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Tuesday, September 11, 2012
39 comments:
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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Swarm Tracks You While You Shop--And That's Actually A Good Thing
ReplyDeletehttp://www.fastcompany.com/3001128/swarm-tracks-you-while-you-shop-and-thats-actually-good-thing
September 10, 2012
The new startup, founded by two ex-Gannett executives, uses customers' in-store free mobile Wi-Fi usage and offers them steep discounts in exchange.
....Ryan Denehy and CEO Rudd Davis are both former Gannett executives who previously sold BNQT Media Group, a network of owned and affiliate action sports websites, to USA Today Sports Media Group in 2008. T
Does anyone know if Gannet employees will receive a rebate from Obama Care for their health care premium?
ReplyDeleteI expect Gannett to drop healthcare coverage for employees and pay the penalty/fine/tax, whatever you want to call it, which will save them about 90% of their costs.
ReplyDeleteJust read this online: 50+ printing jobs shoved out the door at the Statesman.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20120911/NEWS/309110007/Statesman-Journal-end-site-printing?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|s
SI Newhouse's Oregonian will print starting Oct 14. Publisher looking to sell building too. Where's Warren Buffett when you need him?
Newspapers get $1 in new digital ad revenue for every $25 in print ad revenue lost. This column by Rick Edmonds of Poynter (perhaps the only non-asshat there.)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.poynter.org/latest-news/business-news/the-biz-blog/187577/newspapers-print-ad-losses-are-larger-than-digital-ad-gains-by-a-ratio-of-25-to-1/
In Washburn's comments to readers Sunday, she kept insisting the Enquirer web site has serious news stories, watchdog journalism, and stuff you won't get anywhere else. But if you look at today's (and everyday's) home page, all you see are drunken blonde babes showing their boobs. The lead photo right now: (tailgate party); top right photo (Oktoberfest); further down, Ben-Gals (they're always featured on the home page). And another photo of drunken blonde babes on bottom right. This is not unique content, Carolyn. We can get T & A anywhere.
ReplyDeleteAnd some readers are actually offended by it.
It's very difficult to take this site seriously. So how can we ask readers to pay for it?
Does anyone know of a former Gannett employee, who wasn't a high-paid executive type, who has an overall positive opinion of their time at this company?
ReplyDeleteI always judge how a company treats its employees by what people who no longer have anything vested in their old stomping grounds have to say about it. It seems to me, even with factoring in the cynicism of journalists, that Gannett and USA Today have a whole lot of unhappy former employees. Even the ones who weren't laid off but instead retired or moved on relatively gracefully have very harsh words for the newspaper chain. USA Today in particular seems to be despised.
Certain companies seem to seamlessly earn the loyalty of their employees -- sometimes for generations. They do so in a variety of ways that seem absolutely foreign to those running Gannett and USA Today.
I imagine a company that preaches loyalty and innovation, but shows no signs of either in its leaders, is bound to fail.
I only worked for Gannett briefly, but in my time there, I was astonished at how negative most people were when they felt it was safe to open up and express their opinions. I am even more amazed at how many people I now encounter, who worked at Gannett for 10 or 20 years, and virtually have nothing good to say about it.
I have observed how Gannett and its flagship paper, USA Today, have handled business during the economic downturn. It's been a disgrace but not totally unexpected. If you knew how Gannett did business (the behind-the-doors stuff), even in good times, you would have been able to anticipate how it would turn on its long-time employees in rough times.
Gannett at its core is a dishonorable company that hasn't learned a thing over the years about how to attract and retain not only top talent, but good human beings -- not that there aren't still decent people working at Gannett's various properties.
I would have to say at this point, I wouldn't even recommend working at Gannett as a stepping stone into the business. Even working at USA Today seems to turn people bitter about the profession as a whole. Simply put, it's a toxic company that in some way, shape or form, will almost certainly alter your opinion of mass media companies/Corporate America and, if things really go bad, will trap you in a world of negativity that in turn could ruin your career.
Hey, maybe the NYTimes should put more drunken blonde babes on its home page instead of all that solid journalistic content! What's that? Their digital business model is quite profitable!? How could that be?
ReplyDeleteOh, never mind!
11:08am
ReplyDeleteJournalism is a great honorable profession.
But Gannett is just downright evil.
Simple as that.
Well said, 12:15
ReplyDeleteI was one of the high paid executive types complete with bonuses, stock options, etcetera. I gave up all of my options to get the hell out of this company. The way Gannett treats its employees is deplorable. I had a cushy job and was well respected and thought of by my superiors and peers but my health and well being were much more important to me than my lifelong career at Gannett, what I now consider to be a dying business model. I couldn't believe the decisions being made about layoffs, dividends, furloughs. The decline in revenue at my site alone became questionable because the decisions being made by corporate put us in this predicament. I got out and am much happier because of it. And I'm sure someone will comment by saying they're glad I'm gone too. I concur. Anyone who works for this company and follows corporate blindly has no soul.
ReplyDeleteI opened up my local paper (Florida Today) to read the day's news. When I got to page 4 (of 6) of the "A" section, all the stories were bylined USA TODAY. What I shrieked! maybe I picked up the wrong paper. Nope. I was hoping to read the news written by local reporters, with their own take of course.
ReplyDeleteDisgusting.
Ruined my day. If I wanted to read USA news stories I'd have bought the USA. What the hech is going on with this company? Don't any news people run this place anymore?
12:56 sure you were. Nice writing though.
ReplyDeleteHey, I believe 12:56. That mirrors my story, too. I had a very good career at a large Gannett paper for many years but chose to leave for the reasons stated by 12:56. I was lucky, though. I was well-paid and saved as much as I could during these past 5-10 stressful years just to get out as fast as I could. I tried to treat my staff well, which is pretty damn hard given the unreasonable demands from the top. And I was sickened by the contemptuous attitudes of my bosses. But I was lucky I could leave. Many, many of my colleagues are not as fortunate. They're talented, they're productive, and they truly care. But they need their jobs. A few sell their souls (especially the top managers). But most just soldier on, because bad as it is, it's all there is right now. It's taking a huge toll on their health, tho, and that's a crime.
ReplyDeleteDitto 12:56 & 1:46. I suspect there are a lot more of us than folks realize!
ReplyDeleteGannett's stock continues to climb higher today.
ReplyDeleteShares recently traded for $17.04, up 74 cents, after trading as high as $17.35 earlier today.
That's another 52-week trading high and means GCI is now up 73% from a year ago vs. a much smaller 24% gain in the S&P 500 index.
Jim, have you talked to any analysts about why investors are so bullish on Gannett?
ReplyDeleteThose of us in the trenches just aren't that optimistic. Are we missing something?
I'd love to see more on this.
2:49 I have not. And I really don't have any clues. One poster here speculated that Warren Buffett's buying spree may have sparked speculation that GCI could sell some of its properties.
ReplyDeleteOther news across the industry hasn't been so good recently: Journal Register just field for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection again, leading to speculation that MediaNews Group might follow suit.
MediaNews is Gannett's partner in Detroit, and Journal News' properties include smaller papers ringing Detroit as well.
I know the reason for the recent stock surge: Wall Street found out Hunke is leaving. That was good for an incremental $2-3 in value per share.
ReplyDeleteAt Gannett's TV station in Greensboro, plagiarism is becoming an almost-daily occurrence. Local blogger Roch 101 has uncovered at least 11 bylined stories on the WFMY website (DigTriad.com) that were lifted word-for-word from a handout.
ReplyDelete(HT to Romenesko, who today linked to a Roch 101 entry from last month.)
Take it from someone who used to work there:
ReplyDeleteWhen Cincy starts running photos of sports or T&A, that means traffic is dropping off and the online folks have been ordered to punch up traffic to the site. They watch those Omniture reports very closely!
Word-for-word press releases with reporters' bylines? That's nothing new in Cincy.
ReplyDeleteStock closed at $17.01 after hitting $17.35 intraday.
ReplyDeleteHasn't been this high since April '10 or Feb. '11.
Clearly, The Street is saying the quality of the product is inversely related to the stock price!
2:09 - Anyone in top management getting out on their own accord is one of us. I guarantee it. The pay ain't bad and the perks are great but I have a soul. There is no job worth the crimes Gannett commits against its employees.
ReplyDelete1:19 - News people haven't run Gannett since old man Frank died in 1957.
ReplyDeleteNeuharth wasnt a newsman?
ReplyDeleteYou need only look at Maryam Banikarim's attitude, ego, arrogance and disrespect of staff and colleagues to understand the Gannett of today.
ReplyDelete4:40 GCI traded for $18.85 on April 26, 2010 -- the highest it's reached since starting its long slog back from near oblivion, after hitting $1.85 on March 10, 2009, amid the late Great Recession.
ReplyDeleteEven at today's $17 close, the stock is still a deal, given its dividend yield of 4.7%.
Banikarim, Buchanan, Washburn, and countless others all from the same mold.
ReplyDeleteHMM ..
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-11/gannett-shares-jump-as-demand-for-advertising-grows.html?cmpid=yhoo
" .. Gannett Co. (GCI), the owner of television stations and 82 daily newspapers including USA Today, jumped the most in more than two months as the U.S. presidential election helps spur demand for advertising .."
However -
http://yhoo.it/PolMJG
GCI is not anything to write home about, IMO.
Explanation for stock price rise: POLITICAL-SEASON ADVERTISING:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-11/gannett-shares-jump-as-demand-for-advertising-grows.html?cmpid=yhoo
5:41PM - OUCH!
ReplyDeleteSame stock price as four years ago!
Question:
ReplyDeleteWhatever happened to Cincinnati’s NEWSACHE blogger @ http://cincynewsache.blogspot.com/?
If Gannett really did “silence” him as some suspect, then it’s likely that silence had no more than a year assigned to it which should be over by now.
Hence, with all the comments here about Cincinnati lately over its content, its change to a tab and Buchanan, Washburn et al’s interaction with customers, and customer comments on Enquirer.com, appears to suggest a potential opening for either their return and/or a franchise expansion for Jim to build a new revenue stream there and elswehere throughout Gannett.
CHART
ReplyDeletehttp://yhoo.it/PolMJG
GCI is dark line that is 60% LOWER than 2007.
Red line is S&P500.
F'ing nuts.
Here's a guy who can help finish running the Big G into the ground as soon as he finishes off the Journal Register Co. Typical blowhard who is larding his bank account while dumping employee pensions on the gov'ment. The current crop of media executives across the board are stooges:
ReplyDeletehttp://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/for-paton-bankruptcy-for-journal-register-is-embarrassing-but-necessary/
Here's one stock-rise article:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.marketintelligencecenter.com/newsbites/1375258
Gannett (NYSE: GCI) rose Tuesday after the company said that its CareerBuilder unit acquired Economic Modeling Specialists International, a software firm that specializes in employment data and labor market analysis. The company said the combined companies will "will be providing clients with a truly unique perspective on current and future employment trends, skills development and recruitment strategies."
Could they be right?
5:45 -- you, Jim, and many others here are at the same employment level as four years ago: none.
ReplyDeleteIn reference to CareerBuilder, no amount of market analysis can cover up the fact, that they replaced umpteen years of experience and personal service with a handful of high school kids.
ReplyDeleteLost revenue due to the fact, that these jokers can't adhere to deadlines or comprehend even the simplest procedures. When the reps were in the building, at least some dialog would pass between production and the advertising department, so any issues were dealt with in a prompt fashion, and with the customer in mind.
That is now out the window, as is revenue. Certain positions should always be retained at the local level, and others could easily be outsourced to a centralized location. Leave it to Gannett to do things ass-backwards.
Does Gannett purchase their own stock at these levels?
ReplyDelete