[Updated at 7:29 p.m. ET with latest figures.]
Gannett's U.S. Community Publishing newspaper division and a handful of other subsidiaries have now cut an estimated 226 jobs across at least 40 worksites, according to Gannett Blog readers. These figures remain preliminary and are almost certain to rise at least through Monday as more employees are notified.
Most of the job losses were through layoffs over the past 72 hours, with a much smaller number comprising open positions that have been permanently eliminated, according to these readers.
It's unlikely Corporate will ever confirm these figures, because this round is being done under the radar. Asked for a comment yesterday, Corporate's chief publicist, Jeremy Gaines, told blogger Jim Romenesko only this: "Some USCP sites are making cuts to align their business plans with local market conditions."
Corporate's anemic Twitter feed is silent on the subject, even as it's getting lots of attention from other users.
Beyond layoffs, GCI's other cost-cutting measures include eliminating travel spending -- all, in response to weaker-than-expected advertising revenue in the second quarter that may be spilling over into the current one.
The current round of layoffs is the biggest since about 700 newspaper employees were let go in June 2011.
Is your site represented?
We're counting these layoffs and job eliminations in a spreadsheet listing the 81 USCP sites, plus other operations. Please contribute more information.
Please check this read-only spreadsheet to see the latest figures for your site. Then post any new information in the comments section, below. Or write confidentially to jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.
Gannett's U.S. Community Publishing newspaper division and a handful of other subsidiaries have now cut an estimated 226 jobs across at least 40 worksites, according to Gannett Blog readers. These figures remain preliminary and are almost certain to rise at least through Monday as more employees are notified.
It's unlikely Corporate will ever confirm these figures, because this round is being done under the radar. Asked for a comment yesterday, Corporate's chief publicist, Jeremy Gaines, told blogger Jim Romenesko only this: "Some USCP sites are making cuts to align their business plans with local market conditions."
Corporate's anemic Twitter feed is silent on the subject, even as it's getting lots of attention from other users.
Beyond layoffs, GCI's other cost-cutting measures include eliminating travel spending -- all, in response to weaker-than-expected advertising revenue in the second quarter that may be spilling over into the current one.
The current round of layoffs is the biggest since about 700 newspaper employees were let go in June 2011.
Is your site represented?
We're counting these layoffs and job eliminations in a spreadsheet listing the 81 USCP sites, plus other operations. Please contribute more information.
Please check this read-only spreadsheet to see the latest figures for your site. Then post any new information in the comments section, below. Or write confidentially to jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.
Just the community division or is USAT taking any hits?
ReplyDeleteAt least three from Circulation in Detroit. Over 90 years experience. Unbelievable.
ReplyDeleteGoing after the older workers as usual, I see. How does this company get away with this? No matter how the empty suits in HR or the corporate lawyers spin it, it's blatant age discrimination.
DeleteAnd if you are young and it doesn't bother you to see a company forcing out seasoned workers, think about your parents or even yourself in 20 or 30 years from now. Have some empathy, regardless of your opinions about related issues regarding salary, skill sets, etc.
Age discrimination in any form and for any reason is just morally and legally wrong. It's the one form of discrimination that gets very little attention from the press or the courts.
I'm not sure you can really prosecute it as age discrimination, although that's what it comes down to. They're being gotten rid of because of what they make for what they do and how many days they get paid to not produce anything in a given year. Of course, the fact of the matter is that those things generally go with age if you're from the rank-and-file.
DeleteI don't understand how they get away with the age discrimination that is so obviously a deliberate strategy.
DeleteI would venture to guess that if these "old" employees were makng less and had only two weeks' vacation they might have been passed over.
DeleteThanks to Gannett (mis)management, the Des Moines Register no longer has a fulltime agriculture writer. But executive editor Rick Green has taken care to maintain the paper's senior management "team," of at least eight well-paid people who waste their time in endless "planning" meetings. Meanwhile the newspaper that once dominated Iowa now is routinely beaten by local television.
DeleteDan Piller
Ditto in Appleton. We have too many editors, and one lay off this week was the biz editor in a two-person department. No more coverage of industry or major manufacturing from us.
DeleteAppleton and Green Bay are also being regularly beat by television. It's hard to watch the decline.
DeleteMy site spread the wealth around: young/old, short timers/long timers, lots of different departments.
ReplyDeleteNo chance you could create a separate column on that spreadsheet for the state, is there? I'm in New Jersey, where there are multiple Gannett properties; would be very interesting to see layoffs by state. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteOver 100 in early March at Cincinnati Production facility when they moved printing to Columbus Dispatch.
ReplyDeleteThe person laid off in Stevens Point was a managing editor.
ReplyDeleteAnd a damn good one.
DeleteAdvice to staff and newcomers there: Document every interaction with the new guy. From Day One. Time, date and content of the conversation. Especially if you're a young woman. And remember, you are NOT required to maintain his fish tank when he's gone.
DeleteAt least 13 in Burlington
ReplyDelete2 graphic artists in Detroit
ReplyDeleteWhat's your thought on this as part of a Gannett strategy to remake itself as a broadcast company, milking the newspapers (or limiting the losses) until a sell off of print?
ReplyDeletePhoenix layoffs include 35-year reporter/editor Lori Baker
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2013/08/01/laid-off-republic-staffer-knew-what.html
Correction to the spreadsheet for Brevard.
ReplyDelete11 total (so far), and more than half had 20+ years with the company.
I've now fixed Brevard's total.
DeleteBrevard initials?
ReplyDeleteNews: BH, RJ, MG, HM
DeleteAdv: DS, JK, LH, KR, JP
Acct: CD, MM
In addition to the one person laid off in Wausau, an open reporting position has been eliminated.
ReplyDeletenot true
DeleteAny news from Fort Myers?
ReplyDeleteThey started early by laying off 16 at Gannett Government Media July 10, including eight in the newsroom. Included were three off the eight-person copy desk.
ReplyDeleteAmong those laid off in Cincinnati, a veteran assistant Local editor, a veteran theater critic and a Local news reporter native to Cincinnati with sources in Ohio and Kentucky. The Enquirer once employed a Pulizer-winning cartoonist, a movie critic and political reporters with thick Rolodexes. All now gone. The big loser is Cincinnati, not Gannett.
ReplyDeleteWho's going to miss the theatre critic, save for the people who wanted something for the scrapbook? I doubt anyone missed the movie critic since there is no actual need for one, and it's equally unnecessary for every paper to have its own cartoonist.
DeleteThink of how many front line, hard working folks could be saved if you cut the excess fat at corporate. I'm back their often. Numerous high paid and lazy folks working on all these projects that make no difference in the field. The stupidity of this company finding their cuts with low paying jobs and not touching overpaid "leadership and so called professionals" is beyond comprehension.
ReplyDeleteCut expenses? Here's an idea. Expenses to attend Central groups Kurt Allens useless Strengths training could have saved several worker bees jobs. Talk about waste of money and time with no benefit except frustration. Final embarrassing blow was when asked by employees back at our site what was learned and if the training was useful...NO IT WAS NOT. But sites had to participate per Laura H.
ReplyDeleteCut some of the advertising directors who do not have a clue how to manage. Their managers/employees are doing the work, they take credit for it.
DeleteJust what is needed right now, 7:59 am -- morons like you who can't wait to point fingers. This is just what Martore and her crew love to see, whoop, whoop, whoop.
DeleteYou're wrong, 8:13. Fact is, a lot of people who play the game are skating today, and a lot of hard workers are taking it on the chin. Facts are facts -- who cares what Gannett thinks or wants?
DeleteGannett is finally getting rid of the old timers and I do mean the OLD timers.
ReplyDeleteThere IS a certain logic to some of these cuts beyond just unloading salary. Technology is causing the industry to change every few months (except for the fact that, for some reason, the press folks can dictate the schedule for the entire kingdom).
DeleteA half dozen years or so ago there was finally cover to rid ourselves of all those 30-year columnists who could never be bothered to go out and cover a beat. It was bad to be them but they were not earning their keep and many were offered different duties and/or a pay cut. Through some misguided view of their own dignity, they left.
Now some of the remaining old-timers can't be bothered to do things involving social media, write for quick online release, or do anything involved with video or digital coverage. Add to that the fact that they're earning more than needs to be spent on that position and they have often obscene amounts of vacation (during which time they don't produce anything), and it's not entirely unjustified that they are often the ones being let go when things have to get leaner.
How do you define an "obscene" amount of paid vacation? Three weeks? Four weeks?
DeleteWhat percentage of current Gannett employees get four weeks of paid time off per year (not counting Thanksgiving and other such holidays)? What percentage gets more than four?
Also, at the risk of stating the obvious: No one, regardless of age, should be expected to work during their vacation. That's not time off, that's just, well, work.
Jim, I'll answer your question.
DeleteAt my last paper, there were old-timers with at least 6 weeks of vacation time. The company had grandfathered them in before capping the max vac. time at 4 weeks for everyone else. In addition to that privilege, they generally got first crack at scheduling the time, which meant the rest of us were SOL if we wanted or needed days that conflicted.
They also avoided all Web responsibilities. If anyone else was around, the work was delegated. Only when they couldn't delegate it would they do it.
One of these people was largely isolated from the rest of the staff because of a horrible combination of low interpersonal skills, nitpicking, and slow pace. Yet on it went.
This is why people get frustrated with some of the old-timers. Lack of production is one thing. But also getting benefits beyond what anyone else will ever get and generally being useless in multiple ways are things that cannot be commended.
Can't wait til you're the senior person in your department and all the young 'uns are cackling when your sagging ass is shipped out because you've EARNED an obscene amount of benefits.
DeleteYou totally missed the point, 9:50. The company had already capped some of those benefits. No one could get the same vacation time unless they had already accrued it.
DeleteSo what you wish for can't happen. Try to read more closely next time.
That post about "obscene" vacation and what a "slot" should pay is not only an ageist, but is in the wrong business. If this is the kind of employee Gannett is retaining - devaluing just compensation for a career's devotion, deciding that veteran colleagues are overpaid, focusing on the medium and not on the journalism - then the company's transition out of journalism and into aggregating the journalism of others and cute amateur-submitted videos is complete.
DeleteYou missed the key points, 11:21. It's not age, it's an inability to change.
DeleteIF you are not polishing your skills, no matter your age, if you decline to use the tools at hand, no matter your age, then you need to be aware that you are not staying current = possible layoff fodder. Age isn't a concern if you are to do a certain job. You HAVE to use the tools of the trade in the manner that they are being utilized these days. Would you disdain a typewriter for a quill and inkwell? For God's sake, stay current, it isn't about age, it is about skill and ability.
Delete2:54, my guess is you are the same poster of that stupid ageist screed earlier, the one that mentions 30-year veterans and extended vacation time for veterans. If that's not age-directed, then what is? Inability to change is age-neutral. Some of the best innovators at USA Today were among the recent buyout recipients. Good luck living off that Gannett kool aid
Deletethe oldtimers made all newspapers what they are today! its the young bean counters who want to put all the $$$$$$$$ in thear pockets but just rember one day you will be an old timer and you will get yours sooner than us old timers signed an old timer
DeleteUS LOD TIMERS WERE THE CORE JUST REMEMBER U YOUNGSTERS U'ALL WERENT A SPARKLE IN YOUR DADDYS EYE AND WE WERE MAKING THE NEWS PAPERS FAMOUE AND MAKING MORE $$$$$$ THAN YOU WILL EVER MAKE IN YOUR LIFE TIME !!!
Deletego old timers you tell these old wipper snapers we worked and did more than they will ever do and we had to prove our selves and got rewarded for it. NOT KISS A-- TO KEEP THER JOB. I AM AN OLDTIMER WHO WENT THREW THIS 5 YEARS AGO BUT WHAT I SEE NOW ARE A BUNCH OF A-- KISSERS
DeleteThis thread is a perfect example of the generational divide. Boomers killed the concept of news as a journalism of something larger than oneself with this "what is in it for me" bs credo. For years now, we have been devaluing news into a Generation Me exercise, while abandoning the principles of telling people uncomfortable truths or challenging them to learn about other points of views and ways of life. Boomers comforted the comfortable and ignored the afflicted. And now you have Millennials come along with a mobile view of everything - phones, friendships, etc., and they have the same attitude toward work and loyalty and committment and longevity in a job you can excel in. I not long ago in a Gannett newsroom witnessed a newly hired, newly graduated photo assistant clealy setting up freelance work on company time. Somebody blew him in and he could not understand the big fuss. What Millennials don't yet understand is that this ethos they are witnessing now of devaluing and eliminating veterans is going to hurt them most by devaluing their work over their entire careers. It's sad to see some of them be agnostic toward or even celebrate the cutting of their older colleagues. They might have learned something from them.
DeleteIf any of you had any guts, you'd list your name rather than replying back and forth by specifying which time "anonymous" posted at...
DeleteAnd your name is....
Delete4:20, while I agree with your sentiment, I have to point out, yet again, that Jim exercises little control over what is posted. So if anyone posts with a name, the attacks begin, and the original point is lost.
DeleteWhat's truly gutless is when some anonymous person launches into an attack of a mid-level manager over something trivial. Of course the person names the manager. That crap is beyond chicken, and Jim is a weak person for continually allowing it. If I outlive Jim, and I intend to, I intend to contact as many relatives as possible within a 48-hour window of his demise to tell them in great detail what a lousy person he was. It will be no different than what he allows here.
First, I LOVE how everyone seems to equate longevity with "earning" something. Ten years ago, how many people worked in our respective offices who basically weren't doing much of anything (a theatre review once in awhile, a couple of sports columns a week, etc.), but left at 4 or 4:30 every afternoon and maintained that status for years while getting fat off almost guaranteed annual raises and increases in the amount of vacation time? Just because your ass-groove has become a fixture in your chair doesn't mean you've "earned" some of the perks of longevity.
DeleteSecond, the "old-timers" didn't build a damn thing. They simply were fortunate enough to have worked the bulk of their careers during a fat era of no competition. Some on here want to take credit for pre-internet success while, ironically, reacting like deer in the headlights now that the business is tough and competition is a reality. Shouldn't these masters of journalism be showing the rest of us how "real journalists" like them vanquished all who opposed them in the 80s?
Finally, I'm sorry, but capping the amount you are willing to pay for a particular position is a reality and not age-ist. It's only viewed in that light because of all the folks who have worked in some positions for so long that we believe the slot is actually worth what these people find themselves being paid. There was a post on here about 3 circulation people with 90 years combined experience being laid off. How much do you suppose those three were making?! You need to be a capable person to administer the circulation area (although no evidence was given that any of the laid off people actually managed the department), but you don't pay anyone but the dept. director much beyond an average wage, and I'm pretty sure that under a good director, a few 5-year employees can do the job of those other three, and for a wage more suitable to the job.
I'm 57 years old and was on Twitter, and with a professional Facebook page, when youngsters were still were posting pictures of their food. The only news-side person with more followers than me is the editor. I get four weeks vacation a year -- and don't use all of them. I post more stuff to the web more quickly than the young 'uns. Don't lecture me about being an old dog. And, I still have a job.
ReplyDeleteWhatever...........
DeleteAMEN brother (of sister). Some of us OLD DOGS kick the young whelps'[ asses daily using then stuff THEY grew up with.
Delete"Whatever"? Oh, what a clever retort, 9:00, to someone who probably does more in one afternoon than you do in three days. Grow up.
DeleteOther than being a year younger at 56, much of what 9:05 p.m. said sounds alot like my life here. Also one of those old time editors; I work 8-10 stories a day with reporters, help populate the web, haven't taken a sick day in years (I don't give away vacation time) while some younger ones here spend hours on end loudly socializing in the middle of the newsroom.
DeleteThat's consistent with what some of us have been posting. I haven't noticed anyone begrudging the people who are evolving as the industry does - regardless of age.
DeleteThis has not been about news since at least the '08 crash, and probably as early as 2001 when buyouts were offered that wiped out hundreds of years of institutional memory at GNS, which remains the only national Gannett unit to win a Pulitzer. It's been about preserving profit centers that require minimal professional news tending... the bare minimum to be able to trade on whatever remains of the historic value of the community brands and USA TODAY. Your "local paper" will be a four-page national "news" section produced mostly by rookies and web gleaners out of the USA TODAY nerve center, with a little local fluff wrapped around it so they can still call the local paper the local paper. They can then ostensibly add it all up as national circulation, and attempt to charge commensurately for whatever national advertising they can sell. If you have any doubt that this is no longer about, on this day of layoffs the top-clicked "story" on USA TODAY for a good part of the day was a video of an elephant playing in a kiddie pool.Your proverbial elephant in the room.
ReplyDeleteI heard it was going to be an eight-page national section. Seriously.
Delete(P.S. I liked your comment overall. Well said.)
If the plan goes through, it will be an 8-page national section that will be inserted into the larger Gannett dailies -- it will require changing those papers to eliminate newshole used for national and international news. Have not heard yet how major nation/world stories -- which often run on Page 1 -- would be handled.
DeleteThis is an interesting thread. On Tuesday, in a post about layoffs at The Indianapolis Star, former Star columnist and local blogger Ruth Holladay wrote:
Delete"Those still working for Gannett in Indianapolis and elsewhere should not take their jobs for granted. A Meridian Kessler friend, Jim Garrettson, who blogs about city life, said Gannett contacted him as a subscriber and asked if he would still take the paper if it became USA Today with a page or two of Indianapolis news. He simply laughed."
I initially dismissed that as hyperbole. But now I wonder.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Delete12:17 I removed your comment by mistake. It's called Project Butterfly.
DeleteTo be fair, since no one is taught history these days anyway - and attention spans have become abbreviated - there are fewer people around who will notice the loss of institutional memory.
DeleteGotta respond to that comment about older workers. I was canned by Gannett in 2009 (thank God). I'm an old broad editorial type. I landed on my feet and at my current job I'm blogging, ratcheted up the company's SEO, and I've learned HTML and Adobe Creative Suite, so cut the stereotyping crud about older workers being digital dunes.
ReplyDeleteOK, typo. I meant digital dunce. So sue me.
DeleteAnd yours truly -- the Publisher and Editor of this blog -- is 56 years old.
DeleteNice try, Jim, but I'd bet that above-average monkeys can figure out how to set up a Blogger site.
DeleteThank you, Jim, for your talent, your skills and your time. Many of us look to you for our news.
DeleteSo did you have and apply those skills before you were canned?
Deletefollowing that stupid "monkey" line to its logical conclusion, could the same be asked about producing what is expected of a Gannett publication these days?
DeleteI hate to say a lot of these arguments about age has more to do with generational attitudes toward WORK ETHIC. That is, we older ones grew up with it and didn't expect to land on soft cushions daily for a half days' work; I have seen the work ethic fade over the years.
DeleteMe too, especially managers who leave early every day but bitch and moan when you refuse to work overtime. I worked under one manager who left early year round to attend kids sporting events and "managed by cell phone" . Imagine if you just walked off the job at your convenience to attend an important family event?
DeleteYour manager was a mojo.
DeleteJim, you look younger than 56 in your photo ;)
Delete6:48 - Keeping with the "work ethic" theme, alot of the younger people today saw the long-timers refuse to adapt to the changing realities and (gasp!) rise of actual competition in the industry. I wouldn't be overly critical of the YOUNGER generation having a poor work ethic.
Delete9:42 pm Poor interpersonal skills, avoiding responsibility, nitpicking, and working at a slow pace can be a problem with workers at any age. Allowing employees to get first crack at all time off was poor management policy.
ReplyDeleteAny names of who was cut in Burling?
ReplyDeleteSorry. Burlington. This is what happens when they hack out the copy desk....
Deletehttp://7d.blogs.com/offmessage/2013/08/media-note-layoffs-at-the-burlington-free-press.html
DeleteWith apologies to Bob Seger, hasn't a part of the problem always been, "I feel like a number?" So with that being the case, instead of a spreadsheet identifying numbers, how about a spreadsheet identifying the NAMES and numbers.
ReplyDeleteRe: Vacation time
ReplyDeleteAt my small site (less than 30,000 circ)there are four salaried newsroom managers (of 11 - but that's another story) who have five or more weeks of vacation time.
And here's the kicker - they broke the cap about a year ago to do it. Actually changed the rule for anyone who already had 30 years so they could add another paid week of vacation to their already-generous pile.
But only for them. It was a one-time-only sweetheart deal.
Yeah. Cool story, bro.
I'm at the Hattiesburg American. We lost a veteran features editor and one of our two photographers. About half a dozen were forced to take a cut from 40 hrs to 30. Before 2011 there were about 120 employees here. Now there are less than 35.
ReplyDeleteWord is the Clarion Ledger took a bunch of cuts as well as the design hub in Nashville. Now we just have one designer for our whole paper
Nashville design center has not had any layoffs this round. Not sure where that rumor is coming from. Hattiesburg paper now has one person doing news and sports layout. Previously one person did news layout for Hattiesburg as well as news layout for another paper. Sports person did layout for Hattiesburg as well as for another paper. So there's really not a change there.
DeleteDes Moined design hub had not layoffs either. I think as long as they're considered part of the solution, they'll be spared. That being said, sites are being forced to give up pages and shrink their pubs as well. Whether that results in less need for designers, or less designers means fewer pages to design, I certainly see that coming next time around.
DeleteOhio reports: Gannett CEO Gracia Martore proudly claimed on July 22, “We are accelerating our transformation into the ‘New Gannett’ every day.”
ReplyDeleteI'll tell you what I'd like to accelerate ... my foot up her ass. ;-)
Delete4:47 you made my day!
DeleteThank you 4:47 too!
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ReplyDeleteBaby boomers are getting hit hard. They said to us Xers that we will have to change jobs to get raises, but they kept the good raises and vacations and all, just like the GOP presidential hopeful who said everyone over 55 gets it all everyone under is SOL, so guess what ... no sympathy. Did the old ones fight to maintain the benefits for us? I left Gannett because it became a training ground of low pay and lots of learning. Now I the better for it.
ReplyDeleteHere's your answer: On day of layoffs:
ReplyDeleteGannett Co., Inc.
NYSE: GCI - Aug 1 4:02pm ET
26.15 + 0.39 (1.51%)
Oh, how I wish there was a way to "like" or "+1" some of these comments.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I am among those laid off, am not a spring chicken but was on all the social media sites before Gannett got hip to them, was on Google+ when it was invitation-only, had a top blog and pulled lots of followers.
Also, every week of vacation (I was not in the six-weeks crowd), every dollar in higher salary that I earned was arrived at by paying my dues during the past couple decades.
Getting laid off sucks, but in those past decades, I've had to watch — up close and personal — as my profession is killed off by a thousand Gannett cuts. At least now, I don't have to watch it suffer so intimately anymore.
Better than that, though, I no longer have to suffer Newsgate, fucking shitty ass piece of software.
There really should be T-shirts: "I survived Gannett ... and Newsgate." (Look for 'em soon on CafePress ... just kidding.)
5:15, let's try this again. You and some others still aren't getting it.
DeleteNo one is disputing whether you and other oldies "paid dues." (Some of you didn't, but that's another story.)
The issue is that you took and took and then pulled up the ladder. No one after you could get the same vacation time, even if they "paid dues."
That is the point. Maybe it will sink in for you someday.
How did they "pull up the ladder" for those employees who followed?
DeleteThe ladder, I'd argue, was labor unions, which in many workplaces negotiated for those benefits.
But the older employees didn't take away unions; it was Gannett's anti-union strategy that did that.
Try to keep up, Jim. They negotiated for benefits at a level that couldn't be sustained. Health care comes to mind right away.
DeleteI'm sure you will blame the company for that, but you clearly have an agenda that obscures the small bit of sense you might have.
If you don't know what you're talking about, then don't post.
I'm a journalist in another form of media but have watched my city's paper grow smaller and more irrelevant week after week. Two years ago, when they forced anyone 55 or older into early retirement, the paper lost the heart and soul of its newsroom. Yes, that's right. All those "dinosaurs" who blogged and tweeted regularly, who did investigative reporting, who followed up on their stories and who remembered who their audience was were deemed disposable. They were replaced with quippy reporters; reporters who like to insert themselves in the story with their own running commentary. The level of self-importance displayed is nauseating. Of course, this is the "IT'S ALL ABOUT ME" generation so I shouldn't be surprised.
ReplyDeleteI've heard that 8 newsroom employees were let go yesterday. I don't know who they are yet but it's sad, just so sad.
The Baxter Bulletin, Mtn. Home, 1 more layoff, person was offered reduction in hours or layoff, layoff was chosen.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteNewsgate, Content (de) evolution, the list of upper management failures goes on, yet the heads that are rolling belong to the workers who do the REAL work, instead of shoe glazing glass office dwelling vacuum heads.
ReplyDeleteHow about a blood letting in the executive offices in McLean, that would save a lot of jobs on the level where people truly work, instead count their stock options and bonuses.
Funny how the majority of the 11 people laid off from the APP "information center" are in what HR calls a "protected class" (age 40 and up) and the number of pages in the paper shrinks again, while the mobile and tablet websites continue to feature articles which are several days old. Why would a reader pay good money for that?
The worthless executives who have failed to come up with a financial plan are ones who should be fired. Mr. Towns confirmed he has to go to corporate next week for what will likely be a session akin to throwing crap against the wall to see what sticks.
Gannett ineptness - it's all in reach.
And to all the shills who criticize Jim and the blog, a big "told you so" is in order. It's just a shame so many people had to suffer in the process. Agian.
It is painful to watch Asbury slide into oblivion.
DeleteDeath spiral ... less money ... fewer people ...less news ... fewer readers ... fewer ads ... less money ... fewer people ... repeat ...
ReplyDeleteOh, but all those video views are going to save us.
ReplyDeleteGannett has become a creepy metaphor for the overall US Economy, with the 1%-ers on the top squeezing the life out of everyone else, because they need to to maintain their own puzzlingly high remuneration, and also, because they can.
ReplyDeleteAll the corp. talk about "growth" is horseshit for the wall street analysts, (who BTW know that it's horseshit, as I assume GM et al do too).
I HAVEN'T HEARD OF ANY ANY! MANAGERS BEING LET GO!!! Makes me sick. Most places are so effing top heavy it is ludicrous! Well at least with less staff maybe some of these um folks will be forced to actually work.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteThere's one in cherry hill that everyone would like to see go. She spews venom!
DeleteAny word on what is happening in Nashville?
ReplyDeleteVery Reliable Source say's MORE to be announced Monday in Nashville..
DeleteUpdate on the newsroom changes in Cincinnati:
ReplyDeleteThe Enquirer is closing the last two bureaus, in Kentucky and West Chester, OH (covering the northern suburbs of Cincinnati). The Kentucky editor and one KY reporter were laid off, as well as the editor for suburban coverage. Also gone is the theater critic and a calendar clerk. The weekly Community Press and Recorders lost staff: An editor and reporter for Kentucky and an editor and two reporters for the north suburbs. The paper is pulling into its central core, Cincinnati - perhaps hoping that Greater Cincinnati readers will be happy with online coverage of the Reds and Bengals, restaurant listings, and lots of photos of pretty people partying downtown.
Two Recorder reporters were let go.
DeleteA Community Press editor was let go.
Nothing in Westchester, Rochester, Greenville, Ft. Meyers, etc.? These are some of GCI's bigger papers. Don't tell me they're doing so well they're exempt from layoffs! Anyone else believe this is over, or instead, that there's more to come?
ReplyDeleteThis is about maintaining money for stockholders. Buy all the stock and insist profits are put back into the business, not the stock holder pockets. Don't blame your local directors - blame Wall Street.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteIt's their money and they have every right to it. If someone else bought the stock, they'd want the same thing.
DeleteIf you think you've cooked up some voodoo that's going to magically save the newspaper business, then by all means go out, get some investors, and make it happen. Till then, quit whining.
Working for Gannett is like trying to survive in a death camp, watching fellow inmates being led away, never to return. Everyone is on the list, young and old. It's just a matter of time when the executioner comes for you.
ReplyDeleteYou've obviously never been in a death camp, thank God.
DeleteShame on you for such a statement...
And you have?
Delete^ Grow up, please.
DeleteAny news on the central Ohio newspapers?
ReplyDeleteYep...I know of 2 jobs eliminated in one Central Ohio newspaper. Not sure if sure any more.
DeleteMore old and obsolete people are finally being discarded. It should have happened years ago (hi, Jim!), but better late than never, I guess.
ReplyDeleteAt Wisconsin papers, it was young folks who were whisked out the door as well.
DeleteYour time is coming, too, 4:13 p.m. and quite possibly before you're old and obsolete.
My time already came, 4:23. I looked around and saw and unfortunately heard -- FAR too much -- people like you around me. It was apparent the newspapers were doomed to be populated with far too many stupid people.
DeleteI still deal with the occasional moron, but they are far less common than in newspapers. The people like you who claim to be experts when they really know nothing are usually exposed and ostracized quickly.
6:35 - To be fair, newspapers have been populated by incredibly stupid people for decades. At least as many as in any other profession that only requires a four-year degree. The difference is that journalists honestly believe they're smarter than the other four-year-degree folks which, in turn, makes them appear to be even more stupid.
Delete10:24, I'll buy that. I think what started to bother me is what you described. The stupid people really thought they had some insight that no one else did. You could point out at least a dozen ways their ideas would fail, but they were like Wile E. Coyote. They just kept going off the cliff. Problem was, they were taking other people and the paper with them.
DeleteTo those that lost their jobs this week and will next week as well, hold your heads up high. I was laid off in 2009, 2 months after my daughter was born, thinking it was the end of the world.
ReplyDelete4 years later, I'm in such a better place now. It'll take patience, but you'll get there!
You are so right about this. Many of us have been through layoffs, and they're dreadfully painful at the time, but you'll eventually get to where you need to be. It's not easy, but neither is remaining in a newsroom that is slowly dying away.
DeleteGlad things worked out for you, and I'm wishing wonderful things for the folks who are dealing with this now.
Yes and hundreds of thousands are dropping out of the job market after over a year of not being able to find a job. I am happy for those that are in a better place than they were at Gannett but many aren't. they have been aged out of the labor market or had to take less pay and start over. layoffs are not good news for anybody. If you were unhappy at Gannett you should have looked for another job while you still had a job.
DeleteGood luck to everyone that has been let go in the past two years.
Campbell gone yet?
ReplyDeleteHowell, Mich. had one layoff Thursday, and as a result, we'll no longer have a billing department. Our design department was told it would no longer exist as of September, but employees are still awaiting their news.
ReplyDeleteAny layoff news from Springfield MO? Or Lansing MI?
ReplyDeleteLansing lost Executive Editor Mickey Hirten. Here's the story LSJ ran: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20130731/NEWS01/307310030/Hirten-leave-Lansing-State-Journal
DeleteSpringfield lost a news editor Julie Wasson, the graphic designer, and another person.
DeleteHere is a list of those on the editorial side who were axed at the Republic.
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2013/08/arizona_republics_latest_layof.php
I am soooooo glad that I got out of there when I did. Its so refreshing to work for a growing, successful organization with management that values its employees and a vision that isn't driven by nickel and dime dividends for the shareholders.
Lori Baker, print platform manager (and longtime reporter and editor)
Cecilia Chan, public safety and breaking news reporter
Julie Dart, copy editor for features and business
Dawn DeChristina, online producer
Dale Hajek, print platform manager
Amy Hartman, designer/artist
Cindy Hernandez, online producer
Kerry Fehr-Snyder, reporter
Stephanie Russo, content coordinator
John Triplett, content partnership editor
Mike Tulumello, Southeast Valley opinions editor
John Yantis, reporter
So Jeff Parker didn't REALLY retire. Sad.
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DeleteI can't believe there is more scheduled Monday. Why would they drag it out? Any word on which papers might be hit then?
ReplyDeleteThere was nothing at Montgomery this week, but we're all wondering if that's going to change. Does anyone have any inside info?
ReplyDeleteI too was laided off by The New York Times in February 2013, and age had to do with it. Many years of dedication.
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Anyone still getting 4 weeks of vacation or more? And how about personal days off? 10 days or more of sick leave? Just curious. My site is losing vacation time and sick leave or personal time off. Not to mention soooo many other benefits. Let me know.
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