Gannett's newest "innovation"

So will they still want two bylines a day when the season starts back up or will they want you to resume your normal count?
My assumption is that they'll want you to start cranking it out again and that sucks.
You might see if some sports copy could start to run in news. Like a package on summer sports tourism, and instead of dumping it all in Sunday, spreading it out over three or four days.
Where are they now or what they are doing now features.
You have my sympathy. Personally, I'd start looking, but the management probably figures you like your job, so they can get away with screwing you since they don't think you'll quit.

 

I was wondering the same thing. I cover a major D-I college for a rather large paper, and I'm lucky to get four or five by-lined stories in a week during the high point of football season. It's not for lack of effort -- I tend to have more story ideas than what makes the paper -- it's for lack of space.

I must say, though, it's pretty nice to have time to actually craft what I do write, instead of just ramming through it and moving on to story No. 12 for the week or whatever.

 

I had an ME at my first paper who wanted bylines off all news stories, with the exception of features. The reason was simple _ he wasn't covering anything (we were a 5,000-circ paper and everyone had something to do) and he didn't want the publisher to know.

Tried to get me to do the same thing in sports. I just kept putting bylines on all my gamers and features until he gave up.

 

The only sort of byline count in my shop is a running tally the three sports writers keep. It's just for shits and giggles, really.
I'd be fucked up shit's creek without a paddle or a boat if they wanted two bylines a day right now.

 

I've worked at a Gannett shop for almost 10 years, and have never heard of anything as crazy as byline counts. But if all Gannett shops are created equally, all you have to do is take advantage of the company's short attention span. Play the game for the next month, then sit back and enjoy watching your bosses come up with some new lame stunt. Anyone remember Real Life, Real News? Is that even around anymore? Now it's the Local Information Center, next year it'll be something else.

 

Mitch E. is exactly right. Just ride it out. That said, Gannett seems to be the only company -- even with all its faults -- that is attempting to be proactive and come up with some way to make it all work.

 

Explains some of the stories I've been seeing in the local Gannett rag here of late -- some of them definitely have the look of "reporter under byline count and therefore produces junk story." In other words, they're not good, nor interesting.

 

Do your job.
Every day you wake up and are given the option of either going to work or not going to work. And since you have decided to come to work, you have elected to accept the terms for employment.
If you don't like the byline count, leave. It's just that simple. You will be replaced by someone who doesn't care about something as petty as a by-line count.
It's a pretty simple situation to me.

 

Vermont Gannett paper cuts free parking. No mention of byline counts.

http://www.sevendaysvt.com/columns/inside-track-politics/2007/gannett-cancels-free-parking-in-vermont.html

"Essentially, [the publisher] said the paper is not making enough money and they have to make cuts somewhere," said one unnamed journalist.

 

Sounds rough ... but it is the bottom line.

If it helps, think of it as they're helping you accumulate clips.

 

Exactly.

 

I understand boots' concept and, believe me, I think of my employment in those terms. It's my choice. I wasn't complaining. I was laying out what my paper is doing and asking a relatively representative sample of fellow journalists if these guidelines were acceptable.

Telling me that I can quit if I don't like it, as boots has suggested, doesn't forward the discussion at all.

Thanks just the same.