WXIA | In Atlanta, it's a Super Bowl ad smack-down

"The quote on the Statue of Liberty doesn't say, 'Give me your English-speaking only, Christian-believing heterosexual masses.'"

-- News anchor Brenda Wood, in an opinion segment yesterday on WXIA in Atlanta. She was responding to the controversy over the America the Beautiful Super Bowl ad by Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co. that aired Sunday. In a follow-up tonight, Wood says her original segment has drawn a bigger response than any other she's done.

Indy | Multi-tasking reporters need not apply

"If your first instinct when coming upon a crime scene is thinking about a possible lede rather than tweeting what you see, this position is not for you."

-- The Indianapolis Star, in a new advertisement seeking a breaking news reporter mostly covering cops and courts.

While handicapping Yahoo, guilt by association

"Chances are it will look more like
 Gannett than Google."

-- The Wall Street Journal, in a new "Heard on the Street" column about Yahoo's future prospects.

Palm Springs | What we now call a newspaper

"As Coachella Valley's premiere reach vehicle for those looking to market their products and services, we are strengthening our connection between content, consumers and advertisers."

-- Publisher Mark Winkler and Executive Editor Greg Burton in a letter to Desert Sun readers in Palm Springs, Calif., announcing plans to add a new local edition of USA Today. Starting next Sunday, the Sun becomes the latest daily across Gannett to be pulled into the Butterfly Project.

Appleton | That's a lot of investigating already

"You’ll see ... more of the investigative reporting that has become the centerpiece of our front pages almost every day."

-- Publisher Genia Lovett, in a weekend note to readers announcing The Post-Crescent of Appleton, Wisc., will be one of four papers adding local news plus a daily USA Today news section, effective next Sunday, as part of the Butterfly Project test.

Appleton's weekday circulation is 35,986, and Sunday is 52,055, according to the March 31 AAM report. (Look up your paper's circulation.)

Louisville | Budde vs. Bezos on a new 'golden era'

Budde (left) and Bezos

"I have no desire to wax nostalgic about a presumed golden era of journalism."

-- Neil Budde, just-named top editor of The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., in a note to readers this morning, where he continues: "Nor am I so bold (or rich) as Jeff Bezos to proclaim that a new golden era could lie just ahead. I am, however, excited about joining the effort to create a vibrant future for local media in a city and state rich in newspaper history."

Related: Next Post owner Bezos aims for a new "golden era."

Marketing | Stop me if you've heard this before

"This is an exciting time to join Gannett. There's a fundamental shift in the relationship between consumers and media today, and Gannett is leading the way in transforming how it serves the needs of consumers. I look forward to being a part of these efforts and working with a team of top-notch research professionals."

-- Emma Gilding, quoted in an August 2012 press release announcing her appointment as vice president of brand research and strategy. Ten months later, she left the company.

"I am very excited to join a forward-looking company like Gannett. Consumer interaction with media is constantly evolving and understanding these trends, and what they mean for media brands, is key for growth."

-- Judy Vogel, quoted in a press release today announcing her appointment as vice president of research. As with Gilding, Vogel will be based in New York City, where she will report to Chief Marketing Officer Maryam Banikarim.

USAT | Syria's chemical attack, or a sports story?

"It was a sinister plan superbly executed under major duress with the cunning of criminal masterminds."

-- correspondent Nate Ryan, writing in this morning's USA Today.

Earlier: Publisher Kramer pushes "more pronounced voices."

In thousands of layoffs, what about age diversity?

Laid-off employees in 2011's The Company Men. (Watch the trailer.)

"By diversity, I mean not only racial, ethnic and gender diversity -- although that is vitally important -- but also diversity of thought, skill and ambition."

-- Craig Dubow, in his annual letter to shareholders for 2006, his first full year as CEO. At the end of that year, Gannett had nearly 50,000 employees. By the end of last year, total employment had plunged to less than 31,000 -- and it continues falling today.

Five years later, that future is closer than ever

"Brace yourself for a future where local news is a big collection of whatever the websites can scour up for free, with a little sprinkling of 'investigative' reporting as a fig leaf."

-- Anonymous@8:21 p.m. on June 27, 2008. They were commenting on a stunning reorganization of the U.S. community newspaper division. Of 130,348 comments posted on Gannett Blog, that's one I've never forgotten.

USAT | The 2013 Understatement Award goes to...

"News outlets generally do a terrible job when they have to cover themselves."

-- Rem Rieder, USA Today's media editor, in a column Saturday during a week when Gannett eliminated nearly 250 newspaper jobs. I've yet to see a USAT story about that. Did Rieder assign one?

And speaking of media columnists, is Michael Wolff taking the day off? I don't see his usual Monday column in today's paper.

Or was someone offended by his meditation on masturbation a week ago in his other media column, in The Guardian? Writing about New York mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner, here are some bullet points (emphasis added):

• Every modern person has a porn fascination if not compulsion.
• In effect, [Weiner] had sexual fantasies and masturbated, like, presumably, most of his colleagues.
• Obviously, you look differently at someone who's been caught wanking. Losers do it. Well, everybody does it. But you're not a loser until people know you do it.

With earnings like these, who needs layoffs?

"Our long-term strategic plan -- with a focus on both investment and execution -- continues to position us for success well into the future."

-- CEO Gracia Martore, announcing second-quarter financial results last week in a statement.

"We are once again pleased with our financial results this quarter."

-- CFO Victoria Harker, also discussing the Q2 results, during a conference call with Wall Street analysts.

Martore on downside of cutting back on print days

"You're getting people out of their habit. I can't predict [the publishing strategy]. Five years ago, there wasn't a tablet. I feel highly confident we're going to have a printed product."

-- CEO Gracia Martore, speaking yesterday to the annual American Society of News Editors convention.

The proof will come in how much GCI she owns

"I am confident that we have found an excellent partner in Gannett."

-- Belo Corp. CEO Dunia Shive, in today's press release about the Dallas TV company selling itself to GCI for $1.5 billion in cash, plus the assumption of $715 million in debt. Shive and her fellow officers and directors own 42% of the voting power of Belo shares. If the combined companies' prospects are so rosy, will Shive & Co. take the cash they get for their shares and reinvest a significant amount in GCI stock?

USAT | And we'll do it with 10% fewer employees

"Our goal is to create a Gannett-wide news feed of the most creative, fresh, and cutting-edge journalism in the world."

-- USA Today Editor-in-Chief David Callaway, in a new memo explaining how editorial will be reorganized following the most recent round of buyouts.

USAT | How to get by with fewer reporters

USA Today recently reduced staffing again, eliminating as much as 10% of its editorial ranks in another bid to cut costs amid slowing digital revenue growth rates.

But even before the latest round of cuts, I noticed the paper was shifting toward more aggregation of other media to make up for its own diminished reporting resources.

Here's an especially vivid example from a story this morning about the slaying of a police officer in London yesterday; as I post this, it's USAT's lead story online. You certainly can't say the paper is falling down on attribution, based on phrasing I ran across:

the Associated Press reported

ITV News reports

The Associated Press, quoting an unidentified British official, said

The BBC, quoting unidentified sources, reported

The BBC said

identified in the British media

told The Independent

In an interview with the the Daily Telegraph

the BBC reported

Contributing: Associated Press

The question: How can USAT prosper it if shifts toward aggregation over original reporting? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

Marketing | That was then, and this is now

"This is an exciting time to join Gannett. There’s a fundamental shift in the relationship between consumers and media today, and Gannett is leading the way in transforming how it serves the needs of consumers."

-- Emma Gilding, quoted in an Aug. 6, 2012, press release, when Corporate announced that she'd been hired as vice president of brand research and strategy, reporting to Chief Marketing Officer Maryam Banikarim. Yesterday, nine months later, she left that job, according to a Gannett Blogger. On her LinkedIn profile, she now lists herself as a "principle" at GildingBerry&co.

'Valued, long-term employees' -- now, and then

"The program is completely voluntary for these valued, long-term employees. They have helped us achieve much over the years and their work is greatly appreciated."

-- Evan Ray, president of Gannett Publishing Services, in a memo reported today, announcing a buyout offer for 160 employees.

"The program is completely voluntary for these valued, long-term employees. They have helped steer a strong and steady course for the company for many years, including through recent challenging economic times, and their work is deeply appreciated."

-- USA Today Publisher Larry Kramer in a March memo, announcing a similar buyout offer for about 160 of the paper's employees.

Digital pennies to digital dimes to analog dollars

"Mobile ads cost about half as much as desktop ads, and receive only a quarter of the clicks that desktop ads do."

-- BGC Partners research, mentioned in a New York Times story this afternoon about Google's generally good first-quarter earnings report. Gannett reports its own Q1 results on Tuesday.

USAT | Here's one of the more pronounced voices

"Buying Frommer's in the first place suggests, on Google's part, both an inchoate need for 'stuff, good stuff, like useful information' (I have been in many meetings with technology people, and this is, uniformly, how they talk about content), and the strong possibility that the only thing the kids at Google know about books is what they've seen kicking around their parents' homes."

-- Michael Wolff, writing about Google's investments in content companies in his weekly media column for USA Today. Wolff apparently forgot about the eight-year-old Google Books project.