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Sunday, September 22, 2013
35 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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Long-time Gannett editor Ward Bushee, 64, announced his retirement yesterday from The San Francisco Chronicle, where he had been the top editor for five years.
ReplyDeleteBushee's departure follows the May retirement of former Chronicle Publisher Frank Vega, another long-time Gannett executive. Both Bushee and Vega were on the USA Today start-up team.
Prior to joining the Chronicle, Bushee held top editing jobs in Phoenix, Cincinnati and Reno.
Ward is one of the best and he will be missed by not only Gannett, but the newspaper industry as a whole. He is a true professional.
DeleteAnne Pershing, Reno
Yes, Ward was a highly intelligent, very decent guy from my time at the Reno Gazette-Journal. Unlike some of the publishers that followed in Reno, he was very open and engaged, knew the names of most everyone, and cared greatly about ...get this: journalism.
DeleteWard is a good guy ! hits the hell out of the golf ball, just don't know where its going, now he has time to fix that ! good luck Ward !
DeleteWard was the smartest, most accessible and least insecure editor I ever worked for at Gannett. He had a great run for the wrong chain, and I was happy that he got to finish his career in his hometown.
DeleteHe would have been a better choice running the community papers than Dickey. He pays for his own golf trips.
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell does Kate Marymount do?
ReplyDeleteNear as anyone can tell, she mostly just cashes her fat paychecks.
DeleteDon't forget reads her conference calls that someone else has written for her
DeleteHere's another Gannett classic: The Courier-Journal printed a letter to the editor from a "W. McAvoy, Louisville 40222" with the text lifted word for word from last week's episode of "The Newsroom". The letter has been scrubbed from Courier-Journal.com but the comments are still coming in.
ReplyDeleteFor those who don't understand the connection, Will McAvoy is a character on "The Newsroom".
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DeleteWell if they don't pay their pressman a decent days pay for a decent days work, you think they treat the editors any better.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete4:55 I accidentally removed your comment. Here it is, followed by my answer:
DeleteI'm curious if anybody can comment on the USA Today price increase on hotel blue chip sales? If the single copy price is doubling to $2 an issue, will the "blue chip rate double as well? I wonder how many hotel chains/properties will tolerate a 100% increase in their per copy rate?
Answer: Rates for hotels, airlines, etc., will not change.
New subscriber pay plan is rolling out shortly. I am not sure if this is just for our little corner of Gannett world (I doubt it), and it is certain to alienate current subscribers.
ReplyDeleteThe model will raise the cost of subscription for current, longtime subscribers, but will lower it for short term and new subscribers. It will be a sliding scale, and my guess is (just a hunch), that the discounts goes from 0% to 75%, where the new subscribers get the largest discount.
Sounds like the pay model of satellite and cable companies.
Could it be that the single copy price increase for USAT and Project Butterfly are connected? Could the goal be to make USAT a travelers-only publication (free at hotels, for sale only at airports) and migrate everyone else to local dailies that will be heavy with USAT content? The price increase to $2/copy for USAT sure will drive single copy buyers away -- if they like USAT features, they could now get USAT's sports/entertainment/lifestyle content in their local dailies at a lower cost. I can see this scenario making sense to management.
ReplyDeleteYes, they're connected, and the strategy you've described is more or less what's being pursued.
DeleteThey can get it for free on Usa Today's website. What's the point?
DeleteMany points.
Delete1) You've just zeroed out your home delivery cost while simultaneously adding millions of "new subscribers". Print still pays the freight.
2) USAT claims nearly 240 million online "page views" per month. How much revenue does that number create?
3) A full-page ad in the print edition goes for around $200,000. How much higher does the rate go when your print edition suddenly has millions more eyeballs? Not to mention the local sales, presumably accomplished the same way national magazines run local or regional ads.
4) Even as the influence and popularity of USAT fades as a standalone product, the brand is expanded and integrated locally.
All in all, not a bad plan. IF they can pull it off. Remember how long the "can't miss" USA Today on TV ran? About 16 months.
Question is will the addition of the new "Butterfly" pages add more advertisers to the print process. Last week in Florida Today there were a total of six paid ads on Tuesday in the entire paper. 90 percent of the ads that day were in-house promotional advertising. IMHO, "Butterfly" or not, advertisers will continue to stay away.
ReplyDeleteReaders will leave more also. They don't want USA Today in their local paper but Gannett doesn't care what the readers want. And I'd be willing to bet if this butterfly thing takes hold the prices won't stay at the "lower cost". The perfect excuse to raise the local price....and what will that do boys and girls?
ReplyDelete12:13...how many ads do you want in a 12-16 page paper? And if this weekend is any preview...4 1/2 hour late Sat. and 1 hr. 45 min. late Sun. ...this end of year is going to be the pits, especially for the carriers who deliver up to 6 papers a day now.
ReplyDeleteWell az republic in phx az has just unanimously voted to ask the international for strike sanctions. Next sunday we will be voting down our contract. We have herd rumours that gannette is already getting everything in place to take over our board and post conditions. Az republic has just picked up a new account American home furnishings that will be inserted in every Sunday paper.so we have decided to make them one or our first priority to picket once conditions are posted as well as a few other big companies that advertise with the az republic, like frys electronics, harbor frieght too name a few i hope your ready mr. Carpenter we are not taking it any more i realize you are trying to make a name for yourself and using us as an example u will fail miserably
ReplyDeleteWho ever is writing the information about the decision made by the union body is doing so on his or her behalf but you are representing our union you should at least use spell check lol.
DeleteBy all means . . . show the management weasels what life will be like without you. It works for bus drivers and teachers. Give it a shot.
DeleteAs for picketing, I can't think of any that I've felt "solidarity" with since the Polish Shipyard Strikes.
And please, try to come up with something more compelling than "UNFAIR" on your signs.
I wonder if Dale Carpenter really thought the pressman would roll over and take the bad faith bargaining the company has engaged in. Today the Pressman spoke Loud and Clear, We want a fair contract. We give you a good salable product every day of the year, and all you want is to take our livelihood away from us. We as a group stood strong today. I was proud to be a member of Local 58M GCC/IBT today
ReplyDeleteI was recently in the hospital and they offered all patients a copy of USA Today every day, Way to go to get increased circulation numbers, get papers to people too sick to even read them.
ReplyDeleteYou may have hit paydirt with that. Why not do a run just for medical facilities? Captive audience, and an easy ad sell to medical product purveyors.
DeleteThe papers I saw on the floor were all stuck in the grab bars on the walls outside the rooms. Wow, could that be a safety issue? I was in the hospital and USA Today made me sicker than I was. I can see the lawyers jumping on that one.
Deletesigns should read "cancel your subscription to all papers printed by the pressmen" NY Times, USAT, LaVoz and the AZ Republic !! go get'em ! good luck i'm behind you 110% !
ReplyDeleteSo Let me understand, If Dale Carpenter and his Gannettoids from McLean don't start to bargain in good faith we members of Local 58-M will also do a pr campaign aimed at the New York Times which is printed Every day in Phoenix by Phoenix Pressman of the year.
DeleteCarpenter trying to save face ever since Pressroom employees told him to stick his furloughs over two years ago. Personal paybacks should not be involved in contracts, oh wait that's right the Company is bargaining in good faith. LOL
Deletegee wonder how many web breaks may happen !
ReplyDeletelast pay increase for phoenix was 13 years ago, that's not counting the 6% pay cut and loss of week vacation 2 years ago
ReplyDelete