Saturday, January 18, 2014

Jan. 13-19 | Your News & Comments: Part 3

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44 comments:

  1. Where is the St. Louis item, Jimtard?

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    1. Charles Everett1/20/2014 10:34 AM

      For those wondering, KSDK has apologized for causing a lockdown at a high school in a St. Louis suburb. One reporter with an authoritarian bent said the TV station had it coming:

      I think the people at KSDK ought to be very grateful that it is not against the law to be sanctimonious. If it were, they’d be looking at some heavy time.

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    2. Had what coming? Everett -- the mountain of fail!

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  2. Just read about the fiasco at the Orange County Register. How big is/was the newsroom?

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  3. Home page of Shreveport Times reads like the newspaper is closing

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    1. It's not? I thought they were selling the building.

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    2. Why is the Times hiring new staff then and made the investment to build the new press building? A lot of unhappy former employees must enjoy spreading misery wherever they go.

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    3. Why did they let go of staff only to hire new?

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    4. 2:40 here. As an aside, I'm not a former employee, just a community member questioning Gannett's ethics.

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    5. key word being "A Lot"

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    6. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    7. Good point 6:21. Key word being "A Lot" proves the point of 2:42 PM.

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    8. News flash for 2:42 and 11:56 -- lots of papers have cut staff since 2007. Shreveport is no different than any other newspaper. Gannett is not the only news company to reduce staffing. Be thankful Shreveport still has a newspaper. Some communities do not anymore.

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    9. You didn't answer my question, 3:23. Why cut staff only to hire new staff? It's unethical.

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    10. They do it because the are the definition of unethical - they get rid of people 50 and older so they can hire younger people at a much lower wage - Gannett is awful.....

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    11. I have found this entire thread rather amusing. Are you seriously telling me community members read this blog? If so, Jim's traffic would be through the roof. I found that statement a tad bit unbelievable. Then there's the whole "unethical" argument. Is publishing not a business and as such, isn't really up to the employer to determine staffing based upon revenue and the economy? Some people need a refresher course in Business 101.

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    12. 8:59, all of that is a weak attempt at subterfuge by a bitter, former employee. They keep trying to shift tactics. For a while here, their ploy was to claim they had not only started their own business, but also that it was thriving. Of course, they never shared any more details than that.

      Eventually, the tales grew taller and were easier to contest. Even Jim (when he wasn't seeding the blog with similar stories) finally got tired of protecting those myths, and then they stopped.

      I'm not in favor of the firing/rehiring cycle, either. Have to say that to fend off the corporate conspiracy crowd. But many of the former employees vastly overestimate their importance to the business.

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    13. 8:59 I am seriously telling you community members read this blog and comments like yours remind me of why I don't advertise with you anymore.

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    14. But they don't, 10:07.

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    15. I live in New York and I know little about Shreveport, but I am puzzled by 10:07's comments. This person remarks that they are not a current or ex-employee and a former advertiser who is upset about "Gannett's unethical behavior" in cutting staff and then adding more employees as the recession faded. This doesn't quite add up to me. Why would a former advertiser who has moved on care about a product or company they detest? I think most of us can read between the lines here,

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    16. You know little about Shreveport. We'll leave it at that.

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    17. 8:59 & 2:38,

      I worked for The Times over 20 years ago. During that time, I made friends with numerous members of The Times staff. Some of them are still employed there. Well, a few of the are still employed there. Over the years, many others in the community made friends with people on the staff of The Times or had relatives who worked in various departments of the Newspaper Production Company. After The Shreveport Journal went out of business, The Times was the only newspaper in town and it was a vital part of the community pre-Internet and digital information. Many people in the Shreveport area remember those days and remember the people who worked there and they are interested in what is going on with the mess that has become The Times. Due to these factors and others, people in this area who have no connection with Gannett or The Times other than by history or by a keen sense of curiosity read this blog on occasions.

      What seems odd to me is that some of you don't realize how much communities used to value their local newspapers and how many community members continue to maintain an interest after the newspaper has virtually disappeared.

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    18. This is my experience as well, 8:53. I'm a community member, not an employee. This blog does not paint a pretty picture of the company many of my friends USED to work at, therefore, I won't advertise with them anymore. The digital billboards in town seem to do just as well, if not better, for product recognition these days.

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  4. Is The Times still around? One of the biggest stories to hit Shreveport last year was the Biomedical Research Foundation's takeover of the Shreveport Hospital. Where was The Times coverage on that story? It wasn't even mentioned in today's cover story as one of the biggest things to happen in Shreveport last year.

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  5. On the front page of today’s Asbury Park Press with art above the masthead showing the new color coded sections it reads next to the masthead “Your guide to the new Asbury Park Press” inside today.
    Unfortunately there was nothing inside.

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    1. Has the butterfly landed at the app? Gonna be chock-full of new stuff -- none of it having anything to do with app readers.

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    2. Saw the "more" the APP was touting ... included in the local section was a piece written by the PR guy for a local military base.

      And there weren't more local stories, from what I could see.

      Readers aren't reacting well, based on the comments on a story about the changes written by the EE.

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    3. Butterfly away1/20/2014 9:55 PM

      What, you don't like the page 2 guide to life and the universe called "yo"? Or is it that local and state news, which could be found on their own pages (I hesitate to called them sections because of what they shrunk to) are now mashed together in the A section? Or is it that the promised "more" local coverage is really going to be 12 upscale towns which they hope to peddle advertising in by pretending to "care" about the community. The Butterfly landed and its taken a big fat crap on the Jersey Shore area.

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  6. are all those new cameras in the phoenix pressroom working yet? once installed watch for the posting of conditions from the impass with the union contract ! BIG BROTHER (Austin and Dale) can't wait to start watching and firing people.

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    1. Ah yes, the old hidden camera and stoolie routine. May there be a special place in hell for these two who consort with Gannett lawyers to devise plans to screw those who deliver the "product" daily. First, I want to know if either austin or dale have ever worked in an active production position while employed by Gannett; and second, if not, where did they attend college or university?

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    3. If they start to let pressman go, sign me up, I can run every press they have and have produced award winning USAT, WSJ, and several local GCI products. I live in the mid-west and with the weather here, I would jump at the chance to head to the desert. I hate to see guys losse their jobs, but you frankly deserve too if what has been gong on their is true. Contact me threw this blog, in this thread and send me an email address ( hell make one up just for that reason), I will keep checking. I am on my way
      Top of the line press operator/ assistant Press manger looking for warm weather

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    4. Hell, there leaving on their own. Come down Mr. Wonderful and talk to Ray Leister, you and him will get along great

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  7. PIPs are overrated

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  9. By chance do you have a tally of layoffs since 2008 - by year?

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    1. You can see Gannett's year-by-year worldwide employment in this chart, which is current as of 2012; figures for 2013 should be published next month. The annual job cuts aren't all through layoffs, however.

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  11. Jim, just wondering why a comment I made last night was deleted. It wasn't vicious and pointed out The Times did in fact miss the mark with its Biomed/Shreveport Hospital omission and also questioned ethics eliminating positions and laying off older employees only to revive positions and hire younger employees. I did use initials but have done that before.

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    1. And it was always lame before.

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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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