Tallahassee | Sunday back to $2, with an apology; price reduction followed 15% circulation decline

In a blog post today, Executive Editor Bob Gabordi writes about the Tallahassee Democrat's "big" mistake in conjunction with the Gannett-wide launch of paywalls last year.

"In the face of expanded readership, a year ago April we raised the price of the Sunday newspaper to $3 in vending machines and retail outlets," he writes. "We have since reduced the price to $2, but we did so quietly, and without saying we were sorry for the miscalculation."

Gabordi doesn't detail the price increase's impact on circulation. But the paper's overall Sunday sales -- including home delivery -- dove 15% to an average 39,685 copies by the end of last year from 46,801 in 2011, according to GCI's annual reports. That was a significant decline when Corporate was focused on shoring up Sunday circulation across the U.S. newspaper division.

Indeed, among all the U.S. community dailies, only Missouri's Springfield News-Leader reported a bigger rate of Sunday decline: 16%, to 52,958 from 63,413 in 2011. (This excludes the Detroit Free Press, where data in the annual reports show a near-doubling of Sunday circulation that I can't immediately explain.)

Division-wide, Sunday fell an average 3% last year from 2011 (again, excluding Detroit), according to the annual reports.

Nonetheless, overall circulation revenue rose 5% last year to $1.1 billion, because Corporate raised subscription prices an average 25% when the paywalls were introduced. That more than made up for lost circulation volume.

Your site's numbers
Other GCI newspapers raised newsstand prices on Sunday when their paywall was turned on. Has your site also backed away from its increase?

This spreadsheet shows daily and Sunday circulation for 2012 vs. 2011 for 80 U.S. dailies.

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.

Under new comments policy, GCI readers clam up

One month after two Gannett newspapers switched to Facebook-powered commenting policies, the number of reader posts on the most-discussed stories remains dramatically lower compared to other papers.

In early August, The Des Moines Register and The News-Press in Fort Myers, Fla., said readers would need to comment via Facebook accounts, which typically reveal their true identities. Editors hoped readers would be more civil if they couldn't post anonymously.

The tradeoff would be lower reader participation, a fact illustrated by the falloff in comments over the past month. That shows many readers are either unwilling to post under their real names, or won't make the effort to open the required Facebook accounts.

The News-Press said it would test the new policy for 60 days and evaluate the results. The Register didn't give a time limit.

A key question remains unanswered: What's been the impact on pageviews and advertising revenue, since comments are one of the traffic drivers?

Numbers vs. other papers
Following are the total comments on the 10 stories drawing the most comments at the Register and the News-Press. They're especially small when compared to lower-circulation papers that allow anonymous comments, in Pensacola, Fla., and Springfield, Mo.:

Note: Circulation is at March 31, from the ABC's lookup database.

Springfield | A dramatic tornado photo display

Missouri's Springfield News-Leader used both the front and back pages this morning to show in a single aerial photo the destruction left by Sunday's tornado in Joplin, Mo., about 90 minutes west of Springfield. The twister, the deadliest in six decades, left 122 dead, 750 injured, and 8,000 structures damaged, the paper says today.

Got a Gannett front page to recommend? Find it in the Newseum's page one database, then post a link in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

[Image: Newseum]

Also under review: voluntary unpaid overtime!

"'Voluntary unpaid vacation' is this year's mystery meat. Next year, I hear they are looking at 'Involuntary Sick Days.'"

-- Anonymous@11:30 a.m., commenting on a report that Missouri's Springfield News-Leader asked employees yesterday to consider taking five unpaid "vacation days" beyond the mandatory five furlough days already announced for this quarter.

GCI has now shifted 17 newspaper CEOs this year

Hurst

This morning's promotion of Leslie Hurst to publisher of The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss., is at least the 17th 14th13th turnover of a top Gannett newspaper executive this year.

This unusual turnover -- half of it, in the past month -- is among GCI's 81 U.S. community publishing newspapers, and the Tucson, Ariz., newspaper partnership. It follows recent Gannett Blog speculation that the division was due for a big reorganization. The list so far:

1. Today. Hurst is replacing retiring Larry Whitaker. Her successor at The Daily Advertiser in Lafayette, La., hasn't been announced.
2. Yesterday. Gabe Aguiree named general manager of the Iowa City Press-Citizen, replacing Dan Brown, whose departure wasn't explained.
3. Dec. 10. Kim Wilson leaves Fort Collins Coloradoan; her departure isn't explained, and a replacement hasn't been announced.
4. Dec. 6. Scott Johnson to publisher of the St. Cloud Times in Minnesota. He replaces Bill Albrecht, who was earlier named president of the Media Network of Central Ohio.
5. Nov. 30. Charlie Nutt retires as publisher of The Daily Journal in Vineland, N.J. Advertising Director Joseph Calchi also assumes title of general manager.
6. Michael Beck to general manager of Wisconsin's Stevens Point Journal; he replaced Mark Baldwin, whose departure wasn't explained.
7. Nov. 18. Howard Griffin named publisher of The News Journal in Wilmington, Del., replacing retiring Curtis Riddle.
8. Nov. 15. Mike Jameson leaves as CEO Tucson Newspapers, the joint operating agency co-owned by Gannett and Lee Enterprises; it publishes Lee's Arizona Daily Star. Jameson's replacement hasn't been announced.
9. Oct. 20. Andrew Oppmann leaves as publisher of The Leaf-Chronicle for a university job; his permanent replacement hasn't been announced.
10. Oct. 12. Lee Webber officially retires as publisher of The Honolulu Advertiser after its sale to a cross-town rival.
11. Sept. 28. Linda Greiwe to publisher of the Springfield News-Leader in Missouri, replacing retiring Thomas Bookstaver.
12. Sept. 13. Mark Winkler to publisher of The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, Calif., replacing Richard Ramhoff, whose departure was not explained.
13. Sep. 13. James Fogler to publisher of the Burlington Free Press, replacing Brad Robertson, who was promoted to president of the new GannettLocal.
14. May 25. Samuel Martin to publisher of the Montgomery Advertiser in Alabama. He replaces Cheryl Lindus.
15. May 25. Lindus to general manager of The Muncie Star in Indiana. She replaces Gene Williams, named executive editor of the Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, N.J.
16. April 7. Paul Grzella to general manager of New Jersey's Courier News in Bridgewater and the Home News Tribune in East Brunswick; he replaced Skip Hidlay, who left to become publisher of the Wichita Eagle in Kansas. 
17. March 25. Mei-Mei Chan to publisher of The News-Press in Fort Myers, Fla., replacing Carol Hudler, who was promoted to publisher of The Tennessean at Nashville in November 2009.

Have I missed anyone? 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.

St. Cloud | Wisconsin ad exec named new publisher

Corporate just announced that the regional advertising director of Gannett Wisconsin Media in Green Bay, Scott Johnson, has been named publisher of the St. Cloud Times in Minnesota. Johnson succeeds Bill Albrecht, who earlier was named president of the Media Network of Central Ohio and president and publisher of The Advocate in Newark, Ohio.

Johnson's is the ninth appointment of a publisher this year alone among GCI's 81 U.S. community dailies. The news came today in a written statement that included a quote attributed to U.S. newspaper division President Bob Dickey. Fashioned and refashioned by publicists, quotes such as these risk sounding like commodities, rendering them less meaningful.

Quotidian quotations
Following are some of Dickey's quotes this year, with identifying names redacted. One of these is about Johnson. I've linked to the original statements.

"_____ is an innovator in finding solutions for customers and delivering the right audiences for advertisers across all platforms. _____ brings an impressive background in market development strategy and sales."

"_____ is an experienced advertising executive with a solid track record of building sales and competitive market share. _____ will be an important member of our team as Gannett continues to expand the ways we provide business clients with customized solutions and engage consumers."

"Through _____'s leadership, the _____ launched innovative products to increase readership and market share while also producing products and services that meet the needs of the community."

"_____ brings a diverse and fresh perspective that will help us continue to expand the many ways we meet the changing needs of our communities and customers, both consumers and advertisers."

" _____ has had a long, successful career with Gannett and brings important sales and marketing skills to this position. _____'s breadth of experience and leadership abilities will serve _____ and _____."

" _____ is bringing diverse experience and valued leadership to our _____ market and will build on the solid foundation _____ helped establish in this important market."

" _____ has intense drive, a collaborative spirit and a strong track record of providing innovative service to consumers and advertisers."

Got a favorite press release? 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.

Layoff notices given today in HR reorganization

Two readers say the nationwide consolidation of Gannett's human resources departments has been completed; layoff notices were given today to those HR employees whose applications were rejected for any of the new jobs in the reorganized departments.

In total, about 30 jobs were eliminated, according to one of the readers; I haven't been able to confirm that figure yet, however.

The jobs cut were all across the company, from Corporate in McLean, Va., to individual newspapers and other worksites.

Newspaper cuts rise
Also today, a reader says six jobs were eliminated at Missouri's Springfield News-Leader during the recent round of layoffs and other reductions among the U.S. community dailies.

I've  added this new information to my running tally of estimated layoffs and pay cuts during the job reduction that began Nov. 3. These figures are based on information supplied by my readers. (Site-by-site numbers.) As of 11:35 p.m. ET today:

• Newspapers reporting: 63 of 81
• Estimated job cuts so far: 249 (excludes USA Today's 130)
• Estimated papers imposing pay cuts: 6

Note: GCI has about 25,000 U.S. newspaper workers, out of a total 35,000 employees worldwide. (Breakdown by major division.)

Springfield | Greiwe's promotion leaves a vacancy

Newspaper Network of Central Ohio President Linda Greiwe's promotion to publisher of Missouri's Springfield News-Leader was announced yesterday in a Corporate statement that didn't identify her replacement.

Greiwe (left), who has been with Gannett since 1987, also was named West Group vice president, with responsibility for the U.S. Community Publishing markets in Mountain Home, Ark.; St. Cloud, Minn., and Sioux Falls, S.D. Her new job is effective Oct. 11. [Updated at 10:05 a.m. ET on Sept. 30 to correct name of Arkansas city; it was incorrect in the original statement from Corporate, but I should have caught that first, since I'm a sorta former Arkie!]

She replaces another long-time Gannett employee: Thomas Bookstaver, who is retiring, effective Oct. 8. He has been with GCI for 37 years.

Springfield | On Flag Day, 15 years' worth

The flag is lowered at Evangel University in Springfield, Mo., in this photograph by the Springfield News-Leader's Dean Curtis. For Flag Day, Curtis assembled 15 years' worth of his U.S. flag photos -- 90 in all -- and presented them (with captions for each one!) in a slideshow published today. (Related story.)

Cutlines Only showcases Gannett artwork. Please post your suggestions in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

Gannett names new pub, GM and executive editor

In a domino-like series of newspaper appointments, Gannett has reached outside the company for a new publisher in Montgomery, Ala.; named a new general manager in Muncie, Ind., and appointed a new executive editor in Cherry Hill, N.J., according to a statement just issued by Corporate.

Montgomery: Sam Martin (left), senior vice president and chief advertising officer for The Boston Globe, was named chief executive of the Montgomery Advertiser.

Martin previously worked for Gannett as senior vice president of marketing at The Cincinnati Enquirer, from 1999-2002, and advertising director at The News Journal in Wilmington, Del., from 1993-1999. He replaces Cheryl Lindus, who had been publisher since 2008.

Martin is moving to a newspaper with a considerably smaller readership. The Globe's circulation is about 230,000 daily, and 379,000 on Sunday, according to the latest ABC figures, as of March 31. Montgomery's is 35,827 daily, and 44,120 on Sunday.

Muncie: Lindus (left) becomes general manager at The Star-Press, a position that in name suggests a step down. The Muncie paper's circulation is 23,721 daily, and 28,932 Sunday.

Before Montgomery, Lindus was advertising director at Gannett's Springfield News-Leader in Missouri, and at The Herald-Dispatch in Huntington, West Virginia. (Gannett sold the Herald-Dispatch to GateHouse Media in 2007.) Earlier, Lindus held other advertising jobs at the Star Press. She replaces Gene Williams, the Star Press's GM and executive editor.

Cherry Hill: Williams was named executive editor of the Courier-Post, replacing Everett Mitchell, whose late-March departure has never been publicly explained. In Muncie, Williams had been GM since the middle of last year, and executive editor since joining that paper in 2007.

The Courier-Post's circulation: 51,889, Monday-Friday; 59,311 on Saturday, and 67,485 on Sunday, ABC says.

Earlier: Ex-editor in Montgomery claims unpaid overtime in lawsuit

[Photos: Advertiser]

Springfield | On 'flexibility' vs. 'colored youth'

A weekly opinion column in the Springfield News-Leader illustrates the pitfalls when Gannett newspapers rely more on reader-submitted articles that get scant attention from editors.

Now, let me say right away that I think papers have gotten too bland in recent years, as publishers worried about losing readers over controversial content. Opinion pages, especially, deserve to be open to many views, and can't fall victim to the political correctness police.

But I'm not convinced that community member Joe Snider's "Patriot's Pen" column in Monday's print paper got much editing beyond a perfunctory spell-check. And I don't say that merely because of his casual use of "colored youth" to describe black teenagers in his op-ed about whether white Americans owe slave descendants an apology.

Read the full column, and you'll see some sloppy, slap-dash writing -- evidence of an author so amateur, you wonder why he appears on the pages of a serious daily paper.

Editor: terms 'in flux'
Yet, it was the "colored" word that galvanized some readers, as well as a journalism professor at nearby Missouri State University. Stranger still, was the unsigned response by one of the paper's editors:

"We try to give writers flexibility in terms to express themselves. Terms involving race are always sensitive, but it should be noted that the use of colored, negro, black or African-American are in flux."

In one of 145 comments posted on the story, reader Acline was aghast: "Editing? Are you guys asleep at the switch? Are you really this tone deaf? Do you not have an AP Stylebook? 'Colored' is offensive. You can edit that out without harming the meaning of this amateur punditry."

Prof: 'failure to edit'
Associate journalism professor Andrew Cline's response was more detailed. "I have been arguing somewhat regularly that the News-Leader’s failure to edit its amateur pundits and teach them the basics of opinion journalism has created a toxic opinion section that is harmful to our civic discourse,'' Cline wrote on his Rhetorica blog. "I stand by that criticism. It’s not hard to do."

Citing the Associated Press Stylebook, and the Society of Professional Journalists's guide, Cline said, "the use of colored is most certainly not in 'flux.'"

His conclusion: If the News-Leader is going to give readers columns with titles and mug shots, "then journalistic ethics demands" that the opinion page editor, or someone else on staff, "edit these columns and attempt to teach these pundits how to be opinion journalists."

Earlier: N.J. papers scolded for letting hockey team cover itself

Now, it's your turn: How much leeway should Gannett offer to community readers writing for newspapers? 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.

[Image: today's paper, Newseum]

Springfield | What are they smoking in Missouri?!

While researching a post about a controversial reader-submitted column in the Springfield News-Leader, I landed on that Gannett paper's website. Yikes! Talk about a poster child for why Gannett needs to hurry up Project Odyssey, the reported code name for the planned redesign of its community newspaper websites. Check out the screenshot, below, of the Missouri paper's homepage (click on image for bigger view):


Of that redesign, Anonymous@5:26 p.m. wrote in a recent comment:

The new website design is the mastermind of Chris Saridakis and Kevin Poortinga in Digital. Actually, our site (and many in U.S. Community Publishing) like the initial designs and thought process behind it. The internal code name is Project Odyssey.

It is in the early phases, but we will see parts of it rolling out by 3rd quarter with a bulk of it by the end of the year.

ContentOne has not been involved (Thank God!) with this project. This will certainly be better than GO4, but many of us are worried that with the exit of Saridakis, will his team be able to deliver on the initial vision for the redesign.

Got a website that beats the News-Leader's? 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.

Commentary | Turner on, 'The crimes of Gannett'

[Earlier: Oh, zarks! Condoms, Christ, Yakov -- and more!]

From a comment posted last night by reader Randy Turner, on the must-read Romenesko blog:

One thousand four hundred Gannett employees lose their jobs because of the inability of their executives to put their readers first. While Gannett employees have lost their jobs, served two weeks of unpaid furloughs, and watched as their reader base has eroded thanks to the elimination of dedicated employees, the Gannett officials responsible for providing themselves with millions of dollars worth of bonuses and coming up with crackpot revenue ideas like sending condoms and erotica advertisements to prospective college students in southwest Missouri, are still gainfully employed, and will undoubtedly will remain so in the future.

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.

Oh, zarks! | Condoms, Christ, Yakov -- and more!

[Bonus points: former Miss America Anita Bryant, below!]

What do you get when you combine Gannett's newspaper in Springfield, Mo., with a giant statue of Jesus Christ in the Ozarks; Branson, Mo., comedian Yakov Smirnoff -- and thousands of unsolicited condoms mailed to college students by a Gannett "affiliate" in Florida? A very interesting post that ends with a crucial question unanswered!

Now, follow me, as I try to unravel what we'd call a big frittata in my home state of Rhode Island.

Key players
In no particular order:

• Don Wyatt, executive editor of the News-Leader Media Group, publisher of the News-Leader in Springfield.
  
• Irwin Parker, Robert Parker, and Jennifer Irwin -- who may or may not still be Gannett employees.
  
• Student Welcome Pack Inc., a direct-mailing company in Tallahassee that's at least a Gannett "affiliate."
  
• Missouri State University, also in Springfield.
  
• Many pissed-off, socially conservative parents of said MSU students.
  
• A no-doubt growing band of lawsuit-happy lawyers.
  

The controversy
Word-for-word from a story in today's News-Leader:

Missouri State University is considering a lawsuit against the News-Leader's parent company after a Gannett Co. Inc. affiliate mailed thousands of welcome packets to area college-age students.

According to MSU attorney Clifton Smart, the packets -- which contained advertisements for local businesses -- might have amounted to trademark infringement, since they mentioned the school.

"If you use the name Missouri State University in such a way to convey that Missouri State University sent out that packet, that's trademark infringement," Smart said. "Dozens of parents thought that we sent them out that packet."

He said some advertisers who participated in the mailing believed MSU had sanctioned them, though he would not give names.

Chief among the university's concerns, Smart said, was an ad for Planned Parenthood with a condom attached. In bold type at the top of the insert are the words: "Welcome to MSU!"

The setting
The Bermuda Triangle of wholesome midwestern entertainment for bus tours by blue-haired ladies and their dozing hubbies. 1. Oklahoma Indian reservation casinos. 2. Eureka Springs, Ark., near where they still perform a passion play (!) in the shadow of the famous Christ of the Ozarks statue. 3. Branson, Mo., home to a collection of dinner theater shows by entertainers like Smirnoff.

Bonus points! If the former Miss America hadn't filed for bankruptcy, tourists might stop by the Anita Bryant Museum, where the one-time Florida orange juice huckster retreated with her crown and scepter, plus retired astronaut husband, after her anti-gay campaign in Florida's Dade County. (Now you know why I loved being a journalist in Arkansas during 1985-91. The Clintons! Whitewater! Sam Walton! But I digress.)

The documents
Robert Parker and Irwin were the principal officers of Student Welcome Pack as recently as 2006, when they filed their last annual report with the Florida Secretary of State's office, according to public documents I obtained today. (See, below.) They also owned FSView and Florida Flambeau, the bi-weekly campus newspaper serving Tallahassee's Florida State University. Gannett bought the newspaper in August 2006 for an undisclosed sum.

The Parkers were Gannett employees when Campus Progress wrote about what was Gannett's first foray into the college newspaper market, the publication reported in September 2006. Irwin was to be publisher of the papers after the acquisition, the story said.

Now, here's the question that I can't answer: Did Gannett's purchase of FSView and Florida Flambau include Student Welcome Pack Inc.? I suspect it did, and that the deal included the Parkers and Irwin staying on as employees or consultants to aid in the transition of the newspaper.

But I can't find anything in Gannett's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to reflect that. And, apparently, Irwin is no longer publisher of the paper, according to the publication's website contact list.

Student Welcome Pack's annual report; click image for bigger view:

Over to you, chief Gannett publicist Tara Connell!

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.

Springfield, condoms -- and that very choice word

"Affiliated?" Oh, come on. What's the real deal, here, Tallahassee? (See the string in Real Time Comments, above.) Short iPhone post; more later.

Imagining a prosperous (but shrunken) Gannett

[It's 2014: Are Corporate and USA Today still in McLean, Va.?]

Gannett is aiming for a high-profile home run by deploying its nascent ContentOne news service to cover President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration -- just in time to rally investors when the company releases fourth-quarter earnings in the weeks ahead.

The new service will be a major test of the cross-divisional leadership skills of two rising stars: Chief Digital Officer Chris Saridakis (left), and Kate Marymont (below), the recently named newspaper division news vice president. Corporate has said nothing about the project for public consumption since CEO Craig Dubow pitched the idea to media stock analysts at the UBS conference last month, telling them: "ContentOne is an entity that will completely change the way we share content across the company."

The few details that have surfaced so far suggest ContentOne is a reconstituted Gannett News Service: a 21st-century web wire, if you will. More broadly, however, the service is another key piece in a puzzle showing what Gannett might look like in five years or less: A 100% digital news and information provider, no longer printing newspapers or running today's version of broadcast TV. Let's call the future company by a name already in use: Gannett Digital.

With ContentOne and USA Today as its editorial backbone, I imagine Gannett Digital producing and distributing information for a national audience mostly anchored in more than 100 U.S. communities where its legacy brands -- newspapers and TV stations -- now employ perhaps 35,000 U.S. workers. (How many will be working in five years or less? Keep reading.)

ContentOne is part of a wider bid to boost revenue and cut costs, by imposing more uniformity in content and technology on the company's disparate portfolio of websites. It's also the latest incarnation of the long-neglected 1980 Pulitzer Prize-winning GNS. The new web wire is apparently being run in some fashion by Gannett's official publicist, Tara Connell, a former top USA Today editor.

Like the youth-oriented Metromix entertainment sites and the "moms" franchise, ContentOne aims to roll up all of Gannett's online readers into a mammoth advertising "buy." How big? Corporate is gunning for more than 50 million unique visitors in the Obama trial that began last Tuesday -- double the most recent reported average uniques. National ads would presumably be more price-competitive and easier to sell, because Gannett's community papers mostly adopted identical G04 website templates last year.

Consolidation hits newsrooms
ContentOne is the next step in Gannett's drive to reduce overhead by consolidating work to eliminate duplication. That effort has focused on areas including ad production, printing and finance. Now, Corporate is extending the strategy to newsrooms, in a move with implications for the recent emphasis on "local-local" coverage.

For example, suppose Gannett eliminated all the printed features sections, and substituted the new, edgier Metromix sites recently rolled out companywide. Management could shrink features staffing to a skeleton crew. Surviving staff would focus solely on cranking out updates, plus Metromix briefs and calendar items aimed at the audience where they already live: mobile devices and the Internet.

If that worked, Gannett could apply the same model to other subjects as it keeps herding readers to the websites -- and shutters more printed news sections and TV newscasts. In their place: A network of websites, RSS feeds and other distribution channels carrying subject-specific products with long shelf lives.

"At its most innovative," CEO Dubow (left) told the UBS conference last month, "ContentOne will allow us for the first time companywide to view our content as a product, instead of a way to fill our products -- newspapers, websites and TV news broadcasts. We will become content creators for our advertising partners, pricing and selling our content for use by them."

Dubow took over as CEO in July 2005; he had been chief executive of the 23-station broadcasting division for four years, after joining the division in 1981 as an advertising salesman.

He told UBS analysts that the news service "also will allow us to develop and gather information much more efficiently by eliminating duplication and allowing our local entities to focus on what's important -- a deep, rich local report. It is the logical next step from our local Information Center initiatives, creating a national head to the local content gathering bodies."

In a way, ContentOne delivers Gannett's Holy Grail -- but digitally: It marries the 85 community newspapers with USA Today. This lower-cost, shelf-stable strategy is revealed in a leaked memo about ContentOne's Obama plan, which includes a special "micro'' website anchoring news and entertainment coverage.

Obama blog, and new platform?
The memo says: "ContentOne inaugural site will power online coverage before, during and after the Jan. 20 inauguration. It will be one product with local branding, traffic and ad sales. On it, will be the best of USA Today's national coverage, local site local coverage, (plus) WUSA-TV's live video feed through Mogulus."

It continues: "There also will be a cross-network VOD sampling via Mogulus and Washington-specific entertainment listings through Metromix that will serve your local customers who may be going to DC for the celebration. The site also will allow for and encourage local coverage. We are planning a three-week window for this site -- two weeks before the inauguration through one week after -- with live coverage emphasis on Jan. 19, 20 and 21, when interest will peak."

The Obama microsites are woven into each local site; consider The Arizona Republic's.

Indeed, I wonder if USA Today's new White House blog, The Oval, was launched as part of ContentOne's debut. (Also interesting: The Oval's URL incorporates the word "communities," as does the newer Faith & Reason blog. Both appear to use a software platform that's not TypePad, which most of the paper's other blogs still use. What's the communities aspects about?)

ContentOne also could lead to centralized editing and webpage construction, because it's a sort of web-based pagination system. Teams of editors and page builders could be employed inexpensively at the existing regional hubs in Wilmington, Del.; Fort Myers, Fla.; Des Moines, and Indianapolis. Gannett is already experimenting with regional copy editing and page design in at least one state: Wisconsin, where it owns 10 dailies that also share printing and production.

In this future scenario, local advertising sales could be handled by a small staff on contract. This is now a fully digital company, so there are no presses to ink up, no papers to bundle, nothing to hand-deliver to homes and offices; all those jobs would be gone.

It's already happening. As I post this, Gannett is junking presses at sites including Hattiesburg, Miss.; Asheville, N.C.; Richmond, Ind.; Battle Creek, Mich., and Poughkeepskie, N.Y. Those papers are now being printed at sister print sites. Yet, as papers get trucked further, weather-related delays are inevitable: Only today, the Poughkeepsie Journal apologized to readers; it's now being printed at The Journal News, 64 miles south in White Plains.

Meanwhile, marketing, human resource and finance work is being consolidated at the regional hubs, plus the Springfield, Mo., site. All these moves contributed to Gannett's reducing newspaper employment by more than 2,100 jobs, last month alone.

And the twin towers?
Gannett could sell the seven-year-old complex housing Corporate and USAT in McLean, Va., to a REIT, after the commercial real estate market recovers. The company could then lease back only the space it needs -- maybe a single floor or less -- in what new owners could rename the 7950 Jones Branch Corporate Centre.

This version of Gannett in five years or less is a leaner, more prosperous company. It's anyone's guess what revenues will be. And the U.S. workforce, now about 35,000 employees? Maybe it will tumble to 20,000.

Or maybe just 2,000.

What do you think? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.

[Photo of Corporate complex: Kohn Pedersen Fox Architects]

Asheville: Fired editor files $15M suit against pub

Veteran Gannett employee Susan Ihne (left) claims in a lawsuit brought in North Carolina Superior Court that Citizen-Times Publisher Randy Hammer began verbally abusing her soon after he was named the paper's chief executive in October 2007.

"He made statements to her threatening her job and ordered her not to call the corporate headquarters concerning him,'' her complaint filed yesterday says. "He also told her that she could not forward his e-mails to anyone without his permission."

Hammer dismissed Ihne in May 2008, when she was 52 years old, her suit says; she got the job in October 2005. Ihne is claiming age and sex discrimination, and seeks more than $15 million in compensatory and punitive damages, plus attorney's fees. In addition to Hammer, she names as plaintiffs Gannett and the Citizen-Times.

There is a copy of Ihne's complaint, here. Gannett Blog readers have been chatting about it since the news was first posted, here. Hammer has not responded to my request for comment.

Earlier: Fear factor -- probing Gannett's mean-boss legacy

Got a mean boss tale to tell? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.

Report: 300 CareerBuilder layoffs follow tax break

The big employment listings website controlled by Gannett has laid off more than 300 employees, a published report says today -- just two months after winning a $2.9 million tax break to add 185 jobs at its Chicago headquarters.

This is at least the second time a Gannett business has won a tax break for creating jobs in one city, while simultaneously eliminating jobs elsewhere. CareerBuilder had threatened to leave Chicago without the public money.

"Most of the laid-off workers are from the Chicago corporate headquarters," the East Valley Tribune near Phoenix, Ariz., reports. "However, some have also been let go from the Atlanta offices. The company’s public information office in Chicago refused to answer questions about the layoffs, although a telephone call by the East Valley Tribune to a branch office near O’Hare Airport confirmed the layoffs were made Friday morning."

CareerBuilder won the nearly $3 million in Tax Increment Financing to help pay for an $11.6 million renovation of Chicago office space at 200 North LaSalle St., the city's Department of Planning and Development said in a statement on Oct. 8.

"Eight hundred employees will be located at the headquarters,'' the statement says. "CareerBuilder will also retain 615 positions at three other affiliate offices in Chicago, and add 185 jobs over the next two years. CareerBuilder had been considering relocating the majority of its employees to one of its other locations before selecting Chicago for its corporate headquarters."

The impact of any layoffs on the Tax Increment Financing isn't clear. I've asked CareerBuilder and the Chicago planning department for comment.

Earlier tax breaks in Indiana
Gannett owns 50.8% of CareerBuilder. Tribune Co., which just filed for bankruptcy protection, owns 30.8%. The rest is held by McClatchy Co. and Microsoft.

In September, the state of Indiana agreed to give GCI up to $935,000 in tax credits for creating up to 200 jobs at a new finance center in Indianapolis. A second finance center is being developed in Springfield, Mo. The centers will consolidate accounting and other work that's been done at the local level across Gannett. A net 167 jobs were to be eliminated in this consolidation.

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.

Tip: Mountain Home printing shifts; 18 jobs cut

Effective Nov. 10, a reader tells me, The Baxter Bulletin in Mountain Home, Ark., is moving its printing 116 miles northwest, to Springfield, Mo., home of the News-Leader. The 18 jobs disappear when the press shuts down in Mountain Home.

In cases like this, I always wonder about the impact on final deadlines for the newsroom, advertising, and everyone else down the line. Springfield is one of two cities (Indianapolis is the other) that are now growing regional hubs for consolidating jobs in finance, production and other key areas.

Metromix: As more sites launch, how's the pace?

[Rochester: a recent screenshot of its Metromix site]

Gannett and Tribune Co. announced an important partnership in October 2007 under which the two publishing giants would roll out a collection of entertainment websites called Metromix, aimed at 21-to-34 year-olds with "significant" disposable income. The goal was to spread the sites to more than 40 other markets -- including the nation's top 30 -- by the end of this year; most of those new sites presumably would be where Gannett publishes papers or owns TV stations.

Now, nearly a year later, I'm wondering how the rollout is going -- and what sort of impact it's having on GCI papers that already have started their site. The Indianapolis Star, for example, is getting closer to replacing its award-winning Indy.com entertainment site with Metromix. The paper, now advertising for a new editor of digital content, said Monday that the new version would become the Star's "lifestyle channel,'' according to a post by Indy.com's Joey Fingers.

"Sex & Relationships, Money, Work, Tech & Gadgets, More Style and Fashion, and some other freaky little things,'' Fingers wrote. "We will still be handling the local entertainment coverage, don't worry. We just get to pull in their national content, their iPhone app, their Facebook Widget and so much more of their wholesome goodness."

As Indy prepares to join the Metromix chain, I notice the sites are now in 26 markets -- up from five when the Gannett-Tribune partnership was signed. Across Gannett, they're now in Cincinnati; Des Moines, Detroit, Honolulu, Louisville, Nashville, Reno, Rochester, and Springfield, Mo.

To reach the year-end goal, of course, GCI and Tribune will have to launch in 14 more markets at a time when Gannett has fewer newspaper workers than it did when the two companies hooked up. That's gotta be a further strain on editorial and ad sales staff, no?

One of Tribune Co.'s papers -- the Chicago Tribune -- started what is now Metromix, a collection of short stories and event listings focused on nightclubs, restaurants, TV listings and other stuff do do. When the partnership was announced, Metromix was already in New York, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Orlando, South Florida and other markets where Tribune Co. owned papers.

Like Gannett's "moms'' sites, and the growing number of new "pets'' websites, Metromix aims to create a uniform collection of niche sites where ad sales staff can sell both local and national advertising. The national ads presumably would be made easier to sell because of the sites' uniform design across all markets. (For the same reason, Gannett's papers have now adopted identical G04 website templates.)

Existing worksites with Metromix: What's the impact been since you launched? Other sites: When are you scheduled to Metromix? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green sidebar, upper right.

[Image: today's Star front page, Newseum]