Monday, April 08, 2013

April 8-14 | Your News & Comments: Part 1

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35 comments:

  1. Today's thought: what idioic idea or promotion will Callaway hit Usa Today with this week?

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    1. Funny, as a reader USAT hasn't been this satisfying to read in a decade. I'm not sure why you're dissing Callaway but if you think the paper was a better read a year ago you are deluded.

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  2. Whatever he do, he ain't gonna tell y'all. He dont need yo paunchy ass 'pion on nuthin. That not how he fly.

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  3. I puzzled by USA Today's decision to put so little energy into the Mike Rice/Rutgers scandal this weekend. Maybe the paper has something teed up for Monday?

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    1. Not really that surprising Jim. We have leaned heavily toward the sensational since Kramer, Callaway, and Sport Media got here...

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  4. Last year, the median chief executive at a United States company with more than $5 billion in revenue received about $14 million, 2.8 percent more than in 2011, according to an annual pay analysis conducted by Equilar. (from today's New York Times)

    Does this mean that Gracia Martore was a bargain at $8.5 million in 2012? Or did she make less than the average because she hasn't yet found a way to ensure Gannett's long-term future in a digital world?

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/business/shareholders-can-slow-the-executive-pay-express.html

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    1. Nah, she's underpaid because she's female.

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    2. Nah, she's been a CEO for 15 minutes. How about she stays in the job for a sustained period of time and really proves herself before she earns what other more senior CEOs earn?

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    3. Whatever she's paid - $8.5M or $88.5M, it would be too much. It matters not that she's a woman. What matters is that there's no real vision coming from that office, no leadership about what the news and information space could look like in 3-5 or 7-10 years, there's nothing she's actually doing or planning that would lead anyone to believe that Gannett is leading or redefining or reimagining anything.

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    4. For the foreseeable future, the strategic plan will remain the same: cut costs in line with falling revenue while returning as much profit as possible to shareholders. It's never been about a bold, new, industry-leading vision. Gannett has never been that kind of company.

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    5. Yes, you're right Jim. But, my point is that if you listen to them talk during award shows, speeches, and in press releases about being bold, taking more risks, leaning in and having a "purpose" and innovating, that would lead one to believe they are trying to be a leader. They are, of course, failing miserably at it. But the hires they've made and the activities they've executed (ex. the digital upfront, investment in usa today's redesign, etc.) would lead one to believe they actually want to be perceived as a company with a vision.

      So, they can keep on trying but it's not happening and will never happen (as you have stated). Their leader (and leadership team) have no strategic vision despite all their pomp and circumstance. They shouldn't spend all that money trying to be something they clearly are not.

      BTW, I'm surprised that you've drawn that conclusion. Wasn't Al Neuharth supposed to be the innovator of his day? Wasn't the new "reimagination" of usa today supposed to get them back to the roots of being the innovator in the print media business? That's all they talked about when that relaunch happened. They spent all that money trying to convince people that usa today was back! Well, we see how well that worked out for them.

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  5. For years Gannett had told me there was a severance plan if I was to be laid off. When they did get around to releasing me as part of a RIF I got the TPP instead. If any one has gone through that it proved that the people running Gannett are heartless, and with out souls. If they say it is better than nothing I would answer no it wasn't. Give us the severance that we were told we would receive in the event of a layoff. When I was hired and repeatedly shown through the years that it was two weeks pay for every years working for them. The people that were let go in 2008 received it. Then seemingly out of nowhere came this TPP. I thought well if they haven't released me yet I am probably safe atleast until they start losing money. I was wrong I was part of a RIF and only received the TPP. The TPP only pays difference between unemployment check and my regular pay while collecting unemployment for one week per each year I worked for them. It really was not much. Gannett saved money it could have written off anyway and broke their commitment to us.

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    1. So, when were you laid off? We are all curious.
      More under the radar lay offs not being reported here?

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    2. You're right....TPP is an example of how soul-less Gannett has become.

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    3. TPP requests you go online each week and"prove" you earned the money you earned?? LOL - just crazy - would have rather just been given a cash settlement -got to jump through hoops to get it - and then if you were paid up to 40% of your salary via commission you are really screwed = but the medical benefits of leaving gannett are tremendous - already off of 3 of my former "maintenance" medicines ~ what a toxic environment.

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    4. How many layoffs in N.J. last week?
      Word is, there were some!

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    5. This speaks to earlier in the thread, re: TPP. Not only was that stuff out of the blue at the boots-on-the-ground level of the employee, it was also sheer exploitation of a site's host community's resources. That is, one had/has to file for unemployment funds in order to receive Gannett's switcheroo. By the time they got around to throwing my years of teamwork and service out, my state's funds were already bankrupt, requiring a loan from the federal government. Gannett doesn't care about its employees; likewise, nor does it give a rat's about the states and communities in which it peddles its product. If they did on both counts, "returning as much profit as possible to the shareholders" (as Hopkins writes)would be a done deal rather than smoke and mirrors.

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    6. So this is a surprise to you that Gannett doesn't care about its employees or communities it serves? Where have you been the last 10 years?

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  6. The people who dont take the 55/15 buyout are going to miss out on up to 52 weeks of pay. Once they are laid off, they''ll see this offer was far better than being laid off, a distinct possibility. Or be forced to do some sustsined, actual work. Which, of course, would expose many for the second guessing frauds they have always been.

    Bring it Callaway. Bring the hammer down.

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  7. 7 pm. Obviously, you are paying no attention to the naive, under reported stories and enterprise masquerading as big time journalsim. Outside the occassional series such as Ghost Factories, Usa Today continues to lag behind the big boys in most categories. What passes for a news product under Callaway is a joke, from business to entertainment.

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  8. Are the age 55 buyouts being offered at the community papers? If so, what's the cutoff for turning 55?

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  9. We're a bit past the First, but I was recently reminded of a classic ad that ran in USA Today. One of the paper's more memorable events, in my opinion.

    Burger King published a full page advertisement in USA Today announcing the introduction of a new item to their menu: a "Left-Handed Whopper" specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans.

    According to the advertisement, the new whopper included the same ingredients as the original Whopper (lettuce, tomato, hamburger patty, etc.). However, the left-handed whopper had "all condiments rotated 180 degrees, thereby redistributing the weight of the sandwich so that the bulk of the condiments will skew to the left, thereby reducing the amount of lettuce and other toppings from spilling out the right side of the burger."

    Jim Watkins, senior vice president for marketing at Burger King, was quoted as saying that the new sandwich was the "ultimate 'HAVE IT YOUR WAY' for our left-handed customers." The advertisement then noted that the left-handed Whopper would initially only be available in the United States, but that the company was "considering plans to roll it out to other countries with large left-handed populations."

    The following day Burger King issued a follow-up release revealing that although the Left-Handed Whopper was a hoax, thousands of customers had gone into restaurants to request the new sandwich. Simultaneously, according to the press release, "many others requested their own 'right handed' version."

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    1. The above bit of info (and tons more) can be seen at a wonderful time-waster of a website called museumofhoaxes.com

      Don't miss the new Scope bacon flavor mouthwash. "For breath that sizzles!"

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  10. @11:10: No, so far the buyouts are not being offered at US community papers. However, Gannett offered buyouts at the community properties in 2012.
    I STILL want to know more about the Butterfly Project (and not the self-cutting thing, either).

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  11. Go to USA Today's online Money page, then tell me how you found Michael Wolff's weekly column, which appears in print on Monday.

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  12. Why in the fuck is Gannett Wisconsin jizzing all over the Timber Rattlers? Jeebus.

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    1. Because it's all local, all the time ... except when it isn't

      Besides, Friday's video and photos of the person attempting suicide in GB have worn out their welcome.

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  13. Jim:
    For second time I know of in recent days, all Gannett newspaper sites are down at the moment. Have you heard about this?
    Anon

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  14. GMTI working to fix outage on websites and mobile sites.

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  15. Has this happened to anyone else?
    I live near, but not in a little city; the paper --sorry “media group”-- I worked for is also located near, but not in that little city. This city has a wage tax for folks who live or work within its boundaries.
    The local convention is to have county-wide addresses be of that city. The local finance dept. knew this and didn’t withhold that tax for people whose zip codes were from the unincorporated suburbs regardless of the name on the address. The non-local company that now does payroll didn’t get that message and withheld taxes.
    I am now in the tedious process of getting my money back. I hope to see a check before Sept.

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  16. Received a call from Gannett to interview for an Advertising Campaign Specialist position in Mclean, VA. I am from Pittsburgh. I know living in D.C. area is super expensive. My question is does Gannett typically pay a competitive rate relative to area? I have heard pretty bad things about Gannett, but am hoping the digital side is a bit brighter.

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    1. dude, you just lost all chance of getting the gig with Gannett if you are posting such a quesiton here and thinking they are not monitoring ...

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    2. 1:14pm - Dude, you should not consider any opportunities at Gannett. Of what you've heard, bank on about 75-80% to be true. The position you are inquiring about resides in a digital ad placement factory-ish type of environment. It's entry level with lots of mundane tasks that you do all day long.

      We all have to start somewhere, but you really don't want to start in this job. Stay where you are in Pittsburgh, grow your knowledge base, gain experience, and seek employment opportunities at companies that are not in (nor are dependent on) the media industry.

      But, of course, don't take our word for it. Go see for yourself. Do your own research, seek out people on LinkedIn that currently work there (or have worked there recently) and ask as many questions as possible so you can make your own decision. Hopefully people will give you honest answers. You do not want to waste your time or your career, so do your homework.

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    3. Gannett typically pays a little less than average, for "support positions". Advertising-specialist is a support-position. The DC-metro area is very expensive, and as an advertising-specialist you would have to be married or share an apartment to realistically deal with the cost of an apartment or condo. A one bedroom apartment is between 1,450 to 1,650 per month in decent neighborhoods. The DC-metro region is actually very congested and over populated, so it's very costly to live here because of the demand. As an advertising specialist, the largest property that you would be able to attain, within a reasonable distance from work, would be a condo. If you wanted a townhouse or a detached home, you would live in areas that were to far-out to realistically commute from. So, the answer is, if you have a spouse or partner to share expenses, then you may begin to consider the position. Otherwise, a salary of an advertising-specialist, alone, is not enough. Your would be struggling, and living hand-to-mouth. Also, Gannett often has quarterly furloughs which will significantly reduce your yearly income. I am not sure what is happening in Pittsburgh, but keep trying. Also do research into cities with lower-costs of living, if you should decide to move away from Pittsburgh. However, I don't recommend moving to DC-metro for the advertising-specialist position.... Living in this area is a constant struggle, it is crazy expensive!

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    4. Rents have really climbed in the past year where I live. That same one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco would cost around $2,500.

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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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