Gannett announces furloughs

The boomer readers will get a paper until they die no matter what's in it. Newspapers wrote their own obits by failing to convince the younger generations it was cool to see their names and names of their contemporaries in the paper, something they could save forever. Instead papers gave up cause of the cost of newsprint and the rest is snowball history.

 

I've told this story on here before. When I was at Gannett, I would usually get 3s and 4s for each category, with an occasional 2 in there. My SE, who was a great guy, used to give me 5s for making deadline, because I never missed deadline. One year, I got a 4 for that, and, during my review, I pointed that out to him and asked him how it got downgraded when I still had never missed a deadline. My SE, sheepishly, said he would have given that a 5, but that he wasn't allowed to give 5s.

That told me right there that their rating system was BS.

 

The "3s" for phone work were classic. The mediocre raises offered were bad enough - but the falsified reviews only added to the feelings of ennui. There is a way to do reviews - focus on two or three "opportunities" for growth or improvement, and two or three ways an employee has really stood out - dangle ways the employee can "move up" to a higher position, either at the current paper or another one and what the paper will do to help that happen etc. Instead, you just feel like your manager doesn't even pay attention to your work or read the paper.

 

And those newspapers cost 25 cents because almost all the costs were covered by advertising that since has vanished, but go on.

 

I haven't missed a scheduled day of work since May 10, 1984 (broke two bones on the tennis court).

My company says I "meet expectations" in this regard. Don't exceed them. Just meet them.

 

In my case, with both SEs, they knew my work very well. They just were hamstrung by upper management, and admitted it so.

 

GCI down to 67 cents.

 

I realize middle-managers are stuck in that position. It's just a really crummy way to run a newspaper.

 

I think that's the way it works now, though I don't know whether those goals are taken any more seriously than the numerical grades were.

I once got downgraded for tech skills. I got that category bumped up, and downgraded "plays nicely with others." Might as well make the review at least vaguely accurate.

 

I went through the bullshit of giving 3s across the board. Then I unofficially told people I supervised how I really rated them, if nothing else but for positive reinforcement.

 

65 cents and sliding! Astonishing

 

As someone who is significantly (my view) under the 38K furlough threshold, learning who is and who is not above it in my office is certainly eye opening.