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| Brooks |
Loop 21: How did you react? Did they try to explain how they arrived to the decision?
Khristopher Brooks: I was at a loss for words, at that point. I was like, "I’m sorry, I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to do this." And then I asked them if I could take it down and he was like, "It’s out of our hands."
[Updated at 10:25 a.m. ET April 13.] Writing yesterday for The Huffington Post, Brooks says soon after he lost his Gannett job: "Suddenly I had a handful of e-mails. Job offers. All across the country, from as near as Connecticut, out to Iowa and even more pouring in today."
His Huffington post has already been liked on Facebook more than 900 times.
Showing he's smart about social media, Brooks also has created a #HireKhrisBrooks hashtag on Twitter.
Blessing is disguise, why in the hell would you want to work for this craphole of a company anyway? He'll land on his feet working for a company that gives a shit about their employees.
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ReplyDeleteThis is fucking hilarious as shit. Everyone in Delaware is laughing at the NJ now.
ReplyDeleteStoney LaDouche's idiocy has just made this kid's career.
Dude, they just did you a huge favor.
ReplyDeleteNow you don;t have to put G A N N E T T on your resume, making you much more valuable to a prospective employee.
20 years from now you'll realize this, long after GCI's stock has gone the way of Knight Ridder's.
Getting a good laugh from all of the above responses, because I couldn't say it any better.
ReplyDeleteBanikarim shamelessly self-promotes herself at every opportunity she gets coming across as if she’s a new hire learning on-the-job, all while mentioning zero about what she’s done for Gannett, and this company does nothing.
ReplyDeleteBrooks, excited about his new job, cleverly creates a “press release” of his being rehired by Gannett on his personal blog using a complimentary quote from the offer letter and Gannett’s logo and Gannett rescinds its offer.
Seriously? WTH.
Frankly, Gannett terminated its relationship with the wrong individual. Here’s hoping Brooks sees a lawyer as Gannett overreacted and Banikarim’s overexposure is Exhibit A, B, C, D….
Retired Gannett Publisher
The guy made a mistake but it's not a not a journalistic or ethical disaster. Hope he gets a job with a decent employer. And what he is what every j-school is telling students to do - brand themselves. I don't care for that approach, but that's the state of this crappy industry and the crappy journalism schools that feed it.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking at this differently, I guess. That logo belongs to Gannett, and he used something that was not his. I think he acted in poor taste, much the same way so many people who call themselves journalists these days do I believe. You simply don't help yourself to what does not belong to you. This guy did, and now is saying he didn't know it was wrong? I have to side with the big G on this one. God, this is a first.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking at this differently, I guess. That logo belongs to Gannett, and he used something that was not his. I think he acted in poor taste, much the same way so many people who call themselves journalists these days do I believe. You simply don't help yourself to what does not belong to you. This guy did, and now is saying he didn't know it was wrong? I have to side with the big G on this one. God, this is a first.
ReplyDeleteIn my pre-Gannett days when I worked for a good company I would have been fired immediately had I quoted someone without telling readers that the quote was written somewhere rather than used in an interview. (, she said in a press release or, in this case, he said in an intent to hire letter). It was considered a credibility thing.
ReplyDeleteHe's 21. Give the kid a break.
ReplyDeleteHe is in his 30s. And he was hired as the night cops reporter. His press release was misleading. At best.
DeleteGive readers a break. He did wrong.
ReplyDeleteBob Dickey, you should step in and find a place for this young man. I think it was a stupid move rescinding a job offer. Bad p.r. Racial overtones . Way over the top response to a reporter just glad to have a job. Heck, he showed the same sort of thing Bainoarim does day in, day out.
ReplyDeleteHere we go again. Racial overtones? Give us a break. This country is being ruined by all of this political correctness bullshit.
DeleteHis actions were foolish and wrong. What he suggested was misleading in spots. Had he been an employee already he would have been lucky to keep his job with such loose posting. Why should the paper gamble its news reputation by keeping him when all signs pointed to disaster?
ReplyDeleteSo much for pride and showing spirit! Did the guy make a profit from his actions? Was it illegal, immoral or unjust?
ReplyDeleteI would sue Gannett whole. What a bunch of bullies, cowards and jerks.
If he was going into the cops beat, he would have been useless after this came out. Cops have bullshit detectors every bit as good as journos, and it would have been years before they would have trusted him. Who cares about the logo and quotes, the issue was not showing enough maturity and professionalism for the job. Inflating the job title just put the last mail in his credibility's coffin.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, bad judgment thickens the dark clouds hanging over Gannett corporate.
ReplyDeleteOne would think this company has more important things to do than play blogging police with a new employee. Right or wrong, they look bad. But why doesn't someone at the top see that? That's what's frightening.
The whole thing seems blown out of proportion. The punishment does not fit the crime. It's like two NFL linebackers piling on a one-legged dwarf.
That said, the kid is better off going somewhere else. Let's just hope he can look back at this with humor some day soon.
Gannett's lack of integrity and compassion now rivals the worst of the worst.
nice use of cliche' for a Journalism student: "I was at a loss for words".
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ReplyDeleteFor bunch of jounalist this thread is slighty embarassing. I see a whole bunch of "feel" and not a lot of fact.
ReplyDeleteWas what he did against company policy or for that matter illegal? Case in point. The thread under this one has a pointroll logo.... Can Jim be sued for that?
Are there factual errors in his release? The last time I checked this comapany has all sorts of BS job titles that don't really describe what the actual job resposibilties are. What is an "enterpiser reporter"? And was that the name of the positions he was offered?
When you compare this kid to all the talented journalists that executive editor David Ledford has either fired, laid off or harassed into leaving over the years, he's not a blip on the radar.
ReplyDeleteLedford burned through seven managing editors during his first seven years at the paper, until corporate intervened and told him he wouldn't get any more MEs to play with.
This kid is a symptom. The problem rarely leaves his corner office.
Hopefully the new publisher comes to his senses and fixes the problem, so this once-great newspaper can start writing headlines again, rather than being featured in them.
Further proof creative, out-of-the box types need not apply.
ReplyDeleteGannett rescinding the offer - unless there’s more going on, appears excessive and does little more than send a cautioning message to all employees to stay in their closely defined box or else. And that’s pathetic as in all seriousness, he may have pushed some boundaries – on his personal blog, but isn’t this the type of energy Gannett company needs?
Apparently not, yet Gannett talks about leading in a space where Brooks seems to thrive, one Banikarim has committed to “really tackle.”
Racial overtones: the kid was recruited cause he is African American. Now yo have shit canned him on a minor infraction. That is not going to help Gannett's image among the minorities managers get bonuses for hiring.
ReplyDeleteFaulting Brooks for using GANNETT’s logo is laughable at best, though it very well may explain why Maryam Banikarim has avoided disclosing anything material she’s done at this company during her countless, self-promoting media stories.
ReplyDeleteTo hear his side of the story, try his nicely crafted essay at HuffPo. (Memo to Gannett: Nice HR publicity, for the next time you want to make a minority hire):
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/khristopher-brooks/reporter-fired_b_1421275.html
HuffPost Black Voices
GET UPDATES FROM Khristopher Brooks
Like
41
How to Get Fired Before Your First Day
I had a new job waiting for me at the Wilmington (Del.) News Journal. Although Gannett has developed somewhat of a bad reputation in regards to caring for its employees, I was excited to start my new job. For the first time in my career, my immediate editor was going to be someone I could relate to and I was going to be paid more than I've ever made in my life.
I pondered all this while sitting at my desk at Black Voices. I looked at the computer screen and suddenly I had a handful of emails. JOB OFFERS. All across the country, from as near as Connecticut, out to Iowa and even more pouring in today. My followers on Twitter have reached out to me. Most of them are saying, "ahh, you didn't want to be with Gannett anyway."
The kid is a bit over the top on the self promotion, but did nothing to warrant such an overreaction from some Gannett twit.
ReplyDeletemariyam should step in here. perhaps an On The Road mission to Wilmington.
There is a difference between "pride and spirit" as one poster said and someone who is an egomaniac.
ReplyDeleteYes, newsrooms want people with an ego and the desire to the Big Story, but just read what he actually wrote.
Unfortunately, the days of humility, grace and "actions speak louder than words" no longer applies today -
Today, the louder you brag and pat yourself on the back the better you are...
This Millennial young person has the typical attitude of entitlement so prevalent today....
But they hired him!
And then they fired him!
DeleteMaryam Banikarim should have stepped in and told these old school guys how things are done in the new order.
ReplyDeleteSelf Promotion, using your own blogs space, whatever is the new way folks.
I'm not sure I see anything illegal here.
But I bet Gannett had their lawyers on the case before they rescinded his offer.
So much for transformation.
The Huffington Post article he wrote was so well-done.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, Gannett screwed up and over-reacted on this one.
Sad.
I wish the kid well. My bet is he will succeed far beyond most of Gannett corporate lawyers and wonks who were behind the decision.
Was it a little reckless? Maybe. But the kid is right in saying it could have been handled better with a personal discussion...not a firing.
If Gracia was a real leader, she would step in and make this right.
ReplyDeleteSometimes mistakes happen.
This is a mistake Gannett should fix.
They would gain alot of positive rub-off from doing the right thing here.
Instead, Gannett continues to shine the light on how badly they treat employees and how truly old fashioned they run the company.
9:33 he was no more grandiose than a member of the Leadership team, Maryam Banikarim. Head of Marketing for Gannett.
ReplyDeleteHer operational motto appears to be "no press is bad press"....so this kid's recent press headlines the past few days will only serve him well.
Onward.
The only time Gannett is good to have in your resume is in terms of an IT career. And only because you are dealing with the sheer size of Gannett's digital infrastructure, and you're not being judged on the dreck stored there.
ReplyDeleteI am grateful for my time at Gannett, but only because it boosted my resume. Going back one year from today(when I was still with Gannett), I now make DOUBLE the pittance they were paying me.
I thought the "release" was in poor taste. Personal branding is a great idea, but it needs to be based on a demonstrable record of accomplishment -- not a wad of puffery. And look at the HuffPo quote; he doesn't even write well.
ReplyDeleteOf course there's a double standard when Banikarim is considered in the same context, but that's the difference between worker bees and fat cats at GCI. The existence of that incongruity doesn't excuse the fact that this guy is just too full of himself to exercise good judgement.
Then again, that trait probably would have made him a Gannett manager in short order!
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteFor heaven's sake - Khris wrote this on a personal blog that probably had few followers outside his friends and family. It was his fun way of telling them he got a job offer. He had no intention of actually releasing it as a press release. He probably didn't think it was going to be seen by anyone who didn't know him, much less go viral. All these cries of "egomaniac" are ridiculous - how many of you have a personal blog, send out a Christmas newsletter or tell people where you're getting a cup of coffee via FourSquare. He showed no more ego than any of that.
ReplyDeleteThanks, 11:38 -- that's exactly how I feel.
ReplyDeleteAnd what's with the business about using a quote from the hiring letter -- it was a letter TO HIM.
Since when can I not share the content of a letter someone sends me?
The Wilmington News Journal's slogan is "Worth every Minute". I hope Kris's employment was as well.
ReplyDelete"it was on a public Tumblr page, a public Wordpress blog and I tweeted a link to it."
ReplyDeleteThis was from the egomaniac's Huffington Post story.
"Since when can I not share the content of a letter someone sends me?"
This was from John Reinan, who apparently also issues grandiose press releases about himself, and shares his personal correspondences with the world.
"He had no intention of actually releasing it as a press release. He probably didn't think it was going to be seen by anyone who didn't know him, much less go viral. All these cries of "egomaniac" are ridiculous - how many of you have a personal blog, send out a Christmas newsletter or tell people where you're getting a cup of coffee via FourSquare. He showed no more ego than any of that."
This was from 11:38, who apparently also doesn't follow this closely enough to know that he did indeed release it as a press release and apparently, like John Reinan and the 28-year-old whose dream of getting a job right out of college was shattered, sends Christmas newsletters that are written as impersonal press releases.
Did you actually read what he wrote? Looks like the Big Three is still unfortunately just the Big Two.
This is a prime example of two sets of rules at Gannett, one for privileged execs and another for regular employees. Under this new "no outside self promotion rule," then Maryam Banikarim should have been fired 100 times already.
ReplyDelete"This was from 11:38, who apparently also doesn't follow this closely enough to know that he did indeed release it as a press release"
ReplyDeleteYour evidence?
12:30 PM
ReplyDeleteYOU apparently didn't follow closely enough to know that he NEVER sent this as a press release and never intended to. If you read his Huffington article it states:
I was so excited in fact, that I decided to announce my hiring in a press release-style post on my blogs. An unknown person saw those posts and sent the URL to media gossiper Jim Romenesko.
He goes on further to say: I did not tell my editor that I had plans to make a press release, partly because I didn't think any harm would come from it, but also because the press release was never intended to be for "the press."
The way I announced my new job was a personal "Khristopher is a reporter" take on informing my family and friends about the next stage in my career. To me, it was no different than an actor telling his family that he'll star on Broadway by announcing it in a tiny stage play.
Could I have called my family and told them over the phone? Probably, but that meant also calling all my former colleagues across the nation, at the Bristol (Va.) Herald Courier, The Associated Press, the Omaha World-Herald and Central Michigan University. Simply put, a pseudo press release was quicker, quirkier and, what I presumed, harmless.
Uh huh. I am sorry 1:22 doesn't know what backtracking means. This whole thing was, and still is, an attention grab, as evidenced by the #HireKhrisBrooks hashtag that Brooks started.
ReplyDeletePaint it however you want. It's clearly a dude who loves himself tryingto bring attention to himself. And that's fine, but don't be in such an uproar to villify other people, in this case Gannett, when a giant red flag pops up and they decide to nip it in the bud.
#GannettBlogReadersOnceAgainRevealThemselvesToBeSheepReadyToHateOnTheirPast/PresentEmployerGivenAnyOpportunityEvenWhenIt'sObviousTheyAreWrong
He should have been.asked to take the blog post down. thats all.
DeleteBanikarim does this all the time. She fancies herself as a personal branding expert.
DeleteGannett steps on its d*ck again. Can't imagine why we have such a bad reputation. Wonder how much advertising revenue we lose because people hate us. Let's get a consultant to look into it.
ReplyDeleteMaryam will be able to use this as a case study @ her speaking engagements.
ReplyDeleteThe young man was excited about a new job as anybody should be. He'll find a new job and Gannett will continue operating with no heart and soul.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it wasn't how he announced his hiring, but the "facts" he stated in the announcement.
ReplyDeleteOdds are he interviewed for the enterprise reporter's job, was offered a reporting job, beat unspecified, and hadn't yet been told that he was going to end up working the night cops shift. That's the way Ledford rolls - the good ol' bait and switch.
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ReplyDeleteThis is astonishingly bad PR for the newspaper at a time when Gannett doesn't need any more bad PR. Wouldn't the publisher have thought this through?
ReplyDelete@ 5:37 - The first thing Stoney LaDouche "thinks through" will be the first thing he thinks through. He defines completely unqualified for the position.
ReplyDelete