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Thursday, April 18, 2013
50 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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Now that the Atlanta Plant Manager/ GPS Sales manager has lost IBD, their last stable account does anyone know the time frame on the plant closing? I have heard July.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct my friend
DeleteBBB promotion machine strikes again, this time in Forbes:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.forbes.com/sites/erikaandersen/2013/04/17/new-job-new-company-heres-how-to-make-the-leap/
I wonder if Lougee thinks her move from NBC Universal to Gannett was a major industry change?
Yes, this is the quote from the article: "Look for early wins with others. Lublin talks about this in her article, referencing some quick steps that Maryam took at Gannett to make a difference. I agree this is important: as soon as people see you making a positive difference, the questions about your fitness for the job will start to fade."
DeleteI laugh when I read the last sentence. Companies just have to learn the hard way when they make bad hires.
It was for NBC Universal.
DeleteSounds like "Girl on Fire" is making the rounds this week with the media. First with the WSJ and now Forbes.....
Delete"Let's hear it for the rainbow tour
it's been an incredible success
We weren't quite sure, we had a few doubts."
What a nice PR story Gannett could make out of rehiring some of their drivers and bringing back customer service to the local papers that are still turning a profit. They would increase circulation and make more money but no they would just blame the lack of advertising on print and let them go again.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a cluster by major news networks on "There's been an arrest. Nope. There hasn't. Yes. There has. Ummmmm ... oops. I guess there hasn't been."
ReplyDeleteWhatever happened to "Be right first."
This has been a problem for a while now with the current media model. We've always made mistakes since we are human, but I don't recall it being as common as it has been of late. I, too, am of the school "Be right first" (I guess that makes me a dinosaur for the dust bin), but at my site the execs (few of whom have a background in bona fide journalism but more in marketing) don't care about that. They figure it's quaint. It's "get whatever it is online NOW." It's laughable, fatally counterproductive and sad all at the same time.
DeleteCCI Newsgate strikes again. At my site, the score by innings portions of the high school baseball and high school girls softball boxscores are blown out and unreadable. We never had that problem with the previous computer system.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone else's product has declined because of CCI Newsgate, let's hear it. Cite examples.
Yep. Words squashed together so that it looks like a typo, huge spaces between words to make text justify in the columns. And no way to correct it because of the template and font used. And apparently the designers just slap stuff on a template, then move on. WE aren't supposed to be doing the layout, but we have to change or correct even the smallest mistakes, even the ones the designers make. Plus we have to cut text and cutlines to make them fit in the templates. When we had on-site page designers, that was part of their job.
Delete10:27 p.m.: Kinda like working in a crap hole, eh???!!! NO PRIDE. NO QUALITY CONTROL. JUST PUSH IT OUT AND MOVE ON!!!
DeleteAs a sales rep working the streets everyday - trying to get new business to advertise in the paper is a huge challenge.
ReplyDelete9:36 PM--Did someone just wake you up?
Delete10:19 p.m.: Sounds like 9:36 p.m. is the Rip Van Winkle of advertising. Publishing companies are finished. Nobody even goes to their websites. If people want to know what is on sale at Target, they go to Target's website. They don't go to a newspaper website. It's that simple. Gannett is dying as are all the other conglomerates!!!!!
DeleteApparently you haven’t been reading your managers emails. You should be selling pay per clicks on Google, facebook ads, mobile media, yahoo and all the other digital products owned by others, but pushed by local sales reps.
Delete''In 2012, the company recognized impairment charges in its Digital Segment totaling $90 million to bring recorded goodwill equal to implied fair value based on future projections for each reporting unit. The impairment charges coincide with the reduction in advertising from a large customer during the fourth quarter of 2012 as well as a change in strategy and updated financial projections reflective of these events.''
ReplyDeleteShould have nearly sold out of Tuesday's paper at Florida Today but a new "production" change made the carriers not get out until 4 am, nearly 3 hours later than usual. Some was the presses' fault but there's a new thing where ALL home delivery gets their papers before single copy. Excuse is "they are paid for". Right. And single copy isn't until it hits the street. Also now with all subscriptions being digital first and the print copy thrown in...a comp as it were, the excuse doesn't fly.
ReplyDeleteJust a shame our single copy killer CD gets away with it. And here I thought this paper was actually still trying to sell as much as possible! Silly me.
It is and always has been that home delivery has precedence over single copy. Single Copy has will always be the poor step child. If you are a single copy driver you have nothing to complain about. You accepted the job knowing it is lousy hours for low pay.
DeleteWe don't have drivers...we still have carriers. And as one said it..."I accepted the job years ago when there still were real newspaper people. It's hard to see a business being slowly put down for no reason."
DeleteThey don't have lousy hours...just every day...and their pay isn't all that bad!
Our problem here is a CD who wishes there never was a single copy, and acts like it.
Single Copy drivers were years ago before carriers replaced them. When papers really were newspapers so that was my mistake. If they are good hours then you shouldn't mind waiting until 3:00 a.m to get the papers. I don't think working 1 or 2 a.m. to 6 or 7a.m. are good hours but that is just my opinion. Good luck to you.
DeleteThe azcentral.com home page in Phoenix has blown up at this point. Anyone else having problems?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.azcentral.com/
Yet another super safe, low-risk investment of a no-name product that does the exact same thing other more well-established brands (i.e. Expedia, Travelocity, Trip Advisor) currently do - and obviously do a LOT better.
ReplyDeleteUSA Today's travel-media group has acquired the travel-referral service Tripology, which connects traveler requests with travel professionals. USA Today plans to offer Tripology services across parent company Gannett's media outlets, which include more than 100 websites.
http://travelworldnews.com/2013/04/17/usa-today-travel-media-group-acquires-tripology/
Can't get much insight into Tripology's strategic vision because their blog hasn't been updated in almost 3 years! haha That's Gannett for ya - always within reach of a dumb investment.
You are completely missing the brilliance of this new acquisition. USAT's hope is that consumers will confuse "Tripology" with "TripAdvisor" and they can pick-up a few hundred thousand extra page views by mistake.
DeleteHaha 12:13p. I know you're kidding, but I wouldn't put it pass the 11th floor brain trust to actually think this way.
DeleteInstead of wasting time, money and effort on these rinky dink websites, a company with an actual vision and product strategy would either take a bigger risk or invest more heavily in creating new ideas/innovations for their products from scratch. Perhaps the problem is that the company does not have human resources to do the latter, so they try to buy it when they acquire these companies. But, that hasn't worked out very well because the founders of those companies get inside of Gannett and see what it's really like and leave (if they don't have to 'earn their way out').
Gannett's has been making these types of dink and dunk acquisitions for a long time and I can't think of any that are actually making any measurable impact the company's bottomline. PointRoll was doing well, but that was a few years ago. CareerBuilder has been bolstering their digital number pretty well recently. Maybe there's something else from one of these itty bitty acquisitions that we don't know about and they don't share in the quarterly reports.
I hope an analyst asks the CEO about this acquisition during their next call.
Digital has been considered the future for many years. Gannett buys small companies going nowhere while cutting staff at print which has always made the bulk of revenue. They keep thinking they will find the next facebook or twitter.
DeleteLOL! Like Cozi!
DeleteThey say give it to me local and then The Arizona Republic prints is baseball schedule using the eastern time zone. This is what the homogenization our newspapers is doing to us. Ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteThe bad reporting on the Boston Marathon bombing isn't confined to national media. The Detroit Free Press posted -- and was then forced to take down -- an infographic on how to build a pressure cooker bomb.
ReplyDelete(Link is from Romenesko, whose site has had problems all this week)
Newspapers: We're Better at Engaging Audiences
ReplyDeleteNewspapers are still better at engaging audiences than any other form of media, according to a new Newspaper Association of America survey conducted by Nielsen. However, newspapers can do more, especially when it comes to social networking and mobile.
http://www.naa.org/About-NAA/Events/Archives/2013/NAAmediaXchange/2013-Nielsen-National-Cross-Media-Engagement-Study.aspx
It's interesting that they do not provide more detail into these overall numbers. It would be interesting to see a demographic breakdown of the people reading print newspapers they say are more "engaged." Of course, subscribers are going to say they are more engaged. They have to justify it in their minds because they are paying money on a regular basis for it. And since being a subscriber and being 50+ is highly correlated, I'd bet that the people in this study who they say are more "engaged" are 50+ as well. (For all those who are 50+, I'm not commenting on people being 50+, I'm just making a point.)
I'd find it hard to believe based on all the other research out there about audiences and their media consumption behavior that anyone under 50 would be engaged by the printed newspaper. In this study, it shows that over half (51%) of the sample has "never visited a local newspaper on a mobile device." That speaks volumes of how behind the newspaper industry is. And, that's the point the article is trying to make. Newspaper brands and the companies that own them are having a very hard to making up this ground. They are so far behind. The local mobile news space is already filled by social media. I don't need a local newspaper in print, online or on mobile when I have my Facebook friends to tell me what's going on. I'll check in with the local newspaper when something big happens. Well, now that I think about it, I won't have to do that because the big news will always find a way to check-in with me.
10:27 typical of the younger generations. They think their friends will let them know everything they should find interesting. They don't think for themselves but let others choose for them.
ReplyDeleteYes, 3:46, we see so many independent thinkers here at the blog. We never see the same rants about leadership being made here day after day after day. People like 10:09 below are on the cutting edge.
DeleteThanks for showing us how it should be done. Wait, you didn't. You just criticized. Sorry.
Sorry to get off topic a bit. But I've finally made the decision to leave this company after 25 years, and was wondering how look it takes from last day of work till the time my lump sum pension check, that's been pretty much frozen the past few years, arrives. I know a large number of you have already left the company on your own to find a better life........so I'd appreciate any responses.
ReplyDeleteIt took me almost a year to get my lump-sum distribution. I know that others have had better luck. I was very disappointed with the entire process though.
DeleteI took a buyout last April. I set up a Rollover IRA at Fidelity, then had my lump sum check sent to me with that account no. on it. You can do it online in minutes at the Gannett Benefits website. I don't think it took more than 2-3 weeks to get the check. It was quick and painless. But I know others have run into trouble. Good luck!
Delete6:05 here again: Thinking further, I might be confusing my 401K with the lump sum pension check, i.e., it might not have been done on the benefits site. But somehow I was asked how I wanted it distributed and I provided the IRA account no. It was mailed to me (made out to Fidelity) very quickly. The money was in my IRA within four months of my retirement.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteIt is no surprise that Gannett would make receiving your pension benefits so difficult after you leave. This is the birthplace of TPP, after all. If it were me, I would become such a pain in the ass they would send me a check just to shut me up. You have to assume the worse when dealing with this company.
DeleteBe on the lookout for the letter you will get from Gannett in the mail. In the past, people who left would receive a packet outlining all of the options for payout (lump sum, annuity now, annuity later) and forms to fill out and sign. Now, people who leave the company receive a letter directing them to a website they must visit to download this information and the forms. Be careful not to overlook this letter, which can be easily confused with junk mail.
DeleteIt took four months for me to get my payout. I filled out all of the paperwork correctly. It then took several weeks for the vendor managing this for Gannett to process my paperwork and issue a check, which was made payable to THE WRONG PARTY. It took several very frustrating phone calls, but I ultimately got the money.
My advice is that you complete the paperwork promptly, follow up as necessary and get the money out of their hands as quickly as possible.
Goooooooooooooooooo Broadcast!!!!
ReplyDeleteDear colleagues,
Twelve of Gannett Broadcasting’s local stations have been honored with a combined 45 regional 2013 Edward R. Murrow awards for excellence in electronic journalism. This is the company’s best performance ever in the regional Murrow awards and the largest number of awards won by any station group this year! I couldn’t be prouder of Gannett Broadcasting and the award-winning journalism they have produced. These awards highlight Gannett’s purpose to serve the greater good of our nation and the communities we serve.
Special recognition goes to KARE in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, which received a total of 10 awards – making it the most honored station in the country.
Three Gannett stations were among those winning the highest award for Overall Excellence. We had nine broadcasting markets awarded multiple awards in categories including Investigative Reporting, Hard News Reporting, Breaking News, News Documentary, Feature Reporting, Newscast, Sports and Website.
Gannett Overall Excellence award winners:
• KARE in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN (10 awards)
• WGRZ in Buffalo, NY (5 awards)
• WBIR in Knoxville, TN (3 awards)
Other winning Gannett stations:
• KUSA in Denver, CO (9 awards)
• KSDK in St. Louis, MO (5 awards)
• WUSA in Washington, D.C. (3 awards)
• WZZM in Grand Rapids, MI (3 awards)
• WXIA in Atlanta, GA (2 awards)
• WTSP in Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL (2 awards)
• WKYC in Cleveland, OH (1 award)
• WLTX in Columbia, SC (1 award)
• WMAZ in Macon, GA (1 award)
Congratulations again,
Gracia
Enjoy the platitudes that will change quickly next year.
Delete4:26 it's a shame that you can't support the success of your peers. You are what's wrong with our company. Please leave. Congrats Broadcast for these well deserved recognitions!
DeleteWay to go broadcasting.
DeleteYou folks have to continue to be the best of the best.
Without broadcasting supporting the print product, there would be no print product.
Thanks for keeping the print layoffs to a minimum!
A big problem with Gannett is how leadership is being put in place. Publishers, VP's etc these days should have some form of knowledge in sales, marketing, digital products and how to market products and create new revenue streams. But too many properties are being led by personnel whose only real qualification is who they were tied too along the line in the company. Salem is a great example. We have a guy who has the knowledge of a first year communications student that leaves many of us shaking our heads in amazement. Add the fact that the management team has turned over three times in the last couple years and it paints a clear picture of what is going wrong with this company. But it's good to know if they ever need someone to micromanage the local library we have the right guy for the job!
ReplyDeleteEveryone in Salem agrees. It's more than a communication problem. It's a leadership vacuum. Saw the former Salem editor when he was back in town. He left after 23 years in Gannett and six years in Salem. Great leader but got tired of the publisher and moved on. He's tan, rested and doing well in Florida. You can thank the micromanager.
DeleteI agree with both of you. You should have seen this genius dress down the new marketing director in front of others a couple weeks ago. What's sad is the publisher has no knowledge of what he's talking about. Its embarrassing. His answer to anything is call someone and see what they think. Obviously he can't go to the bathroom without getting a second opinion, but we are a company of fast thinkers and leaders...not!!
DeleteLittle ol' Salem has a marketing director while larger properties no longer do?
DeleteJim: What about the Butterfly Project?
ReplyDeleteThank you for asking. I've delayed writing about this project until now, so as to project the identity of a source.
DeleteOoooooh - it is so sexy when you get all deep through cloak and daggers with this stuff. Finally have "a source" and the big story turns out to be lame.
Delete