Tuesday, April 03, 2012

April 2-8 | Your News & Comments: Part 2

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62 comments:

  1. More on Lansing changes...

    http://stevebuttry.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/gannetts-latest-paywall-announcements-would-you-pay-for-obfuscation/

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  2. Any word on buyouts in Nashville?

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  9. I heard 17 in Louisville. Anybody know when the boom drops on Nashville?

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  14. Get anything done today yet, Banikarim? Anything of use to Gannett, I mean, not more of your self-serving interviews and booking speeches for yourself.

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  15. I'm removing comments about the Wisconsin petition discussion because I don't want this thread to be overwhelmed by the subject.

    Please post them in the thread that I created just for the topic.

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  16. I've removed several comments about the Wisconsin petition discussion because I don't want this thread to be overwhelmed by the subject.

    I've reposted them to the thread devoted exclusively to that topic.

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  17. Jim I thought someone did a big no no, thanks for keeping this blog clean and on target.

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  18. This company is profitable and yet still more layoffs are coming.

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  19. Kentucky wins NCAA championship last night and yet the Cincinnati Enquirer is still reporting this on its main news webpage: “Obama coming to Dayton for March Madness.”

    http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=NEWS

    Embarrassingly Pathetic.

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  20. ....any word on how many reno took the buyout?

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  21. Tornados have touched down in the Dallas/Fort Worth TX area and The Times in Shreveport has nothing about it on their website or on Facebook. Nothing about the shootings in California yesterday either, but at least I know where to shop for the perfect prom dress.

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  22. Carolyn Washburn would be on top of this, but she is still hung over and exhausted from the partying and secret USA today interviews held during the Gannett digital strategy summit.

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  23. USAT sports department was supposed to receive word yesterday of which positions were open for their applications.

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  24. My goal is to be an editor of high integrity, beloved in the community, industry and newsroom alike, willing to defend journalistic principles, an ever vigilant watchdog like Carolyn Washburn.

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  25. Don't believe the spin. This company is profitable ONLY because of the lay-offs.

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    1. And all other cost reduction actions

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  27. 3:04 Nobody believes that is why they are profitable. The Layoffs are just mean, and bad management of remaining resources.

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  28. This company makes $1 million in profit every day. Every day.

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    1. That's what public ally owned companies do. Everyday!

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  29. I did not see this posted, sorry if a repost.

    Big Newspaper Publishers Cut Work Force 7% in 2011

    http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/171457/big-newspaper-publishers-cut-work-force-7-in-2011.html

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  30. More rumors today that USAT marketing will merge with advertising under Murcko when advertising goes through another reorg. Can anyone confirm or deny? This has been going on since she started.

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  31. 2:15, re Reno posting. Most folks at Reno are evidently too depressed and/or too scared to post even anonymously.

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    1. No other than van man the Reno folks have too much class to post silly comments here.

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  32. 1:40, the reorg meetins will be held in Tahiti.

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  33. What's the word on Wisconsin - especially Appleton, Sheboygan and Green Bay?

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  34. In Nashville, am hearing environmental writer Ann Paine, sports editor Larry Taft, design center copy editor Tom Wood are among those who requested buyouts.

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  36. What is the current status on the remaining group at USATODAY/Headquarters/Production~Department? There was a rumor that those few remaining folks, would be eliminated at the end of March. So, are they still with the company? (I believe it was a very small group remaining, about 8 people. That were going to be eliminated by a centralized subset of the company handling the production-functions of multiple newspapers.)

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  37. 3:12
    I'll bet you are a legend in your own mind.
    Perfection is you,problem is,you are the only one who believes it.What's it like having your nose in air all the time?Must be tough on the neck .Arogant pr...!

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  39. I found this post very interesting. Any truth behind this Jim?

    Here again are a few things to remember:
    -- The FY2012 budget was set with an assumption that 80 to 85 percent of those eligible for the buyouts will take it.
    -- If we didn't get enough to take the buyouts, group presidents will be directed to begin adjustments in Q2. If some sites or groups are lagging in revenue targets, they will be asked to trim payroll.
    -- Gone are the days of centralized, coordinated, company-wide days of pain. These reductions will be scattered and varied, done so in a way to avoid the big headlines (on this blog and elsewhere) and so that local site management (publishers, GMs) appear to be making a local decision.
    -- Furloughs remain in the budget for Q3 and, unless a miracle occurs, they will go forward.
    -- Some group presidents are lobbying Bob for furloughs as we know them to end. Options being pushed for FY2013: 1) Permanently reduce all salaries across the board to a level equal to what the Q1 and Q3 furloughs took away; 2) Add two unpaid weeks as a "benefit" that, in addition to vacation, could be scheduled throughout the year, rather than just being taken in a particular quarter.

    Remember that New Gannett must shed a third of its current employee base.

    Next up: The Fort Collins experiment. If it works to expectations, groups will be asked to roll it out to many of the NT32 sites (and some T32 sites), where digital expertise is weak and the only way we can get the skills we need is to start anew. And, of course, fewer people in the Info Centers as a result.

    None of this should be a surprise to careful readers of this blog. If you set aside the hyperbole, whining by current employees and gloating by those who have left, you can piece together from Jim's blog a fairly clear and consistent pattern of management by Bob and the USCP team. He's laid out the tenets of his vision again and again:
    -- Consolidation
    -- Centralization
    -- Outsourcing

    (I am not counting the USAT stuff in this assessment -- they are on a path that few can read on a map, such as the Sports Group)

    Frankly, I think Bob's moving too slow. The Band-Aid needs to be ripped off with one, clean jerk, rather than this slow drip-drip version of water torture. Stop trying to appear like employee morale or career investment are current priorities of the company: Just say what needs to be done, in loud, blunt detail, and get it done by the end of the year. Or, even better, the end of Q2. It will push out the unwilling and motivate those willing to stay.

    3/28/2012 9:38 AM

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    1. Folks this was written by a wannabe. A fume here and there of possible truth but literally fabricated to make him feel important.

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  41. More layoffs are coming soon. Gannett is determined to prematurely destroy print. Not surprised Gracia Martore is doing a hatchet job.

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  48. I've just removed several comments that included URLs for YouTube videos.

    If you don't at least explain why we should see the video, I'll remove the comment.

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  49. Dan Wolken, national sports columnist for The Daily, tweeted this on Tuesday: Longtime Jackson, Miss. columnist Rick Cleveland leaving for new job. Gives no comment to his own paper! http://on.thec-l.com/HI99n8

    Well played, Rick.

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  50. With EROP accepted, links were to:
    A:Bud Light dog commercial: "Here Wego"
    B: Geico little piggy commcercial: "Wheeeeeeee!"
    C: Stadium crowd singing "Na Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey Hey, Goodbye"
    I'm outta here!

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  51. Actually, some of the comments that appear are sad, vindictive. One, they are earned straight up, flags flying, corporate trumpets blaring, by an evident lack of leadership.

    That's for all you business majors.

    Two, those which mock another poster, sad as hell. Really. This should be "the media." And what I see is I'm glad those types are out of a job if the best they can do is sling personal derision instead of face an issue.

    I watch this blog. I am often "identified" as being the poster of something I never wrote. For me, I'm "Reno," and I've posted ever rarely..., just because someone can effing write? In this field?

    Oh, there's the "Reno guy." WTF. Frankly it physically makes me sick. I wish I had posted some of the statements attributed.

    Yet the point remains Gannett's point. Denigration. Always denigration. Doesn't matter who. Doesn't even matter if you've got the right guy. Just insult 'em. It's the pinnacle of your expression, the self-worth of a common career.

    This applies to everyone. Don't assume one can just deride a stranger. Especially assigning a target by sheer literacy.

    Disgusting. You guys should be ashamed of yourselves, but you won't be. Can't be. You don't think like that, some reasoned balance.

    I don't mind being insulted but at least do so by something I posted, at least consider that there are others who feel as I do and can write a fucking sentence.

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  52. Craig: With all due respect, "Especially assigning a target by sheer literacy" is not a fucking sentence. It's a series of words that have a loose association but come together to mean nothing.

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  54. Someone is definitely on something, given the unintelligible posts. Perhaps corporate is doing its calculated but ineffective mind fucking games again. Ms, Martore, please illuminate us.

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  55. Yahoo cuts 2,000 jobs today. Checkmate, Gannett.

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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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