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Saturday, December 15, 2012
55 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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Nice to see USA Today has to correct itself on its Cubs sign Sanchez report. Suh-wing and a miss.
ReplyDeleteMore substance from USA TODAY: Federal prisoners use snitching for personal gain http://usat.ly/UfYK7c
ReplyDeleteHo Ho Ho. Christmas bonuses, layoffs or furloughs?
ReplyDeleteI've held my tongue until I can't take it anymore! Bob Stover at FLORIDA TODAY is a complete waste of time and space. His meaningless directions, emails, and meetings with/to news staff just slows the real news producers down.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many times his 'words of wisdom' distract us from staying on top of things!
He should be required to write his worthless columns everyday just to keep him busy (although a better use of his time would be making paper clip chains).
Sorry, after having to pretend to be excited about the stupid pot luck today, I feel much better now.
What a man you are for writing that anonymous criticism. Here's hoping you are identified and punished, gutless wonder.
DeleteLet me see if I get this right Mr/Mrs/Ms 6:28
DeleteIf someone calls out the capabilities of a manager, and doing so while remaining anonymous, makes this person a gutless wonder?
Have you not read any other posts here on the blog? I guess it is OK if you call out only upper level management at corporate or other papers, but doing so at Florida Today somehow falls outside your definition of fairness?
Go figure...
Happy
That stuff is weak, too, Crappy, although the extreme higher-ups are very well compensated.
DeleteAnd Mr. Stover isn't?
DeleteI'll venture a guess, that he is making double 6 digits or more a year for writing a weekly column, and "His meaningless directions, emails, and meetings with/to news staff just slows the real news producers down."
If the above is true, I'd say he is very well compensated.
As I said, that stuff is still weak. Is that your best defense? Weak.
Delete"What a man you are"
DeleteHow many "real men" are left in print journalism these days anyhow? U.S. papers can't afford to send their reporters to dangerous news abroad anymore. Instead just use wire stories.
If the poster was a "real man", or even a man for that matter, the assumed 'he' would not be apologetic for speaking 'his' mind because "real men" don't apologize for speaking their mind:
"Sorry, after having to pretend to be excited"
There is probably a link between the comment and Bob Stover's article:
DeleteBreaking-news team responds quickly
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20121217/COLUMNISTS0218/312170002/Bob-Stover-Breaking-news-team-responds-quickly
Must be a manager. That is a requirement of their job.
ReplyDeleteYour job is to be unemployed. Enjoy.
DeleteFor some reason, Gannett/USA Today columnist Mike Lopresti -- who covers sports -- was asked to write a spot column about today's shootings at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.
ReplyDeleteJim
DeleteIs there something wrong with that? He is a writer is he not?
There was an equally inane column by Gannett's movie critic — the gist of which was that words failed him.
DeleteNothing wrong with it...maybe Lopresti and others felt moved to write something. Just odd. OR, the skeptical side of me says, it's a bid for hits and extra content for the USCP papers so they don't use outside content.
DeleteI'm with 7:52, Jim. Could be just because Mike is a really good writer. Perhaps Craig Wilson was not avail for the same? I mean, they're one of the few writers there who could be described as "really good."
DeleteBTW: Why do you introduce this with the skeptical "for some reason"? As if sports writers don't write about other topics? As if many didn't come up from news, features, business, etc.? Anyone reading Mike's last sentence in the column can see he was more than up to the task. That's a heartbreaking line. Would you not agree, Jim?
For context: I believe David Maraniss wrote some great news articles, then a great biography about Bill Clinton, and then became a great "sportswriter" when he tackled Vince Lombardi. I also believe Sally Jenkins is a great "sportswriter" who often writes about news-driven topics (most recently the impact of Sandy on NYC) for the Wash Post. (Jenkins also did considerable news reporting for A-1 in the wake of 9/11.)
In other words, this is nothing unusual. It's actually something that good newspapers do -- putting your best talent on the top story. Not to call USAT a good newspaper or anything. Because it woefully lacks writers who can write like Mike and Craig, as well as editors who can nurture/coach such writers. That's because the newspaper leadership there for decades has embraced the "tin ear" school of newspaper writing, and has hired its "talent" accordingly. Mike's column is a refreshing departure from that.
I always love reading Lopresti. Pretty tough assignment for anybody yesterday. But he adds value - and has throughout his career. There are a lot of good sports writers out there and the best have no difficulty writing about real life. I agree w/ @1103. Writing and writing coaches are way under-valued across GCI, which often seems to prefer baubles or knee-jerk stuff.
DeleteFor those of you who did not read all the way through Lopresti's column, here are the last three paragraphs. (As for the last line, what: None of the victims were Jewish?)
DeleteThe haunting memory from Friday will be of young voices, shrieking in fear. Of parents thrust into their worst nightmare. Of Christmas stockings that will never be filled.
Have we finally had enough? It must not start with just gun control. It must start with us. We've surrendered common civility because something else makes more money, or gets more attention. The result? Many simply live angrier lives.
But a few pick up guns, and go off to kill children who still believed in Santa Claus.
Oh, Jim. Give up the nit-pick. It's a beautiful line. And, since you're putting on your anal-retentive 'school marm' cap on by trying to call him on a technicality, I'll go one better and say the sentence is technically correct: He didn't say that ALL the children believed in Santa and then, therefore, Jesus. He only said "children." So there, Mr. smarty pants anal retentive school m'arm.
DeleteI should add that I read several columns in other media, and . . . well . . . let's just say that it's hard to write on deadline when it's Friday and the end of an already exhausting week. So, I'm sympathetic to any writer who took on this assignment.
DeleteIs your back hand sore from giving that "compliment"? Give it up, Jim. Writing is subjective. So it didn't float your boat. He did a great job under any circumstance. Move on.
DeleteObviously, it was meant as context.
DeleteHaving said that, Lopresti did say something unexpected for a writer in his field when he wrote about the "pitifully trivial world of sport."
(Surely, he meant trivial when compared to the day's events.)
And he gets credit for indirectly criticizing his own employer, which has invested heavily in one of the more bloody entertainment sports around: ultimate fighting.
While Loprestil is a really good writer--I enjoy his sports columns--this one is cheap sentiment and draws on the stereotype of the "angry guy with a gun". There's much more to Adam Lanza's story, and like it or not, this will be as much about him as the victims.
DeleteAgain it takes a tragedy such as this to showcase the ineptness of today's news, papers and TV and radio alike. One shooter or two? Rifle and shotgun...no...two hand guns and an assault rifle. Shooter identified! Oh no...his brother. Buzzed through the door by principle? No...shot through the door to gain access, then shot principle.
ReplyDeleteDidn't it used to be the media knew what they were talking about BEFORE they reported on something or did that die with Cronkite's misinterpretation in Vietnam?
@715 Have you ever covered breaking news?
Delete.....
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Didn't think so.
You should consider that before rolling out your Howitzer.
It's for this very reason that, as a news consumer, I don't take any breaking news as being the least bit accurate. It's usually not and is therefor valueless. In fact, its only purpose seems to be no news but self-promoting titillation.
DeleteSeveral years removed from the CP and just got a another bonus from my current workplace of over $3K.
ReplyDeleteMakes me think back to ten years ago when my CP boss would give me $500 at most and then caution me not to say anything to anyone because he couldn't give bonuses to most of the staff. Then, a few years later, the annual CP "bonus" was the announcement of furloughs and the constant "just be lucky we're not getting laid off" chatter. So nice to not be working in that cancerous environment anymore, far, far away from the CP. Wake up, Gannettoids. The economy is improving. Jobs are materializing. There is another way.
All B.S. No company named. No coincidence.
DeleteThis is all a figment of someone's imagination. Wake up.
I disagree with 12:03. While 12:03's experience might be different, at my site such dealings were not overly common but they did occur (complete with "don't say anything to anyone else"). Just another symptom of an unhealthy office culture.
DeleteNo, 12:35, the comment from 12:03 is the same, old, tired "no company name, no bonus." Which is a variation on the old, tired "no name, no business." And it's an old, tired Gannettoid out there who wants to spread the myth that no GCI employee could ever, ever POSSIBLY leave the company (voluntarily or otherwise) and actually -- oh my gosh! -- find something ELSE to do! Like at a place where good work is rewarded both with professional respect ("what's that?" the Gannettoids ask) and even financial rewards ("Huh?") Or start your own business and actually succeed.
DeleteThe 12:03 poster shoots down any such statements because he/she is a Gannett manager who wants all good Gannett worker bees to stick their heads inside their cubicles and continue working their fingers to the bone for their bi-weekly pittance and pay no attention to the many people who have moved on and found something far, far better. 12:03 is a tired, bitter person who lost his/her soul a long, long time ago, and has been dancing this dance for several years now on this blog. All with the same stock response of "no name, no business/bonus/job," blah blah blah. Give it up, 12:03.
There's 12:03 again. There cannot possibly be a better life outside of Gannett.If anyone posts that they made a great transition out of the clutches of Gannett,they must certainly be dreamers.
ReplyDeleteThis attitude of no life other than Gannett is just sticking your head in sand and pretending everything is great. You will be a lifer and never get laid off.This low self esteem is spread throughout Gannett,everyone is just so afraid they can't make it anywhere else.
Seems like a good time to take a break from all the venom doesn't it. Please take this time to pray for our lost young ones. Get groovy cool boy.
ReplyDeleteJust name the company. After all, if you're out of Gannett, what is there to fear? Well, outside of being caught in a lie?
ReplyDeleteAre you being deliberately obtuse?
DeleteGannett employees have been forced from their jobs simply for posting opinions on social media like Facebook. And I'm not talking about opinions about Gannett, either.
What makes you think this person's employer would react any differently?
Please, please stop. It's good and well to be skeptical of any one individual anonymous anecdote, but the weird fixation that nobody anywhere can be successful and content — well, let's just say it ain't healthy.
DeleteJim, you are the master of being deliberately obtuse. If the person is no longer working for Gannett, then the only thing to fear is being caught in a lie.
DeleteIf you can't understand that, then it's clear why you have been unemployed for 4-plus years. Try to avoid twisting your own glaring flaws onto others; you won't like the response you get.
Now you can delete this and show your true nature.
Tired act, 4:03. Any successful professional knows you don't get that way by ripping a former employer in public. People who wear Big Boy work pants know that. And you know it too. Try a new approach. This one hasn't worked for two years now and it won't.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good way to avoid naming the company and to avoid being caught in a lie.
DeleteIn your world, we should just trust some anonymous individual's claim about an unnamed company. And we should ignore the highly questionable motive, which seems to be to get people to quit Gannett. Still not sure how that benefits the poster, but some people here won't ever be confused for rational people.
Jim's had a tough 2012. He's still unemployed. He's been nowhere near his revenue goals in any quarter. He no longer has any company news of consequence. The tax reports he relies on are information that anyone in the public can request. He provides nothing of value.
ReplyDeleteHow long will he continue to waste his life on this endeavor? He gets nowhere. He convinces no one. The company laughs at him, from what I hear. The stream of constant, silly rumors is a drain on credibility. Remember when someone said the Lafayette paper would close?
I almost feel sorry for Jim Hopkins. He accomplishes nothing. Tragic.
It's not news that Jim is dumb. About the only reason I still view anything here is I have a relative who works for a Gannett paper, and I try to monitor what might be happening.
DeleteThat's been a lost cause here for months, though.
Jim, you suck so much, so often. You made a fool of yourself at the stockholders' meeting. Remember that time you tried to get info about those job cuts in Oklahoma, and you kept changing the numbers and the location, then finally just gave up without ever saying what the facts were? That was classic.
ReplyDeleteJim-haters: Please click away from this site. And don't come back.
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DeleteI was hoping craig had died ... Ugh not yet I see
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteI admire Jim for keeping up this blog, in spite of the venom and mean-spirited insults spewed by people who are 1: Not even employed by Gannett or, 2: Employed by Gannett but frustrated that nobody pays much attention to them (probably for good reason). Please, Jim, establish a special section for these unhappy people so they can share their poison with like-minded souls. Then, the rest of us can read for Jim's blog for useful information. As I look into my crystal ball, I predict a Pavlovian response from the haters, thus bolstering my case for a special section for these special folks.
DeleteThere is no useful information here these days. There hasn't been for some time.
DeleteJust like TV folks ,if you don't like what's on the channel...tune out.
ReplyDeleteYou Jim haters could certainly find somewhere else to spue your bitterness.Why come here and complain about Jim? Just tune him out and don't come to his blog.Simple enough,I would say.
Of course,you come here and say Jim should go just go away and in doing so you add hits to his site.
The there is no logic to your irrational thought process.
Go figure.............
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DeleteI think Jim should start a special thread for people that have left Gannett. Either of their own accord or being forced out and have done great in doing so.
ReplyDeleteHow many posts would it take for doubters such as 12:03 to believe.
But,then again,we know those folks are just trying to make everyone else as miserable as themselves.They are trying to convince that there cannot be any other life except that in which you are employed by a miserable company such as Gannett.Just as they are,with no hope of getting away except when thrown out,like so many others, as worthless trash.
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DeleteI work for Gannett and I love my job. Thanks for the opportunity to share.
ReplyDelete