Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Sept. 17-23 | Your News & Comments: Part 3

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39 comments:

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

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  2. Stephen Colbert mocks the new USA Today logo:

    http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/419185/september-18-2012/logo-makeover-for-usa-today

    "When news breaks that's circular in nature, USA Today will be all over it!"

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  3. They should have used the Charmin logo instead of that blue ball concept but then again no toilet paper should have the crap that's written on USA Today. Love the Colbert video mocking this graphic suicide. Whoever came up with the idea to rebrand should be dismissed.

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  4. Wall Street loves the Blue ball. Right now stock is $18.17!!!

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  5. Here's the next number for Gannett's stock to beat: $18.85. That trading high was hit April 26, 2010, according to Google Finance.

    It's the highest the stock has reached since beginning its climb back from the all-time low of $1.85, set March 10, 2009, amid the depths of the Great Recession.

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  7. I don't know if this was in the Blog yet, but this is from today's Metro Times of Detroit?

    More news of the dying Free Press: If you ever were silly enough to wonder whether the Gannett newspaper chain cares about journalism more than chasing down every last nickel, you got your answer this week. This week, it was learned that Gannett is completing the cheapening and trivializing of the paper by getting rid of a huge number of its remaining experienced staffers.

    Among those going over the side: Ron Dzwonkowski, the former editorial page editor; Pulitzer Prize-winner David Ashenfelter; longtime Lansing correspondent Dawson Bell; and the familiar bylines Cecil Angel, Joe Swickard, Eric Sharp, medical writer Pat Anstett, photo director Craig Porter, veteran photographers Pat Beck and Susan Tusa, and a bunch more.

    They committed the crime, in corporate eyes, of making decent salaries. The newspaper will probably hire a few much cheaper, small-market reporters in return. All this raises the question of whether there will be anything worthwhile reading in the Free Press.

    The answer is yes, sort of. On the days Brian Dickerson or Stephen Henderson's columns appear, anyway. And then there's the Gannett weather map. You can also read Mitch Albom plugging his latest smarmy book or attempt to make money out of Ernie Harwell's corpse. Beyond that, there's the brilliant comic strip, Pearls Before Swine. And say ... did I mention the weather map?

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    1. 11:22 I don't believe you. The Guild would never let this happen. Never I say!!!!

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  8. Any update on the launch sponsor for USATODAY.com? I didn't see any in the newspaper. Is Sales division even working?

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  9. All the advertising people have quit or been laid off.
    So have the circ people.
    So have the journalists.

    But graphic logo designers now have secure jobs.


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  10. Perhaps the stock will hit $30 when they stop printing all their papers?

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  11. Wiw talk about great content, today's Final Word is a riviting account of a doggie sleepover. They should have increased the draw!!!!!

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

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  13. @9:13 and others who think it's so easy to just leave and find employment..it depends on the state or city you're in. I've tried for 2 years to leave and responses such as this ,"Thank you for responding to our posting. It is clear from you resume that your career has surpassed what we are seeking for this position. Best of luck with your job search." means while jobs are there the salaries are not..Those of us that have mortgages, families and other responsibilities can't just up and leave! Sometimes you have to suck it up and endure. Not what I want but what is necessary. Gannett's vision is not in it's people but where they are steering the company regardless of what they leave in it's path. It's business but so poorly managed, it's a train wreck that some of us have to sadly watch.

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  14. I'm surprised the lack of press of the creator of DealChicken ditching the product.

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  15. I have been lookinf for a new job for the past year.The fact is the pay cut will be huge, but I am willing to take a hit to leave this hell hole. Just waiting for that right job to come along. I hate GCI and all it stands for
    HP

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  16. USA TODAY has been going in circles for the last few years, so the new logo makes perfect sense.

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  17. The saddest part of this relaunch are the lack of advertisers.

    USA Today missed a golden opportunity to turn this into a Blue Chip ad bonanza, bringing back all the world class advertisers from the past 30 years.

    Mary Murcko and Banikarim failed to entice major sponsors.



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  19. 1:11 is right on the money. Often, it is not easy to pick up and leave. The sad thing behind the headlines is the number of people who for one reason or another (family, ill parents, nearly grown children) can't jump easily to another market. The real story of Gannett's downsizing is the story of the people who lost secure retirements or were forced to take huge pay cuts. A lot of lives have been terribly hurt.

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  20. Proof that analysts are idiots:
    http://finance.yahoo.com/news/gannett-analyst-says-pay-walls-185442254.html

    This clown put a target on the stoock price that's already been hit.

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  21. I meant "stock" price...if I didn't have to guess at this Crapchta thing 4 times, I'd have more time to pay attention to spelling! ;-(

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  22. Most people just can't walk out of a job and into a new one. I am personally retraining into a new career, but need to keep the Gannett gig until school is done. If they let me go before then, at least I'll have some severance and unemployment to live on. If I quit, I have nothing.

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    1. Excellent plan! Take their money (and give them as little as you can...only what you have to) until you get out on your terms. If they dump you (it is a matter of time) before you get another job, take the unemployment benefits you have been paying for. Screw them over before they screw you!

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    2. Everyone should wise up and while employed by this rotten company, do nothing more than you must do to keep your job until you are ready to get out. Come in to work exactly when you must, take breaks you are entitled to and leave in the stroke of quitting time. Remember, Gannett does not give a crap about you!

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

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

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  25. I removed those comments because this isn't a blog about the broader economy or politics. It's about Gannett and the news industry's digital transition. 

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    1. Because Jim is so obviously a 1% republican? Oh, ok.

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  27. Good to see 2:37 in here posting the same, old, redundant crap.

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  28. @ 1:14 it's because no one gives a crap about DealChicken which is mos

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  29. Most likely why she left

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  30. 5:22 That was an oversight; I thought I'd removed that remark. It's now gone.

    5:47 Truly, yours is one of the funniest comments I've seen in a long time!

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  31. http://goo.gl/roZpC

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  32. Hopkins does a pretty good job, I think, managing his forum/blog. It's a daily read for me, though I rarely post. Yet a few normal slips by one guy and the wolves descend, though! Ironically just like in the Gannett environment.

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  33. So posts that call Carolyn Washburn "schoolmarm" are deleted because it's old and repetitive, but 9:13/2:37's allowed to beat a dead horse? Be consistent, Jim. His or her tripe is worse than the Washburn nickname.

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  34. Publisher's prerogative. It's what we had before our news pages were designed six states away - bloggers still can do what they want.

    But yeah, as soon as I see the first line of that crap, I skip to the next post too. Yawn.

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  35. 9/19/2012 11:19 PM .........EXACTLY.... I for one will do just that!! And hell I'm a Manager.....I'm sick of getting walked all over!!!!

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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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