Tuesday, November 29, 2011

As corporate cultures clash, feathers get ruffled

[Screenshot of BNQT mobile site before photos disappeared]

Turns out that a USA Today subsidiary's "Poca-Hotness" photo gallery of nearly naked women may have been too hot for Gannett.

BNQT, an action sports subsidiary aimed at men, took down a series of photo galleries today that included one featuring women barely dressed as Native American "princesses." Other galleries that disappeared were devoted to "Cyber Monday Hotties" and "Thanksgiving Kitchen Hotties."

Links I posted here that once led to the galleries now take readers to a photo page with a brief message saying only, "unknown photo album."

BNQT, which Gannett bought in 2008, didn't explain the switch, which occurred about 2 p.m. ET. But it came soon after I posted a comment saying I'd contacted the Native American Journalists Association for their thoughts.

The situation illustrates the challenges for a G-rated media company when it absorbs one publishing NC-17 material.

Of course, the reverse is also true: BNQT, founded by Rudd Davis -- now a senior USAT executive -- risked being homogenized when it was merged into the 105-year-old Gannett, an old-line newspaper publisher that doesn't want to offend a family-friendly audience.

This screenshot shows a now-missing photo from the Cyber Monday gallery:

25 comments:

  1. We must have missed bnqt's interpretation of "Black" Friday.

    Cripes, and we thought PointRoll's 'tap that' campaign was the height of classlessness. Were all the cyber chicks asians?

    Thank goodness I can tell people I work for the newspaper and not Gannett. We can't even get porn right.

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  2. Still plenty to see in the BNQT galleries:

    http://www.bnqt.com/photos/album/Top-24-Beach-Babes-on-Surfline/725

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  3. NC-17? Porn? Let's be real and pretend to be adults. Those are PG-13 cheesecake shots at the worst.

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  4. 7:02. Put those photos up in your office and watch yourself being escorted out the door. Big G associated with softcore photos as it fades into oblivion.

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  5. Bingo, 7:20.

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  6. Genius, Jim. Just brilliant stuff.

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  7. 7:02 Here are some relevant motion picture ratings. (Sorry about the CAPs; I've copied this from here.)

    PG-13: PARENTS ARE URGED TO BE CAUTIOUS. SOME MATERIAL MAY BE INAPPROPRIATE FOR PRE-TEENAGERS.

    R: CONTAINS SOME ADULT MATERIAL. PARENTS ARE URGED TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MOTION PICTURE BEFORE TAKING THEIR YOUNGER CHILDREN WITH THEM. GENERALLY, IT IS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR PARENTS TO BRING THEIR YOUNG CHILDREN WITH THEM TO R-RATED MOTION PICTURES.

    NC-17: PATENTLY ADULT. CHILDREN ARE NOT ADMITTED.

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  8. I thought BNQT was supposed to be a sports site. Nothing like pandering to the lowest common denominator.

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  9. 8:21...Isn't oogling a sport???

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  10. Great day for the blog... not so much for the C Palace.

    Jim: Banquet, furloughs

    Dickey: mad scramble to justify high pay and bonus

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  11. This is the first thing Gannett has done in the past 7 years that I like.

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  12. reminds me of Jim's Ibiza site

    what happened to that anyway Jimbo?

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  13. Hmmmm. I didn't see this in the branding campaign.

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  14. Finally, a Gannett Product that gives me a vertical!

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  15. This episode amuses me on many levels. First of all, Gracia must have been irate when she saw these pictures. Second, I hope that Rudd Davis got chewed out over this content. Finally, the speed at which these pictures were taken down, shows how closely corporate reads this blog. My guess is that Gracia actually saw the pictures here first since I know that she regularly reads the blog. She is a paranoid and vicious person and feeds her vendettas through your blog content, Jim. Keep prodding her.

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  16. Sports are comprised of players. BNQT is for playas. Subtle but important difference.

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  17. hey, if you're going to go play in the gutter, you should expect to emerge covered in slime...

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  18. Gannett: Uses facebook to keep things civil.

    Gannett- doesn't check the facebook page for BNQT- still has an inappropriate photo on it for Gannett "G" rating check it out
    http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/BNQTcom/250325640686?sk=photos

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  19. the ONE site with page views......yanked. (pun intended)

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  20. I like the pix, hey wait, is that my daughter? Shit.

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  21. Best line on the blog in a while:

    "We can't even get porn right."

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  22. I didn't see too much wrong with the content, honestly. Tasteless? Probably. But the target audiences for BNQT is not your traditional USA Today reader. This is another case of Gannett sticking its nose in to micromanage away all of the 'assets' of its constituent parts to meet some sort of bland, no-interest least-common-denominator.

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  23. PLEASE TAKE THESE PIX OFF THIS SITE!!!!
    I am very offended!!
    and if you don't how about some guy frontal or male butt!!!!!!!!!!!!
    even !!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  24. this amounts to hanging that nudie calander up and having a women work right next to it-
    how demeaning why do I WANT TO LOOK AT THESE SHOTS- THERE ARE ALREADY ENOUGH OTHER OUTLITS WITH SMUT. GO AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  25. Gannett got hoisted on their own petard. This company likes to preach diversity ... while the only women featured in the USA Today sports section are usually NFL cheerleaders.

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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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