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Monday, April 09, 2012
45 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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FIRST!
ReplyDeleteThis website is awesome, as is Jim Hopkins, the administrator of this site. I recall finding this site in '07, and wondered if it would become what it has. Thankfully, other employees, voicing their displeasure and disappointement, made it so.
I hope the Powers that Be, present past and future there. have constipation for years to come, because you deserve it for what you've done to your employees.
Shame on you.
So glad I don't work there.
Thanks for ruining my Easter yesterday Gannett
ReplyDeleteI expect that fear and stupidity will rule the day and that mid level people like me who have access to servers (which lets me reboot things when I have to, to get the product out when no one else is answering their phone) will now be stripped of that access and more useless security measures will be taken.
ReplyDeleteIm sure gracia has a calculator on her desk that she's been adding up what her golden parahute might be worth when she bails out. Can we say "complete and utter FAILURE".................LOL
ReplyDeleteLearning CCI newsgate
ReplyDeletehttp://www.xtranormal.com/watch/11336928/learning-cci-newsgate-at-usa-today
I'm guessing the folks at the Crystal Palace won't find this as amusing as a whole lot of folks at the local papers have found it.
You have to wonder what a blow Sunday's computer outage is to Gannett's efforts to cultivate an image as a tech-savvy company. It's just the latest in a long line of computer foulups, going back to the original Saxotech, Maven video and highschoolsports.net fiascos. There's a disturbing pattern here that calls into question the execs' claims that Gannett is ready for prime time as a digital publisher.
ReplyDeleteBest in class. Dunce class.
ReplyDeleteHere's the note to readers that appeared on today's Journal News website, in its entirety:
ReplyDeleteBecause of technical problems Sunday at The Journal News, some readers may experience delivery problems with today’s edition. The problems also affected publication of some features that normally would have appeared. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Tallahassee paywall
ReplyDeletehttp://m.tallahassee.com/news/article?a=2012204080332&f=1080
This paints an exciting picture regarding the paywall results. Is this just a rosy spin? I seem to recall that paper suffering the worst or second worst subscriber decline over the past year. Is that online success rate just on new subscriptions. I wish they release some of the data behind this or any of the paywalls. Seems like a lot is missing.
We say we are tech savvy but then have the head of IT report to a fricken accountant, and not the CEO. That tells you how seriously the company takes technology.
ReplyDeleteIT reporting to accounting is a setup for faulty audits and procedures. What better way to hide money than to be in charge of "making sure the right people have the right authority."
ReplyDelete11:22, it's quite common and even the general corporate MO to have a CIO report to the CFO. Standard business practice there.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the CFO can ask why there are no redundant backup systems?
ReplyDeleteNice job my techies..
ReplyDeleteGannett was furloughed for a while last night...OOPS..
What can we Do next?...
Having IT reporting to an accountant is not "Standard Practice" in companies that are serious about technology. It is "Standard Practice" in companies that view IT as not critical to the success of the organization. There is nothing that stifles innovation more than accountants.
ReplyDeleteIN any organization at some point the head IT person reports to a non technical person.
ReplyDeleteAnd this matters why? The big G was ground to a halt last night and this is the topic of discussion?
ReplyDelete11:02: Don't believe a word of it.
ReplyDeleteHeard pageviews were down 18% from last March, and that was behind the paywall too.
Our long nightmare at Usa Today almost over.David L. Hunke announcing his retirement this week. Finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHeard of a similar decline too 2:27 PM and moving to Facebook authentication for commenting is a big reason why as stories that used to generate large numbers of comments (school, local govt issues, etc) are now damn near silent. And, the few that do post are many of the same characters who pushed the boundaries of discussion before.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteExactly, 2:31.
ReplyDeleteHere's proof:
http://www.wctv.tv
Look at the number of comments on some of the stories. Over 100 sometimes.
That's their biggest competition, and they're eating their lunch. (No paywall.)
Exactly, 2:31.
ReplyDeleteHere's proof:
http://www.wctv.tv
Look at the number of comments on some of the stories. Over 100 sometimes.
That's their biggest competition, and they're eating their lunch. (No paywall.)
2:31 We've heard that rumor so many times, it's hard to believe any of this kind of speculation.
ReplyDeleteThat said, it's worth noting that his heir-apparent, Susie Miles, was promoted to the paper's No. 2 executive in June last year. So she's now got nearly a year of experience under her belt.
2:05 I agree but it matters who that non technical person is. If you want to push innovation that person should be the CEO not the accountant. Most forward thinking companies understand that.
ReplyDeleteFarewell column published today from the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader's senior photographer. He wasn't ready to "retire" but had little choice. Sad day for the community.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.news-leader.com/article/20120409/NEWS01/304090023/linder-farewell-reflection-photo-community-hometown?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|p
Used to get daily reports on page views. Then those reports became erratic in how often they were shared with the troops. Now...we don't see them at all at our locale. Sceptical me says that's not a good sign.
ReplyDelete2:05 PM - Sure, tell that to Zuckerberg, Page, Gates, Jobs, or anybody else who's actually created value.
ReplyDeleteBefore I got the boot, I worked closely with several areas of IT and saw them accomplish some amazing things. A very overworked bunch of people who don't get enough credit when things run smoothly and get way too much blame when they don't.
ReplyDeleteNot sure how over worked the IT dept is,But here in Nashville The Tech Service side is pretty lame. Unless you need a Mic or a speaker for something. other then that they pretty much walk around and hit on the women most of the day.
ReplyDeleteWho is Susie Miles?
ReplyDelete"Farewell column published today from the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader's senior photographer. He wasn't ready to "retire" but had little choice. Sad day for the community."
ReplyDeleteThis is an example of the egotistical BS that shows the disconnect between newspapers and readers.
I guarantee 99 percent of that paper's readers don't give a rat's behind whether a photo is taken by this name or that name, a senior photographer, an intern or a freelancer.
"Sad day for the community" ... get over yourself.
4:03 That should have been Susie Ellwood. (Miles was her last name when we worked together in Little Rock at the now-defunct Arkansas Gazette.)
ReplyDelete4:27, the story comments say otherwise.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's time for your nap?
Yesterday someone asked about redundancy plans, and I am sad to say, that ever since News gate there are none. As for Sundays company wide problems with user authentication across the network, that had a direct impact on how we do business.
ReplyDeleteYou can't log in, then your week worth of stories is lost. No pages can be made and no new or old stories can be edited or sent anywhere. What ever you do on the network is governed by your account settings and your ability to actually get on the network.
In the past we could always yank out bits and pieces and slap them together, used prior days classified (if needed), and put that on plates and run the press. If the press was terminally down, we had agreements with other print sites to get our product on paper, and so on and so on.
Removing the hardware and control of such (front end system, email servers and more), from each site may save the company some money, but I have serious doubt that is the case, except in theory, and base my opinion on lost productivity due to several "normal" outages on a daily basis, and now the company wide problem over the weekend.
If you think this weekends issue was a fluke or a one time occurrence then you are sadly mistaken. It will happen again and more frequently.
Don't say i didn't warn you!
Their are ways to not get the paper out. And it is going to start happening at sites, more so than others. We had a bad night a few months ago were at several sites were very late, well this is going to happen again, very soon. Furloghhs = down time...lots of it
ReplyDeleteFU Evan Ray
4:47: Out of that avalanche of comments (without looking, I'd bet it's less than 10 ... pretty poor for someone whose departure makes it a "sad day for the community"), how many are from former and current co-workers, current friends and family?
ReplyDeleteTake it easy Nostradamus. This company has been running on Microsoft active directory since long ago. I have worked in IT at a newspaper for years, and let me tell you, years ago we had production threatening issues multiple times a year. We were all due it has been quiet. I have spent more than a few dozen nights dealing with these horrible systems that our vendors put together. We have just gotten used to things being relatively stable.
ReplyDeleteThe corporate VP of IT does not report to an accountant, he reports directly to the CEO, Martore. Just a bit of fact checking.
ReplyDeleteAnd Gracia used to be...?
ReplyDeleteA CEO's, whether their background is accounting or not, does not have their hand in the money day in and day out. Their focus is the company as a whole and how to create and execute business decisions that involve all major departments that will result in a profit. It isn't any different than a publisher verses a controller. A controller is paid to watch the money. A publisher is paid to watch the newspaper. At this level, there is an expectation of business intelligence as well as your preferred discipline that got you there. If a publisher still wants to behave like a controller then maybe he should go back to being one.
ReplyDeleteSo, we now have two major Gannett newspapers without an editor? Does anyone want these jobs?
ReplyDeleteSusie Miles Ellwood needs either to go to memo writing class or stop issuing them altogether. Her latest is another in a string of inarticulate, needless missives.
ReplyDeletePlease stop with the "Communication." Hold a staff meeting once in a while and foster a collaborative work environment with at least a semblance of two way dialog.
This whole freak show should be bought out by some private equity guys pretty soon. "Under new management" and " now focusing on real journalism" as part of the new marketing campaign is probably worth a 10% circulation boost. If they actually touted the real journalists they have left and brought back some of the retirees, they could really turn this mess around. Even the Wall Street accountants/finance guys could figure that out. What ever these bozos have done the past 5 years, do the opposite. Gannett has a terrible brand image with everyone I know. Most don't know the company name, just that they are the new owner that bought the paper and turned it into the joke it is today. One guy walks into my office almost every morning to share the headline for laughs. It is a big joke. Then he laments the national part of the paper, one page....
ReplyDeletePrivate equity will gut the place instead of the s,ow strangulation going in now. Be careful what you wish for.
ReplyDelete