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Sunday, January 27, 2013
48 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.
ReplyDeletewhat's the latest on the phoenix pressmen and mailer's contract talks ??
ReplyDeleteBob Campbell layoff?
ReplyDeleteAny other sites having mandatory "retreats" for newsrooms on social networking and shooting videos with those wonderful iPhones? Two days were spent in Cincy this week for all reporters and editors to attend. Led by CW. At the end of the day, CW tells staff that they will all be assessed one-on-one on their use of social networking and goes on to say "this is the new standard" for employment. The HR chief was invited to sit in on that segment, I guess to vet what she was saying. Also told that Gannett wants a 200 percent increase in videos and that reporters will be expected to shoot them along with taking their own pictures and writing a story for online and print.
ReplyDeleteAlways loved it when the HR chief was at any meeting. It was like having Himmler in the room.
DeleteSocial networking and ridiculous marketing plans are supposed to save us. The company will try anything as long as it doesn't empower journalists or involve re-staffing gutted newsrooms. The only upside is we can play on Facebook and network for a new job on company time.
DeleteSocial networking is dieing. In the end it will just be a bunch of old people and employers poking around trying to find out what the marketing image of the kids in their lives want them to see.
DeleteVideo is great for entertaining the idiots, you know the people with no money and plenty of time. The only problem is that the TV guys have got a lock on that market. They do a pretty good job too. I guess people sit around and watch all that crap for 30 minutes a day.
I will pay for a paper that contains well researched and smart reporting. I don't want op-eds from people that are dumber than I am. Smart op-eds yes, op-ed's written by idiots from small towns in Virginia and Texas, no way, that garbage should be in a free paper. That is propaganda. Gannett has killed the paid product. I don't want to read blogs written by ordinary people about mundane life problems, people do that stuff for free on the internets.
This company is putting out a product that really should be free. You can't charge people for this and expect to gain customers long term. You are just milking the installed base and they are going to die within the next ten years. Young people don't pay for this stuff and smart people don't waste their time reading it.
I know two people that still read this crap every morning. They almost always sound like they are apologizing when they mention they read in the local paper. They preface that whole mention with "well it came from the xxxxxxx". They are both in their seventies. They know the product is trash, but they can't stop "taking the local paper". Gannett could deliver cow poop in the morning bag and those people would still send them 20 bucks a month.
At this stage you can send poop in a bag and some customers will always send you $20 a month. If you cut all the reporters, poop in the bag for $20 will probably make you money for awhile. At some point sending poop in a bag to the loyal minyans who are not dead, will not turn a profit.
If could send "poop in a bag" to my enemies every morning for a $20 a month, I would buy 5 subscriptions right now.
DeleteFor an extra $5 I'll knock on the door and light the bag on fire . . .
DeleteWho is going to edit all these new videos and make sure they've got proper titles/credits and voiceovers? What is being sacrificed to produce the vids -- assuming there isn't a net increase in related resources?
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DeleteAt my site, which has a similar expectation for increasing videos, reporters are supposed to edit their own. Some photographers shoot & edit their own, too. Some do it on their phones, some on a shared Mac, some on their own Macs. No consistency in titles, credits or voiceovers. No branding. No "style guide", if you will. No additional resources.
DeleteSame at the Wisconsin sites. Sometimes an editor looks at it first, but since some of those positions are "editor" in title only, it matters little. Needless to say, 99% of the videos suck.
DeleteUsa Today having useless training session with American University "experts" next month. Most are former Usaters who couldnt cut it or retired. They're usefulness dubious, at best. But no one can question that around these hallowed halls. Just another fucking band aid on bleeding brand. When do Kramer and Callaway start evaluating real needs and prune tired leadership and underperforming staffers?
ReplyDeleteEveryone realizes what a farce this is. Just keep yourmmouth shut and act enthralled. This is how you get ahead in this organization. It isnt a place for debating ideas or airing points of view that differ with prevailing unreality.
DeleteThere are many people who jump at these things as an opportunity to asskiss. You should try it. Usa today has never been about promoting on talent or ability. Callaway appears to have adopted that philosophy with his management team, a ca
DeleteSt of clowns which should be put out to pasture, but only after doing some actual work to justify their existence besides going to meetings.
DeleteReuters Layoffs : 3,000 people were let go, including editorial.
ReplyDeleteLead story on Journal News' Lohud.com is for one of its few remaining advertisers after the gun map fiasco, the Rockland auto show. The headline is "Rockland auto show offers 'no-pressure' environment for shoppers."
ReplyDeleteNo, this is not an ad. It is the lead story.
How sleazy -- and desperate -- can you get?
An absolute disgrace. But knowing "LOW-hud" and its lack of journalistic ethics, it's sadly not surprising.
DeleteThis outfit is an embarrassment in every way - even by Gannett's low standards.
Caught with its hand in the cookie jar, the Journal News has abruptly removed the Rockland Auto Show advertorial ad lead story on Lohud.com.
DeleteCan you say BUSTED?
Because no one ever covers auto shows.
DeleteI think Gannett has been doing that for quite a couple of years now, fluff pieces and blatant advertising masquerading as news fact, writers becoming biased business advocates allied to the chamber of commerce.
DeleteIn fact, only a few sources were cited in the "story" and one was a quote by Bill Kolb, owner of Bill Kolb Subaru and a longtime Journal News subscriber. It's a gratuitous quote to say the least with no value whatsoever.
DeleteI would like the "reporter" for this "story" to come forward and say there was no directive a. to do this advertorial story and b. interview Kolb.
I'm waiting.
Here we go again. The Journal News once again has some "'splainin' to do," as Ricky Ricardo used to say.
DeleteActually, advertorial type stories are pretty common at Gannett. At my site, we've all been required to write them from time to time. One manager, in particular, doesn't understand the difference between free advertising and a news story. I doubt that we're unique.
DeleteIt should be flagged as "ADVERTISING." In the case of the Journal News, it's particularly egregious because not only was it not flagged, it was the lead story on the news front on the homepage and remains slotted on the news front.
DeleteBottom line - the Journal News is an absolute train wreck.
Here's the top headline on a Wisconsin web site.
ReplyDeleteAchieve your goals, bigorsmall
WTF? The web is our future? People have to pay for that shit?
Beyond bad headline that is a classic example of a Newsgate exported story smashing text together when it hits the interwebs.
DeleteHhhmmm. And no one at the site checks the website to see that all is well?
DeleteThewebisourfuture.
USA Today Sports trading copy for ads. Sad to watch a formerly strong sports section stoop to this.
ReplyDeleteCan you be more specific? Examples?
DeleteA few days ago, a post on this site recommended a book about obituaries. Got it at my local library. In that spirit, here's a 2012 obit from the Denver Post, with some names redacted. A true classic.
ReplyDeleteBlanchard, Michael "Flathead"
1944 ~ 2012
A Celebration of the life of Michael "Flathead" Blanchard will be held on April 14th. Weary of reading obituaries noting someone's courageous battle with death, Mike wanted it known that he died as a result of being stubborn, refusing to follow doctors' orders and raising hell for more than six decades. He enjoyed booze, guns, cars and younger women until the day he died.
Mike is survived by his beloved sons Mike and Chopper, Uncle Don and Aunt Cynthia (his favorite). Uncle Dill and Aunt Dot, cousins and nephews, can kiss his butt.
So many of his childhood friends that weren't killed in Vietnam went on to become criminals, prostitutes and/or Democrats. He asks that you stop by and re-tell the stories he can no longer tell. As the Celebration will contain Adult material we respectfully ask that no children under 18 attend.
If only. I had to rewrite an obituary of someone I knew because it "wasn't appropriate." I asked what's the difference since you now charge for them as Advertising?
Delete12:13 won't share an example because there are NO examples -- just an idiotic troll trying to stir things up.
ReplyDeleteUSA TODAY Sports is not sailing very well financially, but they are not "trading copy for ads.''
How quickly they forget . . .
Deletehttp://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2012/01/30/Media/USA-Today.aspx
We haven't forgotten anything. That business deal does not and has not affected coverage.
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DeleteDidn't affect coverage? I thought USAT agreed to provide more NASCAR news coverage in return for more advertising.
DeleteUSA TODAY has always been ahead of the pack covering NASCAR.
Delete4:12 I remove comments that call people trolls.
ReplyDeleteAfter enduring the ridiculous reign of CW and MB in Cincinnati, I'll soon be leaving. And don't look now, there will be others coming behind me. Leadership is so important in everything we do as journalists in this sea-change of new ways of doing things to meet the expectations of readers. And I've been so thoroughly disgusted by the manner in which it's NOT exhibited here at The Enquirer. I still love what I do. And in my heart, I still believe in Gannett as compared to other media rivals. I still believe Cincinnati needs the Enquirer, too. But this hometown publisher and editor have sucked the life, vitality and entrepreneurial spirit that once was so visible here. In the process, teamwork and meaningful journalism have disappeared, replaced by micromanaging and uninspirational leadership. Whining and complaining aren't getting any of us anywhere. It's time to take action. And that's what I'll soon be doing. What a shame. What a shame.
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly what is going on at all sites. No Publisher has the ability to make decisions that are best for their community. This has become a top down company. You will be much better off and happier when you leave. You'll see and then wonder what took you so long, like I did.
DeleteC'mon. The USAT SPORTS apologists here doth protest too much. Just ask the editors telling reporters they have to cover something out of the blue because the order came from on high. They can fool themselves but they're not fooling anybody else. Everybody who has to carry out this crap feels like they have to take a shower afterward!
ReplyDeleteMediaNews lets Nolan Finley of DetNews comment on sad farewell to Detroit Media Partnership Office HQ (Detroit News Building)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130127/OPINION03/301270307/Column-much-more-than-building?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
Why is CynDee Royle still employed? Who is protecting her? Why?
ReplyDeleteDo you have to ask????? TD will always protect his beloved, and MK will always protect TD. The good 'ol boys always look out for each other.Isn't that the Gannett way?
ReplyDelete