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Wednesday, October 17, 2012
34 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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Saw this headline on AZ Central today:
ReplyDelete"Police: Man shoots at car with 1-year-old son"
My questions for whoever wrote this headline,
Huh?
Did the kid hold the gun while dad told him to shoot?
Or was it a magical bullet spewing child?
Or was son misspelled and dad had a 1 year old solar powered death ray?
Is this what some people are paying for?
Point the business end of a one-year-old at anyone a half-hour after a meal of fermented Gerber bananas, and they WILL RUN.
ReplyDeleteAs for the death ray . . . you'd figure after a few billion in government stimulus we'd have SOMETHING useful. Here in Phoenix, we already have a solar-powered death ray. It's called SUMMER, and it will not go away. Mid-90s yesterday.
SEND JIM MONEY, WALL STREET
ReplyDeleteJim, your GB work is helpful and needs to be financially supported.
There are at least 10 Wall Street analysts who cover GCI.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ao?s=GCI
Which ones are NOT sending you money?
We, who ARE sending you money, would like to know. So we can switch our broadly-diversified investment accounts from their firms to those that do support GB.
Is there news as to when and how many layoffs will occur after the
ReplyDeletepolitical revenue flow ends ?
11:41, thank you for providing me with my laugh of the day.
ReplyDeleteLafayette Louisiana's controller BW has left Gannett.
ReplyDeleteI pack my double-barreled twins when I visit AZ. My wife has her matching .38's....
ReplyDelete8:57 Shreveport's controller Hanisee should follow her. Bailey is letting her run the advertising department and we are about to hit the end zone. Come on Bailey open your eyes!
ReplyDelete12:26 Bailey cannot help you because he is part of the problem. He allows her to do what she wants because he does not have the leadership to be a leader. I've been pleading to the L ladies for a new leader. They will see soon what they gave us.
ReplyDeleteDoes the USAT website home page design look like the top is cut off to anyone else but me? Like something is missing or that you need to scroll up to get to the big news of the day (but there's nothing there)? I really don't get this design. I totally concur with some of the critiques.
ReplyDeleteThis is a design that looks less like a news site and more like a bare-bones, Craigslist sort of home "indexy" page. I guess with real journalism and news judgment falling by the wayside, readers are going to be left to weigh the significance of each story themselves, because this design takes the decision on how to play the news out of the hands of editors and real news designers. Practically looks like it's automated, with very little human editorial input.
And as bad as the website looks, the paper is worse. My God, what the hell happened there? I worked for papers in the 1980s with better, more contemporary layouts, fonts, etc.
Something is going very wrong at USAT. I have no idea what it is, but the decline in the paper and website has been going on for a few years now. It was somewhat subtle at first. But with these redesigns, USAT took a major step backwards.
The marketing department has its work cut out trying to sell this damn thing.
I take no pleasure in saying any of this, because it was papers like USAT that set the standard for other newspapers for a long time. Now, well, does anyone aspire to be USAT-like? If they do, that's another black eye for journalism.
We are a top heavy, meeting-oriented, slow to respond, editor dominated organization. They spend time patting themselves on the back and handing out praise for the most banal stories in the paper.
ReplyDeleteMost reporters have no initiative and still wait for marching orders. Too many think print first, or worse, only print. Lazy and incomptetent. New hires do not contribute or too inexperienced for major stories.
Callaway needs to streamline and kick some ass.
2:21 sounds good but if he does then tons of folks slam him saying he has no respect for experienced folks. It's a no win situation here.
Delete12:26 Bailey is not thinking about you or this community. He is so focused on shinning for Gannett that he forget the workers can make him look good. He don't care --- we don't care!!!!!!
ReplyDelete8:37 - Yes. There will be 100 layoffs in December.
ReplyDeleteIs this true? Hell, I don't know. But neither does anyone else. So please, stop asking.
I am getting weary of all the kvetching over the USAT redesign. USAT will be gone in 2 years. The business model is unsustainable. Papering hotel hallways doesn't do anything for advertisers. Time to get real.
ReplyDeleteJob opening in Cincinnati:
ReplyDelete"Do you get a THRILL when you see your reflection in the wood that you just finished polishing?"
Looks like Margaret has "an outstanding Part-Time Housekeeping opportunity for you at Enquirer Media! Monday thru Friday, 3 hours per day any time between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. -- hours of your choosing" of an "executive area including kitchen and bathroom," at 312 Elm. Applicant must be a high school grad, at least 2 years housekeeping experience, good communication skills, ability to bend, stoop, left and carry 15 pounds, push/pull 35 pounds. And, oh yes, "we value the benefits of diversity including applicants with disabilities."
Gosh, us ordinary folk who work on the lower floor would love to see 3 hours A WEEK of housekeeping.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of good communication skills do you need with that job and those hours? You're only going to be talking to Mr. Clean - "Oh Lawdy, Missus Maggie KNOWS she can't be eating that 'sparagus! Mercy, we aught paint a target on that throne so's she can hit it!"
ReplyDeleteHonestly, it sounds like payroll padding for when ABM comes to town.
Turns out I do get a THRILL after polishing my wood, but even after three hours I'm not going to be seeing my reflection in it.
ReplyDeleteThat phrase is so tone-deaf and insulting and full of noblesse oblige that I'd be happy to spit in their vichyssoise for free, just for being granted the honor of waxing their wood.
From HBO's "Entourage," Ari Gold to wife --
ReplyDelete"Honey, I have wood."
Polished?
Cannot make this stuff up. Rubes.
Another national news publication (Newsweek) bites the dust ... at least in print form. Are you listening, USA Today? Between this undeniable and unstoppable trend away from print, and your ridiculous new design and diluted, mistake-filled content, your days are numbered. I would suggest most of you USAT'ers start looking for another job now, because in the next five years or so, you may not have the option of leaving on your own terms. Leave that sinking ship. There is no way most of you will survive when USAT goes entirely digital and profits sink. Protect yourselves by retraining (if you must) and getting the heck out of there and into another field. Journalism, as we've known it, is nearly dead. It's nothing more than wishful thinking to believe USAT will provide you shelter from this growing storm.
ReplyDelete9:05
ReplyDeleteThis should apply to all Gannett newpaper employees.
The ship has been sinking for 4 years and still people hang on and believe they will have long time careers.
Geez,wake up already!
The announcement that Newsweek in print ceases publication at year's end (digital remains) wasn't minutes old before the schadenfreude addicts jumped right into this blog. Weekly publications such as Time and Newsweek were ill equipped to challenge the torrent of news in our Internet age. But to make a direct connection between them and all print publications, such as dailies, is a bit of an over reach. Yes, USA TODAY is morphing into a strong digital presence. But the print version is going to be around for a lot longer than the chicken littles here think -- or indeed hope. Kind of sad to see comments from so many who are outside looking in.
ReplyDelete"Newsweek is produced by a gifted and tireless team of professionals who have been offering brilliant work consistently throughout a tough period of ownership transition and media disruption. Regrettably we anticipate staff reductions and the streamlining of our editorial and business operations both here in the U.S. and internationally.
ReplyDeleteExiting print is an extremely difficult moment for all of us who love the romance of print and the unique weekly camaraderie of those hectic hours before the close on Friday night. But as we head for the 80th anniversary of Newsweek next year we must sustain the journalism that gives the magazine its purpose—and embrace the all-digital future."
Tina Brown is the editor-in-chief and founder of The Newsweek Daily Beast Company. Baba Shetty is its CEO.
Has Buchanan cut all cleaning staff that those hours can’t be added to that crew or is this another instance where she demands “special” attention?
ReplyDeleteIn all candor, the way she’s treated staff over the years what she really needs is a manservant --paid for by her. Someone to attend to her own personal needs like fueling/maintaining her car, plating her lunch – including searches for the perfect banana, delivering groceries to her home, scheduling clothes fittings, fixing her family’s computers, etc., etc. The savings to the Enquirer from those activities could easily pay for what she seeks here.
Now, that would THRILL employees, especially those whose skills and time have been wasted by performing those demeaning tasks over the years.
PRINT IS DEAD....
ReplyDeleteNewsweek Magazine is going all digtal.
Our publisher was old-fashioned. He needed something done -- getting lunch, moving offices -- he did it himself. How quaint.
ReplyDeleteIf the new CFO is not going over this budget today, to compare against others, there needs to be a new CFO. Now.
12:26 & 1:11 Baley get some balls (NOT BLUE) and run your ship before we have a new captain. Ask Zanmiller. When the ship (NUMBERS) fall the captain falls.
ReplyDelete"But to make a direct connection between them and all print publications, such as dailies, is a bit of an over reach."
ReplyDeleteWhy? If anything, daily print publication makes even less sense: a product that even in its heyday was perceived as outdated on arrival and useless the next day.
How can she circumvent the ABM contract?
ReplyDelete10:30 - Maybe you're the problem.
ReplyDeletePublishing print is economically difficult to justify.
ReplyDeleteThe dollars to dimes equation is finally hitting its threshold of serious pain.
All print in the industry is feeling desperate. The attempt to charge more in digital to increase digital revenue is the latest trend.
Advertisers aren't necessarily buying it.
11:28 it's this kind of attitude that keeps us down. I work for the Shreveport advertising department, love my job, love what we do and know my peers feels the same. We should celebrate the good as well as the bad TOGETHER - we don't need separate dinners. Until ALL of us get this mentality we will loose. It is time for all the "clicks" to fall apart and we support each other. Bailey is - not should be - the Shreveport leader and he should lead by example. Bailey, if you will please knock down the walls around you and see ALL of us as being on the same team we can win!
ReplyDeleteNumbers were great when PZ was publisher. Revenue has fallen over 50 percent since he left. I don't think we will ever recover.
ReplyDelete