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Wednesday, December 05, 2012
53 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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I have to prove I'm not a robot. You'd think there would be a "prove you're not a spammer" algorithm as well. (referencing 5:01am)
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ReplyDeleteThe public appears underwhelmed with Cincy's 6-day series on the Granny Robber. It's been drawing about 2 or 3 comments a day, majority of which are slamming it for errors, waste of space etc.
ReplyDeleteProbably some near-term upside to the stock price on this news:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theflyonthewall.com/permalinks/entry.php/GCIid1750594/GCI-Gannett-Broadcasting-reports-M-in-political-revenue-in-FY
10:20 EDT GCI Gannett Broadcasting reports $150M in political revenue in FY12. Gannett sees Q4 EPS 87c-88c, consensus 85c
Everthing Cincy puts on it's website and in print is a waste of space. This once proud newspaper is the joke of the tri state area. MB and Washburn have wrecked what was left. Since MB walked thru the doors the morale spiraled down and good long term employees have been perp walked out the door while she continues to enjoy generous but unearned perks at the expense of others. Her treatment of employees and rudeness to managers during meetings with her if you don't have the answer she wants is nothing but disrespecful. She loves humilating and intimidating people in front of others with her audience just happy it's not them this time. It's hard to believe she still has the job. Evidently corporate condones this behavior.
ReplyDeleteThe Granny Robber series appeals to a pair of middle-aged women, the writer and the editor. Both are delusional about their talents and accept no criticism. They therefore have no friends to tell them they're way out of control and look ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteEnquirer is getting led through the nose by the Ohio Dept of Corrections, the robber, and her family.
ReplyDeleteJudging by most of these posts,it must really suck to still be a Gannett employee.
ReplyDeleteI would really hate going to work every day,day after day knowing that I hate my work and hate the company I work for.
I left as did many others when the handing writing first began to appear.That was 3 years ago.
Happy as hell now,love my work and the money.
Sucks to be you.
Local radio station is talking about Granny Robber. Asking how many days of front-page excuses they'd give to a young male bank robber who stole so his family could live large.
ReplyDelete12:30, we stay anonymous so our bosses can't take revenge. Why do you need to be anonymous if things are so great? Do tell.
ReplyDeleteYeah, you want everybody to believe you left three years ago and are happy and well-off, but you still come here to read and post?
Sucks to be you. LMAO
I have several friends who work in phoenix for gannett. 2 yrs ago ken gorecki their previous president signed the contract against the vote. The last contract was a 6.5% paycut and loss of their fourth week of vacation. Then one month later gorecki retires.
ReplyDeleteNow gannett under the leadership of dale carpenter who was recently promoted to head up the oversight of all gannetts print sights, is negotiating in phoenix. gannett wants a 10% paycut two holidays and five of their 10 personal days. (note they do not have sick days)I understand that the company wants more such as as their manning per press and operator and os pay to name a few more.
Kudos to louisville who voted to strike and i hear other places are also saying enough is enough. Perhaps it is time for a national strike or maybe a epidemic could strike. It truly does appear that every two years in phoenix gannett is going to come back and take and take until no 0ne can pay their bills.
This really puts alot of stress on the Union, since another paycut would most likely have massive fallout from paying dues and or outright decertify. (note I hear dec dues and assessments is over $70 bucks this month)
(oh while I am thinking about it, mike huggins the international help u sell guy was involved in the nice contract, that the president signed in phoenix, two years ago. Stegmann who is currently president of the Union wants to bring huggins in already and they have only had two or three meetings with company. I know that my sources are fed up with the internationals just sign and pay your percapita policy.
Okay i have been told that dale is rather foaming at the mouth that the plant is not making enough money and the union needs to join up with his vision for future health of the print sight. His vision includes bringing in the three round folder on two pressess and with less people per press and less pay, this will save the plant.(the press conversion is estimated to be between $12 to $18 million.
From what I have seen and read gannett cares not about the people working at the plant. If gannett could move the products from the plant and do it cheaper they would be doing it. They have already been combining and closing plants around the country. However their is alot of products in the phoenix print sight. They print the new york times and the usa today and all the arizona republic products. It should be noted here that according to bob k previous high ranking management member, stated the the print sight prints the product for the republic at cost. This way gannett can show a better bottom line for profits at the arizona republic. The good news here for the workers is that gannett can not move the product and get it printed cheaper some where else.
This means that currently the workers are needed and like louieville should fight for their right to survive.
Even though company is claiming poverty, this is really not true, the arizona facility is one of gannetts biggest revenue producer if not the biggest.
So far in negotations I have been told that dale and staff have told Union that they are not bargining in good faith.
I am sure that most people realize that you can not trust gannett. In phoenix recently gannett outsourced the facilities dept to ABM and made everyone reapply for their jobs. Those that stayed took paycuts and have zero vacation time and can not even earn vacation time.
I am praying for my friends in Phoenix and hope that they will fight for the jobs and their income and benefits and hopefully be successful.
1:39 I live guys like you who say the company isn't bargaining in good faith! Translation: they won't give us what we demand. Now that may be true. Ask the "brotherhood" at Hostess.
DeleteAll I can say is thank God for Deal Chicken...
ReplyDelete@1:39 -- does GPS not charge other papers cost? Why would we build in a markup for our own company?
ReplyDelete"Why would we build in a markup for our own company?"
ReplyDeleteOh goodness - ever hear of the card game 'Shit on Your Neighbor'? It's called Uno now... in Gannett, it's called U-know.
As in, U-know, we could get this newsprint cheaper direct from Abitibi. U-know, Gannett Offset charges us twice what our local guy does for inserts. U-know, GIADC costs us more than our artists ever did.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is thank God for Deal Chicken...
That's a joke, right? I assume it is, but it's tough to hear sarcasm in a comment sometimes. If it's not a joke, God help us all.
The "brotherhood at Hostess" 3:28? I guess there are similarities, where the union accepted multiple pay and benefot cuts while the managers took big raises and bonuses before putting the company in bankruptcy. Yeah, it's all the union's fault, you fool.
ReplyDelete4:13 I'm glad you agree. The Union chose to lose their jobs rather than accept cuts. SMART! Respect and Dignity
DeleteTough break for USA Today veterans Heidi Zimmerman and Elga Maye. Axed after decades to make way for Gannett's "new" communications division.
ReplyDeleteYes,it sucks to be associated with Gannett.
ReplyDeleteUnless of course,you are a 6 figure income management type.
Then you could care less about the worker bees or the product.
But ,then again, the worker bees must condone the situation.Guilt by willing association.
If not,stop bitchin and leave.
phx pressmen should go on strike, it will cost gannett millions ! their big cash cow is phx will be gone ! they can't find enough people to run the presses.
ReplyDeleteCurrent USAT iPad app is rated 1.5 stars in iTunes. 2300+ one star reviews. So they disabled the "rate this app" function. Head in the sand? Too funny....
ReplyDeleteHas to leave you scratchy you balls!
Heidi zimmerman is a sweet person. But really, there are many, many people who have been employed at Usa Today for years whose qualifications and abilities are dubious at best.
ReplyDeleteOne could cull dozens of Usa Today and Gannett perfunctoiries off the payroll in the name of cost efficiency. Unfortunately, they will be filled like patronage position for someone's friend or relative. Could somone such as our new HR manager assess new positions on a true as need basis? I suppose that makes too much sense. Let's just continue to build Banikarim's fiefdom.
3:28... Get the quote right:
ReplyDelete"So far in negotations I have been told that dale and staff have told Union that they are not bargining in good faith."
'bout choked on my coffee! No one bargains in bad faith more than Gannett! They reek with bad faith.
8:53 I'm still not sure what bad faith is. You want something, I won't give it to you, that's my right. Not bad faith in my book.
DeleteThis is the lead paragraph of a TVNewsCheck article posted this morning ...
ReplyDeleteDoes Gannett Co. still own newspapers? You could hardly tell it from today’s presentation at the UBS Global Media and Communications conference. The pitch from President-CEO Gracia Martore was overwhelmingly about digital media moves, with some mention of record financial results for the broadcast TV business.
In other words, Gannett is starting to push digital though not at the expense of its traditional businesses. Compare that to Media General, which has sold its newspapers to concentrate on TV and digital.
I agree with 12:30
ReplyDeleteZimmerman had an important sounding job and important sounding duties. But really, will her expertise be missed?
ReplyDeleteYou not - either....
DeleteGoing on strike in Phoenix will do no more than prove a point and eliminate the union workers.
ReplyDeleteDoes Detroit ring a bell with anyone?
Gannett will truck in pressmen and others needed from Gannett all over land in order to get the product out, and that will last until they can permanently fill the positions with laid off pressmen from other Gannett properties.
Unfortunately management holds all the aces in this poker game, and the rest of the deck is stacked. There is no way this would happen if:
1. The economy hadn't tanked or
2. All Gannett properties were union.
Unfortunately both scenarios are in play and that leaves no wiggle room for any negotiations.
Take what they offer or lose your job. Both options are shitty and I feel sorry for those affected.
6:03 and others:
ReplyDeleteHeidi Zimmerman hasn't lost her job, and is still working at USA Today.
This is an unfounded rumor.
10:28... Well said.
ReplyDelete1:39 thinks he's helping but talking in the third person "I have several friends who work in phoenix for gannett" only roils an already dicey situation. Contract talks are anything but done. A lot is being thrown back and forth, but nothing is etched in stone. My advise for 1:39? Attend union meetings. Air your concerns there. It is very democratic. Something Gannett doesn't allow for in their employ.
And Elge? Is she gone?
ReplyDeleteWho, if anyone, is guiding the ship in Cherry Hill these days?
ReplyDelete12:07 Seriously? This is not a corporate editorial page. Those are unsubstantiated rumors posted by anonymous people. Jim is pointing out that they are unsubstantiated. You don't delete stuff like that because you don't like it.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if corporate has a continuing education budget, but if they do they should put 12:07's long failed/forgotten logic 101 course at the top of their punch list.
In my experience, the people who use terms like "fucking idiots" are the worst "fucking idiots" I have dealt with.
Keep up the good work Jim, pissing off the idiots means you are accomplishing something.
12:07 What we really need to hear is how a "fucking idiot", to use your words, like you could still be gainfully employed by Gannett. Someday we need to hear the full story as to why you weren't shown the door sooner. This company has so many problems and you can just see it in the posts by the current employees that defend it. Broken company with cool aid drinking, catch-22 thinking people running the show. 12:07 is probably at ground zero.
ReplyDeleteFor those new to Gannett Blog, USA Today offered me a very generous buyout in late 2007, and I was delighted to accept it.
ReplyDeleteFive years later, Money barely covers your former beat with 22 year old know nothings at 35 percent of your salary and 10 percent of your knowledge. But the naive level is at 100 perecent, which is want Gannett wants so it is not challenged by serious journalists.
ReplyDelete12:38, I doubt you have any idea what it means to accomplish something. Your twisted logic in that post is some of the worst ever. I'd say you meet the criteria of f---ing idiot.
ReplyDelete12:56, I'd like to know just what "catch-22 thinking" means. But you sound pretty dumb, so I don't think it can mean too much.
Jim 1:03: Right. Yes, I'm sure that is exactly what happened. Nothing else happened before that, I'm sure.
7:02, 10 percent of Jim's "knowledge" would be awfully small. I think your attempt at praise can be turned easily, my friend.
I am not your friend, turdblossom.
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ReplyDeleteand the 12 year olds finish it off again.
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ReplyDeleteGeez I want a buyout so bad. Give me 2 years salary and I'll vaporize.
ReplyDeleteThen I can watch this mess from the other side of the trees.
Catch-22 is a book with a central theme of circular logic. American classic, you should read it. Read Fahrenheit 451 again too. Great book about the media and eerily prophetic.
ReplyDeleteOr just keep rattling off insults and putdowns. *shrugs*
Dipshit, I know what Catch 22 is. But I had never heard anyone refer to someone as "Catch-22 thinking."
ReplyDeleteGiven that you have not done much to explain what that means, I assume you have little to offer in clarification.
Since 1:39 doesn't work in Phoenix
ReplyDeleteHe has no clue what went on in contract talks two years ago. If you want to attack someone from afar you should put your name to it, and learn how to spell.
Ex President Kenn Gorecki
It will be great when our new HR manager actually stops by and observes what people actually do. How the work comes and goes, and what requirements are needed for the job.
ReplyDeleteI don't think any serious readers needs clarification on the Catch-22 reference to management. I doubt serious readers and contributors use references like "Dipshit" and "turdblossom" either. You are sort of in the irrelevant troll category when you get off in the weeds like that. Cheers!
ReplyDelete"Turd blossom" was George Bush's term-of-endearment for Karl Rove.
ReplyDeleteThe point, which many turdblossoms and dipshits keep missing, is that you can't really create a Catch-22 just by thinking.
ReplyDeleteThere has to be some sort of action or creation of a policy or procedure. The argument could be made easily that Gannett managers have created all sorts of Catch-22 situations, but those probably were caused by lack of thinking.
If someone seriously thought a manager though openly about creating a Catch-22 situation, it's probably one of the many bitter people here who were shown the door but continue to believe the action was based on some type of conspiracy.
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