Friday, June 15, 2012

June 11-17 | Your News & Comments: Part 5

Can't find the right spot for your comment? Post it here, in this open forum. Real Time Comments: parked here, 24/7. (Earlier editions.)

53 comments:

  1. NJ Group -
    we have move to the Somerville office everyone from the HNT. Packed like sardines. Heard the advertising people who have to travel a bit to get here have been told to "get here when they can" and not to worry about coming back in the afternoon.
    So we are looking at 3 hour workdays for them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What is going on in the NJ Group?
    HNT has closed its building and the entire staff has moved to the Courier News office in Somerville.
    We are packed like sardines. I hear that advertising folks who have to drive a long distance have been told to get here when they can and to leave for home for the road. Any comments?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Recipe for even less productivity.

      Delete
  3. Big layoffs announced in Detroit. But don't worry, we have a Purpose Wall to motivate employees!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They aren't called "layoffs" any more, it's now called "giving back to the community".

      Delete
  4. Martore cares. Just remember that and eat your ice cream.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Did Maryam bail on her own Purpose Wall reveal and leave Martore to take the heat?

    She was tweeting last night from LA with Roy Spence.

    Priorities clearly misguided.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When MB found out the lame reax, she stayed in LA to party with Charlie.

      NOT winning...

      Delete
  6. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-06-13/innocent-incarcerated-prisoners/55585176/1

    ReplyDelete
  7. Today, we are announcing the launch of Gannett Wisconsin Media University.


    GWM University will be the foundation for all of our internal and external development training.

    This is not meant to replace or displace department specific training that we all do routinely. Rather, it is a platform for expanding skills, readying employees for the next career step or just exploring all GWM has to offer.


    Coming soon to your inbox is an announcement of the first statewide GWMU program, a formal Job Shadowing Program. Watch for it!

    Any other Gannett papers get the above announcement?

    ReplyDelete
  8. For the poster who jumped in to say that women are only picked on here let me remind you: Dubow, Hunke, Moon, most of the comments over the years have been criticism of management and that has been predominately men.

    Now that we have female execs, Maryam Banikarim and Gracia Marotre, they are fair gane for critique from the troops.

    Comments have nothing to do with Banikarim being a woman. Are we supposed to stay away from holding her accountable simply because she is a woman and the feminists are extra sensitive?

    Want to be equal to men, welcome to the party.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Gannett Wisconsin Media University?

    Get a doctorate degree based on how to shoot a video of a chicken wing eating contest!

    Oh, I cannot wait to see how this one plays out...

    ReplyDelete
  10. @1112 - Good one!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Banikarim on yet another speaking trip? What next? Cannes?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
  12. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Reported by Stacy Jones/The Star-Ledger:

    HOME NEWS TRIBUNE leaving its New Brunswick HQ and moving in with Courier News in Somerville.

    From nj.com: The paper’s general manager and editor Paul Grzella confirmed the move today, saying the newsroom’s dedication to its readership will remain unchanged.

    "We have the same commitment to our communities that we’ve always had," he said.

    The newspaper, which the Gannett newspaper chain purchased in 1997, has a daily circulation of 29,000 and 38,000 on Sundays, according to the the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations report."

    I might be wrong, but wasn't the HNT circ in early 2000s about 60,000-80,000??

    ReplyDelete
  14. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I guess I have my answer

    ReplyDelete
  16. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous William said...

    What are some local, independent online-only newspaper sites that have competed successfully against Gannett papers online? Looking for ones that are reporting serious news, not slanted to some group or cause.

    6/12/2012 5:24 PM...
    Brentwood Home Page (brentwoodhomepage.com) covering Nashville suburb by a former Tennessean editor is worth a look. Have heard it plans to expand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. First what is an online only newspaper? Secondly, can you name any newspaper owned by anyone that has as you say competed successfully on line.

      Delete
  18. What makes you think the advertising staff at the HNT doesnt already work three hour days?

    ReplyDelete
  19. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  20. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  21. OK
    Let's say an employee of a newspaper did something really really bad. Let's also say that the newspaper didn't report this really really bad thing because the employee accused of the really bad thing would possibly reflect on the parent company. What are the ethical implications of not reporting the news of this? What are the ethical responsibilities of the newspaper to report the news regardless of the implications for the company or the parent company? Why do we have the right to deny the public the truth when if we reported the truth it would bring more truth out? Perhaps someone in the company set this person up and by not reporting it we are colluding with them to not report the facts.
    ????

    ReplyDelete
  22. HARVARD: WHY NEWSPAPERS WERE DOOMED

    http://blogs.hbr.org/fox/2012/06/why-newspapers-were-doomed.html

    " .. The business model that the owners of the metro dailies gravitated toward in the decades after World War II was this: 1) establish monopoly, 2) milk that monopoly. The monopoly was on the delivery of printed advertising messages into homes in a given city or (better) metropolitan area: department store ads, supermarket ads, car dealer ads, and, most of all, classifieds .."

    For the 100,000,000th time -- time to move on -- Capts. Losers at the helm.

    ReplyDelete
  23. 10:10 - those ethics weren't covered in our recent training so my understanding is that it's ok.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Any more news on the Freep layoffs? They just throw the bombshell out and make people wait? Gaaaaaa.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Is there any news about layoffs?
    If it's happening in Detroit,it must be also happening at other sites as well.
    Come on folks,let us know what's happening !

    ReplyDelete
  26. MNo one on this blog ever gets that anything that happens in Detroit is completely. Separate. From. USCP. Why don't you learn or quit commenting about it? Really.

    Layoffs at Detroit are related to NOTHING else. Separate business models, leadership, financials. Loosely tied to USAT and nothing else. USAT occurrences are NO indication of USCP. Etc. If you are going to bitch and moan about your company, LEARN something about it.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Haven't been on here in a while.


    Gannett's still solvent?

    People still willingly work there?

    ReplyDelete
  28. 'bout time for another round.
    And I ain't talking drinks.

    (Although the victims-to-be will deserve one.)

    ReplyDelete
  29. @11:12 AM: Careful before criticizing others for being uninformed. Detroit now reports to USCP, no longer to USAT.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Advertising sales people should be working from the road, and not wasting time in the office. All of our successful sales people spend a very small amount of time here.

    ReplyDelete
  31. We keep hearing the hints from our veep to expect another round of lay offs and furloughs for USAT. Can anyone confirm this and when? And what departments are going to be affected? We're so tight right now don't know how we can be expected to keep going like this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is plenty of phat to cut in editorial. Byline count, anyone? Likewise, in Usa Freelance, I mean Weekend. And let's not forget Vice Presidents row.

      Delete
  32. USA Today is so busy worshipping Tiger Woods, they can't give space online to the Euro 2012 soccer tournament.

    ReplyDelete
  33. @ 1:41, and that is as it should be. Treat people like adults, they'll act like adults, treat them like children, and they learn to lie. I've never understood this mentality from editorial, or anywhere else for that matter. You should NEVER see the salespeople.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They "work" bankers hours in the bureau offices.

      Delete
  34. Glad to know all in edit know how to sell advtg. Guess you're just in the wrong gig. But LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the insightful, engaging, compelling content you produce!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ignore editorial whining and just sell some ads. do YOUR job.

      Delete
  35. Why are news and advertising at each others' throats here? That's so unproductive. At our site all I see are editorial and advertising working their asses off under daily threats of losing their jobs. So if you have a problem with either department just know it's not happening everywhere.

    ReplyDelete
  36. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Seriously? I have never, ever in all my years at Gannett NJ seen Jay with a smile on his face.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Detroit Production is not separate from the company any more, they are a part of the GPS division. They are no longer flying sole in theses ares

    ReplyDelete
  39. I've sold ads, hated that job and have all the respect in the world for real 'world class salespeople'. You never see them in the office for long, they complain about the hour long meetings to explain a section we run every year, and they loathe the u rah rah their managers think will motivate them. They can't STAND all the paperwork we dump on them and yet they perform solidly month after month.

    They are WAY outnumbered by the no-experience recent graduates, the people who couldn't sell radio, and the wives who needed a reason to get out and shop every day. Totally ok with getting the base, maybe making goal 2 months out of 12.

    I left advertising after making goal every month, but realizing that my individual effort meant nothing without a manager who would galvanize the rest of the team. I make less as a writer now, but my byline means something to me - and when I walk to the restroom in the middle of the day, advertising is full of low-class sales force while the world-class are out on the street.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Interesting observations, 6:40. I dont have any sense that there is accountabilty at the national level. Plus there has been so much turnover, leadershiip is dealing with inexperience as well as truing to find its way. I do not believe Banikarim has the ability to actually manage a true cohesive effort that results in revenue gains. She is too interested in consolidating power and pursuing side interests that ar befuddling and self serving. Corporate needs to step in and start cracking the whip. unfortunately, Micek is not up to the task, either.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Interesting observations, 6:40. I dont have any sense that there is accountabilty at the national level. Plus there has been so much turnover, leadershiip is dealing with inexperience as well as truing to find its way. I do not believe Banikarim has the ability to actually manage a true cohesive effort that results in revenue gains. She is too interested in consolidating power and pursuing side interests that ar befuddling and self serving. Corporate needs to step in and start cracking the whip. unfortunately, Micek is not up to the task, either.

    ReplyDelete
  42. 12:05 unless you work directly with these executives how and what do you base your statements. We don't know what you accomplish everyday but no one is saying you aren't up for your job. Finally a Gabbett executive is actually speaking to the non Gannett world and you and your friends don't like it. You have no idea what is going on behibd the scenes yet you take shots left and right. But then those that can't always become critics

    ReplyDelete
  43. I always like the folks who deride others with allegations of automatically being in the dark, the "us vs. them" theme.

    Especially when that very state is precisely the one so embedded in Gannett's corporate culture of frantically autocratic top-down edicts bulging with meaningless buzzwords.

    To insinuate that anyone "doesn't know what they're talking about" is not only self-congratulatory snobbery (a quality not foreign to a Gannett exec's mindset), but proof in their moldy pudding.

    Or more accurately, their bottle of 1978 Montrachet.

    ReplyDelete
  44. 4:14, please enighten us as to all the accomplishments of the "gabbett" executives. 10 would be fantastic. Five that have something to do with enhancing the bottom line would be wonderful.

    Please don't go the 'building the solid management team' approach. We heard that during the departure of Craig Dubow. We all know how his tenure went.

    The bottom line is this: you can do all the self promotional events and purpose walls you want as long as you are doing something to boost revenue and earnings. Until then,we would rather not hear of your expertise. Show us the money.

    We can point fingers and say nasty things about one another and gripe and complain. We can make all the silly proclamations and shift the deck chairs and cover each other's mistakes. But that does not move the ball up the hill, does it?

    ReplyDelete
  45. Tell us what is going on behind the scenes. It sure doesn't look like much from the front.

    I guess its time for a couple more vice presidential appointments, huh?

    ReplyDelete

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."

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.