Tuesday, September 04, 2012

Sept. 3-9 | Your News & Comments: Part 1

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33 comments:

  1. Seems like the Cincti Enquirer is mentioned in this Blog quite often. As a customer, the quality of the content is Much improved. There are changes coming to the format; and that too will be an improvement. They will get around the trucking of product from Columbus; and that will not be an issue. However, the way that carriers and DM's are treated is so rude-profane-and-bullyish; that the culprits (obvious-daily offenders) should be reprimended or fired immediately!!! There is a better way to motivate vs. yelling-cursing-threatening.

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  2. Is US Presswire experiencing financial pressure? I'm hearing secondhand reports of coverage cutbacks, as more "fresh-faced" guys with cameras are getting into the mix. Maybe too much money spent on their Olympics coverage, and inability to take away the NFL deal with AP?

    One thing's for sure: they have a "1% clique" that gets all the big assignments - those that have high potential for generating royalties - and the "other 99%" shoot all the stuff that doesn't sell.

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  3. Isn't part of Maryam Banikarim's job as a senior exec at corporate to help streamline and utilize corporate resources to save the company money?

    Why is she outsourcing ad serving (away from Pointroll) and ad services (away from Gannett creative resources) and PR (away from a large PR in-house staff)?

    But this seems to be wasteful spending when there is competent in-house resources.



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  4. I have never known a company to take such little pride in its product....until I came in contact with Gannett. I will say, it's an interesting business model.

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  5. 10:30
    How do you know how they are treated as a customer?

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  6. Does anyone know when the Anchorman plans to move to Delaware? Responsible for the saddest free fall decline of one of Gannett's greatest newspapers, perhaps a move to the first state would indicate to his despondent staff he's in it to win it? More likely he'll stay 1.5 hours north in Bucks County, PA - as he continues his work towards bankrupting his third newspaper. What were his qualifications for the Publisher's job again? That's right, he's Dickey's friend.

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  7. Happy Labor Day everybody. Especially Labor.

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  8. 1:57: Dickey's friend....says it all. The most incompetent bunch of leaders I've ever had the displeasure of working with. All you need to do is look at the state of this company as compared to where it was just 6 years ago. It ain't all the economy's fault.

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  9. Speaking of Labor Day, web traffic at my local rag will be down almost 50% from the same day last year. I'm surprised it's that high.

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  10. Live her or hate her, Maryam Banikarim is if anything faithful to her friends and continues to reward them with hefty contracts.

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  11. Newspaper racks r either never filled or the papers are gone by 7:30- not many papers put in rack. Then you go to the store to purchase one and there is 1 left at 7:30 in the morning! And it is not a very busy area at that time for them to be sold. Store owner says that they only give her a few, and she has people asking 4 them the rest of the day.
    This product is FLORIDA TODAY in Brevard County guess they are trying to get rid of print any way they can. The readers can hardly get hold of a paper this way in Rockledge. HELLO!!!!!

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  14. 9:18 pm......draws are being done, last anybody knew, in Tenn. Now tell me how someone 1,000 plus miles away knows what's going on here? carriers pass on complaints but it just disappears into the either.

    I know a carrier who, last Sunday, had 1 return from a supermarket...they cut the draw! Another carrier had 20 something returns in another supermarket...they added!

    The circ mgr. who did all the slicing and dicing (SP) is gone, but those chores went back to someone else who, at one time, said he wished there wasn't any single copy.

    Think our stores have it bad now?

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  15. Oh yes...MB loves her consultants. I hear she hired back an old friend to sit in NY at $500/day (probably) to help with 2013 revenue forecasting.

    Revenue forecasting? Are you kidding? Our senior sales execs can't do their own forecasting? How pathetic we have now become...

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  16. So a new Publisher in Wimington? What happened to Howard? A Revolving Door of Failure it seems.

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  17. Also saw a list of 176 critical complaints for delivery of USA Today this morning. It wasn't that long ago that if any critical complaints hit, there were 2-3 managers calling the DM and customer to ensure delivery was made. Now we just sit back and laugh since a 3rd party has taken over and we can't do a thing about it. Customer service will be the nail in the coffin for Gannett.

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  18. The Dow is down again and Gannett is up again! Go figure

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  19. I like how when I entered Gannett into the search engine this morning this Blog was the first site listed.

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  20. http://insiderlouisville.com/news/2012/09/04/you-are-what-you-read-courier-journal-internal-document-divides-readers-into-aging-aggie-louisville-lifers-and-weird-wally/

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  21. Hotel, apartments - in...first Gannett newspaper - out.

    http://www.stargazette.com/article/20120904/NEWS01/309040037/Project-bring-hotel-apartments-downtown-Elmira?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE&nclick_check=1

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  22. 10:45 Howard is still there. What the heck are you talking about?

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  23. The Elmira building is way too large and way too old and way too empty - it is depressing to work there - we will be happy to be done with it. I bet Frank Gannett would have gotten rid of it himself

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  24. The point isn't WHY Banikarim hires friends over others. The point is WHY does she hire all these consultants in the first place?

    Money just pouring out of Gannett with no results (um revenue).

    She has zero sales experience and yet she is charged with sales revenue?

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  25. I am not sure who keeps blogging against Banikarim. This somewhat baffles me... only until I remember who her predecessor was, and who they were friends with. Well let me tell you, they were friends with the most motley crew you could ever imagine. And, it doesn't suprise me that they have tried to defamate Banikarim's character & reputation. Banikarim is doing a fair job, and taking the appropriate measures. Unfortunately, success comes with enemies. The safest thing you can be in Gannett is mediocre, and you will be surrounded with a large amount of "friends" who are just as inferior. God save the employees that are successful and talented, because the jealous, lazy masses will work against them, like a pack of wolves.

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  26. I remember the week prior to Banikarim's start at Gannett, another gannett employee was still angling for the position that Bankikarim had secured. The other employee, who we will just refer to as "JG" took upon themselves to organize an "impromptu" roundtable discussion with an online marketing expert. Much to everyones surprise, even the speaker who would normally recieve payment for such services, the discussion was complete with a camera crew. How transparent it was. How disgraceful it was. And how embarassing for Gannett, to have a speaker that was "invited to lunch" forced to give an improptu "talk" to "some friends," which was in actuality a presentation to a full auditorium for an event that all HQ employees were invited to. To upset the apple cart even more, JG continued, relentlessly, to give the impression that she was better suited for the position that Bankikarim was just hired for. It was a very sad, but obvious set of events. And no matter how hard JG will try, she will always be ill suited for whatever position she covets. Because, JG fails to recognize that work is required to do the actual job.

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  27. Wow, that last one was for you, JG. Stick a pinterst in that! LOL.

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  30. Defamate!!

    But to agree, I've been saying for months that the anti-Maryam contingent is primarily the ex-marketing employees who were let go. Not surprising they would not be fans, but better if they simply moved on instead of pucking at their hurt.

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  31. Anyone know what their charge back from GPS is? I'll give you a hint, a hell of a lot more than when the expenses were local. No wonder we can't make our numbers. Between the GPC, Design center, RTC/GPC, CCC, COE and XYZ corporate is bleeding us to death.




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  32. I am NOT an ex-marketing person and yet I am still waiting for anything of substance from MB. Criticism of her runs far and wide at Gannett. So much for conspiracy theories.

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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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