Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Nov. 18-24 | Your News & Comments: Part 3

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31 comments:

  1. Is it at Gannett wide or just Fl.Today where they are ready to waste so much paper and ink by over drawing Thanksgiving papers to single copy? They also do it every Sunday but turkey day is going to be ridiculous. The carriers are loaded down enough with all the other publications they have to deliver and over draws on T-day will demolish all plans anyone has for the holiday.

    Isn't anybody accountable for the waste or does Gannett condone this? Thought Gannett was cost conscious?

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    1. Thanksgiving SC sales are a money maker. There is a report to see what was sold last year to project your draws for this year. They should also have people doing recovery during the day. In circ T-Day was always a work day. Dinner at 5

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    2. This is true but they are under the delusion that putting out more papers equals more sales when it only equals more returns. When, say a Wal-Mart has 150 returns, at least when real newspaper people ran things, you didn't turn around and give them the same 500 papers...and that's just one example.

      Then they turn around and fire people for cost reasons? Total idiocy.

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  2. Very interesting read.

    Gracia will never admit this - neither will Dickey or anyone else because they would be admitting that they are wrong and have no clue or solutions. And, we all know that Gracia, that CMO, and the whole crew will fight this decline in their business until the bitter end. Well, the end is bitter for anyone who doesn't get $42M on their way out.

    Here's an excerpt from this article:

    "In February, Paton said that paywalls were “a dangerous management distraction to the real job of adapting a legacy business to the realities of an Internet world,” and that “you don’t transform from a broken model by tweaking it – you build something else.” If the revenue problems of traditional media weren’t already clear, they would be even more obvious now that one of the industry’s most vocal paywall opponents has had to jump on the bandwagon, even for a short time."

    John Paton says what most media CEOs won’t about paywalls — they are a short-term tactic at best

    http://gigaom.com/2013/11/18/john-paton-says-what-most-media-ceos-wont-about-paywalls-they-are-a-short-term-tactic-at-best/?utm_content=buffere9955&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer#comments

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    1. You're criticizing them for "fighting the decline" and trying to keep the lights on? Really? In other words, like Thomson, you think they should just leave the industry for dead. (You can't duplicate Thomson's timing, however. There are no longer enough fools to step in to continue fighting the decline.)

      Note that Paton can't say what his imaginary "long-term strategy" might be. He's as clueless and solution-less as anybody else.

      If consumers value the monthly output of 100 journalists at less than what they'd shell out for a few lattes, that tells you all you need to know about the economic viability of this business.

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  3. Someone in an earlier edition asked what the retiree only cost for healthcare is for 2014. Mine was $444.00 per month. Just wondering if this is what all retirees only are paying!

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    1. I received my retiree premium notification by mail this morning. It was slightly higher than $444, so it looks like numbers will vary by retiree.
      After parsing my numbers under the new Gannett plan, it's time to find out whether I can get into the damned federal exchange and find a saner, more reasonable plan there.

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    2. I was able to get into the federal exchange, create an application for my state, and start shopping for health insurance. Since I am paying 20 percent of my annual income for health insurance under Gannett's retiree plan, going to the federal exchange (my state did not set up its own) was a no-brainer. My premium numbers for silver and gold plans (which of course take into account the monthly subsidy the site says I am eligible for) are very attractive vis-a-vis Gannett's retiree plan. Now it's time to see whether I can pick a plan and actually enroll through the federal site.

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    3. I had the same experience and I'm also in your boat.

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  4. Dude, most companies are focused on quarterly profits. Why should Gannett, with a CEO set to retire in a few years, be any different?

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  5. Poster 10:36 refers to Banikarim as "that CMO" . That about sums up her impact on the business.

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  6. I always miss Dave Hunke around the holidays.

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

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  7. Yes, who else is around to make useless promotions? Oh wait, they're still doing that. Have another vice president with that Scotch, Hunkster.

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  8. Any word on layoffs in Detroit? Heard they might be outsourcing all copy editors/designers soon as well as Detroit Media Partnership's creative team in January/February.

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    1. Actually I heard Free Press going to Sunday's only with online the rest of the week so that is why the layoffs are coming. Pretty much clearing house. Only managers and online crew will be left when they move to new digs.

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  9. I am a former Shreveport advertiser that has spent over a million dollars with The Times. I saw the handwriting on the wall when my saleswoman told me she was leaving them due to the former publisher. Bailey was so disconnected from the community he left it before I could get around to seeing what he was about. This saleswoman has moved on to better things and I have moved my advertising dollars on to better things. Too many publishers for one building and Zanmiller is a good friend. When a company does what was done to him it does not need to recover. Zanmiller has moved on to better things. The others behind him have no clue what this community wants or needs. I have not seen one after him being genuine to this community. Picking up trash around your own building and having your own staff post your picture will not get you to this community. We look for neighbors that compasionately want to move Shreveport along. Cannot believe they returned the one man that tore your newsroom up. English is and will always be one of the reasons my dollars are with others. Price is a friend and she also has moved on to better things. Now it comes to you selling out. What did you expect. I have compasion for some of my friends still with this company. Market your skills and you too can move on to something better. This company will never sell their building if anyone in the know from this community has anything to do with it. We are neighbors and we protect our own. Gannett, The Times or what ever you are going by these days be careful what you try to do to this community!

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    1. I am a small business owner in Bossier City. I too am a former Shreveport Times advertiser (in the thousands annually, not the mega bucks), who was turned on to this resource to try to watch what was happening in the media in my marketplace. It's horribly sad what has happened to what once was the major news outlet in our community. I have not been connected to the newspaper since Judy Christie was editor... and no one is coming around asking for my business. I don't think this guy they've put in was a great editor when he was here the first time, so I guess I have to ask why they brought him back?

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    2. Another advertiser here. I have actually met the head new advertising guy Hall. He is a bit "bougie" for my business and my dollars. I stopped advertising with this company the first time he had a conversation with me. He send his people out here and I keep sending them out the door. I like local and from my conversation with him he is not here to stay. One of my business neighbors told me she has been approached by him with a bit of "arogance". Someone please tell Hall we like it local and he is not.

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

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    4. Maybe it's just because I have been a reporter for so long, but it strikes me as fishy that suddenly, and seemingly coincidentally, several "former advertisers" spring up in this blog to bad mouth Shreveport. I have no connection with Shreveport or with the executive suite in any Gannett publication. But these posts have the same odor as those endless contributions from "former" Gannett employees who claim they now have found "great success" in other (none of them named) places of employment. Interestingly, the first post combines both themes: It slams Shreveport and then says great success awaits those who leave Gannett. I wonder if these posts come from the same person.

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    5. Hall will not be in it for the good of Gannett. He went to Hearst and then came back. He is in it for his pockets only.

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    6. 10:16 AM: If you look at the style of writing between the two posts, they're obviously not the same person. Shreveport is a very close knit town and all the advertisers know about this blog so it's not so far fetched. The people mentioned did find great jobs outside of Gannett and are doing well so it's probably legit.

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    7. Thanks, 11:38 a.m. You make some good points. Regards, 10:16 a.m.

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    8. *Googles "bougie" - Aspiring to be a higher class than one is. Derived from bourgeois - meaning middle/upper class, traditionally despised by communists.

      That is rich.....

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  10. Hey 9:02 p.m., he's not finished tearing the newsroom up. Two people let go today as part of a reorganization he's dragging out for some reason.

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    1. Impressing people with his "BUTTERFLY" curators and content gatherers. Has anybody questioned the lifespan of a butterfly in all of this?

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    2. Puppet on a string trying to impress Judi he is the man.

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    3. If he's buying into all this Gannett crap thinking he is going to get anywhere, I feel sorry for him. He needs to look around and see all the women in charge. A man don't stand a chance in Gannett anymore. The Times is already a non entity in Shreveport. Judi is gone. Ain't no one left to impress.

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  11. Don't go looking for a job at Tribune Co.
    http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-tribune-publishing-reorganization-20131120,0,3963235.story

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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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