But with the purchase of 20-station TV company Belo in late December, Gannett is no longer the same company. Corporate projects broadcasting will eventually account for more than half of all earnings; throw in digital, and the figure is forecast to rise even higher. In other words, Gannett is now a TV giant with a side interest in newspapers, its mainstay business since 1906, when Frank Gannett founded the company with a single daily in Elmira, N.Y.
Gannett is also a much smaller enterprise. It has eliminated more than 20,000 jobs since the workforce peaked at 53,000 in 2003. Revenue fell to $5.2 billion last year vs. a record $8 billion in 2006. GCI shares trade for $28 vs. an all-time high of $90 in 2004.
And now Wall Street is raising pressure on Corporate to spin off the troubled newspaper division. I had much of this in mind in early December, when I wrote about Gannett's digital efforts in a lengthy post that also serves as a history of this blog.
There are other reasons for me to quit now. I turned 57 years old on Sunday, a turning point to pursue new adventures while saying goodbye to old ones.
I've thoroughly enjoyed publishing Gannett Blog -- so much so, I returned in late 2009 after taking a five-month break I initially thought would be permanent. This time, I won't change my mind.
What this means
You can continue posting comments through tonight, when I'll disable commenting for good. The site will remain available on a read-only basis as long as Google supports the Blogger software platform I use. There's plenty to read from the past six years: more than 7,000 posts and nearly 140,000 comments.
I'm no longer seeking gifts from readers. You've been tremendously generous over the years and for that I continue to be grateful. I will refund any contributions I've received since Jan. 1 where I have contact information for donors. (Readers with auto-renewing subscriptions should use the "Unsubscribe" link near the top of the green sidebar, right.)
Thank you.
Jim Hopkins
Publisher and Editor
San Francisco
I'm no longer accepting comments here or anywhere else on this site. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot.com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
For anyone wondering, “—30—“ is an old school instruction to the composing room, indicating the end of a story.
ReplyDeleteJim,
DeleteYou have contributed so much of yourself. I can certainly understand your decision. I will miss you too. I started at Coffeyville, Kansas (then a Gannett paper) in 1980 and left USA Today in 1994. I am proud of what many of us did, sad about what was done to most of us. And, I, too, am sad that we have to explain —30 — . Sometimes I feel it’s time to give up Displaced Journalists (because I’m older than you are), but I haven’t made up my mind to take that step yet. I really thought I could make a difference, You know?
Susan Older
Jim: Good news and some bad news: Good news is that we have had so many years of your leadership, hard work and especially your dedication to illuminating the small-ball leadership of Gannett brass. The bad news is that it will end way too soon.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much. Three cheers for your future efforts.
I think the saddest people will be the management teams. The only recognition they receive is on this Blog because they've been long forgotten in their communities.
ReplyDeleteomg, sad that you had to explain -30- ... and sad that you're shutting down operations Jim. Best of luck in your future endeavors. There's going to be a party at corporate when word gets around.
ReplyDeleteThank you for all of your considerable efforts. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteMany intriguing opinions will have to wait.
ReplyDeleteThank you for all you've done, Jim, from an old colleague in Louisville.
ReplyDeleteJim, I don't know how you found the energy to keep up this blog and the calm to put up with all the stupid shit that got thrown at you over the years. I've enjoyed your insights and the chance to maintain a connection with the first, and still one of the very best, editors I had in in 20 years as a reporter.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for all you have done, Jim. This blog really helped me get through a difficult time when my job was eliminated after over 40 years of service. This blog helped me realize that I was not alone and it really helped me get through a very difficult time. Wish you nothing but the best in your future endeavors.
ReplyDeleteditto
DeleteThank you, Jim, for all of the work that you have done on this site. I have followed this blog since it's inception and it has been a very valuable tool in knowing what is going on with this terrible company because they always leave their workers in the dark. Now go, enjoy your life.
ReplyDeleteWhen one door closes, another opens in this old world, as they say. Everything happens for a reason, and everybody will be in a better place eventually. Meanwhile, we'll enjoy reliving the archived comments for years to come, especially the clever ones. It will feel strange not being able to log in and say amen brother, but it probably will save some time. Just a thought, still processing the shocking news while watching Saturday morning TV.
ReplyDeleteJim.
ReplyDeleteThanks for providing a forum for former and current Gannett employees. This was a good clearinghouse for everything Gannett related.
Good luck in the future.
ReplyDeleteSince this is the end we need to say this one more time:
ReplyDeleteAll managers are stupid
I am brilliant
I left Gannett for way more money
My new manager loves me
My insurance is better and much cheaper
Did I miss anything?
Don't forget about how it's a myth that the business model is obsolete, you just need to put "quality journalists" in charge so they can crank up the "quality journalism"—the kind that so endears them to themselves and each other. That will solve everything.
DeleteYou have to add the word "seasoned." As we have heard countless times here, the loss of "seasoned journalists" was the real tragedy.
DeleteSorry, folks- print is declining and not coming back regardless of the writers, etc . Media consumption is moving away from print and digital has no way to replace the revenue losses. It sucks, but it's true. Just check the Alliance numbers, etc.
DeleteThank you for these 6+ years. Interesting that I choose to end my career with Gannett at the same time you end this blog. Newspaper are not what they used to be. My adrenaline has seized to exist, as it once thrived in the excitement of the business. Farewell Jim. On to bigger and better things!
ReplyDeleteJim, thanks for your hard work in providing this forum. You handled the hostile comments on this blog with class. I will miss this blog, which I have read daily for years.
ReplyDeleteJim, your work was (and is) of great value to us all. Thanks for your dedicated labor, and for helping so many along the way!
ReplyDeleteJIm, thanks for all this blog has provided. Good luck in the future.
ReplyDeleteA former colleague in Boise.
Thanks for doing this blog. It has been a real help when my job was eliminated. I wish the end of this blog wasn't so abrupt and that you had given us more time to wean away from the news, news we only get here because corporate and managers keep everyone in the dark. Any chance you would extend this blog by a month or so to wind down? But in the end, 8:27 said it best. Thanks again. Good luck in your future. You will be missed.
ReplyDeleteYou will be missed.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jim, for your selfless work. You helped me through my last, terrible months with Gannett, a layoff and my transition to ... yes ... better, happier work. Wishing you much happiness.
ReplyDeleteSix years is a great run, Jim, and you have provided an excellent resource for the many talented and hard-working journalists who have been abused, misled, betrayed, and intimidated by the questionable ethics of Gannett leadership this past decade or so.
ReplyDeleteJim, your blog will be missed. You have been a solid and reliable source of information (and a place for some to vent). Now you are part of a trend -- one more drop in a bucket more than half full of sound news outlets publishing no more.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your new adventure, but if you feel a pull to come back to this, or a similar blog, please do.
Good riddance, Jim. You were more of a minus than a plus.
ReplyDeleteAnd for the responders: No, I'm not part of corporate Gannett.
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DeleteThank you, Jim, for all that you have done to allow the current and former Gannett employees to really get a good idea of what's going on behind those closed office doors. It's through efforts like yours and those who have posted information on this blog that I pretty much had a heads up on forthcoming cuts and that I would probably be one of them.
ReplyDeleteAgain, thank you very much and best wishes to you for a wonderful future.
Gannett Blog helped me understand much about the way the company operates. I wish you all the best in whatever you choose to do next.
ReplyDeleteJim,
ReplyDeleteThank you for providing a place for us to read up on the antics of Gannett over the years. As a former member of the so-called Gannett family, I have come back to your site over the years to repeatedly check in. I will miss your updates. Good luck and good fortune to you during the next part of your life _ post Gannett.
That blast of hot air just registered in McLean is a collective sigh of relief from the Masters of Gannett's Universe who no longer will fear exposure on Jim blog.
ReplyDeleteMy hope is that someone else will step up to offer a similar informative forum. But she/he will have big shoes to fill.
Thank you, Jim!
Thanks Jim. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteThank you for all you've done, Jim. This blog has been a great resource. Thanks also to the tipsters. I can't imagine what it would have been like not knowing that those waves of layoffs were coming. They were still awful to endure, but I hate surprises.
ReplyDeleteI left Gannett of my own accord two years ago, and since then have slept like a baby almost every night. So with my actual name, I thank you.
Kim Russell, you must not have been much of a journalist if you are thanking people who were wrong far more often than they were right.
DeleteYour time at a Gannett property must have spent with your head up your behind if you think all newspaper employees are automatically journalists.
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ReplyDeleteThis blog really did help me "move on" post-Gannett. You realize that it isn't "you" - it's them. That your Gannett workplace is no different than other Gannett workplaces, but mostly that this site provided a sense of community when a lot of people felt cut-off from friends and co-workers they had for years. Thanks, congratulations and good luck in the future.
ReplyDeleteJim your blog has done exactly what it should. It has gained the attention of those at the top at the Crystal Palace and those out at the local site. It has changed the way communication happened at this company. You have exposed so much corruption. You are a true journalist and will be missed.
ReplyDeleteThis blog did not change the way communication happened at Gannett. Gannett cowardly tried to pretend this blog didn't exist. It tried to ignore it and failed miserably. Gannett management doesn't have the knowledge, experience, skills, or intelligence to begin to develop a communication or public relations strategy. They had no answer to this blog. They didn't even try which was a complete fail. I agree that it gained their attention and it scared the shit out of them and changed how they communicated - it made them communicate LESS because they knew that anything they did or said would end up on this blog, which was simply a stupid way to run a business. But, that's you get when you have a company run by a bunch of conservative spreadsheeters.
DeleteThanks, Jim.
ReplyDeleteI discovered your blog almost 4 years ago when I was trying to start receiving my Gannett retirement benefits and was having a helluva time getting any information. I had left Gannett over twenty years prior but I was vested in their retirement system of the time. Although the blog didn't address my needs specifically, it gave me a place to go to realize I was not alone in my frustration with Gannett. This blog has been one I've kept up with every few days ever since. Your work here has been appreciated and the blog will be missed.
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DeleteI sure hate to see you go, but I understand. I agree that this blog has outlived its purpose. There has been very little change in the operations at Gannett. I wish you fair winds and following sails, wherever you go.
ReplyDeleteAKA HRPro
Jim is surrendering. He has failed to manipulate the stock price, which was his true goal. He has failed to earn enough money to keep the effort going. He knows when to quit.
ReplyDeleteYup, the Gannett Shit Show will never change.
DeleteI'm glad to hear it.
ReplyDeleteThis blog was filled with invective and ground a very old axe. Gannet's trying to move on and up -- glad to here Jim is too.
On to the next thing for all of us.
*hear... of course.
Delete7:30 Gannett isn't trying to move on and up. What dream world are living in? They don't know how. And, what is there to move on and up to? Oh, you're just entering from the Belo door. Well, once you start living in the Gannett Shit Show for a while, you'll see the absolute dead end that it is. Drink the the kool-aid at your own peril.
Delete"on to the next thing for all of us" .... unemployment?
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ReplyDeleteTotal bummer, Jim. What's next for you?
ReplyDeleteThat's what I'm about to find out.
DeleteThe domain gannettsux.com is available for any of you out there who want to start a new blog.
ReplyDeleteSix years. Longer than most of the people working at Gannett have worked at Gannett. Will miss this blog. 3/26/14
ReplyDeleteSix years is a lot when you're only 57 -- that's a bit more than 10% of my life.
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ReplyDeleteThank you for everything, darling! You shed light on an important institution
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, thanks for the fine service you've provided, and best of luck with whatever comes next!
ReplyDeleteKnowing when to hold 'em and knowing when to fold 'em are hard decisions when you know so many people are enjoying -or seething at - your work! Good for you and let us know what's next! Cindy Eagles
ReplyDeleteI suspect (but don't know for sure), but I suspect homophobic crap posted about Jacque le Sourd's death is what convinced Jim to finally say screw this. I don't blame him.
ReplyDeleteWhat on the face of the planet are you rambling about?
DeleteAll the best for your future, Jim. Your blog was invaluable during days of disputes with management over here in the UK, providing great information to shoot down the claims of needed cutbacks - cutbacks that never reached the pockets of management. I drifted away from the blog after I left Newsquest in the UK, purely because I had to look away from all things Gannett-related as they infuriated me so much. But its existence was always appreciated, by me and by the colleagues I left behind. So here's raising a glass to you and wishing you a rich, bright future!
ReplyDeleteThanks for what you did for us, Jim. As someone who left Gannett voluntarily this year after 30-plus years, I understand your feeling to do something new at 57. I also know the great value of your blog, which will be missed
ReplyDeleteThank you for this blog. In the months of change before I was laid off, and after that, this blog was a place to come for information (we certainly weren't getting anything from HR). As I have prospered elsewhere, I came here less and less, mostly because I just didn't care about Gannett anymore. It was a phase in my life that was over. Just as this blog is for you. I will never underestimate the power of excellent journalism, however. And yours has been topnotch.
ReplyDeleteThank you!!
In a world of heightened spin, your blog was a place where you could cut through the crap, Jim. We do have media watchdogs Romenesko and to a point, Poynter. But you were able to zero in on one media company -- the good, bad and ugly. Media companies, who boast when they win a Pulitzer when finding corruption in government or business, are the worst at being transparent about themselves. You made it hard for the spin machine to operate, were a go-to source for other media outlets and for that we are thankful. Have a great next life.
ReplyDeletePart One. Jim are you planning on writing about Gannett,in any other vehicle after you close down this blog?
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DeleteThis blog was for the newspaper side, to vent and rage. Being Broadcast, I'm glad GCI is moving in that direction. The peipe dream that someone will buy the Print side and turn it around remains just that -- a pipe dream. It is akin to Pony Express riders lamenting the telegraph or ice delivery men fighting against the rise of refrigerators. We will move forward despite you foot-draggers because it is what the public wants.
ReplyDeleteAs a former print employee, I say to the broadcasters, "You are welcome." You are welcome for all the times we did the reporting and wrote the stories that you then ripped off and turned into "your" broadcasts. If newspapers do go away, where will most of the TV folks get their news?
DeleteThey might have to stop looking in the mirror and get to work.
DeleteJim, As a non Gannett person, but employed in media, your blog was a window into how media (public & non public companies) have behaved these past years. The deterioration of media, especially print, is a tragedy which this country has yet to grasp. I live in a city with one of Gannett's major dailies. And the deterioration of coverage and quality is maddening and sad. Jim, you documented the reality of media today where quality employees with skills and tenure have been cast aside like cordwood. Those remaining live in fear of the layoff, firing; or worse - told to do things they know in their gut won't grow readers or customers. Reading about Gannett's travails at times came close to home regarding the media I work for. How American business has treated older, veteran workers in this economy is a story still to be fully reported. But you've shone a light. And isn't that journalism & media's main job besides making money? My best to you in whatever your spirit leads you to do next. I don't know whether you're a religious person, but please accept a hearty God Bless You and God Speed.
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DeleteLH she's hot, not. best of luck Nash. she'll fire u as soon as your hired. ruthless. period.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jim. best of luck in new endeavors.
Ditto!
DeleteAfter six-plus years, Jim still uses the same canned blogging software.
ReplyDeleteHis archiving system still sucks.
He still uses an unprofessional, immature mug shot for his signature.
He still favors gossip and rumor over fact.
He still has not verified the correct number of layoffs in Oklahoma years ago.
He still is far short of his revenue goals.
He still has not been able to manipulate the price of Gannett stock.
And you must still be working for a Fortune 500 company that is losing money on a daily basis because your bosses can't figure out how to turn this newspaper company into a profitable business once again. I feel sorry for YOU!
DeleteAnd you must still be looking for an original reply. Likely you are still looking for work and still finding that you are obsolete.
DeleteHardly. Never worked for Gannett and have always been and always will be successful. This blog has been more of an education for me, if nothing else, on how not to run my business. Thanks for the insight, Jim. It's obvious you'll be missed by many.
DeleteHow dare anyone condemn Jim.
ReplyDeleteYou people who have come here and complained about Jim's work are so hypocritical. You have continued to be employed by one one of most most miserable corporations in the country.After 5 years of Gannett showing no signs of recovery 'no signs of investment for the long term future only showing cutbacks,layoffs longer work hours and less pay and benefits.
You are still a Gannett employee.It is unbelievable to those of us have left,and left long ago that after 5 long years of seeing the same handwriting on the wall, the constant threat of being layed off and furloughs and double duty,you still are there toiling for a company you hate. Why / Why ? Why ? Do you have no self esteem,do you have no ambitions or drive to get away? Is 5 YEARS not enough time to find a job? Good grief,get a life !!
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DeleteFirst of all I'll start by thanking Jim for his work on our behalf. Second, to 7:48, I will reply, who the hell are you to judge ANYONE who still works for Gannett. This economy is barely recovering and media has been the hardest hit. Patch just cut most of its staff and you self righteously wonder why we still work for Gannett? Wake up and smell the economic coffee. Jobs, ANY JOB are hard to come by. Having had our savings decimated by unpaid furloughs, low or no wage growth and the ever increasing price of health insurance premiums and deductibles, quitting this wrench of a company is luxury most of us can't afford until that next job is in hand. And the jobs aren't our there. Now, go in the corner and take a time out. That slap in your face is called economic reality.
DeleteThank you for your insight and tenacity, Jim. Six years is an eternity in blog years. Wishing you all the best.
ReplyDeleteJim, you provided a great place for many of us to come and learn the truth. The first years were the best, and unfortunately the last two years or so have been overwhelmed by folks who would rather sit back and carp at you . the world.. and anything else.
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job, and now is time for you to move to next chapters.
And, for those who have lost this place to vent, I guess they can always be the guy in front of me at Target complaining to the cashier about how crappy Target is...
Good luck, Jim.
A big THANK YOU for the service you have provided to current and former Gannett employees over the years.
ReplyDeleteThis blog will be missed by many.
Best wishes for your future.
Happy
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ReplyDeleteAll the best, Jim. Thanks for your efforts, which went far beyond what anybody could reasonably expect. You did some great reporting and offered an important soundboard for many years. The naysayers still think they matter, but they never did and never will. It was heartening to see the vast majority of the contributors understood and appreciated what you were trying to do, however imperfect at times. Buona fortuna!
ReplyDeleteThis grateful Gannettoid says thank you, Jim for daring to report this truth about this dysfunctional company and enduring the slings and arrows of the corporate sponsored critics.We, the workers in the trenches depended on your information more than you'll ever know and on the forum you provided to vent. You helped us realize we weren't alone in our frustration.
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm a little sad (and mad for selfish reasons) to see you end the blog, I certainly can understand why.
I would argue that the "new" Gannett/Belo probably needs a watchdog more than ever, especially as Belo employees suddenly find themselves having to conform to the ways of Gannett.
Thank you for the hard, sometimes thankless work, explaining the seemingly unexplainable to us. Best of luck and prosperity to you.
Ditto plus my own heartfelt thanks. Best of luck, Jim!
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DeleteThanks for keeping people in Gannett towns aware of what our journalists have been facing. I'm grateful for the work you've done and the work they continue to do.
ReplyDeleteGood luck, Jim.
I left one paper before it became a Gannett entity, and was told by those I left behind I was very fortunate I left when I did. But, being stupid, I joined up with another paper AFTER it became a Gannett entity, and soon learned first-hand what the fuss was all about. I left on my own, way before the purging began. As I've told many people since ... I miss the work, but I don't miss the business. G/L in your future endeavors.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jim. When I was laid off from Gannett after many years, this blog provided a place where, if nothing else, I could vent. That was actually very valuable to me. Rather than internalize my feelings, this blog allowed me to share my thoughts with my former colleagues across the company. I didn't feel totally isolated. And, there was a happy ending to the story, because after years at Gannett and the new biz in general, and a long search for a new career, I can report that I am back on my feet again. Gannett discarded me at an age when it is difficult to start over, but I survived. I hope others are, too.
ReplyDeleteBest to you, Jim. The best lesson the blog taught me was how easy it was to turn my back on Gannett and move on after I was laid off several years ago. I don't think I've been on the site a half-dozen times since. Somebody told me you were hanging it up, though, and I had to say thanks.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, Jim, how you say Gannett is no longer the same company. In regards to its main methods of delivery, I guess so. But it's still the same half-assed, tight-budgeted and inhumane corporation it's been for a very long time, and likely will continue to be. That said, thanks for all your hard work and insight.
ReplyDeleteJim ... thanks for all the effort. I don't feel too sorry for your aging (I'll be 67 in two weeks) but it is a tough schlog to keep something like this up.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I think I feel the same malaise about the company that you do. When we moved back to Seattle I proudly put up a shelf full of memorabilia from those "good old days," but recently boxed it all up and exiled it to the garage.
It's not the same company ... we're not as interested.
Thanks again
Thanks for all your hard work over the years, Jim, and for providing remaining and ex-Gannetteers a forum in which to vent and share tips on what the future may bring.
ReplyDeleteI think you were a bit remiss in not posting on GCI's finally pulling the plug on the Tucson Citizen website, and the state of the archives of the paper after 144 years, but that's a minor critique after your dedicated work here.
I hope you can bring the same passion to your next endeavors.
Thanks Jim. Your reporting here certainly rivals whatever passes for "watchdog journalism" amid Gannett's ever-shrinking newshole. This blog has been an invaluable resource to legions of hardworking Gannett employees at critical times of great uncertainty even as they've been left punchdrunk by lies and corporate ineptness. No reason to stick around for the bodybag shot. Enjoy your retirement, my friend. You've undoubtedly done some of your best work here. All the best.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all of your hard work over the years, Jim, and good luck!
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DeleteYou can all go back to your lives now.
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DeleteBut they won't.
DeleteYou really have provided a service over the years in showing the "big picture" at places like USA Today: a pattern of jettisoning older, more experienced (read: expensive) employees and larding the place with middle managers. Armed with that information, we were able to plan our exit strategy for when the axe did fall. Thanks very much, Jim.
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ReplyDeleteHappy 57th to ya Jim ... and many blessing for your next moves.
ReplyDeleteOh, now you're pulling mean spirited posts (about the Blog) off the blog...
ReplyDeleteNice touch Jim!
Thank you, Jim, for sticking with the often thankless job of producing and moderating this forum for current and ex- Gannetoids. It helped me see the freight train coming before I was laid off a few years ago. On a side note, I spent last weekend in San Antonio, Texas, and picked up the Sunday Express News (Hearst paper). It was shocking! A two-inch-plus thick Sunday paper chock full of articles, ads, inserts, etc. Just like Gannett papers were a decade ago before the company decided to commit slow suicide...
ReplyDeleteSan Antonio has been hemorrhaging circulation for years. If you think that paper is thriving, then you must be one of the seasoned journalists who don't know shit from shaving cream.
Deleteplease see my post at 12:25 regarding you wrong information on The Express news..My fiend you are sooooooo wrong
DeleteWhat are you talking about? That paper suffered big circulation losses. You're making things up, but then, that's the way of Gannett Blog.
DeleteThis is the San Antonio visitor again: I have no idea what the circulation numbers are for the E-News, all I know is I picked up a huge Sunday paper that kept me engaged for a couple hours of reading. Compare that to our local Gannett rag, (in a major metro city), which barely has enough pages to line a birdcage.
DeleteNumbers don't lie: The newspaper industry is less than half the size it once was, and its demise is inexorable. Sorry, but that ain't your boss's fault it's your neighbor's and your kids'. To those few who will still waste a couple of hours smearing ink on themselves: Enjoy it whilst ye may.
DeleteThank you Jim. You made a difference. Good luck on your next adventure.
ReplyDeleteSay it isn't so Jim! Perhaps you need to think this over.I happened across this blog some 3+ years ago and I've tuned in nearly every day since. How will I feed my habit? My fix? As a former Gannetoid (from the marketing side) I just couldn't resist reading your blog. Fed my love/hate relationship with Gannett. Reading your blog was kind of like slowing down and looking at an accident on the side of the road (a bit of a guilty sick satisfaction). I will miss this forum and the wealth of Gannett information to be found. All the best Jim.
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ReplyDeleteDon't let the door hit you on the way out.
ReplyDeleteClose early, Jim. It won't make a bit of difference.
ReplyDeleteYour dead wrong on The Express News, they are doing very well, Leading the way is a new VP of Circulation, who bailed on Gannett to work for a much better company
ReplyDeleteFare the well, Jim. I never worked for Gannett, but had the great misfortune of working for an even WORSE company... except that company was not publically traded, so information was not forthcoming.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I think you for your work. I'm sure your blog sure made corporate watch its backs in relation to their employees.
Again, this site should serve as a model for others.
You not only were a watchdog on Gannett, but brought to light the disaster that is the Newseum and Freedom Forum. Your stories about their financial problems finally got someone at the WaPo to pick up the story. Hope they continue to follow it as diligently as you did. All the best you.
ReplyDeleteThank you for all you've done Jim, and best of luck in the next phase of your life and career.
ReplyDeleteThank you for everything, Jim, and best wishes on your new ventures.
ReplyDeleteJim, Your blog has provided sadness, laughter, frustration. Most of all, it has been a place for us to go to learn. Thanks for all of your efforts. May your next chapter be filled with happiness, peace, good health, and more than you dream it will be.
ReplyDeleteCould not have said it any better. I do not know where I will go for humor, knowledge, infuriation and and smug rebellion once the blog is gone and the Man (well, Gracia) is free to run roughshod over her senior suck up team and the cowering masses.
DeleteJim, what a service you provided. You did a lot of good, eliminating the silos of Gannett's newspaper empire. You helped a lot of people get through a very trying period in their careers. For those forced out of the industry or for whom saw the writing on the wall, you were a therapist, and you provided a big, reassuring couch. Best wishes! - Tom Spalding, president of the Indianapolis Newspaper Guild, 2009-2011.
ReplyDeleteThis guild has failed to prevent a major loss of jobs.
DeleteBut, but, who now shall grind the axes?
ReplyDeleteJim, Thanks for all your efforts and all the ridiculous, insulting crap you had to put up with over these years. We who work in the trenches, or worked in the trenches, greatly appreciate your efforts and the forum this blog gave us.
ReplyDeleteThat said, the issues debated here continue and more trouble is ahead. It would have been nice if you could have arranged for some continuity, such as passing off the blog to another administrator so that it could remain functional, even without your excellent reporting. But, maybe someone with the tech savvy and the cajones will start a forum of some sort where Gannett and USA Today workers can exchange information and vent. Here's hoping.
At any rate, good luck to you. No one can blame you for moving on.
Implying that Jim has tech savvy is a hilarious way to start the final day of posting. A monkey with an Internet account (and Jim is not far above that level) could set up a Blogger page.
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DeleteUnfortunately for Gaaanet the interwebs does a great job of recognizing natural content.... and even more unfortunate is Gaaanet's inability to forever understand digital marketing, advertising, social media, email, math, basic skills... we could all go on - no need.
DeleteBeautiful work Jim. Haven't worked for Gannett for more than 10 years - worked at three newspapers as well as Corporate. Your stories and insights made an impact - big time. I feel certain you definitely got the attention of arrogant and somewhat tone deaf corporate C-suite club. They were terrified of your blog. Read it faithfully. You brought to light a lot of important issues that needed mentioned. You held people accountable. You informed. You educated. You spoike the truth. Best wishes to you! And thank you. Time to enjoy yourself and let go of the greedy moster (in my humble opinion) that is GCI.
ReplyDeleteJim: Thanks for creating, editing and managing this blog. You have a tough skin to put up with the personal attacks that are uncalled for and uninformed. Best of luck. And, thank God, I never worked for Gannett!!!!
ReplyDeleteI just found this blog one day after being notified that me and my department are being eliminated at The Oregonian (Portland, OR) by outsourcing all ad production to GIADC. Advance Publishing giving Gannett a shit-load of their business. Who would have thought? A total of 10 people being laid off, effective April 25, 2013
ReplyDeleteOops, 2014, not 2013
ReplyDeleteThis place will be forgotten quickly. Bank on that.
ReplyDeleteLOL. Google's search engine remembers this site, even if you're trying to forget it. Ditto for Yahoo and Bing search.
DeleteJust for example, search on the term "Gannett," "Gannett stock," or "Gannett layoffs," and see what's included in the results.
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DeleteTo borrow from a song by Boyz II Men, it's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.
ReplyDeleteHere's to a good life and fruitful years ahead for Jim.
Gannett Blog has been one of the highlights of my career, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the thousands of readers who’ve contributed to its success over the past six-plus years. Thank you for that — and goodbye.
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