Thursday, June 07, 2012

June 4-10 | Your News & Comments: Part 4

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44 comments:

  1. So I missed yesterday's awards gala - is there a list of the president's ring winners?

    I want to make sure my boss is in a good mood or there will be beatings in the morning.

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  2. Anyone know if it's true that USAT is holding its first major advertising sales staff meeting in many years -- today/tomorrow at the Virginia headquarters?

    This would follow recent talk that SVP/top sales chief Lee Jones is gone. 

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  3. Oh yeah - they are having the Sales meeting today and tomorrow in Tyson's.....Jones is gone and so is Laura DelGreco....USAT Client Solutions is now reporting into Debbie Goetz (Maryam's puppet).....

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  4. I believe so, the USAT sales rep from our area traveled to DC for meetings.

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  5. Where is Kramer?

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  6. Many USAT edit employees being changed from exempt to non-exempt hourly classification this week from GCI mandate. Why?

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  7. So, digital ad sales not so rosey?

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/07/us-newspaper-digital-ads-idUSBRE85605E20120607

    Don't tell me they're charging too much just like the print side. And of course the blame still is on the economy. Well, if that's still true (after how many years now?) shouldn't newspapers go back to what made them in the first place? Better quality at reasonable prices. I realize this won't happen...but it could and should.

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  8. Why would anyone who receives a Sunday morning Newspaper rather have a internet paper? I don't even see a comparison of the two. Who wants to read a digital version that may take four hours on the internet to read when you can open up your Sunday paper browse it and see the same amount of information in about an hour. What are there links to the Best Buy ads, or Target ads? Instead of clipping coupons you need to print them out or do the smartphones have an app that the stores can scan? I know some stores like Von's allow you to sign up to receive coupons on your savings card. Of course all of this means that your information may be hacked. If you are on Link'd in you should go reset your password immediately as they were recently hacked.

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  9. TV general managers are also at corporate this week.

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  10. Periodically, all companies go through their job descriptions to determine if the position still meets the Fair Labor Standards Act to be considered Exempt. In many cases now, editors are no longer supervising people, they are given specific tasks to complete and do not have the judgement and decision making (hiring, firing, etc) that they once did. If this is the case, then I can understand them reclassifying the position to non-exempt. FLSA is getting tougher on this stuff and it's always better to err on the side of classifying someone as non-exempt than exempt.

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  11. 10:06, how would USAT be able to do that legally? They'd have to make them managers, and actually let them manage.

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  12. 1:23 - You're exactly right that much of the attraction of the Sunday paper is the advertising and coupons. There are many people who use the Sunday paper to peruse the sales and plan their shopping for the coming week. A digital Sunday paper is useless.

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  13. 8:50 am Steve Hyatt was saying the same thing last week. Sounds like another lame troll attempt to scare us away from here.

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  14. If Lee Jones was fired then why is he still on the usat masthead? Another false posting.

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  15. 4:08 You can't rely on the masthead; it's been crazy wrong at times. If you want a recent example, just ask.

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  16. Exempt means exempt from wage and hour laws, i.e. work 'em 60 and pay 'em 40. Salaried, managers, supervisors, etc. Dept. of Labor has specific rules. If they don't fit in the categories then they have to be non-exempt, or subject to overtime rules - i.e. hourly.

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  17. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  18. 4:08, not necessarily. My name remained on a masthead for almost 2weeks after I was gone!

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  19. Some examples of our great digital story writing...the first 3 quotes are from the same story.
    “after a patrol car patrol flipped”
    “when he struck and killed deer.”
    “patrol cars this week — including one that following a police chase in...”

    “pending the outcome of an criminal investigation”

    Now I know times are hard but to read stuff that a 12 year old would now-a-days write?

    I read the paper (print) every day to see what's happening in my neck of the woods, if anything. I look at the site to see if anything new is going on. Then I read stuff written like this and I just put it down. It's one thing to write in blogs like this and forums and make silly mistakes for spped's sake, but newspapers...print or digital...are supposed to be done by professionals.

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  21. Does anyone know how to get a human on the phone at the Gannett Benefits Center?

    I stopped working for Gannett in '98 and left my 401k parked there all this time. I don't have the account PIN or email address.

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  22. 2:32 Valassis,the nation's largest supplier of Sunday paper coupon inserts, realizes that newspapers for the most part are going away and has invested in many online/digital options. They've also downsized.
    http://www.valassis.com/

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  23. Jim, additionally as for "crazy wrong" so are the staff listings on the websites, assuming that my paper's site is not some unlikely exception in Gannett's culture. At least I know my paper's site is and has been out of date for some time -- much too long for a claimed "leading digital company's" (yeah... right...) website! I suppose the disinterest in maintaing current information is indicative of yet another inept Gannett disconnect between its staff and customers/readers.

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  24. 4:08 Here's the example I was looking for, one where USAT's masthead -- which is the list of employees printed in the paper -- was hopelessly out of date; it's from an early February post:

    Rudd Davis was still included as vice president for business development, more than two months after he'd been promoted to president of the Travel Media Group -- and, even more starkly, at least two weeks after he'd left the paper entirely.

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  25. CORRECTION OF TYPO: "maintaining." Sorry. Typed too fast. I have to get on and off as quickly as possible.

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  26. 4:53, humans at Gannett Benefits.

    First, the current number is 1-855-424-4737, in case you're using the previous one.

    Second, its hours are 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. Eastern.

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  27. 4:24... In "my" neck of the woods, the "police beat" online reporting reads straight out of high school. Lots of tone favoring the information in a police report as fact, lots of mocking the suspect, all with scant attributions. Nothing against the reporter since obviously there is no mentoring left, let alone repercussions as it remains something to "look forward to" anytime I read my site's crime coverage, but it's still unnerving. The reporter just assumes guilt by virtue of an arrest, a charge, an allegation. Whatever the police say is God-given gospel and the "suspect" is always a low-life rather than a person charged by police. Pretty shoddy and unprofessional. Then again, it goes in line with running booking shots of people looking their worst and doing so as a major feature of the site.

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  28. Does the fact that Arizona Republic Publisher John Zidich was named manager of the year yesterday mean he's less likely to be named publisher of the year -- assuming those President's Rings are still getting handed out?

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  29. 4:20 -- I was laid off about a year ago and I'm still listed as an editor on the website.

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  30. Thanks for the phone number at Gannett benefits!

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  31. The USAT masthead might be slow to update but the Gannett site has already eliminated Hunke from the management committee roll call. Has Hunke already left the building?

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  32. 6:49 Can you imagine the number of people who had to sign off on that decision?

    And then the poor slob of a web guy who had eight people leaning over his shoulder as he pressed the delete key.

    [cue Montgomery Burns' voice] Ex-cellent!

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  33. Does anyone know how much of a "surcharge" we will be hit with if we opt out of this stupid biometric testing of things that are none of the company's business?

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  34. 4:53 So Valassis offer's digital options for coupons. It still is a time consuming/ tedious task for consumers to use them and they don't need Gannett's online sites to offer them. What I was saying is that the Sunday paper is a much more efficient way for consumers to use all of the resources a newspaper has to offer.

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  35. So, after yet another round of buyouts--of people 56 and older--this ad now appears on journalismjobs.com from the Arizona Republic...just sickening:
    | Home | Openings in Newspapers/Wires June 7, 2012


    Company: The Arizona Republic |12News |azcentral.com
    Position: Reporters, editors, engagement producers,
    tablet editor, mobile architect and other
    openings:
    Location: Phoenix, Arizona
    Job Status: Full-time
    Salary: Negotiable
    Ad Expires: July 12, 2012
    Job ID: 1366090


    Description:


    The Arizona Republic, azcentral.com and KPNX 12News, an NBC affiliate, have more than two dozen openings. Our newsroom is hungry to create big journalism from watchdog/investigative to storytelling and community leadership. We have won a string of national awards in the last couple of years and aspire to keep doing better and more sophisticated work. Our staff creates and produces content for The Republic, 12News, azcentral.com, tablet enterprise, mobile and social media. See our openings at:http://www.azcentral.com/projects/employment




    When applying, mention you saw this opening listed at JournalismJobs.com.

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  36. The Arizona Republic ad should also tell interested applicants that they should mention that they're under 35. After all, Gannett wants to be a young, hip, digital company - and paying salaries like the Huffington Post!

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  38. 7:17, i think you can expect a surcharge of at least a couple hundred dollars, probably as much as $500. My company charges that much.

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  39. 7:17, the surcharge is usually several hundred dollars.

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  40. Salem exec editor sent out almost the same memo that Tennessee got: Hey furloughed, beat up, beat down staff that remains, dontcha wanna online subscription? Show that you believe in what we do by letting us take the fee right out of your paycheck!!!
    Bull. Fucking. Shit.

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  41. Word from Az Republic is people can't understand how the paper is firing and hiring at the same time. Deeper concerns are the hiring is to replace many of the current employees. No there's a healthy environment.

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  42. 11:02 that is freakin' unreal.

    Wait. ... it's Gannett.

    Nevermind.

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  43. Why is there no class action for age discrimination yet?

    Is the US Department of Labor so asleep at the switch that Gannett is fearless of blatant culling of staff that has earned more salary and benefits, and tend to use more medical benefits in Gannett's self-insurance?

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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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