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Wednesday, January 23, 2013
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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Of interest to many in online publishing: Today, Google reports financial results for the fourth quarter after stock markets close this afternoon.
ReplyDeleteJim
ReplyDeleteAny info on the reports of furloughs or layoffs Thursday in the GPS Division
Thanks Brother
I wish I knew more, but I don't.
DeleteThat figures. If wishes and buts were candy and nuts.
DeleteAt one time we could count on you and your network for information. Now I have to ask around to find out anything and hear nothing here but people complaining. It is fine to provide a forum for venting but this was once a place of information.
There is plenty of information out there but no one is sharing it with you. Why is that? And then you have the audacity to pander for donations? I can go to a bar and complain to my bartender. At least there I get a drink.
Hearing chatter at my site also.
DeleteLooks like the casualties here are contractors losing routes due to mergers of USAT with other Gannett papers and some outside papers. My understanding is this initiative was due for completion on Friday.
Other cost reductions like closing warehouses and ordering less displays/vending racks seem prevalent now.
Have no knowledge of staff reductions and furloughs, and would be pissed if a furlough occurs with the stock over $20 a share now.
Very smart? The index is sorted by first name!
ReplyDeleteBut yes, it's otherwise well done. And interesting to see that in natural light Boehner's unnatural complexion is darker than Obama's.
I also support the nomination of Bob Campbell for a GPS layoff put him at the TOP OF THE LIST
ReplyDeleteShreveport press still not running right. Papers late again this morning. There is no one left here that knows how to fix this thing. Lord help us.
ReplyDeleteI can , I can
DeleteSinking ship -- on many levels.
DeleteReminds me of a story - some time ago, the press service tech asked for a a raise, not a big one, but enough to keep him in cigarettes.
ReplyDeleteNaturally they said no, and he went to better employment with a higher salary.
Some time later the press went down "hard" and could not be brought back on line despite all attempts to do so.
To make a long story short, management called the person who left to see if he would come in to see if he could get it going.
After saying "yes", (with a hefty fee), and getting it running again, the publisher turned to the production director and said -"Why don't we hire this guy?"
Needless to say, everyone had a good laugh that night.
Ahh, memories!
White Plains (NY) PBA calls for Journal News editor to resign after gun map fiasco:
ReplyDeletehttp://westchester.news12.com/news/white-plains-pba-calls-for-resignation-of-journal-news-editor-1.4487076
For those wondering, the PBA is the Police Benevolent Association, a labor union representing officers.
DeleteAgain, no word about this on Low-Hud.com. The Journal News continues to "report" this story only in a way that suits its interests.
DeleteThat lack of journalistic integrity and objectivity, too, should be grounds for the editor's firing.
Does anyone know which editors got let go and the Star Ledger last week? Were any of them former APP employees. I know sales people were let go also.
ReplyDeleteGannett's stock is trading at a post-2009 "crash" high, changing hands earlier today at $20.07 a share.
ReplyDeleteThe previous high was $19.99 since shares bottomed out $2 in 2009.
Why did I buy when it was $1.75 or so, why, why, why??? Who said Gannett was going broke. Gannett just need to get the right managers in, make some "right" moves (sounds like the name of a movie) and bingo, $20.08 a share. Who's the fool now?
ReplyDeleteYou are, their value is only rising because they are DUMPING everything the can.
DeleteSell now 3:24 PM.
ReplyDeleteGCI stock will be above $25 before the end of the year, probably closer to $30.
ReplyDeleteOne can hope...
One can also do one's due diligence.
DeleteI agree that there's upside here, and suspect that in addition to eating their seed corn by throwing their best (and highest-paid) content creators under the bus, they're continuing their stock buyback program Jim wrote about last May:
http://gannettblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/stock-heres-hoping-these-buybacks-pan.html
Disclosure: Own many shares sub-$10.
I love the posters that bought shares in the dark days of '08 and '09 for $2 or $5 or $8. Anyone want to admit to neglecting those $70 and $80 and $90 shares in your 401k? Watching the 401k become a 301k, then a 201k and now a 101k?
ReplyDeleteCall your shots . . . where does GCI top out? And how does it end? Gannett Broadcasting and Gannett Publishing? Gannett - A Berkshire Hathaway Company?
8:01 here.
DeleteI've long prided myself for being able to separate my feelings for this company from it's stock price. With all of it's hard assets, most notably of course the real estate, the single digit stock prices from those days did not reflect on the company's intrinsic value.
So, it was a screaming buy, for many months.
Don't take my word for it. Read what the Ariel folks up in Chicago said. They still have over 10.3M shares, and that's less than Vanguard and Bernstein.
It ends with kramer and callaway destroying most of thr web and print oos. Beusse failing atmonetizing the brand. Baikarim team failing at ads and Heather Frank simply failing. Combined with the holdover executives promoted by hunke and Callaway, when the bottom falls out, it will fall out hard and fast.
ReplyDeleteGannett tops out in mid 20s unless it shows consecutive quarters of revenue growth.
ReplyDeleteCallaway is a huge disappointment. It is one thing to recast a group of tired managers in new, higher paying positions of power, it is another to ignore all but a select crew of personal pets and remain consistently detached from the peopoe who actually produce the product. When was the last time you talkdnwi a line editor, Dave? Donyou even know who half of us are?
ReplyDeleteLet the non-answers begin ...
ReplyDeleteJoin us at 1 p.m. (ET), Monday, Feb. 4 for the next Employee Town Hall webcast held with CEO Gracia Martore and members of the senior management team following the release of Gannett's fourth-quarter earnings. Following management presentations, Gracia will host a Q&A and answer your questions. Click here to send your questions ahead of time.
Questions to ask >
DeleteHow many lay offs will there be? When ?
How many more furloughs ?
Can I count on not being laid off ?
Will broadcast division continue to hold up print, or will print be slowly eliminated?
Ask Jim since this is what the blog is for. Oh, yeah, "I wish I knew more, but I don't." So sayeth the Jim.
DeleteI would think the stock price is an indicator of a positive earnings report which would also indicate no need for furloughs or layoffs? Or am I totally out to lunch?
DeleteTale of Two Cities...both announced yesterday.
ReplyDelete1) New York Times announces a re-freshing of their print product beginning with the Science section
2) USA TODAY announces a content alliance with the National Enquirer.
1. The New York Times is indeed refreshing a number of its sections, including the Science section. The debut of the new Science section has received mixed reviews on the Times's website.
Delete2. This assertion stretches the truth a bit, don't you think? American Media Inc., the Enquirer's parent company, also publishes a number of non-tabloid products, including fitness magazines. USA Today and AMI are going to partner on a dozen special publications featuring the "best of ..." The first is "The Best of Diet and Fitness."
Oh that's right...I apologize. I'm sure we'll be working with American Media's Pulitzer Prize winning division. Thanks for letting me know.
DeleteHello 5:36 p.m. No apology needed. I'm sure you just needed to vent. I hope you feel better now.
DeleteAll,
ReplyDeletePLEASE LOG OFF NewsGate by 11:10 a.m. Eastern.
I will send out an all-clear when you can log back on.
This should take about 45 minutes.
There was an issue this morning with our normal daily maintenance on the Enterprise NewsGate (ENG) system. Some of the systems didn’t start up normally.
We resolved that issue at 6 a.m. Eastern but now we are getting reports of some inconsistent behavior in the system.
We are now getting reports from users of issues such as: updates to packages and story folders get an error that says connection to database lost, wire lists not updating, packages not viewable by others in the system.
We need to restart some servers in the ENG environment. This will require ALL users to get off the system while we restart the servers.
Sorry,
Stacey
_________________
Stacey Martin
Director, Enterprise NewsGate Practice
Bring back hot type!
ReplyDeleteLayoffs in Cincy. GPS
ReplyDeleteCincy GPS layoffs shouldn't be a surprise, right? Aren't they moving the printing to Columbus or Toledo or something?
ReplyDeleteNo layoffs are a surprise anymore...
ReplyDeleteLet go from Louisville GPS today, one of many.
ReplyDeleteIt's a weight off my shoulders and a another door open to work for a company that treats it's employees well. See ya Gannett!!
Was Tony Simmons Let go ?
He should be.
sorry, what department?
Deletecirculation
DeleteWe were told today of 100 layoffs from GPS
DeleteSimmons is just an overpaid Gannett empty suit, like the rest of the Gannett execs, he'll be the last one standing.
ReplyDeleteFree Press to move, seeks new offices in Detroit's core
ReplyDeletehttp://www.freep.com/article/20130123/NEWS01/130123072
Here is the staff memo. With all the cuts, layoffs and buyouts over the years the building is a ghost town.
ReplyDeleteFrom: DMP President
Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2013 4:17 PM
To: DetroitNewspaperPartnership-All; DetroitFreePress-All
Subject: Announcement from Joyce Jenereaux
Sometime in the next 12-18 months, we’ll be moving our downtown offices – and those of the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News -- into a more modern building that will better meet our needs in a digital age.
We are beginning a process to identify our facility needs and search for a building that we can occupy under a long-term lease. It will be in the City of Detroit. While our search will focus on finding a downtown location, at this point we won’t rule-out adjacent areas, such as Midtown.
The goal is to put us in more comfortable, attractive and functional offices in an environment that’s more vibrant and stimulating than our current location on the edge of downtown -- while saving the extraordinary expenses of maintaining a nearly 100-year-old building.
The current DMP building, garage and parking lots are being put up for sale. Our plan is to move into new facilities as soon as we can, even if our current facilities remain unsold.
Why move?
Our business has changed – and our facilities need to change, too. Today, we are a multimedia company. We’re not just newspapers. A technology-based organization demands a modern office environment.
Our current building is historic, but it’s been obsolete for decades. It was built by Albert Kahn in 1917 – primarily as a newspaper printing plant. We haven’t printed newspapers in this building for more than 40 years, but we’re still operating in offices that were, in many cases, converted from pressroom and newsprint storage areas. The building has more space than we need, and as it has aged, it has become difficult and costly to maintain and operate.
You should know that our commitment to Detroit is unchanged. We see great things happening in Detroit, and fully intend to be part of that. And we have no plans to reduce the number of employees we have in the city.
We all appreciate the extraordinary history of our present building. I know we’ll be looking for ways to celebrate and preserve that legacy as we move on. (If you have ideas for how we might do that, please pass them on to me.)
We have retained CBRE, a global commercial real estate services firm, to help us determine our relocation plans and represent us in the sale of our existing facility. Our contact there is:
Joseph Rosenberg, Sr. V.P., CBRE Detroit.
248 351-2042
joseph.rosenberg@cbre.com
There are many questions about this plan that can’t yet be answered, but I will update you as we move ahead.
In the meantime, I hope you’ll all be excited about the good things to come.
Joyce Jenereaux
President
615 W. Lafayette Blvd., Detroit, MI 48226
office: 313.222.8891
email: jjenereaux@dnps.com
Last week won a GPS award for sales, this week laid off after 15 years. I haven't even gotten my gift card prize yet! It's been a great run, but I actually feel relieved, free, relaxed. Layoffs have been on my mind daily for four years, never knowing when I would take the hit. Tonight I am going to sleep good. Thanks for all the great years USAT!!
ReplyDeleteSame feeling here, was told by family that the relief in my voice made me sound the best that I have in years.
DeleteNo more midnight wake up calls, no more 18 hour days at a 7 1/2 hour pay, no more stress from Gannett upper management. It's all gone, and I actually feel good about it. One door has shut and others are already opening.
It was a great run, the people at USAT before GPS were a fantastic group to work for. I appreciate the opportunity and actually feel sorry for the very few that are left to do the jobs of those of us gone.
Based on the circulation carnage, the days of a printed Gannett paper are dwindling quickly. For those still around, please use this as a wake up call to get a game plan in place for a new career.
Also a big thanks to jim for keeping us informed.
Just as long as Maryam Banikarim is safe I know I can sleep well and that our blue balls are safely held in her hands.
ReplyDeleteFor everyone crowing about the stock price topping $20/share, let me know when it hits $90/share, where it was before the big downward slide. Where are all the corporate rah-rah posts now? #chirpingcrickets
ReplyDeleteWhere did USA Today's best finally end up after they were all so abruptly kicked out the door for being guilty of being successful? Michael Davidson, Tony Hill, Lori Erdos, Brett Wilson, Ed Cassidy, Jeff Webber, Andrea Gingold, Brad Jones, Bruce Dewar and Mary Ann Cristiano?
ReplyDeleteWhat an incredible list of losers has replaced them all.
Donald Trump, forget about the New York Times. I can get you a cheaper, rock bottom price for Gannett instead where you can wallow with the bottom slime feeding executives that you're used to.
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ReplyDelete