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Monday, March 11, 2013
56 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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Hi.
ReplyDeleteNothing but great news coming our way. Bankikarim and Murcko are bringing home the bacon.
ReplyDeleteThose girls are on fire. Sure hope their flames stay lit when they are back on the Cannes Riviera selling all those ads over glasses of rose.
You can tell 6:53 is one of the marketing failures who live at this blog.
DeleteAre we still part of that French Riviera advertising party BS?
DeleteThat's right. You tell them, Murcko that is unless you're 55 or older.
DeleteNothing but great news coming our way. Jim has a stick in his butt!
ReplyDelete#2 Cornyoucrapia vs. #10 Laxative Pack -- Color code alert. Yellow against pink. Speckled vs. smooth. Nothing can stop Cornyoucrapia. #2 (get it?) wins!
Wow. This is the most bizarre posting yet on this blog and there have been many. This says so much more about the person posting this rambling and plain weirdness than it does about Jim. Grow up and/or seek some professional help.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteHas anyone been able to confirm Journal-News notified subscribers of the data breach? Or are they in violation of NY state law?
ReplyDeleteYes. I have it from a reliable source that they contacted all eleven subscribers.
DeleteAnother big event and you got scooped again!!! Jimmy your sources are letting you down.
ReplyDeleteUSA TODAY announced today early retirement packages for those 55 and over with 15 years of service. E-mail full of buzz words and disrespect for long tenured employees. Big surprise.
ReplyDeleteWhat exactly was disrespectful? I read it. Didnt see it. Get specific.
DeleteI don't get the disrespect claim either. It's a business-like communication that seeks to persuade long term employees to department the mother ship with some bucks in their pocket.
DeleteHow about someone sharing the email so we can judge the tone ourselves? Jim, any sources out there willing to share?
DeleteIt's just more warbled crap and buzz words recycled from Steve Hyatt.
Delete"The Early Retirement Opportunity Program is one part of our ongoing strategy to transform our organization for the future, with a focus on becoming the premiere multi-platform news organization"
DeleteRead: we can't become a "premier multi-platform news organization" with a bunch of old people running around the place.
Sounds more like DP than SH
DeleteWhat the EROP did in Wisconsin was can most of the institutional knowledge at the 10 sites. And it shows.
DeleteYou got me all lathered up with the news about buyouts at USAT. Where the hell are the USCP offers? We're waiting . . .
DeleteI would guess that other sites will also be offering buyouts.
ReplyDeletePost the information when known.
Gannett's 81 USCP sites offered buyouts/early retirement a year ago, similar terms. 665 people were elibigle companywide. Not sure how many accepted, but I suspect there aren't many left in the 55 plus 15 years category in USCP. Gannett would have to change the criteria (i.e., offer to younger employees) to create any significant payroll savings.
DeleteAre you kidding me? I've been frantically waving my hand in the air for months and months. "Pick me, pick me" I've been screaming. There are still plenty more of us who where, for whatever reason, passed over the last time. Make me an offer I can't refuse.
DeleteJust as Jim and others predicted. Score another one for Jim and this blog!
ReplyDeletePredicted what? This is a retirement offer not a layoff. No one "predicted" this and no one new about it. Way to make stuff up.
Delete10:56 must be one of the people who throws "tips" at the wall daily to see if they will stick. Then, if anything comes close to what was predicted, he claims he was right all along.
DeleteBuyouts are the same as a layoff.The difference is their is a different criteria for the target.
DeleteIf enough do not comply then SOP will follow with traditional lay offs.
don't you mean pos will follow with layoffs?
Delete"Buyouts are the same as a layoff." Dumbest statement ever. Even Jim knows the difference, and he dumb. He really dumb.
DeleteWell it looks as if you're 55 or over you don't get to party with Murcko and Banikarim any more. How many more heads will roll now?
ReplyDeleteBuyouts are always preferable to layoffs; the severance terms are better.
ReplyDeleteI left USAT in January 2008 as one of a group of employees 50 years old and up who had at least 15 years' service. We got two weeks' pay for every year of service, with no cap. We also got medical coverage at lower, company rates for the full severance period.
That's much better than the TPP benefit Gannett gives when it lays off people. Under TPP, you are required to collect government unemployment benefits; the company pays the difference between those benefits and what you were earning. And TPP lasts no longer than 26 weeks.
Atlanta's plant manager has tied a noose around the plant and it will fall "more than likely July", and I am going to take what commercial work they have. There customers are not happy with the idea of printing in Nashville Tenn.
ReplyDeleteTying a noose, you say? Here are some others who might be tying a noose soon:
Delete1. Reinan.
2. Jim.
3. The guy who posts the same "You're dumb if you still work for Gannett" schlock weekly.
4. The various pressmen who post illiteracy here.
5. That guy who was running some sort of scam while he was still working for Gannett. He used to post here under his real name.
You might add :
DeleteGannett employees who still,after all this time, believe they have a lifetime career.
The everything is fine "believers".
Was just told Mr. Welch is no longer publisher at The Spectrum. Is this true?
ReplyDeleteThat is correct. Please see this post.
Deleteolder ! long term employee ! higher salary! higher medical cost since company is self insured, 401k company contributions ! all saves GCI $$$'s. get out, take it, they don't want you !
ReplyDeleteSounds like 3:29 is not older, not a long-term employee making a higher salary (the reward after all for remaining loyal). Yet his/her advice is sound: get out. For those of us who are not prejudiced "ageist" types, no need to be around that crowd. Indeed, to paint entire generations as somehow lesser than their own is a pretty good sign the profession is sunk.
Delete4:55 here. I was referring to Gannett, not 3:29.
DeleteMore than a reward for being loyal, higher pay should reflect more valuable experience and expertise.
DeleteWhich is why Jim was bought out and shown the door. Good to see you finally realize this, Jim.
DeleteThe best feature of my buyout -- and one everyone should ask about -- was that it didn't include a non-disparagement clause.
DeleteAnother important thing to look for: Many Gannett journalists who took buyouts learned after the fact that they could not freelance for their newspapers afterward. I have no idea why this rule is in place, but it's important to consider if you expect to have freelance income.
Jim, I believe the prohibition on freelancing with Gannett outlets is in the letter that went today to those who are the targets of this offer.
DeleteWell, that's a change from five years ago. Apparently, what was legal/allowed then, isn't now.
DeleteWhat employees recognize as a non-disparagement clause is known by corporate as the "Jim Hopkins clause", hah!
DeleteThis is a post that makes me wish I had a "like" button for comment.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteOshkosh Northwestern must have really liked a story about Green Bay's historic preservation efforts. It ran Sunday on the third page in the A section,and it ran on the front of the B section that same day.
ReplyDeleteHow does that happen?
Could it be because even the editors left don't read that rag?
DeleteThe question no one is asking: when will there be a buyout offer for 55+ employees that work at corporate?
ReplyDeleteGannett local papers continue to use "Raw Video" in their title. Readers got it after the last two years - Gannett does not edit the content for a quick clip of the newsworthy information.
ReplyDeleteAfter a long 15-30 second commercial, readers have to sit through the full length (often several minutes) of some crappy video just to see 5 seconds of what the story is about.
But then again, with seniors making up most of the subscribers, I suppose they have the time to sit through all the nonsense.
Huff Post: NSFW (not safe for work)
Gannett: TLFW (too long for work)
Wait, I thought seniors wouldn't watch any video. Now you claim they will sit through several minutes of it.
DeleteYou bitter ex-marketing people need to get your story straight.
I'm not a marketing person, 7:44. Never have been. Never will be. I'm not even bitter! But the marketing chiefs at Gannett and USA Today are both overpaid and useless.
ReplyDeleteLet's see, before the current marketing chiefs came On board the previous team did what exactly? Oh yeah went to Cannes, disappeared for days and flew home. Anything else folks? Yea the good old days!!!!
DeleteSo is most of the editorial department
ReplyDeletego get mckorkindale and watson out of the flordia bars and bring them back !
ReplyDelete