Friday, August 09, 2013

Aug. 5-11 | Your News & Comments: Part 5

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54 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. You don't work, Jim. Remember?

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    2. Maybe his friends work and he can spend more time with them. Life doesn't always revolve around work anyway.

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    3. Maybe you're reaching hard for a rationalization.

      Are you the same person who once recited what Jim might have for breakfast? You sound like that person. If so, you might want to take a break from Gannett Blog for a time.

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    4. I along with many other colleagues truly appreciate this blog and thank Jim for all of his efforts.

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    5. Thank you. About 95% of the time, it's very rewarding.

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    6. Jim, you're wrong way more than 5 percent of the time. So it's rewarding to be wrong? Good to know.

      Note for the future: On Aug. 9, 2013, Jim said it's rewarding to be wrong.

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  2. What an emotional, sad, draining adn exhausting week for all of us. Sorry to say goodbye to so many wonderful colleagues. Very best wishes to all of you.

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  3. Gannett CMO tweets out words of wisdom, or is it words of warning:

    maryamb ‏@maryamb
    "If u lose the trust of your users it's game over," Tim Armstrong

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    1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    2. This is the same Tim Armstrong who just fired his Patch creative director while on a conference call with 1,000 employees, who, at the same time, just found out there will be layoffs next week.

      http://www.businessinsider.com/aol-ceo-tim-armstrong-appeared-to-fire-this-man-in-front-of-1000-coworkers-2013-8?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+businessinsider+%28Business+Insider%29

      Maryam is such a blooming idiot. Just go away already.

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  4. When the layoffs happen at each individual site do they announce it to the employees or does it just happen?

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    1. At my place, it just happens, and it's awful to see. Afterward, when those axed are all out of the building, they have a meeting with the stragglers telling them how bad they feel about what they just did, and how they appreciate everyone who is left. Until next time.

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    2. At our site, the individuals directly affected are told, usually one at a time. When that process is finished there is a communication, usually from supervisors to their staffs, that x number of people are no longer with the company and the process is finished for this iteration.

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  5. Any word on when layoffs may occur at the Rochester and Wilmington sites?

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    1. My gut says after the PGA leaves town.

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  7. How is The Pointe doing? USAT's travel product.

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  8. Does that mean "Tsk, Gannett Is F****d" ????

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  10. Hey there USAT.com! "What did Cleveland fans chanted at Tigers?" (Top News 11 am EST)

    "Verb tense consistency! Not muni bankruptcy!"

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  11. Arizona Republic now pimping out its sports reporters like a Disneyland ride:

    http://www.azcentral.com/advert/marketing/ret_communconver_dbacks_ebl/ret_communconver_dbacks_ebl.html

    $150 to spend the day with these guys? In conjunction with a team they're supposed to cover objectively? Sellout city.

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    1. Where does the money go? To Gannett's bottom line? To the Cronkite school? To the Diamondbacks? Is it a three-way split?

      And how does the paper continue to aggressively cover the Diamondbacks after forcing its newsroom staffers to get into bed with the D-Backs president for this event?

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    2. this is from 2009

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    3. Another rumor debunked. Great job as always, Jim, of (1) not knowing what you are talking about, (2) not actually reading the link to know if you know what you are talking about, (3) adding fuel to another rumor.

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    4. Now if they would turn that around and offer people $150 to attend, I'd take them up on it.

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    5. 3:29 I think it's pretty obvious that this is something that really is sleazy, could you please explain how it's not?

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  12. I feel sorry for the people that were laid off. Good luck in finding new employment. For the rest of us that are left behind, no raises again to offset medical coverages. Pretty sure there will be the usual furlough process, if not this year then surely next. Fat up top never gets trimmed in this company and we constantly read about generous pay and stock options. How people can continuously run a company into the ground like this is beyond reprehensible! Everyone is held accountable in the end so good luck to all and hang in there.

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    1. So tru about some of the fat just never gets trimmed. In Cincinnati, we lost two more highly qualified editors who were respected by their reporters. But we still have two editors known better as backstabbers and underachievers than journalists and managers. Both were dumped into their current jobs, which they know nothing about. If anyone was expendable, they were. And still are.

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    2. @3:35 – Move a few floors up to a corner office that should have been “updated” a few years ago.

      Tens of thousands of subscribers have fled since its last update. Untold revenues and profits have too, Hundreds of employees have been fired; not including the past few weeks. Two local printing plants shut. And, numerous specialty pubs, magazines have vanished too. Soon, 17 more weeklies will disappear as well.

      Advertisers and readers – past and present, feel the Enquirer is less respected today, aided by poor editing, errors, questionable “coverage” and a new size that shrank too much all while ad rates shot up.

      To be fair, the economy hasn't helped, but clearly a great deal of blame belongs in that office and the evidence for why is strong.

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    3. Is it true that the Enquirer is selling print subscriptions for $3 a month?

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  13. To paraphrase @maryamb:

    "If u lose the trust of your WORKERS it's game over,"

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  14. If you go to Hopkins' Facebook page, you'll find out he is in Spain. Now. As Gannett employees are being laid off in droves.

    Do not send this person your money unless you like paying for someone else's vacation. Wise up.

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    1. You are an insufferable, miserly cur.

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    3. So what if he is in Spain?

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    5. Jim does a great job. Where he writes this blog from is his business.

      No other site or news organization does a better job covering Gannett than this one, especially during layoffs.

      Just look at the number of comments in the last two weeks.

      He is a valuable asset to current and former Gannett employees and those outside the organization who are interested in Gannett.

      The AP quoted this blog last week because no one at Gannett corporate gave meaningful information.

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    6. He solicits money. That makes it other people's business. If you can't see that, then I hope you were never in journalism.

      When the AP quoted Jim, it violated a standard of not quoting biased sources. Holding that event up as an accomplishment is weak.

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    7. I am amused when I think of Jim in Spain on these idiots' money.

      There was a guy in here who posted once about how we should make our own coffee or our own lunch and then send the money we saved to Jim. How'd that work out, genius? You drank brown water, and Jim went to Barcelona.

      I love it! The Darwin theory at work, on Gannett Blog!

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    8. @11:40 – If you seek to disparage and punish Jim for what he does with money he’s rightly earned, then do you feel the same about an editorial VP in the Midwest who went to France while on his furlough all while his staff was being fired by others?

      One bets you have no problem with the latter right.

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  15. So Caryn McBride is gone - again. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me: http://www.rocklandtimes.com/2013/08/07/janet-hasson-fires-caryn-mcbride/

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    1. When was the first time?

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  16. Jim, is it true that you are banned from all Gannett properties?

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    1. Total waste of time, but here it goes:

      That is the Gannett Blog equivalent of an urban myth. (Another one: that Corporate once offered me $50,000 -- one version said $100K -- if I'd sell this site to the company. )

      This tall tale appears occasionally, and never, of course, without proof. Where's the memo with attached photo of yours truly, one that would have circulated among hundreds of people over the years to enforce such a directive?

      We'd all love to see it.

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    2. So you don't bother denying it? Must be true.

      Jim, banned from all Gannett properties. This goes with yesterday's declaration that he's proud to be wrong so often.

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    3. Get a grip 2:14. If you're talking like a Gannett groupie and don't like it, stay away. Jim provides a service to those of us who want to know what is going on and won't drink the Kool-Aid from the Crystal Palace or local managers.

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  17. You'd be welcome with open arms in Shreveport. 222 Lake St. come on down.....

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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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