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Wednesday, January 16, 2013
62 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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Hello!
ReplyDeleteRight back at ya..must be quiet today in Gannettland.
ReplyDeleteIt's 28 degrees in Phoenix. Hell IS freezing over!!
ReplyDeleteSitting here at Detroit Media Partnership, wondering when the other shoe is going to drop. Shouldn't be long, it seems...
ReplyDeleteI need to know what is happening in Detroit. Are the News and Freep going to the hubs?
ReplyDeleteDetroit will be it's own Hub.
DeleteWestchester paper's gun map has impact on state gun legislation:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/01/cuomo-gun-bill-includes-journal-news-clause-154259.html?hp=r5
Nice going Journal News! How about putting some forethought into your stories next time? Like, what the heck are you trying to accomplish?
ReplyDeleteYou sound like you have it all figured out. Does the rest of your think tank agree with you?
DeleteUnfortunately the number of registered gun owners outnumbers the circulation numbers of the Journal News.
DeleteEach day, the number of NEW registered gun owners dwarfs the circulation of the Urinal News.
DeleteEach day, the number of new registered gun owners is equal to the number of people who should be categorized as certifiably insane.
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ReplyDeleteHow many and what departments ..the press room??
DeleteI read today that the Star-Ledger in NJ announced layoffs as well!
Delete34 Employees, including 18 newsroom staff.
They didn't blame it on the economy, but more or less, how much technology has changed in that more people are getting their news over the internet and thus not buying the physical counterpart and hence - creating ad revenue loss.
All in Advertising this time
DeleteNo, not all of the Ledger's layoffs were in advertising -- it's about 10 percent of the newsroom.
Delete@ 3:09 PM
DeleteI believe 1:17 PM was responding to 11:05 AM's deleted comment(s) and not the comment(s) made below it in reference to the Star-Ledger, which is one of the reasons why 1:44 PM asked Jim: Why did he delete 11:05's comment(s)?
My head is spinning.........
I was wrong. I admit it. I wasn't sure the Des Moines Design Studio had any talent, but the pages they post on Facebook are evidence they do and incredible talent at that. It's just those designers apparently aren't working on any of The Times pages here in Louisiana. Gannett papers here in the state ... well we are near the bottom or dead last in so many areas of life, I guess it was a matter of time before even our newspapers would be at the bottom as well.
ReplyDeleteLouisiana is scheduled to go on Newsgate early this year, your pages are not being designed in Des Moines at present. I believe there are four other properties in the same situation, possibly Detroit?
DeleteIt was in Gracia's email earlier this year.
The Des Moines studio is designing The (Lafayette) Daily Advertiser and you can tell. Daily, the paper is much cleaner (and has fewer errors). Some of the Sunday front pages have been very compelling. It's a noticeable improvement, and should get better once they're fully integrated into Newsgate.
DeleteDes Moines also is designing news, sports and editoral page sections of The Times in Shreveport, La. Features section remains under local control until the switchover to Newsgate sometime in the spring. Des Moines-designed fronts are sometimes ok, sometimes abysmal, depending on who's handling the pages and what they have to work with. Des Moines routinely leaves out info boxes, graphics, mugs, online reefers, etc. that were key to stories. The inside pages are space getting filled, and it shows.
DeleteJim.
ReplyDeletehow come you deleted 1/16/2013 11:05 AM?
Was that a rumor?
Hatchet swinging in Nashville as we speak.
ReplyDeleteYeah, something's up at the Nashville design "hub." Can anyone shed some light?
ReplyDeleteThe upper managers of the hub were cut loose.
ReplyDeleteThe wire editor is now running the show there.
ReplyDeleteAny idea if this is just a Nashville hub performance thing, or if it's more an across-the-board layoff thing that will be hitting other hubs?
ReplyDeleteAnd for people who are with the Nashville hub, is that place a particularly bad one to work with?
Question for recent retirees: Those of us who took the buyout last April will lose our health coverage soon. Do any of you recent retirees or self-employed former Gannett workers have any tips on buying health insurance for those of us who are not old enough for Medicare? Is Gannett's retiree insurance plan decent? I'd welcome any advice you'd care to share. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteRe: Gannett retiree health insurance:
DeleteI can only relate my own experience and would caution against generalizing from it.
I took a voluntary early retirement program (EROP) offer from a Gannett newspaper in 2008 at age 57.
As part of my EROP, I received three years of health insurance coverage at the active employee rate, which included dental and vision. The monthly premium averaged $170. I am single.
Under terms of the EROP, based on my age and years of service, I then qualified for health insurance under the Gannett retiree program. My monthly premium for Gannett retiree health insurance (including prescription drugs but not dental or vision) jumped to about $500.
I was told by a lawyer friend, who may or may not be accurate, that I was highly unlikely to do better in the private market for a similar plan because of my age and pre-exisiting conditions.
I never did explore the private market, and am keenly interested in what plans and premiums are going to be offered by the federally-mandated health insurance exchanges that go into effect a year from now.
I don't know how Gannett's plan fares against others, but it's certainly not the best and most likely not the worst either.
This whole issue of health care, health insurance, health costs, the boomers, retirement, and living longer will come to a head and have to be addressed eventually.
I just figure that any financial health I am fortunate to enjoy will eventually be done in by heath care costs. I expect to have company in the millions.
You should have though that out prior to retirement.
DeleteHe did, but if you catch the date it was in 2008, before Obamacare destroyed the healthcare system.
DeleteThanks 4:07 for the info. If anyone out there has gone the private insurance route I'd love to hear how that compares to the Gannett retiree plan. Thanks, everyone.
Deletei just mailed my first retiree medical payment $1200 month for married couple. checked on other options but got rejected for pre-exsisting condition so sort of forced to stay with retiree plan (medical and drugs only) no vision no dental. coverage is about the same as employee only price is way up. next question is when one spouse reaches 65 and other spouse is younger i'm told you have to keep the same insurance for medicare B to maintain coverage for under 65 spouse. not sure what happens next year under new health care but may provide more options with pre-exsisting condition coverage.
DeleteI went on the retiree plan in 2010. Rates are below plans on the open market. The real advantage is not facing pre-existing restrictions, or risk being dumped by an insurance company which decides you are too expensive. The switch from Blue Cross to United Healthcare was not good for me, as UHC is lesser, and not as widely accepted. Not clear on your Medicare question: But if your spouse goes on Medicare before you, they buy their own supplemental insurance. If you go on Medicare first, I have no idea if you can continue to cover your spouse via the retiree plan, but suspect not. I doubt any employee plan deals in Medicare supplement plans.
DeleteRemember, you don't have to go on Medicare when you turn 65, you can stay with your plan if you prefer to keep your spouse covered. But speaking from experience, my medicare advantage plan is better than my Gannett coverage.
DeleteGannett retire plan as far as I know is the same as active employees but premiums are much higher - and no dental or vision. Be advised, if you take COBRA which is cheaper, you opt ou the reritee plan and cannot get back in after COBRA runs out. You can use COBRA for vision and dental
ReplyDeleteAnyone else hear any different?
The retiree plan only allows you to participate at the employee rate, but without any company contribution. Lower than the open market, but not as low as employees with company contribution. And you are correct on COBRA. That only lasts 18 mo., and you cannot return to employee/retiree plan.
Deleteboth the studio and creative were canned. their shenanigans were a huge reason 5 nashville designers quit in the last month. they even went as far to instill a policy that all employees were required to bring a doctors note is there were out sick for a day.
ReplyDeleteGiven gannett and it's poor healthy insurance, all the employee had to do was show them the bill they had to pay in full. Forget a note.
DeleteThe above comment isn't true, at least for all five designers. The sick policy blame is certainly not true.
DeleteSome left for positions at much larger papers, others to pursue other things. But the churn is there.
Deletethe studio director said that he convinced corporate to not go through with the required sick notes. lol.
Deletelies. lies. lies.
yeah, they were personal reasons, better jobs, etc. definitely not the sick policy to blame.
DeleteI'm 'sick' of this place, I'm getting outta here.
DeleteNewsroom results are in and it's Kramer! Good move by Hudler to promote stability and protect local properties' stakes in the project.
DeleteThere were no shenanigans except for some designers trying to use sick days like they were vacation and they got caught. Both the director and creative director are good guys and very talented. They can do way better than Gannett and will. The buffer they provided between corporate and all of us is gone. Writing is on the wall. Time to get out before it gets bad.
Delete4:11 Larry Kramer.
DeleteNo. Steven.
DeleteWhy the deletions..
ReplyDeleteThey didn't seem offensive or abusive in any way.
Executive editor Greg Bassett of the Daily Times in Salisbury, Md., was fired today.
ReplyDeleteWhat is Gannett "spinning" about this?
DeleteStock price is at $19.19. Wish I would have bought when it was around $1.75 or so. Missed the boat on that one. And it keeps growing. hee, hee.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait for it to get back to $84
DeleteNo one can..... death will come first :)
DeleteGannett is a case study of managing for decline. Absent true entrepreneurship, executive competency and an arms-length board of directors, GCI is floundering from quarter to quarter and duping Wall Street with laughable notions about why its game plan. Rather than waste more profit on acquisitions that go nowhere or fizzle, GCI should either invest in its news-gathering strengths or start shopping for high bidders for its parts. As it is, there is simply nothing impressive or outstanding about GCI, USA Today, Deal Chicken, ShopLocal or any of its other ventures. Every it touches goes to hell.
DeleteI sold at $13 when I was laid off. I don't regret it. I needed to sever all ties to Gannett.
DeleteMore about today's cuts at the Nashville design hub: http://www.nashvillescene.com/pitw/archives/2013/01/16/more-cuts-at-gannett-as-design-studio-lops-off-heads
ReplyDeleteI sold mine when I left 3 years ago and is went for $18.50.
ReplyDeleteYee haa !
Glad to be gone and prospering.