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Tuesday, August 20, 2013
37 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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Just wondering "what if" today. What if, for example, newspapers - more particularly, Gannett - had created Facebook, Twitter or Google. That's an interesting thought! Would it have changed the company's or industry's fortunes? Of course for any of that to have been remotely possible, the industry would have had to been interested in the web from the beginning.
ReplyDeleteGannett launched its first digital product in 1985. Over the years it invested untold millions in countless new media projects and ventures. Not surprisingly, there was never a sense of urgency at the top until it was too late.
Delete"What if" USA Today had moved ahead with actual funding plans to create today's Trip Advisor? Any one remember that botched area of development?
ReplyDeleteMurdoch beat USA Today Sports Media to this VICE Magazine investment. Could have paired with BNQT.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteIf Gannett had invented Google, they would have long ago sold off the unprofitable newspaper division.
ReplyDelete10:01 What unprofitable newspaper division? Gannett's Newspapers have always made money it's just that Gannett doesn't know how to run them very well.
DeletePapers still make money...just not enough to fill the greedy's pockets enough.
DeleteI for one wish they would sell print off...it would be more profitable then if they can be run by real newspaper people again.
Yes, Gannett newspapers -- with the exception of Detroit -- are still making profits. It's just not as much profit or at the ROI it used to be. But still making plenty of money. Trouble is Gannett drools for those profits and slashes expenses in order to bring the net revenue back up. Question is how much longer can that go on because newspaper revenues will never be like they were.
Delete"Google Inc. reported consolidated revenues of $14.11 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2013, an increase of 19% compared to the second quarter of 2012."
DeleteI stand by my previous comment, though perhaps instead of "unprofitable," I should have said "meagerly profitable and unimportant to the company's long-term strategies and bottom line" -- that is, IF Gannett had invented Google.
"I for one wish they would sell print off...it would be more profitable then if they can be run by real newspaper people again."
DeleteYou know the saddest and scariest thing about delusional comments like this? It's that they're probably from journalists — the very people we pay to deliver a hard-nosed, clear-eyed, accurate and rational accounting of reality. Yet they haven't the foggiest idea where their own paychecks come from.
If someone at Gannett had invented Google, they would have been smart enough to harness the power of Google and the “content” of the newspapers to create a must have product. Rather than sell off the papers, they would have been able to strengthen the papers.
DeleteIn any case, no one at Gannett invented Google so this is all pie in the sky dreaming.
Jim please give Mr. Anti Newspaper, the facts on advertising again and the revenue stream generated from Gannetts Newspapers.
ReplyDeleteI have been wondering what Gannett's newspaper revenue was five years ago compared to today. I am thinking that revenue at most sites has dropped at least by about one-third in that five-year period. Does this seem close to being accurate? If not, it would be interesting to know what the actual difference is from pre-recession to post-recession.
ReplyDeleteOver the past 11 years, ad revenue for the newspaper industry as a whole shrank by more than 70% — meaning the industry is smaller than it was in 1950. By comparison, since 1950, US population doubled, and the U.S. economy grew by more than 5,000%.
DeleteBut by all means, friends, keep whistling Dixie.
This should tell you all that you need to know about Gannett today. Brad Robertson, once crowned as the "Golden Boy" of Gannett is leaving to go to an online grocerier. Gannett continues to lose the talent. He is one of the smartest people in the business today and he leaves.
ReplyDeleteAnd he's leaving digital marketing services just as it got rebranded as G/O Digital. Odd timing.
DeleteBrad was a nice enough person but..... He threw around so many concepts and abstract ideas I think his troops were often confused.
DeletePinning him down on something concrete was like nailing Jello to a wall.
5:44, just for journalists who can't think abstractly.
DeleteFunny how psychological theory says that skill should be developed sometime around age 13.
Losing Brad Robertson is a big loss for Gannett.
DeleteNear the close of today's market, Gannett's stock is up about 5% and I don't see any reason why.
ReplyDeleteWhat's going on with other pub openings? Any word? Seems they are many openings that aren't being filled.
ReplyDeleteYou would think that a newspaper would listen to readers and actually talk with them. But look at how the Arizona Republic recycles this canned response to a reader's simple question: Why isn't there a print subscription to the paper?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.azcentral.com/insiders/askedandanswered/2013/08/20/why-no-print-only-subscription-to-the-arizona-republic/
Note how the reader said that he doesn't read newspapers or newspaper websites on the Internet. But that doesn't stop the Republic from pushing all of the content on the Web.
Why, oh why, don't newspapers do a better job of this?
Gannett will never fulfill that "what if" scenario. Gannett does not innovate. Any idea that Gannett tries has been done before. So asking the "what if" about Gannett creating one of those iconic successful brands, nope! Its not gonna happen. DealChicken - hardly innovative. Just a copycat.
ReplyDeleteI am sick and tired of being required to write useless crap just because editors need to fill pages in a hurry. This charade is demeaning.
ReplyDeleteAs long as there are editors, that will never change. We just do the crap they tell us. But you should be able to keep your by-line off. Useless crap is increasing - now besides the stories, they assign us useful videos.
DeleteIf you aren't growing, you are dying in today's media climate. The change in media habits will sink those who dig their heads in the sand about print. Yes, it brings home the bacon now, but failing to move on will be walking on quicksand. I can't believe there are people who believe newspapers are going to be around for a long time. These people are the same ones who actually can see the YOYOY declines in volumes with no end in sight. Revenue up? Sure. Raised the price greater than the rate of decline. We'll price ourselves out of business fast in adv and subs. Signed, Holding on, but the day is coming.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of customer service and the Arizona Republic, check out this thread and Yelp. Most of the comments are related to customer service and billing.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.yelp.com/biz/the-arizona-republic-phoenix
Yelp reviews aren't the most reliable, but check out these on the Cincinnati paper (sort by date to see the decline of opinions about the paper):
Deletehttp://www.yelp.com/biz/cincinnati-enquirer-cincinnati?sort_by=date_desc
Yelp reviews may not be the most reliable but they are entertaining. Some of the people who reviewed the Arizona Republic write better than the writers at the Republic.
DeleteStock price = the spinoff of print looming. Shuck the losers and keep the (Broadcast) winners.
ReplyDeleteso the pressmen in phx rolled over to GPS again, big wage cut, loss of vacation and some holidays, yet to sit there and take it, the union has no guts to fight it ! roll over and play dead, they'll keep cutting away at you !
ReplyDeleteAren't you the same person who posted here a few weeks ago, saying the pressmen were ready to walk, and Gannett was going to have to cycle in replacements from other locations?
DeleteThe Administrative Assistant to the President/Publisher of MNCO tendered her resignation yesterday after 16 years of service. Not sure if this is a precursor of things to come.
ReplyDeleteJust a guess, but probably a precursor to them getting a new Administrative Assistant to the President/Publisher of MNCO.
DeleteThanks for checking in Gracia.
DeleteWe can compare how much money Google is making and how much less Gannett print is making, unfortunately for print, most of our sales departments are directed more in the direction of selling pay per clicks on Google than print ads.
ReplyDelete