Gatehouse Media

[Inky_Wretch]

FNF, those errors you mention happen quite frequently too.

But I have to say, during my tenure as an SE we never swapped the mascots of the two largest high schools in our hometown. But I guess remoteness might not be the cause and the sheer volume of work the design hub must be handling could be.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I had a friend whose shop was bought by Gatehouse. In addition to getting run into the ground, it was common knowledge in the newsroom someone at the top was holding open four jobs in an attempt to earn a bonus for keeping costs down. Apparently his subordinates would express their disgust to his face. Sounded not good.

Interesting. I've heard a very similar story. Sounds like horrible working conditions for morale.

 

[sgreenwell]

I'm neutral toward the idea of design/editing hubs -- I think in an ideal world, your designers would be in the same room as editors, but our world these days is far from ideal, and if I'm going to choose between on-site designers and on-site reporters, I'll take the reporters seven days out of seven.

Unfortunately though, I think their MO is to just cut both of those budget lines to the bone.

 

[wicked]

Interesting. I've heard a very similar story. Sounds like horrible working conditions for morale.

Editors keeping positions open for a bonus isn't just a Gatehouse thing, it's definitely a Lee thing and probably a most-chains thing.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Editors keeping positions open for a bonus isn't just a Gatehouse thing, it's definitely a Lee thing and probably a most-chains thing.

When you get down to it, that's really pathetic. An editor that puts his bonus over the entire quality of the paper and what four more employees could provide shows what a disgrace the industry has become and the leeches and pariahs it now attracts.

 

[I Should Coco]

Doc's post needs an "agree" button rather than "like" ... unfortunately, it's spot-on.

 

[Fredrick]

When you get down to it, that's really pathetic. An editor that puts his bonus over the entire quality of the paper and what four more employees could provide shows what a disgrace the industry has become and the leeches and pariahs it now attracts.

I like your post. Fredrick needs to borrow your words "leeches" and "pariahs" for future posts. As of now I tend to write about the "butt kissing middle managers" or the "clueless 10 a.m. meeting people."

 

[Fredrick]

I had a friend whose shop was bought by Gatehouse. In addition to getting run into the ground, it was common knowledge in the newsroom someone at the top was holding open four jobs in an attempt to earn a bonus for keeping costs down. Apparently his subordinates would express their disgust to his face. Sounded not good.

I was telling you that the best thing a middle manager can put on a resume is how he/she cut staff and instituted furloughs without somebody throwing a brick through the window. Being able to cut staff, keep frozen positions open is HUGE on a resume.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I like your post. Fredrick needs to borrow your words "leeches" and "pariahs" for future posts. As of now I tend to write about the "butt kissing middle managers" or the "clueless 10 a.m. meeting people."

Feel free to use them at your disposal. We're all in this mess together.

 

[Liut]

Our design is now done at a hub but at least it's within an hour from us. Some designers are worse than others, but we haven't had a big screw up yet. A nearby paper in a different chain that's design hub is in a different time zone has many problems, though. A couple months ago after a hoops game that decided a conference title, they had the wrong team winning in the headline.

I'm neutral toward the idea of design/editing hubs -- I think in an ideal world, your designers would be in the same room as editors, but our world these days is far from ideal, and if I'm going to choose between on-site designers and on-site reporters, I'll take the reporters seven days out of seven.

+1

 

[wicked]

The example cited by SF is plain ol' sloppy work (oftentimes a byproduct of being worked into the ground), and that can be done by an overworked desk slave whether they're five feet from you or five time zones away.