Thursday, July 09, 2009

Part 6 | Thursday's Layoff News & Comments

This section is now closed to new comments. Please go to Part 7.

93 comments:

  1. This is a continuation of today's Real Time Comments. Please see Part 5.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Enough of the crocodile tears from USA Today. It is hypocritical and insincere from employees who get subsidized lunches, free gym privileges, free parking and all-expense paid soirees with the good and powerful. Your day eventually will come and then it will be our turn to say how sad we are to see the company make these cuts, and how unfair it all is. You won't believe us then anymore than we believe you now.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lansing:

    Adv: 5 down, including mid-level mgmt.

    Circ: 4 ? including Director.

    Bus Ofc: 2, including Controller,

    News: 2 so far, brunt coming tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Why aren't the offings being completed today? I thought 7/9 was The Date?

    How many aren't finished yet?

    Is it certain departments, or what?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Death of Newspapers? Just Buy One. http://bit.ly/sAcDB

    ReplyDelete
  6. I don't think the NNCO group is done yet.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Port Huron - from our count it looks like

    1 circ
    1 news
    3 production

    Publisher Tim Dowd sent a message out that there is 1 more coming. If you're on vacation this week, watchout.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Margaret Buchanan earns her rings the Gannett way. Take note of her management style during a lay off. Who comes first? The advertisers. But she disguises that in a Publisher's note to "readers" on EnquirerMedia. Let's make them feel important, but it's pretty clear who this is aimed at.
    It takes her four hours later to communicate anything to her staff who have just lost 101 colleagues.
    It's pretty clear who comes first given the timing and the tone. Her staff was an afterthought, like a pile of dog crap she wouldn't care to step in.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Why so quiet in Greenville?

    ReplyDelete
  10. @6:24 (from part 5)

    Oooohhh. I am so offended. *eyeroll*
    You know nothing. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  11. Fort Collins hourly non-exempt employees were seriously fucked over today by Gannett. The salaried employees weren't touched. Hourly workers are the ones who do most of the actual work. Try and get a paper out without us. Then to make things worse, we're told to look at it this way, "You get 2.5 hours a week back in your personal lives". What Gannett doesn't understand or care about, is that because of the pay cut. Our personal lives are getting harder day by day.

    ReplyDelete
  12. My guess is if some sites are taking more than today to do their cuts some are probably on vacation or out sick and they have to wait for them to come back. Cast not stones if you don't have all the information. And obviously you don't because you're not there.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Visalia Times Delta / Tulare Advanced Register

    not confirmed, 4 reporters 2 photogs

    ad dept. excluded

    don't think this is the end of it

    ReplyDelete
  14. Let me get this straight: USA Today is exempt from all this?
    Detroit, too?
    Detroit, of all places?
    Don't understand????

    ReplyDelete
  15. It is too bad there isn't a publisher out there with the guts to tell the real story.

    Dear Fellow Employees:

    Today's round of cuts is complete. For those of you who are still with us I recommend you plan to be cut in the next round. Look for another job or start your own business. Do not count on this company for your future.

    The company is in this financial mess because management made poor choices and made no investment in the future. As a publisher I am supposed to use the economy as my excuse but the economy is only a small part of why we are cutting jobs.

    As a publisher I did not have the guts to take a stand when the Gannett Management called. I was part of the fantasy that got high on strong profits in the past and fed dividends to shareholders like cocaine. I bought into the arrogance of corporate leadership because the money was good and corporate was always right. Arrogance forced advertising rates so high it opened the door for competitors like Craig's list. Arrogance allowed us to dictate what was in the community paper from a corporate headquarters far away. Arrogance helped build and maintain a board of directors who would never question management's actions or direction. Arrogance allowed management to justify golden parachutes, executive contracts, keeping nonproductive pets and poison pills.

    Unfortunately you as current employees and soon to be former employees suffer because of management mistakes.

    Our readers and advertisers know we are not committed to them.

    Even worse is the total disregard of our vital role in democracy. A free press is crippled when it can no longer focus resources on the issues.

    In closing, thanks for all your hardwork. It would really help if you kept it up.

    Best wishes.

    ReplyDelete
  16. what happened to Mr Donovans "I had a dream speech" when he became publisher? that one day he would lift up the asbury park press that we would make money and all the employees would have job security. that he and his crack team of experts would come back from their weekend retreat and lift up the press and it would be a shining example for all of gannett to follow. i guess 40/74 was the wrong answer.

    ReplyDelete
  17. No love for the HR representatives?
    Don't they deserve a Ring for thier cold stares.

    ReplyDelete
  18. 6:44 we are not aware that Detroit is exempt. We have not been told that.

    ReplyDelete
  19. 6:39 is correct, In Arizona, you cannot receive unemployment benefits if you're still receiving any compensation from your previous employer. Leave it to Gannett to figure out a severance package that appears as if you're receiving benefits and have no clue how the system works.

    I cannot wish bad upon Gannett as my friends still work there, but this type of stuff will haunt the morons in Senior Management. These things do not go unnoticed and unpunished.

    ReplyDelete
  20. When I worked at the LSJ Jody Hook never worked past noon on friday. So with the added responsibility of circ operations in Lansing will she now? good luck circ

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous said...
    so long Cherrill from Az., having been booted from Delaware to Boise and then to the desert.
    perhaps you will find gainful employment in the exciting (and growing!) field of corrections.
    You'd make a swell prison matron, and you're already dressed for it. You've got the frame and stance to keep order in the yard, and the shower room.
    But be sure to keep you back to the wall, and don't bend over to tie your shoes.
    Ta-ta for the volatile she-men editors who would chew their butts of before disagreeing with a suit. You "ladies" take care, won't you.
    Buh Bye.

    ReplyDelete
  22. So is the Classified in APP/HNT/CN safe?

    ReplyDelete
  23. This was the response to someone asking about the WI group and their announcement.

    A good guess is that more heads will roll tomorrow.

    5:27 p.m. They're still in the process of layoffs, smart ass. Go back to work instead of trying to taunt people on here all day.

    7/09/2009 5:30 PM

    ReplyDelete
  24. The senior management at Gannett are worse than Al-Queda.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Shreveport updated
    1 front desk clerk
    1 classified ad person
    1 pre-press person
    1 ad designer
    2 press workers
    1 press manager
    1 page designer
    1 weekly newspaper position--the person who held it has been offered an open position that wasn't cut.
    for 9 total positions.

    ReplyDelete
  26. can anyone confirm who was let go from production in des moines?

    ReplyDelete
  27. 6:35 - Are you able to say who is gone in the newsroom in Lansing? Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  28. NNCO is giving big raises to the Information Center employees for the consolidated efforts and yet they are laying off people that know a hell of a lot more than the people saved by Linda Greiwe. If you are not one of Greiwe's friends or in advertising you are not safe. Too many spineless VPs in this group.

    ReplyDelete
  29. OF COURSE Jody Hook never works past noon on Friday, isn't she a director? When is her next two week vacation to ...wherever? I hope she has a great time! Geez, send me pics - I can grab em off my iphone while Im standing in the unemployment line !!!

    Fucking losers.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Jackson (Tenn.) Sun lost 15 full-time and six part-time workers lost, including assistant op-ed editor and IT director. No more call center. Everyone gone in classified sales but auto.

    ReplyDelete
  31. From Lansing alt weekly -

    The Lansing State Journal has let go at least nine employees (possibly 14), including two executives, as part of a new round of layoffs ordered by its parent company, Gannett, sources confirm. There may be more.

    Last year, the State Journal laid off 40.

    The latest employees to be let go are:
    Librarian Pam Gawronski
    Copy Editor Ellen Wolkensperg
    Circulation Director Diana Kennedy

    Controller Mike Wieber

    Four employees in the circulation department

    One employee from the business department
    Several sources on blogs covering the Gannett layoffs report that at least five have been cut from the advertising department.

    City Pulse will update the numbers and names of those cut as we learn more.

    In a July 1 memo, Gannett executive Brian Dickey said he was ordering 1,400 layoffs company wide. Gannett owns 102 newspapers in the U.S. and Great Britain, including USA Today. Dickey said the cuts were to take place by today.

    City Pulse has contacted LSJ Publisher Brian Priester for comment, but he has yet to return the call.

    Like all Gannett newspapers, the LSJ has been forced to furlough employees. Its layoffs last year included the entire staff of the young reader publication, Noise, and longtime entertainment writer Mike Hughes.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Anonymous said...

    Anonymous said...

    Wonder how this transition pay bullshit will work in Arizona, where you can't collect unemployment if you're getting any sort of pay. And it's capped at a magnificent $240/wk.

    Oh, yeah, almost forgot: Fuck you, Bob Dickey.

    7/09/2009 6:39 PM

    ------------------

    Thanks for the laugh at the end there!

    The transition pay is the biggest piece of shit to come out of today's layoffs if you ask me.

    What's that? You gave years, even decades of your life to this company? Well, here you go. Here's a steaming pile of shit, convoluted severance we outsourced to a company that profits even more than we do off of human misery. Enjoy!

    7/09/2009 6:54 PM

    ------------------


    UNIONIZE NOW OR ONLY EXPECT MORE OF THE SAME AND WORSE IN THE FUTURE.

    Until the remaining workers punch back and show some backbone this kind of treatment will continue to go on. It won't matter if it's a bad economy or a good economy. The execs will keep taking advantage of you if they can get away with it. That's one thing you truly can take to the bank.

    Go to the AFL-CIO Web site. You can contact them for guidance on how to start a union. Strike while your fellow employees are still pissed off and before they get complacent again foolishly thinking it can't get any worse.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Lafayette (La.) Daily Advertiser loses six. Quik Quarter loses four. Both publications continue to lose respect. Still waiting on an official memo from Mrs. Hurst. Maybe the great weight of the president's rings (given for making huge cuts in the travel budget and expenses as well as personnel to increase profit margin) have left her unable to type! Bet she will treat herself to lobster, maybe steak, tonight for all her hard work!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Indianapolis lost 37 employees over two days, 17 of which came from the newsroom, and gutted the News Guild's bargaining committee by taking out a news researcher who was the secretary.

    17 is a misleading number -- it's really 23, counting 4 who resigned ahead of today and 2 who were laid off June 19 on the magazine staff.

    A couple of hundred years of talent and experience were forced out today. A shame.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Number still stands at three, but something's coming: "There's an all newsroom meeting scheduled for 5:15." (Statesman Journal, Salem, Ore.)

    ReplyDelete
  36. To bad this blog is dying tonight,just as you lose your jobs. The sharing of information is critical over the next few months. Good luck.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Sorry to hear about the Green Bay reporter. Was the publisher, Kevin, in on these meetings? He seems like a stand-up guy.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Nice reporting job, Lansing Shitty Pulse. Who is Brian Dickey?

    ReplyDelete
  39. I wonder how much GCI is paying this outsourced company to pay out the severances. THey must have promised corporate big severance savings or else they would have never got the contract. I have never heard of this before. What need is there for H.R., except to respond to queries from employees with the usual "look it up on the intranet" response.?

    ReplyDelete
  40. No news from Nashville? I'm a former employee who left a few years ago and worried about former coworkers and distant friends.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Union workers I know get nice salaries, excellent benefits, a great pension after 20 years and an extremely fair severance package if things get really bad and they TRULY HAVE to lay people off.

    What do non-union workers like those of us at Gannett get? Some bullshit "Transition Pay" and a kick in the ass if profits aren't quite as fat as they once were!!! That's fucking great. Transition Pay: How very 1984 or you, Gannett shithead execs!

    People who say unions run companies into the ground don't know what they're talking about. Look at Gannett. Leadership is running this company into the ground all by themselves.

    ReplyDelete
  42. "The senior management at Gannett are worse than Al-Queda."

    It's hard to believe anyone could be this dumb. But this blog makes it happen.

    ReplyDelete
  43. What ever happened to this layoff targeting mid level managers?

    ReplyDelete
  44. "People who say unions run companies into the ground don't know what they're talking about. Look at Gannett. Leadership is running this company into the ground all by themselves."

    Another idiot.

    ReplyDelete
  45. I hate to open myself up to attack here, but I really don't understand the severance terms. I am not clear about the "subsidy" concept. So if I worked for G for 10 years, what happens? I no longer get 10 weeks of pay? Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  46. I also heard 100+ in downtown Phoenix from the Az Republic got the axe. And some of the folks at Channel 12 (NBC in Phx) took a 6% pay cut.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Who was the HR person in Nashville?

    ReplyDelete
  48. Beat it 7:13. You're obviously another corporate stooge. You're not fooling anyone.

    ReplyDelete
  49. The H.R director at Palm Springs got an Award from Gannett and most of the employees don't even know his name. He rarely ever comes out of his hole- I mean office.

    ReplyDelete
  50. I hate to open myself up to attack here, but I really don't understand the severance terms. I am not clear about the "subsidy" concept. So if I worked for G for 10 years, what happens? I no longer get 10 weeks of pay? Thanks.

    ---------------------

    In that example of working for the company for 10 years, for your first 10 weeks where your state is paying you unemployment benefits, Gannett makes up the difference between your state unemployment pay and your current salary. For example, if you make $500 per week now and your unemployment benefit is $400, Gannett chips in $100 per week for those 10 weeks. You'll also have to first qualify for unemployment and prove every week to the company handling the severance that you are still qualified for unemployment. If you find another job, whatever it pays, your "transition pay" from Gannett stops. Your health benefits run out at the end of the first month, regardless of how long you've worked for the company.

    ReplyDelete
  51. "To bad this blog is dying tonight,just as you lose your jobs."

    Yes, "to bad."

    Now the whiners will have to go elsewhere.

    ReplyDelete
  52. Mountain Home lost 3 positions out of about 39 people.

    ReplyDelete
  53. ****The senior management at Gannett are worse than Al-Queda.****

    No, they're worse. Al-Queda offers quick deaths as opposed to the torture Gannet Senior Managment love to inflict.

    ReplyDelete
  54. In Wilmington, Delaware The News Journal lost 30 at last count.

    The newsroom breakdown:

    2 on the day copy desk, including a manager
    3 on the night copy desk
    A designer
    The last remaining librarian
    The deputy city editor
    2 news assistants, one from news another from sports
    2 from online, including the online newscast anchor who once adorned billboards in the state and served as the face of the paper

    The newsroom has been told its over. No reporters or photographers. The pain and loss of friends however will likely be felt for a long time.

    ReplyDelete
  55. "To bad this blog is dying tonight,just as you lose your jobs."

    Yes, "to bad."

    Now the whiners will have to go elsewhere.

    ----------------------

    STOOGE! STOOGE! STOOGE! STOOGE!

    How's the back, Craig?

    ReplyDelete
  56. Enough of the crocodile tears from USA Today. It is hypocritical and insincere from employees who get subsidized lunches, free gym privileges, free parking and all-expense paid soirees with the good and powerful. Your day eventually will come and then it will be our turn to say how sad we are to see the company make these cuts, and how unfair it all is. You won't believe us then anymore than we believe you now.

    7/09/2009 6:35 PM
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    You can KISS MY ASS!! I don't get any of this. I'm a grunt in the field working my ass off to keep my job. There are more USAT employees that don't work in Tyson's than do.

    I would love to say more but then my comment would surely be deleted. So, just read between the lines you ass.

    ReplyDelete
  57. Actually, it really is too bad this blog is closing down tonight. I'm a relative of a Gannett employee and a spouse of a journalist recently laid off in another massacre (though on a smaller-chain scale.) We certainly could have used a resource like this one to share information and just for the feeling of camaraderie in the midst of sucker-punched misery. I think a lot of people are going to miss this site when it's no longer active.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Gannett Co. Inc. has eliminated 106 full-time and 19 part-time positions at its six newspapers in New Jersey due to the continued impact of the recession.


    The company began notifying the affected employees late Wednesday night and the notifications continued throughout Thursday at the Asbury Park Press, the Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, the Home News Tribune in East Brunswick, the Courier News in Somerville, the Daily Record in Parsippany and the Daily Journal in Vineland.

    “We had hoped to avoid additional reductions in our workforce,” said Thomas M. Donovan, president and publisher of the Asbury Park Press and vice president of Gannett’s East Newspaper Group. “But, unfortunately, this recession is deep and severe. Advertising revenues have not rebounded and, as we looked at economic forecasts for the second half of 2009, we had to make further reductions.’’

    New Jersey still has it's full compliment of Vice Presidents.

    ReplyDelete
  59. Let me get this straight: USA Today is exempt from all this?
    Detroit, too?
    Detroit, of all places?
    Don't understand????

    7/09/2009 6:44 PM

    Fuck you and get your facts together. You obviously have no idea what things have already gone on in both places.

    ReplyDelete
  60. What is truly amazing is how these cuts are taking place and no plan in place to let employees know what is going on. I have seen certain employees that truly deserve to be let go still remain employed.

    For example someone that is asleep at their desk almost every morning, another that is able to bullshit their way out of anything and make themselves look as if they are worth a damn.

    On the other hand we have some of the most talented people being let go. On the other side of the coin these scumbags that should have been written up and fired before this took place.

    I wish I understood the formula they used to figure this out. It is truly a formula for complete and utter failure.

    This entire situation reminds me of the movie "Fun with Dick and Jane" can't wait to see what our new VP of communications will say on the 15th to wall street.

    Welcome to the blind leading the blind.....It is going to be one hell of a ride! God bless to all those who lost your jobs, my prayers are with you.

    ReplyDelete
  61. Hey, did Cherrill Crosby get the boot in AZ? Sounds like it from an earlier post.
    If that is the case, perhaps there really is a god...

    ReplyDelete
  62. "Analysts: Gannett's Q2 Newspaper Advertising Revenue Expected to Fall 32%"


    NEW YORK Signs of a turnaround in Q2 are highly unlikely for the Gannett Co., wrote J.P. Morgan analysts Alexia Quadrani and Monica DiCenso in a note issued this afternoon.

    The analysts are anticipating another "weak quarter" for the McLean, Va.-based company when it releases its earnings on July 15. J.P. Morgan forecasts that newspaper advertising revenue at Gannett fell 32% in Q2. "Severe revenue declines" are expected at USA Today.

    http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003992469

    ReplyDelete
  63. PLEASE

    Stop the back biting between USAT and the Comm Papers.

    This blog closes tonight, and there will be further bloodshed tomorrow.

    Please take the time to register at Gannettiod, and post what you know.

    Some us still fear for our jobs.

    ReplyDelete
  64. To All Employees:

    We have been through two very difficult days. As you know, we have implemented most of the layoffs I announced last week. A total of 28 employees are impacted by these layoffs. It has been a very emotional couple of days for all of us. Those who are leaving served the Lansing State Journal well and will be missed. I want to stress that the reductions in no way reflect the quality of these individuals’ work. I know you join me in wishing them both professional success and personal happiness.

    To ease any additional anxiety I asked each department head to meet with their staff when they were finished meeting with all individuals impacted by these layoffs. Because we operate 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, all of the required layoffs could not be completed today. But layoff notification has been given to all affected employees scheduled to work today.

    The current recession is hurting many businesses and we are no exception. But as I said last week in my weekly news summary, I am confident that we are positioning ourselves for growth when the economy rebounds. I truly appreciate each of you and what you contribute to LSJ Media. We will get through these difficult economic times and come out stronger.

    If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.


    Brian Priester
    President and Publisher
    120 E. Lenawee St., Lansing, MI 48919

    ReplyDelete
  65. VTD/AR
    only one photog so far. That earlier could be right but right now as it stands just one person so far.

    ReplyDelete
  66. One clueless NNCO VP didn't know where one of his employees was so they couldn't lay him off.

    ReplyDelete
  67. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  68. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  69. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  70. 7:41, you may still have a job, but your character sucks. Good luck to you in the world.

    ReplyDelete
  71. By Labor Day, that jackass that sat across from me will ring up my purchase at jiffy mart. I can't wait to smirk in his face

    ReplyDelete
  72. From Gannettiod:

    Wisconsin is not done by a long shot. There's still some reorganzation to be done at least in the east group. No one at my site is sleeping easy yet.

    ReplyDelete
  73. recommend tweetgrid.com x3 and follow gannett, gannettlayoffs and blackthursday

    ReplyDelete
  74. 7:41 p.m. Grow up! Many of us still have our jobs. But, if you get with the Gannett program, your's may be first on the list next month. Dipshit, can't you see it coming?

    ReplyDelete
  75. Westchester lost 6 or 7 in Production today. I guess they were the "exeptions" until the August restructure.

    ReplyDelete
  76. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  77. 8:02: You are an arrogant dick. Enough said.

    ReplyDelete
  78. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  79. Dead weight still left on the payroll. Probably another layoff coming in December. Mid level managers still sucking the company dry.

    ReplyDelete
  80. 7:33...nope Cherill still here...two editors (both very, very good ones) were shown the door. Metro remains so WAY overstaffed with assistant city editor types and ineffective groups....the byline count would just be stunning to see...there is the special people ground and those who crank out the work.

    ReplyDelete
  81. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  82. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  83. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  84. 8:03 and 8:04 Dead weight still left on the payroll.

    ReplyDelete
  85. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  86. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  87. That dude is a troll. Probably did get fired today and is drunk off his ass. Ignore him or he'll just keep going.

    ReplyDelete
  88. "One clueless NNCO VP didn't know where one of his employees was so they couldn't lay him off."

    Could you narrow it down a bit? There are a lot of clueless Gannett VPs in Ohio, including one in Fremont and Port Clinton who has been knocked down to a "manager's" position. Along with an appropriate pay cut,I hope.

    ReplyDelete
  89. 8:07 I guess you're left talking to yourself. G'nite, dickhead

    ReplyDelete
  90. Sell all the tiny papers which make less than $25million a year in net revenue. Local ownership could emerge. Most papers are still profitable but are saddled with the overall debt. Plan for bankruptcy and move ahead. What will GCI look like in 2012, 2015? Share the vision.

    ReplyDelete
  91. Or it could be a new approach by our corporate stooge to break up angry current and former Gannett employees from communicating.

    ReplyDelete
  92. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete