Friday, August 31, 2012

Aug. 27-Sept. 2 | Your News & Comments: Part 4

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28 comments:

  1. 7:28 from yesterday is clueless about home delivery. It doesn't work that way. How many sites across Gannett charge contractors for home delivery "misses"?

    Years ago here in Phoenix, we charged contractors for misses. $1 daily, more Sunday. The powers that be dropped that a few years ago when some idiot carriers thought they could unionize. The penalty for misses returns next week.

    Home delivery of papers isn't like a postal "contract" route, where you actually bid the route. Rather, you're told what the route pays, and you take it or leave it.

    Aw, fooshaw! The recaptcha is back. Arrrggghh!!

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  2. You are all voluntarily working for Gannett.They write you a check and you whore your skills for them.
    You work for one of the most uncaring corporations in the world .
    You do this of your own thought process.Then,you write in this blog and complain and complain about how terrible Gannett is.This is like bringing cow to a slaughterhouse and then complaining about how terrible it was that they killed the cow.
    God just freaken leave already!

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  3. 8:33... If you have not noticed.....We ARE leaving one at a time.

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  4. 5:42-it's not the revenue from a charged miss, it's the $20-25 a month from lost customer after lost customer that adds up. Less customers mean less circ revenue, and ultimately less ad revenue since nobody is reading. It's all about cost, and nothing about the customer. Without the customer, Gannett is done.

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  5. Has anyone realized in the crystal palace how management is distancing themselves more and more away from the staff? What is going on? We are being left out of everything.

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  6. Hearing Indy reorg announcement is today.
    Gossip or fact?

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  7. If the Enquirer wants people to pay for its web site, someone is going to have to actually look at the site once in a while and get rid of the embarrassing gaffes. Yesterday, at least nine readers put comments on an incomprehensible Jennifer Edwards Baker story that had serious contradictions (a guy was both in custody and on the lam). After more than four hours, the story still hadn't been fixed. (I didn't check back again. The original version might still be up.)
    Today, the third headline under GOP convention coverage is "What to expect today at the convention." The top item is Romney's speech. IT'S FRIDAY, FOLKS. TIME TO REMOVE THAT STORY!
    Is anyone looking at that site???
    Wake up, Carolyn!
    P.S. This isn't bitching to be bitching. This is from someone who cares about the future of our business. We're throwing it away.

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  8. 8:33... Should I leave yet another Gannett paper after I left the last one and they bought the current one I'm at?

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  9. 9:42...Nowadays I'm just a reader, seeing it from the customer side. The Enquirer has become riddled with errors and is way too arrogant and condescending to understand reader objections.

    Example from this week. Imagine that you complained to your waiter about the food and lousy service. Think what your reaction would be if his "apology" included informing you that your food was served before it was ready, and that's because waiting tables is REALLY hard work, and things move fast, and the restaurant staff did their best, and as an outsider you probably don't understand that.

    The Enquirer website posted a Neil Armstrong obit that was full of errors. The story was in such bad shape that even the first paragraph contained an unfinished sentence. Reporter John Faherty responded to reader complaints in the public comments section by saying he was sorry that the mistakes offended anyone BUT --

    "This was a breaking news situation and the story was posted before it was edited or actually finished. I am sure it seems easy from the outside, but I promise it is not. There are so many moving pieces, and a lot of people were doing the best they could."

    He added "Mistakes happen."

    There's a mentality at the Enquirer that won't change under the schoolmarm, even if she hires a high school English teacher to tutor her 150 journalists.

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  10. where is Mark Winas ? another GPS exec at corp jumps ship ! look out for the ice bergs !!

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  11. if you had to work for austin ryan wouldn't you jump ship !!

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  12. Has there been any reaction to this? Seems like Gannett launched it rather quietly (for Gannett)

    http://www.sportsonearth.com/

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  13. Jim, you’re obviously free to set any agenda you’d, but your near moratorium on any discussion, debate regarding Gannett’s agenda setting powers and accuracy on anything even remotely close to politics, is unfortunate.

    No doubt, few here want discussions to engage into harsh, partisan debates – including me. However, civil discussion over perceived agendas that have been exposed by naked inaccuracies and/or omissions should be allowed for one simple reason: Gannett owes a great deal of its value to the credibility it has with its readers and advertisers… in fact it’s built on it.

    The more it pushes boundaries easily proven as crossed, the more it risks with the remaining lot who still rely on it. Hence that, and given how low the credibility of even newspapers have fallen with those who still use them, it seems more than worthy to openly discuss so it can help repair it which ultimately benefits Gannett and its employees.

    It’s also helps you as allowing discussions whereby the intent is to help keep Gannett fair, honest and accurate and its own views limited to its opinion pages should also help you in fighting what harms this blog, Gannett continual being forced to “align its staff with revenues” a move that shrinks your user base.

    Opening up political coverage discussion and attempting to draw out more serious, professional critique of Gannett’s coverage overall would likely help keep even those who’ve put Gannett as an employer well behind them coming back for more.

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  14. 1:37 I appreciate your concerns and thoughtful comment. I'll think this over and try to find a way to encourage media critiques on political coverage.

    That said, over the years, these sort of comment threads have often quickly devolved into partisan shouting matches. And that's what I'm trying to avoid.

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  15. Thanks for the quick reply Jim as it was prompted by a few posts that have since disappeared from yesterday’s comments and further prompted by a piece by Investor’s Business Daily that basically asked who’s checking the media’s fact checkers.

    I certainly understand the issues you have in corralling it in, more so as I’ve enjoyed reading this blog since you started it.
    Again, thanks.

    http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/083012-624188-so-called-fact-checks-disguise-media-liberal-agenda.htm?src=HPLNews

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  16. USAT web site launch pushed back at least 2 weeks. Seems previous posters who warned about this were correct.

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  17. Oh no. That's the end if Maryam Banikarim's big 30th anniversary party plans. What is she now going to do with all the cookies and balloons.

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  18. NEIL ARMSTRONG & JOURNALISM 101

    " .. The Enquirer website posted a Neil Armstrong obit that was full of errors .."

    Neil (RIP) was 82 and had been in the hospital for the last year.

    They didn't have a prepared obit?

    Beyond stupid, IMO. They probably got 200,000+ clicks from overseas and looked like fools. Morons.

    Sell the stock. Keep looking for a new job. Cannot do this anymore.

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  19. If you are being left out of the loop suddenly, you can pretty much count on your job going away. This is the way they roll. I have seen it happen numerous times, and I'm in management.

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    Replies
    1. This is very true and how it goes down. You are suddenly isolated and distanced. Not just Gannett, but most companies behave thus way. Take it as a strong signal to get moving on getting the hell out!

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  20. 4:28 USAT's website relaunch has been in the works at least since summer 2011. Question: Will the relaunch take place by Sept. 15 -- the paper's 30th anniversary?

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  21. 4:28's wrong. USAT site still go for 9/15. Do a better job of reading company emails.

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  22. If the big change on USAT.com is just that people will scroll horizontally instead of vertically, I can already hear the big intake of breath before a nationwide "Big Deal!" blows eastward.

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  23. September 14 for the print edition and September 15 for the digital.

    USAToday relaunch.

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  24. Paywall has gone up at The Indianapolis Star site indystar.com. The fee is $12 a month.

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  25. Gannett really needs a serious make over with the people it employs in my opinion. At my site it's a bunch of old farts who complain about the digital push and a bunch of re treads of sales reps who couldn't hack it at their old company.

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  26. Whatever happened to USAT CMO Jeffrey Wilks? Another one of David L.Hunke's brilliant hires that got the Banikarim boot?

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  27. WILKS

    http://linkd.in/NDoWum

    Go to library. Look up 'google.'

    Then "curing 'learned helplessness.'"

    Apply @ Cinci as Banana-Gate reporter.

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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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