Monday, September 10, 2012

Sept. 10-16 | Your News & Comments: Part 1

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32 comments:

  1. well I just opened the Rochester Democrat and Chrcnicle and counted only 27 Ads. How can they keep putting out a weekday paper with out any Ads? By the ended of the week it is full of Ads.Also the whole paper had only 9 pages !Now thats a BIG paper !

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  2. I love the pathetic responses from Washburn and her cronies to legitimate reader complaints about the new paywall. Good stuff!

    "B-b-b-bbb-ut we have 150 journalists! Why wouldn't you pay for that?"

    lol!

    http://news.cincinnati.com/comments/article/20120908/NEWS/309080093/New-subscription-options-our-readers

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  3. As I watched the Dow commercial declaring their 'solutionism' I gagged and dropped my jaw. I thought Gannett had used up all those buzzwords. Couldn't they think up something more original? Poor Dow, how much did they pay to think up that? or did they buy it from our unused word bank?

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  4. One of the options on the TMS Sup plan weekly check in is this:

    "I have chosen not to apply for state unemployment, but are otherwise eligible to receive SUB pay."

    Does anyone know what this means and used it? Thanks.

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  5. Man, do I feel bad for the reporters at the Arizona Republic. They are sure to be ridiculed today.

    In today's "why we want you to pay for our crappy website" plea Randy Lovely tells readers that there are stuffed animal mascots scattered through the newsroom to inspire reporters to be better watchdogs.

    The mascots have been assigned the names "Scoop" "Taco" "Claude" and "LeRoy." I'm sure they had a focus group pick the names.

    More here (including a photo of "Scoop" one of the fierce mascots): http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/20120909republic-watchdog-randy-letter.html

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  6. 9:24, I wish we could read Washburn's explanations to her bosses when they find out a group of her employees contacted the Newspaper Guild to arrange an organizational discussion.

    Any company that relies on nasty bullying to run a site and lets the situation fester will eventually reap what it sows.

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  7. Another Gannett failure.

    http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-26100-rip_metromix_%E2%80%99(.html

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  8. I feel so-o excited. In today's e-mail from the Arizona Republic:

    You've heard the buzz about our new full access subscription and you've seen some exciting improvements we've made across all our products.

    Over the next week, we're inviting you to use, explore and get to know everything firsthand as we launch great new digital features and enhancements to our print edition. Take a tour of all the ways to access content where and when you want it with our new tablet-optimized site, and improved news and sports iPhone apps. Dive into our expanded coverage of watchdog reporting, politics, boomer issues and community topics that impact you.

    Whether you're a long time subscriber, or a first time reader of The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, take advantage of your full-access pass to all things Valley of the Sun.

    Missed the Plush League of Enforcers column. But what a focus-tested, er, stereotypical bunch of names. To wit:

    Scoop: Boomer-yuppie nickname. Clean-cut honkie wearing flannel shirt in beer/car/Hooters commercial.

    Taco: I would have gone with chimichanga or Jose Jalapeno. Oh wait. Jeff has that one.

    Claude: Redneck-French-Acadian. Bo would have been more common.

    LeRoy: I guess Rufus is too obvious.

    They missed the Native demo. The diversity people messed up BIG.

    By the way . . . can't find a name for your child? This hospital is happy to help:

    http://www.bronsonbattlecreek.com/services/birthcenter/nativeambabynames.shtml

    Only three tries to fool the captcha today.

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  9. Thanks for the laugh, 9:24. From when I worked at the Enquirer I remember a meeting attended by dozens of people where the subject of the recession came up. Margaret Buchanan was asked if they'd ever explore a pay system for web content. In her usual rude manner, she dismissed all discussion by snapping that readers would never pay for it, that it was a dead issue, a waste of time to talk about, something that would never work, period.

    That's how she's been representin'. Wonder what she tells her superiors.

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  10. I couldn't help but notice the headline on one of the news sites that Gannett shares hit a new 52-week high of $16 and change. To put this in perspective, $16 is what Gannett shares sold for in 1987!

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  11. I remember a like discussion about six years ago 2:35 pm whereby Buchanan said subscribers wouldn’t drop their subscriptions because they could get that same content online for free. A pronouncement she tersely followed up by “Just Do It”, i.e. put it all up.

    Well, we did as ordered and contrary to her absurd belief, so did readers as evidenced by how low the Enquirer’s paid circ has sunk.

    Moves like hers have cost Gannett millions over the years, losses paid for by those she’s had to cut to replace them.



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

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    Replies
    1. I hear they've asked her to moderate a Presidential debate. True?

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  13. GCI has doubled in less than 3 years! Woohoo - I'm loving it.

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  14. About those reader complaints and Washburn replies. My favorite is where a man says

    "They just don't have enough original content to make it worth my while to purchase a subscription(AP/UPI stories that they get for national stories I can get for free)."

    In Washburn's response she can't *RESIST* setting him straight on an irrelevant point. She adds

    "(For clarity, UPI hasn't operated as a news service for major newspapers for more than a decade.)"

    Guess the Schoolmarm set YOU straight, buddy!! And made sure you looked like a fool.

    For clarity, my a**. She can't even talk to a customer without going snotty and condescending. And this is a person Gannett is putting out there to get readers to pay up.

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  15. Back when Gannett didn't have to compete it rewarded all the wrong qualities when selecting certain site managers. Now Gannett is too stubborn to get rid of those outdated losers who will lead things nowhere. Another reason for that swirling sound.

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  16. There was a poster yesterday who discussed the "folding" at certain weekies.
    What does this mean?
    Were they talking of sites being closed?

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  17. Hey, y'all, I remember a major Maggy Buchanan innovation! About 8 or 9 years ago....an exciting new PRINT publication called CIN Weekly! What a legacy!

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  18. Don't forget Inspire magazine. How much did Gannett squander on that dog?

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  19. Carolyn just dug that hole deeper and deeper as the reader comments flowed in. And she showed the defensiveness and condescending "schoolmarm" tone that brings scorn from all of us. Reader after reader complained that stories are soft, the web site isn't updated often, and the quality is HORRIBLE in every way. She repeatedly insisted that we do too have great stories! Just look at the three good ones in today's Sunday Enquirer! And once in a while, in our haste to bring you breaking news, we let a typo slip by. But only an occasional minor typo. And we're working on that! Really!! We have a plan in place to prevent any more typos! And you're full of shit if you don't think we post new stories. Why just today we posted a whole bunch of stuff!! Really!!! Blogs and all kinds of calendar items! You readers don't know what you're talking about!! It's a great newspaper!! And we even have 3 or 4 reporters who do great things!! I'm telling the truth! Listen to me! Do what I say! (Now the readers know how Fred Thompson felt.)
    Carolyn's bosses should look at the way she talks to readers and keep her from talking or commenting in public. (And pointing out to the whole world that one reader was just stupid because he didn't know UPI wasn't still around was beyond the pale. The Enquirer was an AP paper. How would an average (and possibly elderly) Enquirer reader be expected to be on top of the news service business. Regardless, why ridicule that reader in public? Shame on you, Carolyn, for that nasty shot. You really showed your true colors and embarrassed us all.)

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  20. I'd like to see Carolyn defend this:
    It's 7 p.m. on Monday Night Football opening night. And it's the Bengals' season opener.
    But the Enquirer's mobile site has none of the season preview stories on its home page. The only Bengals story on there now is Saturday's story: "Next step for Bengals' offense: consistency," with no mention of tonight's game.
    Sure, readers can click on "Sports" and comb through all the Bengals season preview stories. But why is there nothing on the mobile homepage that says IT'S FRICKIN' BENGALS GAME DAY? Follow the game with us tonight? And MNF, no less.
    I don't get it.

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  21. Enquirer just now put the Bengals promo on its mobile home page. It says they play tonight and invites readers to follow its live coverage. I wish it had included the game time. I'll Google that....

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  22. Remember Coke. It's time for a change.

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  23. Those insulting replies are showing readers exactly how arrogant Carolyn and company are, and how little they respect their readers' intelligence. Like when her "storyteller" told complaining readers that "mistakes happen" and they can't possibly comprehend how hard it is to deliver credible copy. LMAO

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  24. Ask the desk sometime about the errors littering his copy. So much for Carolyn's pronouncement that reporters would self-edit and copy would be filed "print ready."

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  25. For the last 40 minutes, the lead story on the Enquirer's mobile home page has been a big black square. This is what readers were trying to tell you, Carolyn. If you want them to pay for this product, quality control is an issue. You can't tell them they're just wrong.

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  26. Statesman Journal in Salem is shutting down print operation. Competitor Oregonian will be paid to print it. So it's put together in Arizona and printed by longtime rival. Now THAT'S how you cover your community.

    http://community.statesmanjournal.com/blogs/stateworkers/2012/09/10/statesman-journal-to-close-printing-presses

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  27. Is Bob Campbell still lurking around? If so, why?

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  28. Are any of the Metromix weeklies still going, anywhere?

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  29. Bob is most certainly around. He is in charge of the day to day operation. And we are truly blessed that he has stayed on board through these difficult times. His knowlegde is not replaceable. The GPS unit would be lost without him.

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  30. Lurk is definitely an inaccurate discription. It is not a trot nor is it a canter. It is a march that that fills a fairly large shoe. A march that simply no one else at this particular site can keep rythm with. The march of excellence, wisdom, and loyalty that is as thick as the ink that runs through his veins.

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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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