In one of his first lengthy memos to staff, new USA Today Publisher Larry Kramer has expressed strong support for a reorganization of the Sports Department that resulted in layoffs of several veteran journalists on Wednesday.
Kramer's remarks are significant because staff in other departments are looking for signs that a similar top-to-bottom reorganization might be extended beyond sports.
Kramer did not specifically call out other departments. But the overriding message was clear: In a digital marketplace, USAT is still too slow-footed.
"As we recast ourselves into a multi-platform sports organization," he wrote, "it is clear that we must be more aggressive and proactive about how we cover breaking news. While the newspaper remains an important source of news for our sports consumers, we can no longer operate with a print-first mentality. Stories move 24-7 and we need to move at that same rapid pace."
His emphasis on speeding up the line isn't surprising, of course. Kramer came to USAT as the founder of MarketWatch, one of the pioneering financial news sites. Launched 14 years ago, it draws more than 16 million visitors a month, and is now a subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co.
Text of memo
USA TODAY has earned a reputation as a trusted source for the news and information that matters most to consumers, as well as for its legacy of innovation. One of the things I am most excited about is what the USA TODAY Sports Media Group is doing to help us aggressively reinvigorate that legacy. This team is bringing a whole new approach to the way we cover sports, and today I want to address the realignment of the USA TODAY Sports Editorial group which has been completed this week.
Over the last two weeks, I have spent time with Tom Beusse and his leadership team, getting further up to speed on what they have been working on over the last several months to transform USA TODAY Sports and to, once again, become a true sports powerhouse. As we recast ourselves into a multi-platform sports organization, it is clear that we must be more aggressive and proactive about how we cover breaking news. While the newspaper remains an important source of news for our sports consumers, we can no longer operate with a print-first mentality. Stories move 24-7 and we need to move at that same rapid pace. The USA TODAY Sports Media Group intends to be the conversation starter, breaking news in Sports faster and in greater depth than anyone else.
To get there, the USA TODAY Sports Editorial team has been restructured to emphasize specialization around several different areas of expertise. Work shifts, publishing cycles and priorities are all changing to ensure we are relevant across all platforms.
A careful and exhaustive process was followed, working extensively with Human Resources. More than 90 new job descriptions within Sports were created to meet the needs of a digital organization. Dozens of new positions were made available to staff. This involved an extensive interview process. We were 100% committed to putting the right people in the right jobs. In the end, 16 of the top 21 positions were filled by internal candidates. Also through this process, we were able to uncover previously untapped or underutilized skill sets that further enabled us to create new opportunities for many people within the group.
This process was about redefining and re-imagining our considerable Sports franchise and the roles our people assume within it to create a center of excellence and build a great sports franchise. With this new structure, we are now well-positioned to operate in a 24-7 digital environment. This is a major step forward. We are proud of what we have accomplished to date -- in fact, our sports content has already improved significantly over the last 5-6 weeks alone – and, we are excited for what is yet to come.
A much more urgent approach to news gathering will sharpen all sports products and allow USA TODAY Sports to compete on a much larger and more meaningful scale. I firmly believe no one is better positioned to play to win in this space than we are and we have the talent necessary to do it.
Larry
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| Kramer |
"As we recast ourselves into a multi-platform sports organization," he wrote, "it is clear that we must be more aggressive and proactive about how we cover breaking news. While the newspaper remains an important source of news for our sports consumers, we can no longer operate with a print-first mentality. Stories move 24-7 and we need to move at that same rapid pace."
His emphasis on speeding up the line isn't surprising, of course. Kramer came to USAT as the founder of MarketWatch, one of the pioneering financial news sites. Launched 14 years ago, it draws more than 16 million visitors a month, and is now a subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co.
Text of memo
USA TODAY has earned a reputation as a trusted source for the news and information that matters most to consumers, as well as for its legacy of innovation. One of the things I am most excited about is what the USA TODAY Sports Media Group is doing to help us aggressively reinvigorate that legacy. This team is bringing a whole new approach to the way we cover sports, and today I want to address the realignment of the USA TODAY Sports Editorial group which has been completed this week.
Over the last two weeks, I have spent time with Tom Beusse and his leadership team, getting further up to speed on what they have been working on over the last several months to transform USA TODAY Sports and to, once again, become a true sports powerhouse. As we recast ourselves into a multi-platform sports organization, it is clear that we must be more aggressive and proactive about how we cover breaking news. While the newspaper remains an important source of news for our sports consumers, we can no longer operate with a print-first mentality. Stories move 24-7 and we need to move at that same rapid pace. The USA TODAY Sports Media Group intends to be the conversation starter, breaking news in Sports faster and in greater depth than anyone else.
To get there, the USA TODAY Sports Editorial team has been restructured to emphasize specialization around several different areas of expertise. Work shifts, publishing cycles and priorities are all changing to ensure we are relevant across all platforms.
A careful and exhaustive process was followed, working extensively with Human Resources. More than 90 new job descriptions within Sports were created to meet the needs of a digital organization. Dozens of new positions were made available to staff. This involved an extensive interview process. We were 100% committed to putting the right people in the right jobs. In the end, 16 of the top 21 positions were filled by internal candidates. Also through this process, we were able to uncover previously untapped or underutilized skill sets that further enabled us to create new opportunities for many people within the group.
This process was about redefining and re-imagining our considerable Sports franchise and the roles our people assume within it to create a center of excellence and build a great sports franchise. With this new structure, we are now well-positioned to operate in a 24-7 digital environment. This is a major step forward. We are proud of what we have accomplished to date -- in fact, our sports content has already improved significantly over the last 5-6 weeks alone – and, we are excited for what is yet to come.
A much more urgent approach to news gathering will sharpen all sports products and allow USA TODAY Sports to compete on a much larger and more meaningful scale. I firmly believe no one is better positioned to play to win in this space than we are and we have the talent necessary to do it.
Larry
Self-proclaimed genius rich guy gets to toy around and can leave unscathed (and even more rich when it all goes to s---. Assumes everyone else is stupid or part of the problem. We've seen it over and over, company after company.
ReplyDeleteHumph. Lots of words, lots of repetition, no clear evidence that this is "the" Sports reorg that will work. Sort of Hunke-like with the vague no-measure approach done with the verticals.
ReplyDeleteWhere are the benchmarks and goals? How do we know if we are "winning"? So it makes sense to dump 80% of effort into 20% (now 10% in digital) of revenue? This dog won't hunt.
Oh boy, we get to transform again. Different arrogant face with the same old story, no doubt written by Martore who's just recycling the same b.s. Shemade the Hunkster spew out for his couple of years.
ReplyDeleteLarry, we would like to see your job description. Care to share?
ReplyDeleteLet's just assume the 24/7 sports approach goes over well, and everyone is busting their hump to make it work.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing I didn't notice is a marketing to make the non-users of USA Today aware of this revamped sports source.
What is that plan? Because as of right now, USA Today is, (I'm guessing) a distant fourth behind your ESPN.com, CBSsports.com and yahoo in name recognition.
Or is it expected that the masses are like a herd of buffalo and will just stumble upon the fresh grass?
We have been pushing digital for years now. The competition has been pushing digital as well. The result has been an ultimate failure for the company, the share holder, and most important the customer. When will common sense prevail. What business schools our journalism schools teach this foolishness.
ReplyDeleteIf you want a marketing person who can scale this, bring in someone from a digital company to run marketing.
ReplyDeleteBanikarim and Micek have a lot of tired ideas. Neither has a clue about where digital marketing has evolved in the past 18 months. Its about the technology people, not the brand. Tired old thinking.
I'm sure they will tap expensive consultants to help but it makes more sense to hire a digital powerhouse marketer to right this ship.
You know why digital fails? We don't have enough people thinking digital, we have reporters who think turning out a story every couple of weeks is productive, and we have a lot of enabling editors who let people slide,
ReplyDeleteThat's the complacency culture Kramer has identified.nthats what needs to be changed. It's not about age or salaries, it's about who actually does the work.
Another empty suit looking to make a quick buck. This guy is no friend to the newsroom. He's a rich bully with zero sense of what is really wrong at USAT. Like the others, he doesn't care what is wrong. I see no intellectual honesty in this man, no more than I saw with any of the recent publishers or editors. They are all interested in one thing: Themselves.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to think digital primarily when there is still a paper to put out and staffing keeps being reduced. And when you try to do something new and different online that requires some effort, you will be told everyone is too busy working on the redesign. Meanwhile, with a lean staff, furloughs and vacations, it is a challenge to cover the news seven days a week, 24 hours a day without a lot of overtime.
ReplyDeleteAnd there is no evidence that we make more money via digital than we do with the paper so why pretend otherwise?
The way not to attract eyeballs is to can professional veterans who had a following with sports readers. You can get generic sports news anywhere and soon will get it at USA TODAY.
I had been following recently purged Seth Livingstone on the coverage of the Roger Clemens trial on Twitter.
ReplyDeleteHe was posting updates & quotes every few minutes every day. This was too "slow-footed" for Kramer? I don't buy it, not even a little bit.
None of what happened in Sports was kramer's call. It was set in stone before he got here. Kramer couldnt, or wouldn't, put a stop on it.mnonetheless, his tacit endorsement in his follow up memo to staff destroyed much of the goodwill he had coming in.
ReplyDeletePeople don't know what to think now. Will Larry shake up the sad, tired, I'll equipped editing ranks elsewhere in the building? Will he trim the massive vice presidential staff? Will he undo the mistakes of Hunke's grand Gransformational plan? Will he hire an editor who wil not suffer fools gladly? Time won't tell, because we are running out of time.
Livingston,Tom Weir, Mike Dodd, Mike McCarthy -- none of these people, and several others, should have been thrown so callously to the curb. I hope Beisse or one of his family members has this happen to them.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the sports department culture needed changing, and I think people are being a bit too harsh on Kramer. He's actually walked the talk elsewhere. That puts him one up on pretty much anyone, other than Kinsey Wilson, who has been a leader in the digital push.
ReplyDeleteBut I'd ask two questions, one of which is sincere and one of which may be a bit more cynical:
1. Who did you find with untapped skills that you moved into a new job? It's happened before -- Ben Mutzabaugh was an online producer in Sports until a reorg in which he convinced people he could launch a blog for business travelers, and he was quite successful with it.
2. Weir, Pedulla, Livingstone et al weren't able to produce that 24/7 news you're seeking? That's a shock to those of us who worked with them.
So how many minority journalists are left in Sports, maybe two or three? They laid off most of them in this sweep. So much for patronizing the Maynard Institute and other minority journalist associations. Interestingly, Sports Media leader Dave Morgan is not listed in any of the press releases about these lay offs, though he was likely the main decision maker on who got laid off.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theroot.com/blogs/nabj/usa-today-lays-5-black-sports-journalists
So we can't lay off people of color? Good grief, they get all the breaks coming in the door and ace out qualified people for promotions. I'm all for diversity, but can't we just base hiring on the best candidates and firings based on lack of competences?
ReplyDeleteWeir's blog attracted millions. Sergio stat
ReplyDeleteRtes MMA. Jim Welch is a respected newsman who could have run the entire paper had he played the asskissing, twoFaced games that have pushed so many people into positions of power. Beusse and Morgan never took the time to know most of these guys and what they provide as journalists. That doesn't seem to matter to anyone. That's the core culture problem at the "transformative, iconic brand" that is USA Today.
Kramer!
ReplyDeleteat 4:54
ReplyDeleteYou tell 'em, Newt!
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ReplyDeleteWhat does "Sergio stat Rtes MMA" mean?
ReplyDeleteSergio started the MMA coverage and made it a strong niche. I guess our MMA acquisition made him expendable.
ReplyDeleteAll,told, with the earlier dismissals of Monte and the gang, those who've seen the handwriting on the wal and those canned this week, the turnover has been about two dozen out of 90.
Most are 50 plus. Should be a doozy of a class action, age discrimination lawsuit.
Act I: Buesse and Co. tear down the old. Act II: They try to build something. They have the green light to hire a lot of reporters, producers and bloggers. Let's see if they go beyond white guys. Let's see if they hire reporters who can ask ask questions tougher than "That double in the bottom of the ninth -- that had to feel great, huh?" Let's see if they can hire bloggers who can write a pithy English sentence. Let's see if they can hire producers who know that women play sports, too, and that USAT covers them better than anyone. Let's see if their new staff can handle USAT's tough policy on anonymous sources.
ReplyDeleteLet's see.
If Kramer wants to make this a 24/7 newsroom, he's got to have everyone involved on the buy-in. That means making everyone in evolved in a weekend rotation, more people writing for the web and more effort all around, especially from the slackers.
ReplyDeleteI would do this in a heartbeat if I knew the furloughs and Newsroom RIFs were over. Others would, too.
Sergio's cut is especially cruel. When Beau Dure started the MMA beat, he started a blog from his perch in the newsroom. Eventually, after Beau left (his choice), Sergio was enticed away from the news desk and down to the sports department to be a full-time writer as they really revved up MMA coverage. He ran wit it. Then they buy MMA Junkie -- a terrific blog, but the guys aren't prepared to be a newspaper staff and didn't sign up for that gig -- and Sergio's out. True victim of his own success.
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ReplyDeleteSo Moon made his original quote back in 2005 (might as well be 1805in digital terms) and we still find it necessary to make the same proclaimation in 2012. Slow-moving is an understatement.
ReplyDeletePlan A. Plan B. Plan C. kind of reminds me of the revovling marketing plan at burger king, with that weird king mascot. he never said anything of substance. The menu never changed, until it was too late, either.
ReplyDeleteKramer, spend some time in the newsrooms for the next couple of months to see how your peoppe operate. you're an ex newsman. shouldnt be too hard to identify the dead weight, poseurs and no nothings. then you can make changes based on what you know rather than what you've been told.
there are a core of good people here. some are old. some are young. Find them. embrace and exploit their talents. Win the core, build around them and you will have a winning team that actually accomplishes what you are trying to do. this isnt rocket science. its plain common sense.
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ReplyDeleteAnd what is so retarded about the post? Suggesting the new leader kicks the tires before he buys the b.s. that goes on every day? Suggesting that building bridges to staffers makes sense before they are blown up, ala Beusse? Meeting with people to hear their thoughts on what's wrong and getting a pulse on morale? I guess you must be one of the threatened ones who is about to be exposed for the fraud you really are.
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ReplyDeleteIgnore the kid. School's out and he's bored.
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ReplyDeleteKramer. please do the right things. We dont want your picture on the Publisher Wall of Shame in a couple of years.
ReplyDeleteStreamline upper management on the business side and editorial.
Get rif of th dead weight up and down the line.
For key positions of responsibility, get experienced people in or hire from outside.
Focus beefing up staff in digital and Money.
I was one of the ones pushed out. This is one of the worst newsrooms I ever worked in ... basically like a high school with a bunch of cliques. Was ecstatic to see a new regime come in because old one just didn't care or have eye on the ball. To my surprise, was shown the door. How I interviewed wasn't the problem, I was labeled by a former boss who left as a troublemaker, and no one questioned him EVER. He left, but no matter the efforts, nothing changed. Get this, the supervisor in question THREATENED me in my evaluation meeting, and old SE Monte Lorell said I baited him.
ReplyDeleteNew regime isn't any better, this will crash and burn ... of course their numbers will go up digitally ... they were so awful before that they really can't do anything but go up. The clicks won't be coming from my computers.
As for the dismissal of blacks in the newsroom, it's alarming how little diversity there is in sports for such a national company.