Saturday, September 22, 2012

Sept. 17-23 | Your News & Comments: Part 6

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29 comments:

  1. NYT TRAVEL ATTACKS USAT

    http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/travel/fleeced-by-fees-when-you-travel.html?_r=0

    " .. When visiting the Hilton Garden Inn Sonoma County Airport last year, Rodney Harmon received a copy of USA Today that he claims not to have wanted or read, yet he was charged 75 cents. Last year, the Arnold Law Firm of Sacramento filed a class-action lawsuit against the “Hilton Family of Hotels” on behalf of Mr. Harmon and other Hilton guests who, according to the lawsuit, have “unwittingly purchased newspapers they reasonably believed and understood to be without charge” because the fee was printed inside the paper room-card holder in “extremely small font which is difficult to notice or read.”

    Well, dang, Big Al did his best to sell that one.

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  2. 9:38pm part 5....whoever said that hit the nail on the head. I told one of the editors here "all you are turning into is another Drudge site...news aggragator". He laughed.

    Newspapers...the print kind...can be and still are relevant. Tell the whole story and tell it acurately. You don't get that from any online source. and use your own reporters to get it straight fromt the source instead of 2nd, 3rd party hearsay.

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    1. 10:14 you and you need to get over the " newspapers can still be relevant" nonsense. The communication delivery system known as newspapers is over. People under 40 DO NOT use it to get their information. It's a technology/habit issue NOT a content issue.

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  3. Hey 10:14 AM, that costs money. And money out the door is money that doesn't go toward executive bonuses.

    xoxo
    Gracia

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  4. With all the graphics/design people employed by USAToday, did Banikraim really have to spend tons of money hiring a NY design firm to come up with a Blue Ball?

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    1. To ex marketing folks if you would stop with Banikarim already no one would talk about her. Enough already. Move on. Get a life. No one cares

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  5. Gosh and gee whiz. Last time I was in a hotel I got a hair dryer I didn't want or need. But it is part of he cost for the room. And that corner chair I never sit in, same thing. And the TV service I didn't use last night, same thing. Didnt use the pool, weight room, or business center either.

    The difference with the newspaper charge? You are given an option to have the charge removed from your bill.

    Read that last part again. What is the ONE amenity that hotels provide that you can choose to not get and receive a credit? That newspaper. Painting That as unfair to the consumer is a reach.

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  6. No, the reach 1:01 PM was Gannett counting it as a paid copy everyone supposedly read and it’s more of a reach now given how most guests need not pick up a copy outside their door as they can easily pickup their own electronic devises to access far more.

    Stopping the charge is a nuisance and time waster for most guests, especially for those using express checkout, which makes the charge for a paper most don’t read as akin to paying tribute to the mob.

    Enjoy the practices while it lasts.

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    1. 1:34 I read the paper every time I stay at a hotel where it is offered. Sorry you are so unhappy

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    2. 1:34 I too read the paper. Of course I'm in the over 40 set. Frankly, I'm disappointed when I don't have one at my door. You should save being worked up over larger issues. Even though the tend is moving to mobile, there still are many loyal customers who value this service.

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  7. I'm a 28 year old and I read the newspaper.

    Yes I use my iphone and my ipad constantly but I also read the newspaper and magazines.

    And I watch TV...lots of it.

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  8. 2:04 In fact, most of them DO use newspapers for news and information. They just don't know that the news they read on Twitter, Facebook, SMS's, TV, blogs, gossip websites, etc., originated at newspapers.

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    1. 2:04 Jim that is your misinformed opinion. This statement shows how out of touch you are. But to be polite you do fall into the "newspaper" age category.....old. Ironic that you run a blog but read yesterday's news today. Oh and "Gramps" the Ed Sullivan show starts in 7 minutes

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  9. 2:04..gone through a hurricane where the electricity is down and the towers that transfer cell phones and the like are unreliable at best? My paper was smart enough to have their own generators and got the paper out to the carriers who also bent over backwards to get the papers to wher they could. Shelters, stores, even some racks...when they were on the streets! For a lot of people the paper was the only thing letting them know what was going on.

    Then there's the local news that people need to know about. papers still do a great job with that when corporate allows them to.

    And...not everyone owns a tablet, smart phone, etc. Nor can they afford the rates to actually use one. If you can, good for you. I can but don't. The phone and cable companies get too much of my money now...and yet I know all I need to know.

    Like the comparison between the horse and car someone used a while back. True the car is progress...but sometimes the horse can go where a car can't!

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  10. 3:05 please read what you wrote. It's a sad commentary on life. Technology has changed a d yet you refuse to "buy a car" because you love your horse. Using your example, that's fine but the rest of the world wants to travel by car. You could print your paper on ten dollar bills and still no one would buy it for yesterday's content. Don't forget to feed your horse

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  11. 3:05 pm, I appreciate your eloquence and logic. You are absolutely correct: sometimes new technologies can't replace the efficiencies and practicality of old ones.

    I spent my working life studying history and concurrently working in technology, ending my professional career as a system administrator in charge of all aspects associated with running a large network of computers for several institutions. In retirement I offer my consultant services to non-profits and individuals at no charge in order to help them adopt advanced technologies where appropriate to advance their missions. I don't need to apologize for liking my paper news sources however, because I have seen both sides of the issue and I know that sometimes delivering information on paper makes a great deal more sense than delivering it via e-readers of whatever kind, which I think was your basic point.

    I believe that readers who dismiss paper as a medium for delivery of information are short-sighted and unattractively smug. I also think that readers who value timely delivery of information are going to have to bite the bullet and use electronic resources. To abandon either class of information delivery or its consumers just hurts the company because it eliminates a lucrative market for its products.

    Before any of you young whipper-snappers start to make fun of "gramps," be aware that some of us could eat your lunch in any technology you care to name. But damn, this old codger wants my paper paper to take with me to the beach or the airport because it's light-weight, portable, cheap and disposable, unlike my laptop, tablet and smart phone. I'm just sayin', sonny...

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  12. SILLY & STUPID

    " .. Stopping the charge is a nuisance and time waster for most guests, especially for those using express checkout, which makes the charge for a paper most don’t read as akin to paying tribute to the mob .."

    Tribute? Hey, kid -- the game is called PROFIT. The hotel and GCI make a profit. Just like the "mob" at Solyndra, Govt. Motors, and Ross Perot, who made his billions by automating Medicaid systems.

    Yeah, it is kind of annoying, per NYT.

    So stay at freakin' Motel 6, for God's sake. No one is holding a gun to your head, like the IRS.

    AL-HEAD FOREVER - FREE THE BLUE-BALL THREE

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  13. 5:14 as soon as that distribution model stops, the paper will have no more revenue.

    It's just a matter of time.

    At least the NYTimes and WSJ readers pay for their copies of the paper and their access to the digital edit.

    USA Today better figure out a way to get actual readers to pay and not just hotels.

    In their 30 years, they haven't figured it out.

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  14. WHAT A BUNCH OFF BULLSHIT..ALL OF IT, jIM LETS GET SOME GOOD IFO ON THIS BLOG AND CUT OUT ALL THIS NONSENSE

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  15. GANNETT GPS

    Who is in charge of the South Region now that Zanmiller has left?

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  16. MORE SILLY & STUPID

    " .. 5:14 as soon as that distribution model stops, the paper will have no more revenue."

    To emulate Big Al -- "yeah? When, Mr. You-Know-Everything?"

    Fully 1/3 of USAT staff rely on that revenue, some of whom are my friends. Your "brilliant" insight -- what impact would it have on them, Mr. Y-K-E?

    "It's just a matter of time."

    Yeah, and GCI stock once was below $2. You so smart -- why didn't you buy in then? And gotten rich?

    Oh. You're training to be a Gannettoid? Sorry, the mentally-challenged do need understanding.

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  17. Have they named anyone to take Roseanne Horning's place as head of HR?

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  18. 8:06 My contacts at corporate have told me they're leaving it open right now and are giving Tim Regan a "test drive."

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  19. For the paper-digital battle...why does there have to be a battle at all? Both can survive together. I read some stuff online but I'd still rather have the physical paper available to me. It should be what tells the story in a more complete way...like it used to do.

    And from what I see when going to stores, I see people of all ages still buying tthe paper. To say the young generation doesn't just states how uninformed some people are.

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  20. The USAT layoffs have begun. Silently a National Account Manager in the Travel Media group was let go this week. Will you survive this round?

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  21. I don't care anymore since I no longer work at a newspaper but I still prefer the convenience of a printed newspaper over a digital copy.

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  22. This is 3:04, That being said, I will never by a Gannett newspaper or product ever again. I do sometimes purchase the competitor's newspapers.

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  23. If you think only ex USAT marketing
    have a problem with Banikarim, then you're just not paying attention. Most staffers have yet to figure out what she has accomplished. If anything, she's hurt our brand.

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  24. 9:08, three words: desperate.

    Next mtkg pitch: "back to basics." That is, start all over again. Get an even-bigger Al-head.

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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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