Friday, October 07, 2011

Oct. 3-9 | Your News & Comments: Part 4

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27 comments:

  1. Ia any other newspaper doing this? What do they think the response is going to be?

    http://www.APP.com/interactive/article/20111007/NJNEWS/111007002/Critique-Press-s-front-page-Oct-7

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  2. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that the reason GCI stock is down today is not because they "lost" CD, but because of his TOTALLY OBSCENE Platinum Parachute.

    Jim should do some research on how many journalists at a mid-sized paper that $37.1M would pay for, for, say, 5 years.

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  3. That's pretty easy. Say you're paying people $45,000 a year and you figure that with benefits, FICA, etc., that each one costs the company $60,000 a year. That's not scientific, but figuring an extra 33% for benefit costs seems reasonable.

    So under that scenario, $37 million would buy you 616 journalists -- or more than a dozen 50-person newsrooms.

    Even if you figure that each employee costs you an extra 50% for benefits, you would still get about 550 journalists at $45K per year for your $37 mill.

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  4. But that's only a one-year scenario. Looks like you could pay somewhere around 110-120 journalists at $45K a year for five years on Dubow's severance.

    Now, that assumes everybody is making the same -- so if you want to include some high-paid editors, you'd have to adjust these figures.

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  5. you should probably adjust regionally too.

    Who survives on $45K/year? Maybe if its not the sole income in your household.....

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  6. Almost 3 decades into a journalism career, I wasn't even making $45K my last year as a GCI slave.

    Meanwhile, CNBC just listed Gannett as one of the worst 5 debt-laden companies; I didn't catch what the 1,2223% referred to.

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  7. I made about $50,000 in the early to mid-'90s as a reporter in Westchester and later about $48,000 as a reporter in Rochester, at the time two of Gannett's largest papers. I doubt if the pay scale at either of them has gone up significantly since then.

    That seemed like an immense amount to me at the time, because I had started in the late '80s with Gannett in Little Rock (where Jim Hopkins was my editor). Though the Arkansas Gazette was one of Gannett's largest papers, I was getting about $24,000 as a reporter there.

    So even if you figure that salaries have gone up in the 15 years since I left Gannett, it's pretty easy to imagine that people at the weeklies and the smaller dailies are getting by on less than $45,000 a year, as one commenter has already pointed out.

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  8. Re: 2:25PM can you post a link to the CNBC story?

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  9. Breaking news on the Arizona Republic's website this morning. A story down page on azcentral.com "How to be a GoGo Dancer" I am not making this up.

    http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/bars/articles/2011/09/28/20110928how-to-go-go-dancer-scottsdale-narcisse-brittni-wood-nightlife-arizona.html

    Apparently one of the advantages of being a gogo dancer is that you can drink on the job.

    This is what we're being reduced to. Stories about how to be a gogo dancer.

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  10. 2:02PM, if you think people can't survive at $45k, you are probably overpaid.

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  11. 3:23PM: it depends on the market you're living in. But, I'd wager that a married couple with a child or two, in any market, may be able survive, but not thrive, on a base of $45K.

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  12. Any day with people calling on Jim to research things or with people tossing around salary info is a lost day here at the blog.

    Maybe tomorrow will be better.

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  13. 4:13 I would say they could survive but not thrive in "many" markets, but not any. It would be nearly impossible to live on $45K in the really big cities: New York, Washington, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, etc. The cost of shelter alone would eat them alive.

    Anticipating a question that always comes up on this subject: I do not live solely on my $16K in blog income here in San Francisco. I'm in a two-income household, and that -- plus savings -- is what keeps me from moving to a box on a sidewalk.

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  14. Well, I've seen some folks survive in pretty squalid conditions in some of those cities. I was just talking survival.

    I certainly would never agree that $45K is being overpaid as 3:23 seems to believe. Not if you're trying to raise a family or prepare for the future.

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  15. So here is a question: If $45,000 a year is terrible why does the reporter accept the job in the first place? One post here refers to himself as a slave. So I ask why did you take the job in the first place? All they had to say is no. I am not sure how any company is to blame for a salary the worker doesn't want. Are there situations of desperation, of course. But the majority of reporters leave one job for another. Why did you take the job?

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  16. So Dubow gets a platinum retirement package. So what? He and the crowd in the Palace are raping the company on the way out the door. Others will follow. The directors approve. Those who aren't fired take pay cuts and furloughs to pay the incompetent jerks who run the company. The picture is clear, at least for everybody on the print side. It's over.

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  17. You do it for 45,000 or less because you love the work -- at least that's how it was befor GCI.

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  18. I live on less than $45,000 a year working for Gannett. I am a single person and let me tell you it is very tough. I have to work multiple jobs to survive. Furloughs, no raises, and they think I am going to lie on my time sheet and work for free — not going to happen. Gracia, are you listening?

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  19. 9:05 - Where do you people work that they're asking you to lie on your time sheets? This has never happened at my site.

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  20. 26% is the normal figure used for the cost of benefits to the company. For a person making $45K, that's an additional $11,700.

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  21. I make $36k after 12 years with Gannett, and a total of 25 years in journalism. Granted, I'm in a mid-sized market, but the cost of decent housing isn't much different here than in larger cities in the region. Lucky to have a two-income household.

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  22. JP Morgan reduces stake in Gannett to 3.7 pct:
    http://www.cnbc.com/id/44822685

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  23. So, in the MomsLikeMe shutdown, what becomes of its chief, Carla Wojnaroski?

    http://www.linkedin.com/in/carlawojnaroski

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  24. I am in Phoenix, where I was stranded by Gannett, and $45k is high pay for the remaining journalism jobs outside of Gannett. Hardly a small or cheap city. And 30 years in the business.

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  25. 5:35, people like you need to stay away. Let's see -- someone could refuse any job that pays less than a certain amount. But would they ever work? Probably not. Why bother typing if your post is the result?

    9:05, I'm sure your post here will resolve the problem. Go in on Monday morning with the URL and ask for the resolution. I have faith the problem will be resolved at that point.

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  26. Sorry 1:47 that doesn't cut it. Your answer is a smug cop out.

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  27. Shrewd of you to pick up on that, 3:22. I was poking fun at the poster, who apparently thinks he'll be heard by expressing the complaint here.

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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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