Saturday, September 03, 2011

Aug. 29-Sept. 4 | Your News & Comments: Part 6

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36 comments:

  1. I think the last poster of last night was correct.
    The Gannett problems are so massive and complete
    and there is no solution.So firing some of the hated top management is really not a fix.
    It is like the when the Titanic hit the iceberg,
    nothing those people could do would stop her from eventually sinking.NOTHING that Gannett does can stop the losses.Readership down,circulation down ,stocks down,employee moral ....dead,those employees who care..mostly non-existant,REVENUE HUGELY DOWN.Where do you start to fix.......just prat for quick end.

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  2. Every mainstream news outlet is going overboard for the 10th anniversary of 9/11. It is not because editors and reporters want to do so. It is because media owners and management want it that way.

    This past week has shown the US government as venal at best and a criminal element at worst. Operation Fast and Furious ... CIA rendition flights ... medical experiments on Guatemalans ... FBI hiring and outfitting terrorists ... "our troops" mowing down an Iraqi family ... Ghadafi's close ties to the CIA ... all the evidence is out in the open. How do the public and the local media respond? Cry out for the government to "save us" when a hurricane plows through.

    One reason for the decline in newspaper reading is the perception (whether true or not) that the media are bigoted and biased. If your Gannett newspaper runs the world/national roundup from USA Today, you're essentially getting news tailored to fit US government policy.

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  3. Crotchfelt Baby! A list of positions to be eliminated was constructed based on her request. Seasoned hard working news staff with years of knowledge and relationships with sources will loose their jobs. Come on Guild, let's fight for our future and journalism.

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  4. More than two weeks have gone by without anyone reporting -- or saying -- how many workers will lose their jobs because of the Cincinnati Enquirer's decision to outsource its printing to the Columbus Dispatch. A lot of people work over at the Western Avenue printing plant and last I knew many were represented by a trade union. We know why Gannett and the Enquirer would hide the job loss information from the public, but doesn't someone at the paper or the printing plant know what's in store for those workers? This will be a pretty big hit for those workers. Doubt if there's any printing plant/offset skills needed in Cincinnati. How about it, someone?

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  5. Not enough sites know about this blog or else they are deathly afraid to post here.
    There must be news of layoffs or press closings or shuttering going on around Gannett world that are not known about.

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  6. Regarding the 9/11 anniversary, I'm surprised Gannett hasn't pushed a company-wide marketing tie-in program for advertisers along the lines of "Prices So Low, We're Jumping Out the Windows!"

    Oh, wait. Look at that. There's a call for me on Line 2 from a Ms. Banikarim.

    Hello?

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  7. Anon 10:02 AM said:
    "It is like when the Titanic hit the iceberg,
    nothing those people could do would stop her from eventually sinking. NOTHING that Gannett does can stop the losses."

    Titanic and Gannett.
    Titanic: where most of the survivors were the Rich and Wealthy whom were given seats on life boats while the lower classes were hopelessly left to sink down into the Atlantic!

    Gannett: where it already appears the survivors will be the wealthy ones at the top, while the peons will hopelessly be left to sink!

    Sounds like a Hit Movie!

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  9. @12:20 PM - Talk to people who lost their jobs when Buchanan shut the Community Press plant in Cincinnati or to people who worked at other plants shut down under her watch. Hint: It will be a tough road ahead. Best of luck to those looking.

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  12. Folks 3:16 and 3:20's posts tell us everything we need to know about the character of many folks that post here. Misogynists all! How proud you must be Jim. Is this what you envisioned during your Mirror Award acceptance speech. The only thing more hypocritical is the Guild saying they have an interest in saving the paper!!!! It's all about the money friends!

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  13. The misogynists here no more represent the vast majority of readers and posters here than they do on USAT.com or any of our websites, or anywhere else.

    It's a good thing the intellectual bar is set low for commenting, or we would never gain the insight that 3 out of 12 comments in one thread is indicative of "the character of many folks that post here."

    The rest of us who actually participate in society know that we're allowed to ignore ramblings of anonymous strangers without assuming that everyone else on the subway car, (including the driver Jim) agrees with them.

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  14. I worked at The Western Ave Production Plant. I was a lead Press Operator. First thing is the press and the building are junk, Second, I would say more than half of the press ops are so over payed and can not even do a decent job, why? because the union wages are high and most of the guys don't give a crap. All they want to do is sit in the reelroom and make a paster every 20 minutes. THEY HAVE EARNED WHAT THE GOT( Future layoff), by rapping the company the past 30 years. I feel no pity for them. The paper looks like garbage and no one cares. I have one question, How doe's Dave Pressier, VP Production continue to win Presidents rings? Could it be he's in with the old boy network? Will he loss his job as well? I DOUBT IT. Any one want my name, just reply to this post with a way to contact you. Still a proud Pressmen who cares and cares less for unions

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  15. 6:02, how many people work at Western and how many of them are union? What union is it, anyway? Have the workers been told what will happen to them once the presses are shut down?

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  17. I think sadly that this is a true statement: The people who post here are mostly hate-filled.

    Some lash out at bosses in ugky ways. Some lash out at minorities. Some lash out at women, especially women in power. Some lash out at Jim.

    But very few say anything approaching a rational view of things, dire as they may be.

    It's an ugly place, this blog. A reflection of the workforce? Hopefully not. But certainly a reflection of what has been done to the workforce.

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  18. 7:31, you are mostly right. The saddest thing of all is that most of the hate-filled, angry folks haven't always been that way. I, for one, was a very dediated, loyal employee, and basically lived life around my job, until 3 years ago when the bastardization began in earnest. I once had a VP tell me, "this company doesn't owe me anything at the end of the week but a paycheck." And, he meant it...but that very statement is much the Gannett way, whereas I expected loyaly and dedication in return, like a two-way street. I'm not sure when Gannett went wrong, certainly not overnight. I was fortunate enough to work for a media company for a number of years that I had tremendous respect for. I'm very thankful for that, helps to forget the Gannett memories at the end!

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  19. It's the nature of our business and human nature. There are very few who will make an effort to praise, relatively speaking, versus those who will go out of their way to complain. The news pages we dedicate to positive outcomes are fewer than the ones that feature problems. The anger may have always been there, but back in the 50s it was impolite to voice it.

    I blame hippies.

    Now you just see more of it because there isn't a gatekeeper editor to throw out the crap and run the semi-coherent letters only. Any cretin with a library card can launch their screeds and have as much credibility as learned scholars.

    I blame Bill Gates for that.

    But sitting and reading through unvarnished crap, well, I can only blame you and me for those sins. We could delete bookmarks and not read comments, but we choose to drown in chaff to find the germ of wheat.

    Do what's best for you. And if the incivility of it all bothers you, be the example for a better way.

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  21. @8:08, I'm 7:49, and believe me, I'm not angry or bitter, I actually saw it coming. It just saddens me a GREAT deal because it once used to be an awesome, prideful industry, even if we all knew we'd never get rich doing it (well, except for those few at the top). I'm just sorry I can't finish my career in the industry, and finish what I started...it's what I've done m whole life. But, as I've learned, life definitely moves on, and with purpose! I'm a happy camper!

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  22. """There are people here who do not have the slightest clue what they are talking about."""

    This is very true. I think every one of us here, wherever we work in Gannett, has seen things posted about our own worksites that are bizarrely out of touch with the facts.

    Add to that a basic misunderstanding of how departemnts and the business works, and it adds to the worst kind of "crowdsourcing."

    That doesn't mean people are evil or even stupid. It just means too many are floundering because of the crossed signals and secercy that envelops Gannett.

    The odd thing is there is often no reason at all for things to be secret.

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  23. Did anybody in the D.C. TV market notice that WUSA9 (a Gannett station) ended its newscast with an illustrative full-screen graphic on Memorial Day tonight? Yep, Memorial Day -- written out in large text twice in the same graphic, complete with artwork of military helmets on top of rifles. Problem was, of course, it was Labor Day weekend! Even the anchors didn't correct it before getting off the air.

    I notice these mistakes in various news media, as cutbacks continue and the old guard are let go and are replaced by interns and others who are just plain incompetent. The nation's newspaper, USA Today, even suffers from mistake after mistake in print and online, and I assume has suffered the same losses as every other Gannett property (probably going after veteran people, which tends to be the Gannett way).

    News needs to be credible, so when you flash a graphic of Memorial Day on the screen while the anchors are talking about Labor Day, I as a viewer want to never turn to your station again for news. That massive mistake isn't just some typo. It's an insult to the viewer. It makes me wonder what else is wrong or inaccurate in your newscast or on your news pages or website. This was an insult to journalism. Mickey Mouse stuff that is popping up with greater frequency as Gannett tries to save a buck while pushing out their most talented and experienced people, while retaining cheaper help. Well, you get what you pay for.

    Once the reader/viewer lose faith, you've lost the game. And Gannett, more than any other large news organization, continues to shoot itself in the foot by throwing experienced people overboard -- the people who would catch mistakes before they are broadcast or printed.

    As more and more qualified editors, writers and photographers leave Gannett of journalism entirely, what we're going to be left with is a bunch of people giving us the news who never really had much interest in it. They got into news by accident or through some awful hiring practices within companies like Gannett. They don't know what to look for in a broadcast or on a front page to save the company some embarrassment. They don't know what to ask sources because they have no perspective. No one teaches them because there aren't enough vets left in Gannett newsroom, and the ones who are left are just trying to keep a low profile until retirement.

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  28. 10:25, thanks for giving a damn. I live in D.C. and stopped watching the now hapless WUSA. Journalism is the only business protected by the U.S. Constitution and while there some well funded non-profit news outlets emerging, Patch (about to collapse) and other local efforts are crap. I love new technology and platforms, but so far, the model does not sustain paying professional wages on a large scale. Journalism is not brain surgery, but is integral to a healthy democracy. Sad to see the news industry and country in decline. And sad to see Big G top execs acting like robber barons as the company crashes.

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  34. 3:50 uses the word "morons" -- why is this not deleted?

    You've opened the door for this type of questioning, Jim.

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  35. Lots rumors here in Rochester new york that Gannett is preparing to layoff all of its truck drivers and subcontract out to indepent companies. Management does not deny these rumors has anyone heard anything.

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  36. No source or concrete info, as well as illiteracy such as "indepent" = B.S. Nice try, 5:34. But it's a lie.

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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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