombies or one single loon, with an inadequate sex life, who is just stirring the pot so see if anyone will take that bait. (OK, I did, so bite me!)
ReplyDeleteRunning this blog single handed isn't easy. We the posters, expect him to be here 24/7/365 to monitor what goes up and take it down if it is either off subject or personal attacks and name calling. We don't pay him enough to hire a staff to watch each and every move here, so if something slips through the cracks, then be it. Most of are grown ups and can handle it, and those who can't and demand more or less monitoring by Jim should put their money where their mouth is and pony up a few $$$ to help him out.
Even if you do donate that doesn't give you the right to criticize how he runs the show. It is Jim's sandbox and he makes the rules. You don't like it, then don't read this blog or contribute to it. At no point did he hold a gun to your head and demanded your fork over your money.
You have the right to subscribe to your paper, and you have the right not to. Same thing for this blog, except you have more of a say on what goes on here, than what is being printed in the local fish wrapper.
If I was Jim, I would remove anything that is directed towards me in a negative way.
My blog, my rules. Don't like it then go away.
Have a nice weekend!
9:11 I called shortly before 5 p.m. ET.
ReplyDeleteIt always amuses me when people call Jim's credibility into question because some unfounded rumors get posted. That's like calling a reporter's credibility into question because his phone rang, and when he picked it up, the person on the other end relayed a UFO conspiracy.
ReplyDeleteSome callers are crackpots; others have useful tips. Same with commenters on a blog.
Delete the bashers!
ReplyDelete@8:35. If your question is serious, (companies pay to advertise and do inserts) I suspect those companies have pushed everything off to the Sunday paper or discontinued. I know we don't even consider the local Gannett paper. We are looking for a smart, upper middle class market and we just can't find the value in the Gannett subscriber base that has the disposable income we need. From where we sit, the local paper looks like a sweet spot for low end auto sales and geriatric medical brand building. Within our shop we almost view it as a detriment to our brand to market in the local paper. I informally ask a lot of our customers what periodicals they regularly read (just conversationally ) and the local newspaper usually elicits a pretty negative response. Sometimes it it virulent. It is always about the poor quality or bias of the newspaper. We just can't rationalize spending premium bucks over there. I am sure all those retailers are experiencing some of the same cost benefit issues. If they need the coupon crowd, I guess they just stick to a Sunday insert. They could just drop it and hand the insert out at the front of the store. I recall some retailers doing this. I think our local paper has a circulation that is 1/10 the local population. Take that group and skew it towards to retirees and this just does not work for our advertising dollar.
ReplyDeleteReinan, let's point out some things.
ReplyDeleteHe allowed the same post at least twice yesterday afternoon. There was never a source cited or anything to indicate credibility. This is nothing new at Gannett Blog.
Then, instead of asking for verification or taking it down while he tried to verify it, he left it up. Then he called, near the end of the business day on a Friday, to attempt God-knows-what.
So, knowing Jim, this rumor will ride until next week. At that time, if it hasn't been confirmed, he'll pretend it never happened.
Reinan, if you can't understand why a claim like that one needs some sort of verification to it, then you should bail out of these discussions. You're the equivalent of an unarmed man at a gunfight.
2:19 How do you handle comments on your blog?
ReplyDeleteHey 9:42: What was your job? Were you straight-up laid off or told you could work through a certain date?
ReplyDeleteGlad you asked, Jim.
ReplyDeleteFirst, people have to register in some fashion. No streams of anonymous posts are allowed. People do not have to ID themselves publicly, but they have to give me some clue as to who they are.
Attacks like the ones you allow day after day after day are deleted.
Rumors are discouraged. If someone wants to post something like "I heard this," that person had better be trustworthy. You allow rumors and non-credible posts on a daily basis.
Need any more tips? Be sure to ask. You need a lot of help. Some I cannot provide -- you will need a trained professional.
9:56 What's the name and URL of your blog? Sounds like an interesting read.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteAlso, if you don't want to post the name and URL here, you can send it to me at jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com].
ReplyDeleteI won't reveal it publicly, unless you say it's OK to do so.
Something tells me you won't ever get the name and/or URL of that blog.
ReplyDeleteIt's not a rumor when it's a fact.
ReplyDeleteThis past week, for example, one reader said reports about a photo with an expletive in The Cincinnati Enquirer were "complete b.s." without more evidence. Then came a memo followed today by the photo itself.
Yea but come on. When someone says 10 pubs are going to be fired don't you feel an obligation to verify? You are talking about people's lives. What is more important to you, credibility or being first with a headline?
DeleteThat's OK, Jim, most of us are good about sifting and winnowing through posts here to help us validate their claims. There's just a few malcontents who try in vain to prove otherwise.
ReplyDeleteJim, let us know when you have proof that all those publishers are "out." Of course, one post already has said one of those publisher posts is vacant, so the balloon has been popped.
ReplyDeleteUntil then -- rumor. No facts = rumor. Funny how that works. Maybe you and others will figure that out someday.
6:27 How would you verify that? Bob Dickey isn't likely going to say anything in advance. Just look at his approach to layoff speculation.
ReplyDeleteWhere do you get "in advance" from? The poster said, at least twice, the publishers "were out." That doesn't sound like "in advance" to me.
ReplyDeleteYou're dancing around the issue here, Jim, and doing it poorly.
8:40 Re-read the original comment. The poster said the publishers were being let go "this upcoming week" -- in other words, the week of Monday, April 23.
ReplyDelete(None of which, of course, may even come to pass.)
Actually, Jim, it says they were "let go this up coming week," which makes no sense. Those two statements conflict, so we have to guess whether the source of the rumor means past, present, or future.
ReplyDeleteOf course, you still have no factual basis for any of those possibilities, so it's a moot point.
Still dancing around the issue and doing it poorly.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete