Thursday, February 26, 2009
Thursday | Feb. 26 | Your News & Comments
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85 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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Second only to a spammer!
ReplyDeleteThe spammer has been deleted. You've been promoted to No. 1!
ReplyDeleteFinally, the investors get one up the ass, just like the instructions on the MomsLikeMe site. First it was the employees who were screwed, with layoffs, buyouts and intimidation. Then it was the customers, who were asked to pay more for papers with smaller news holes and inferior content. Dublow's untouchable investors were entreated until the very end with fat dividend payments. Now there's no one to keep happy but the ruling executives themselves. At this stage they are locking themselves into the king's chambers while the angry mob breaks through the castle walls below.
ReplyDeletetoday is going to be a great day!
ReplyDelete"Jim Hopkins is so dumb ..."
ReplyDelete"How dumb is he?"
"Jim Hopkins is so dumb that when someone asked him if he knew what a dividend was, he said, 'I think it comes from (blank).'"
Larry St. Cyr to the rescue!!!
ReplyDeleteOh shit, he is on furlough...
Dan Donaghy to the rescue!!!
Two weeks ago, the Group Presidents were at corporate and they were all informed of another 10 to 15 percent drop in staff.
ReplyDeleteRemember last time the headcount numbers included "to be hired" heads that were already budgeted. So, this means that we are really going to see another massacre.
There were closed-door phone conferences going on at my location involving personnel and department heads a couple of days ago. I saw it with my own two eyes, and my stomach flip-flopped. Never discount a gut-feeling.
ReplyDeleteGood picture Jim, you look like Mr. Respectable.
ReplyDeleteSee, women aren't the only ones that can fake it! :)
One wonders what else the Board did over the last two days? Did it really take them 2 full days just to debate the dividend, something they should have done months ago.
ReplyDeleteOk....large papers are way over staffed company wide...why in the hell does it take 6-8 guys + support to run one double wide press? I can go into one southeast pressroom and do it with 4 guys and run the Sunday paper....why in the hell are their 10 guys standing around? Answer 6 guys are watching the other 4 do all the work thats why..!! I say pay us more and sh*t can the rest.....you know who you are!
ReplyDeleteBe careful 7:03. To even suggest that anyone should go on this block is about as close to blasphemy as you can get. No one should ever be let go, nor does anyone ever deserve to be let go. Gannett essentially will have to become a socialist institution is this blog's posters have their way.
ReplyDeleteHey Jim, you should just have everybody subscribe to your blog before being able to read anything substantial or post ... because Gannett's model of giving online news away for free is absolutely ludicrous and people should have to pay for content.
ReplyDeleteWonder how many readers you'd have then?
Ithaca and elmira copy desks have already been informed that in a few weeks they are toast.
ReplyDeleteNews and ad production ops are being consolidated to binghamton.
No revelations here, word is officially out. I expect the same will eventually happen any where else such an arrangement is possible, if it hasnt already.
Not sure what up with the binghamton building sale, no rumors on that for some time.
This is the first time I have posted and hopefully the last. I am a publisher in the East Group.
ReplyDeletePublishers have not been told ANYTHING about upcoming reductions in force. That does not mean they aren't coming. But the decision has not been made. Period.
Anyone on this blog announcing dates for cuts or dollar amounts or percentages right now is lying. Believe them if you wish, but the only person who benefits from that will be your cardiologist.
Anyone know of the rumor about Florida Today raising their Sunday price to $1.75? I've only heard it from one person but it has to start somewhere. That, along with 10 percent return rate (ridiculous) for single copy and 4-5 am start times will sink us for sure. Figures...when other papers are shoring up single copy, we try to kill it as fast as possible. This is getting real frustrating.
ReplyDeleteHere's the best way to take out all your frustration today! Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteA new internet game allows you to slap a CEO in these economic times.
http://z100.elvisduran.com/pages/p2article.html?feed=136656&article=5071608
7:24 ... if you haven't heard of a decision being made ... maybe you need to be concerned about your own job.
ReplyDelete7:24 a.m.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to say thank you. I wish more people in the know would at least get on here and debunk the rumors for the health - mental and physical - of your staffs. I believe you, even if we both know that cuts may still be coming. And I'm sure Jim appreciates your coming forward as much as I do.
Management axed one of our three weekly free niche pubs this week--not enough ad revenue. We suspect the 1 and 1/2 positions that went with it will vanish, too. Those positions were allocated from the newsroom staffing when the pub started. I wonder if this is happening with the free, zoned weekly pubs elsewhere?
ReplyDeleteReally none of these anonymous posts are reassuring.
ReplyDeleteOne says they KNOW layoffs are coming in April.
The other says they DON'T KNOW layoffs are coming in April.
Recent history has shown us to believe the one who says they are coming, right?
As far as the exact date? Well, just because one person hasn't heard anything, should we believe NO ONE has heard anything and that no plans have been made? Especially when that one person is posting anonymously and could just as well be lying? I'd be foolish to take comfort in that.
I think anyone who is NOT packing their bags and coming up with a Plan B, C or D is FOOLISH.
Don't get worried, don't let it affect your health, but DO keep your eyes and ears open and PLAN for the Worst Case Scenario.
Everyone is endanger of losing their job except at the very highest level. Makes cents doesn't it? You do your job. They don't. You you go. They stay.
ReplyDeleteThis is so horrible, and it is getting worse. You would have to be really dumb not to realize that some really big things are about to happen. Ad revenues are actually worsening this quarter, compared to last quarter. I hear from an ad salesman that not even deep discounts are budging business to advertise, and it. Around my newspaper, you can already see the empty stores and vacant parking lots. It is truly horrible.
ReplyDelete7:37 AM
ReplyDeleteIt's going to happen! It is the cookie cutter approach where the 'chiefs' apply the same template everywhere.
They bring idiots in and then they have to 'validate' their reason for the promotion or transfer by letting all the locals know "I am the BOSS" and I know more than you do about this market.
They would rather sell less papers as long as they hit the returns goal. Let's keep rising the price of our 'trimmed down product' and try to compete with our competion who by the way sells their product 50% less than we do. BOY...THAT'S SMART!!!
Here's one for you.
ReplyDeleteStripper on a pole contest at a local night club produced this photo gallery in Mansfield, Ohio:
http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=B7&Dato=20090225&Kategori=PHOTOGALLERIES&Lopenr=902250802&Ref=PH
Facebook disguised as journalism?
What is latest on Asheville lawsuit? Ihne?
ReplyDeleteLayoffs and more slashing loom. Everyone knows that without needing confirmation. 1st Q is a train wreck.
ReplyDeleteBreakup of newspaper division necessary to save performers; corporate should divide report up for Wall Street between winners and losers among big G newspapers. Wonder how many profitable papers do not have trends as steep as metros.
ReplyDeleteConsolidations may have sped a devaluation of individual properties for eventual sale. New owners have to recreate outsourced infrastructure. That point can be leverage in purchase price.
ReplyDeleteWho will buy? Local local local.
To 7:02am, This southwest pressman does it with four... We've been cut back like everyone else. I would kill for a six or eight man crew. More power to those who have it. I think what you're probably seeing is management personal mixed in with crews. In a lot of cases the office is better manned than the presses! Gannett would like nothing more than to have us pointing fingers at one another, it takes the heat off them!
ReplyDeleteNext round may target salary drags: folks paid above grade or staffing where director/department head heirs translate into too many chiefs. One has got to go. Find $200K in two jobs at each property. And find $400 in front line at each property. Do the math. Simple way to achieve.
ReplyDeleteI am not a journaist or news gatherer. At various times I have been a newsmaker and a news consumer. So I have mixed feelings about the demise of corporate journalism. Most of the adjustments I see or hear about are aimed at saving the corporations who own journalism, that is a fundemental mistake, IMHO. I also think that the itunes model of paying for content will not save journalism. More likely is the NPR model with mostly freelance reporters. Dramatic changes with little security. But that is the nature of change, as all dinosuers eventually discover.
ReplyDeleteI know this is not a forum for political discussion, but I see nothing but more pain for Gannett, its advertisers and paying subscribers should Obama's budget actually come to light. That, in and of itself seem to suggest that this stock and other media stocks are not a place to be for sometime.
ReplyDelete9:56 a.m. - You're already beginning to see the rise of a freelancer market in some areas. It's a whole new world. And in my opinion, it's a totally mixed bag. On the one hand, the use of skilled freelancers by some publications is at least allowing readable copy to flow in. On the other, some publications are just filling whatever news holes they have left with anything, and it shows, and the readers recognize what's going very fast.
ReplyDelete10:15: when has any president's budget come to light? It is unrelated to GCI's problems, except that economists seem to believe that incredible federal spending will bring back the good times. Count me as a skeptic. This economy is going through transititions that will destroy a number of traditional industries, including newspapers just as previous recessions destroyed the shoe, textile and steel industries.
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth, I've found the rumors in these commentary sections to be highly unreliable. Occassionally, one comes true but mostly they're just speculation.
ReplyDeleteWhen it's time to worry is when Jim breaks one out as one of his posts. He seems to have some excellent insider contacts and while things he reports as rumor don't always come true, they do a high percentage of the time.
Remember that nobody knows who any of these other posters -- including me -- are. Jim has established his credibility, so I pay far more attention to his posts.
to 7:03
ReplyDeleteIn Louisville we have a crew of 4 to run our double wide offset presses. Some runs, only 3.
What we have is an abundance of supervisors. 6 for 22 operators. Some nights we have 3 supervisors for 4 pressmen. And no, these supervisors don't work on the press.
Folks from my smallish paper that went to corp this week includ hr, finance, news, publisher
ReplyDeleteJim,
ReplyDeleteCan you find out what this big meeting is? I know that there are some people from my Florida paper going to Virginia.
Also, Jim, there are so many rumors flying. What do you think is next? Do you think there will be huge layoffs?
I have seen the bullet with my name on it for months.
ReplyDeleteDuring my furlough, I took a trip to a much cheaper state and bought a bank owned rural house with some land (to grow some food). My Plans, B, C, D.
I'm reading about saving money and self-sufficiency. I will be able to live a quiet, humble life.
Getting ready, like Jack Nicholson at the begining of "About Schmidt," to leave my job and start a new life.
I too tired with the economy crashing and the future value of the dollar in doubt, to care anymore about past injustices and management mistakes.
All the best to the goods ones out there. To the rest, I hope you were stupid enough to not sell your Gannett stock.
10:41 am: Excellent observation!
ReplyDeleteIncredible. In spite of the layoffs and buyouts, GCI's employment payroll grew in 2008, according to the annual report. There are now 41,500 full-time and part-time employees including 2,000
ReplyDeletefor CareerBuilder.
Does anyone know what the CEO bonuses were for 2008? Did or will Mr. Craig get another 7 million?
ReplyDeleteI am not a relative of Jim's or a personal friend. Just a blog reader and financial contributor.
ReplyDeleteOver this coming year, this blog will be invaluable to all of us. To that end, I encourage my fellow readers to financially support this blog however and whenever you can by making a donation - no matter how small. It's up to us readers (who rely on this valuable resource) to keep it and Jim alive. Please make a donation. You can see how to do that here on the "home page." Thank you fellow readers!!
Jim,
ReplyDeleteI think you should write an equally long, but entertaining, Gannettblog annual report for your shareholders and sell it on here!
10:41 The manufactured items don't really bother me because they stick out like sore thumbs, and you know they cannot possibly be true. I would rather hear the rumor that is circulating rather than the old Corporate silence.
ReplyDelete" NEW JERSEY PAPERS ARE BEST"
ReplyDeleteLike the corporate blank stare--I think Gannett teaches classes on that.
ReplyDeleteRocky mountain mews last day is tomorrow.
ReplyDelete12:49.... WAKE UP!
ReplyDeleteNEW JERSEY NEWSPAPERS AND MANAGEMENT SUCK! NOT ONE GANNETT PAPER IN NJ CAN HOLD A CANDLE TO THE STAR-LEDGER!
I HOPE HORTENSE VON BEAVERBOTTOM SILL POST TODAY AND VERIFY THIS. SHE HAS BEEN WITH THE COMPANY FOR MANY YEARS AND EXPECTS THE PINK SLIP MOMENTARILY.
http://tinyurl.com/c9jkxw
ReplyDeleteLatest on Duffy's battle.
To present and former Asbury Park Press staff, this is your old Trouble Shooter writing.
ReplyDeleteI've been looking into how Gannett calculated pensions for people with continuous employment at the APP starting before Jan. 1, 1998. Gannett pension administrator Carrie Oman has answered some of my questions and has provided some documents I requested, but I'm still pushing for response on all my questions and complete documentation on how these numbers came about.
I've created an email APPpensions@live.com for people who would like me to let them know what I find out, as I find it out.
I'm reluctant to make a judgment yet, because all I have is the current Gannett and the past APP pension summaries, and Ms. Oman's email replies, which may or may not be verified in documents I've requested.
However, I have enough to seriously question whether older APP workers are being compensated fairly in pension data.
Also, an advocate I spoke to doubts the rollover/cashout document some people say they've signed to collect what was offered constitutes a waiver of rights to revisit these figures.
Rocky Mountain News to close:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/feb/26/rocky-mountain-news-closes-friday-final-edition/
Got to love the "Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News" at the end of the story.
Nice job Ms Hildebrand..you got Oman to answer some questions! I am still waiting for ANY PENSION INFO past or present! My COBRA packet arrived today WoooHoooo!
ReplyDeleteGannett Junk Status...... UH OH
ReplyDeleteLinda H,
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you post. I hope you are doing OK.
signed, a former co-worker
Word verification:
laterl
to 7:03am
ReplyDeleteI have seen the product you guys put out with 4 pressman. all i can say is you must have 3 guys standing around while one guys does your job plus everyone elses. trust me the fish don't want to be wrapped in it!!
all the top vps except production are out of the office at our paper here. all of them are reported to be in virginia, at corporate hq. training for new initiatives has never been handled in this way at any time before. at least not for us. i want to believe that is all that is going on but i really just think there is something more. does anyone have anything concrete on whats going on? please.
ReplyDelete5:42 We don't know, but something very dramatic is about to come down. Look at the dividend cut and that Moody's report, and you could conclude this company is in really deep shit. I don't know if we can get out of this alive.
ReplyDeleteall our VPs, except ad and production are all in virginia as well
ReplyDeletewould anyone leave Gannett to go to Gatehouse. Please share your opinions of Gatehouse's financial status.
ReplyDeleteMoody's has been wrong before. Are Obama and Debow brothers? They are both throwing up bricks.
ReplyDeleteHey, 2:29 p.m.
ReplyDeleteHow can you tell that Hotense Von Beaverbottom has a pink slip on?
You New Joisee people take the cake.
[magic letters: chipplie]
check out the pics on the Rocky Mountain News Web site. Horrible. I'm sure it won't be the last. Just awful. This is what corporate ownership has done.
ReplyDelete5:42pm
ReplyDeleteWhat location are you?
RMN misses 150 years by less than 2 months ... sad.
ReplyDeleteGot an email today about the "Gannett: The Television Show" Contest.
ReplyDeleteThey want employees to sumbit videos spoofing tv shows.
I'm picturing "Gilligan's Island" starring Craig Dubow as Gilligan, with the SS Gannett shipwrecked on the beach.
Got my pension check today after being laid-off Dec 2nd (paperwork file with corp Jan. 2nd). I have to say that 29 of my 31 years with the big G were rewarding. The last two were a downward spiral that is continuing. What is sad is that the majority of the community papers, if left alone from corporate mandates, etc. (that founder Frank Gannett would have wanted and did in fact allow local autonomy) papers could remain viable in their communities for another decade. Now the severance is complete, so it's goodbye and good luck to all of my former co-workers.
ReplyDeleteA couple of weeks ago, someone posted about a 5 percent paycut. I overheard managers talking about this today, saying it would not be noticed by employees because the government is cutting federal witholding taxes on paychecks. Clever. GCI could squeeze money out of employees, but they would not really notice it because their paychecks would not change after April 1.
ReplyDeleteThat television show contest is a joke.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a video camera or editing software at home. So would it be OK for me to use company equipment and software to produce it?
Ha!
This is the first time I have posted and hopefully the last. I am a publisher in the East Group.
ReplyDeleteThank you for being honest. That is really all everyone is asking for. Yes, there will always be the few people who are doom and gloom but the majority of us just want to keep our jobs and our homes. Let's hope we can all continue to do so.
Publishers have not been told ANYTHING about upcoming reductions in force. That does not mean they aren't coming. But the decision has not been made. Period.
Anyone on this blog announcing dates for cuts or dollar amounts or percentages right now is lying. Believe them if you wish, but the only person who benefits from that will be your cardiologist.
Well, anonymous East Coast publisher, the signs are clear something is brewing and we all know it will not be good.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjhGFdzY2aY&feature=channel_page
ReplyDeletehow much do the smaller paper HR heads get paid? range please....
ReplyDeleteWell, given there are no HR heads at small papers, I guess not a lot of pay going there way.
ReplyDeleteI heard from an advertiser that the Des Moines Register cut their content in half for the statewide edition. What is up? Probably saving newsparint again.
ReplyDeleteSo, I didn't get a raise this year. Anyone hear about an official or unofficial wage freeze?
ReplyDeleteA couple of weeks ago, someone posted about a 5 percent paycut. I overheard managers talking about this today, saying it would not be noticed by employees because the government is cutting federal witholding taxes on paychecks. Clever. GCI could squeeze money out of employees, but they would not really notice it because their paychecks would not change after April 1.
ReplyDelete2/26/2009 8:03 PM
I would notice! I scrutinize it every pay period. Everyone should, check their pay check with a fine tooth comb. I even make a copy of my time sheet! Have for many years. People in payroll make mistakes too! No one is perfect, especially in this company! ;)
In all honesty, the jobs in HR have to be the worst in all of Gannett. I cannot believe that these people ENJOY being as inefficient and stupid and mannerless as they ALL appear to be in NJ. My theory is that only a special kind of person could do this kind of job and still sleep at night. And to these marvelous bastions of Gannett philosophy and deceit, we collectively thank you for all you have done for us. May your next jobs be with the Mafia!
ReplyDeleteHow low have the quality of this company sunk???
ReplyDeleteJust looked at a photo gallary on the always-poor Mansfield paper in Ohio... and they have a whole photo gallary on nothing but a stripper pole contest at some Mansfield bar!
How pitiful is that? The photos, however, have to be seen. They are crude, quite ugly and embarrassing, to be blunt.
But after all, isn't that the Gannett paper's whose blind publisher critiques the paper and the screeching, tobacco-crewing ME is a joke?
2/26/2009 10:26 PM
ReplyDeleteThe folks in Mansfield removed the gallery. I guess too much press! :O
When the dust clears, what will Gannett look like?
ReplyDeleteI have worked with several of the HR people in new jersey on situations, and I have found them to be helpful. I guess it is a matter of perspective. If you are an idiot and a jerk you will be treated just as you should.
ReplyDeleteOk what else did the Board do at this meeting?? Did they cut the top brasses wages, sell a jet, discontinue bonuses, etc. They have so many ways of reducing spending other than furloughs and layoff. Did they reduce their compensation!!!! As always the s..T will flow down hill.
ReplyDeleteWhat is this Form 4 group filing? Also brought up 2008 report does not say anything about wages and compensaton for the people at the top. If you know please post.
ReplyDelete