Gannett joins the club?

[slappy4428]

Scripps did a "write down" this week, too. And they already divided the papers out from the other media holdings. Can't think any of that bodes well.

Scripps decided years ago to ditch their newspapers. Only problem is, instead of selling them or trying to pump circulation, they're willing to watch them wither and die -- at least with the properties that have competition like Cinci, Albuquerque and Birmingham.

[Aurelio]

Gotta believe they'll sell them for real in the near future. I mean, the way newspaper companies are copying one another that just seems inevitable. And something has to give in Denver.

[TheSportsPredictor]

Well, as they said at a conference I was at awhile back

"As soon as Best Buy, Circuit City, the grocery chains, the car and furniture dealers etc... find a better way to get their ads to people, we're all going to be out of jobs.

And that better way would be .... what, exactly?

That's the point. They have no choice but to go with the papers.

No choice but internet, email, text message, tv radio, direct marketing, billboards, viral videos, leaving a flyer in your mailbox, a card under your windshield wiper, skywriting, oh, and to not advertise at all because the budget was cut.

Internet? I use the AdBlock Plus extension for Firefox, so I see no ads.

E-mail? Those ads almost never reach my Inbox due to spam filters and there's no question that consumers dislike spam.

TV? I either don't pay attention or change stations.

Radio? I use Sirius; never listen to terrestrial radio. Ads? What ads?

Junk mail? Straight to the recycle bin.

Billboards? Don't pay attention.

Viral videos? Effectiveness unproven. Seems to work better for mass-media products rather than retail.

Flyer in the mailbox? Illegal; violates federal law.

Cards under the windshield wiper? Nobody looks at those and the advertiser gets accused of littering. Not good.

Skywriting? Fail. Nobody pays attention and it's too hard to deliver specific messages.

Not advertise at all? Kind of tough to get your brand out in view without advertising.

You have anything else?

Newspaper? No one reads them.

[pressmurphy]

Another detail to consider: weekends. What about Saturdays and Sundays?

That's one more reason I'm calling semi-BS on this whole "wrap" concept.

A few things:

(1) If you haven't acquired the urge to subscribe to USA Today in that last 25 years, you're not going to want any iteration of that paper showing up on your doorstep now.

(2) Even if you don't have pro/D-I beats to write about in Saturday and Sunday editions, you do have preps -- a key component of the hyper-local mantra -- to report on, especially during football and basketball season. Sending readers to your web site -- or, gasp, MaxPreps, etc. -- is another death knell.

(3) A Gannett mid-metro near me publishes a 36-page daily section on average. In it:

8 pages of display advertising
6 pages of classifieds
1 page of paid (and very profitable at $8.50 or so a line) death notices

Even dialing all of that down to what the equivs would be in a community-paper market, that's a minimum of 10-11 pages a day of advertising when you consider that weekend staples such as employment and real estate  classifieds will have to be absorbed Mon-Fri. It would take a minimum of 8-9 pages of editorial to support it, so you're still looking at 30-40 local bylined pieces a day now that you're not running any AP world/national stuff.

I'm not even sure USA Today press configurations can accommodate an additional 18- or 20-page section on days when they're printing their own special products.

And I can't see the net result -- nuking some layout, reporting, photo and editor positions (while more or less needing to retain current ad staffs) but also losing a bunch of paid circulation from disgusted readers -- as being anything better than a wash with the current position. Even some of the advantages of shuttering your presses are negated by having to outsource printing of the myriad of non-daily pubs most Gannett shops are saddled with these days.

[greenlantern]

We're having only minor layoffs coming up at my shop. Though when I saw an e-mail sent to every employee from the publisher, I knew it couldn't be good. My girlfriend told me I need to find a job in an industry that's not dying. That might be really good advice.

[DanOregon]

From what I've read, it looks like those in the newsroom making the most (ie old-timers) are the most likely to leave given that publishers are being told to hit a dollar amount instead of a body count.

[Drip]

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/wall-street-cheers-gannett-cuts/story.aspx?guid=%7BEEC525DD%2D2C80%2D4F83%2DAD5A%2DCA015ED349B4%7D&siteid=yhoof
After hearing this news, I wouldn't be surprised if others followed suit as early as today. This is such a cookie cutter business. 
Had a college freshman ask me two days ago about becoming a journalist. I didn't dissuade him because everyone has dreams, but I just told him what's going on in the business. He asked would I recommend the business to him and I looked him in the eye and told him, "No."
That hurt me more than it hurt him.

[DanOregon]

Agreed Drip. I don't know how I would answer a job interview question "where do you see yourself in 5 years." In reality, the job candidate should be asking that question of the company.
Cutting news staffers right now would be like the airlines cutting mechanics. Sure the stock might go up initially, but you know how the story is going to end. And knowing the way Gannett works, the "innovations" will be spared while nuts and bolts local coverage will be hacked.

[Drip]

Agreed Drip. I don't know how I would answer a job interview question "where do you see yourself in 5 years." In reality, the job candidate should be asking that question of the company.
Cutting news staffers right now would be like the airlines cutting mechanics. Sure the stock might go up initially, but you know how the story is going to end. And knowing the way Gannett works, the "innovations" will be spared while nuts and bolts local coverage will be hacked.

Five years? Hell, I can't say where I'll be in five seconds. And I'm very serious about that.
I was also very serious when I told the young man the pros and cons about this business. What is he going to do? He said he's gong to reevaluate everything. He's going to Syracuse so it's not like he won't get a quality education. 
The fact  is, like it or not, that the life span of journalism - and I'm talking about newspapers specifically - is reaching its end. I had given it 20 years but if papers follow Gannett's suit, and they will, it will be sooner.
It also doesn't help when Unions sell out, like in Philadelphia where an anticipated raise was given back with the hopes of jobs being spared. In the case of Philly, I'm looking for the axe to fall on more jobs after the Christmas holiday season if not sooner.
I truly believe that within the next five years a major newspaper will close its doors forever. I hope that doesn't happen but I believe its inevitable.

[Kid Bro Sweets]

I read above where someone said cutting news staffers is suicide. I respectfully disagree. Newspapers, at least the ones I know, have wayyyyyy too many managers.

I counted this last night: My paper has 13 reporters and 10 managers. Does that sound sane? A friend who works at a much larger paper counted his staff, just in sports, and discovered 10 reporters along five "editors". That's out of hand. That's newspapers right now.

If you're an assistant _______ editor for _______, I'd seriously update that resume. That job, whatever it is, won't be around much longer.

I have Sirius. Satellite radio. No ads on the music channels. You should look into that.

I have Sirius. I listen to Radio Disney a lot. That's "music" and there are tons of ads.

[DanOregon]

So Kid, which managers don't have a reporter to boss around? If they're turning in copy, they can call themselves whatever they want. If not, they should think about picking up a pen or a phone once in a while. Strange thing about the "dynamic" times we're working through, the newsroom "fiefdoms" never change.

[whatwoulddamondo?]

Five years? Hell, I can't say where I'll be in five seconds. And I'm very serious about that.

i pretty much said that at my last job interview.  yeah, it's a buyer's market for talent, but given how the industry's house of cards is collapsing on itself, how can i give a legit, reasoned answer when i'm asked that question?

[whatwoulddamondo?]

Yeah, but if they ask you that in an interview, you better lie.

i got the gig.  i think the big man appreciated the honesty.

[2muchcoffeeman]

I read above where someone said cutting news staffers is suicide. I respectfully disagree. Newspapers, at least the ones I know, have wayyyyyy too many managers.

I counted this last night: My paper has 13 reporters and 10 managers. Does that sound sane? A friend who works at a much larger paper counted his staff, just in sports, and discovered 10 reporters along five "editors". That's out of hand. That's newspapers right now.

If you're an assistant _______ editor for _______, I'd seriously update that resume. That job, whatever it is, won't be around much longer.

I have Sirius. Satellite radio. No ads on the music channels. You should look into that.

I have Sirius. I listen to Radio Disney a lot. That's "music" and there are tons of ads.

Try one of the real music channels.

[2muchcoffeeman]

Another detail to consider: weekends. What about Saturdays and Sundays?

I heard they may not print on Saturdays and they would put out some kind of a bulldog edition with only four pages of new news for Sundays because of the ad revenue.

In a market like Louisville and central Kentucky, where high school sports are the largest part of the sports coverage, that would be absolute business suicide.

[Ace]

Yeah, but if they ask you that in an interview, you better lie.

i got the gig.  i think the big man appreciated the honesty.

At my first gig, they interviewed someone who is now an absolute media superstar who was just out of college at the time and they asked him that question.

This was his answer, which my boss sent out to everyone on staff at the time.

"If you're lucky, I'll be here for a year. The only way I'll be here longer than that is if I'm made columnist. (Kid was 22 at the time.) I'll be at SI in five years unless I get bored with sports, then maybe I'll go somewhere like Esquire."

He wasn't far off.

So did they hire him?

[Ace]

Yeah, but if they ask you that in an interview, you better lie.

i got the gig.  i think the big man appreciated the honesty.

At my first gig, they interviewed someone who is now an absolute media superstar who was just out of college at the time and they asked him that question.

This was his answer, which my boss sent out to everyone on staff at the time.

"If you're lucky, I'll be here for a year. The only way I'll be here longer than that is if I'm made columnist. (Kid was 22 at the time.) I'll be at SI in five years unless I get bored with sports, then maybe I'll go somewhere like Esquire."

He wasn't far off.

So did they hire him?

No. My boss wanted to. The ME overruled him.

I wouldn't have either.

[Mitch E.]

Gannett layoffs will be complete by August 27. Sorry if this has already been mentioned.

[FreddiePatek]

... And that kid was Tom Junod.

[SixToe]

I'd have hired him.

Anyone with that much confidence, moxie and determination would be good to have for 12 months and then send on his way than to ignore it.

[Riddick]

From what I hear, two job cuts in Oshkosh, FWIW

[StaggerLee]

Lafayette Advertiser announced six job cuts today. Laid off employees will be informed by the end of next week. Their staff is already pretty thin, can't imagine even more losses.

[steveu]

23 in Indianapolis, per E&P.

Dammit, I thought I was good enough to work at the Indy Star.

[playthrough]

Damn. I don't see how the Star can get any leaner on the editorial side. I hope I'm wrong, but I'd be surprised if sports doesn't take a hit. It's the one good section left.

[greenlantern]

Tennessean cuts 50 jobs

NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessean, the state’s largest newspaper, plans to eliminate 50 positions as part of nationwide cost cutting by the Gannett Co.

Gannett is eliminating 1,000 jobs, including 600 layoffs, across its newspaper operations.

Bob Faricy, The Tennessean’s vice president of market development, said Friday the paper plans to lay off 10 full-time employees. It will also eliminate the equivalent of 40 full-time positions by leaving vacant positions open. The paper currently has 900 full-time employees and nearly 300 part-time workers.

The cost-cutting at Gannett, the country’s largest newspaper publisher, is the industry’s latest effort to deal with declining revenues due to an economic slump and a continuing migration of advertising dollars online.