Gannett, Gatehouse talking merger

Most of the time I dealt with obits on the news side, they were pretty basic. "George Jetson died. He is survived by Jane, his wife, daughter Judy and his son Elroy he worked at Spacley Sprockets. A funeral Mass will be held Wednesday at 10 a.m. at Church of Moon. Allen Mortuary is handling arrangements." But some wanted more, like a mention of the dearly departed parents, pets, military service ect. Thus paid obits were born.

 

Yep. Two of my close friends were news reporters in Newport ... one retired, the other left to change careers. I've seen just how far things have slid ever since Gatehouse bought it ... glad they got out when they did, and on their own terms.

 

Hi Wicked!

I just don't see how Norwich will be viable any more. I looked at its website today and the main story on its sports front is from May 7, four days ago. Its current home page has stories from May 8 still in its carousel. I mean, UConn's student newspaper, the Daily Campus, has more updated stories on its website.

I think any former Bulletin person looks at that paper now and shakes his/her head. Working for Gannett, which I did for eight years there, was an experience. Gatehouse absolutely gutted it, there is no question about that.

 

Norwich not covering UConn is a fucking crime. It's closer to campus than any paper other than Manchester and Willimantic.

 

I had one rule as a small-town editor - you handle those obits like you're handling dynamite. Read them over multiple times to see they're clean.

 

Why not at all (in making corona stories free). You might be of the group that says it's a service to the reader. What? How bout stores raising prices, how bout greedy people hoarding toilet paper. Everybody's out for themselves. Guess what ... by not charging for stories when it could lead to added subscriptions, that means LAYOFFS, So you do a favor for the public and put your own workers on the street, homeless and without food. Nice. CHARGE FOR COPY.

 

Fart, on the first day of my first newspaper job in 1983, my editor told me the obits were the most important copy in the paper and I had better not fuck one up. Those were the days when we had to take them by dictation.

 

Every obit I saw I approached like it was my own mother.

For a short period we had a run of typesetters botching them and the errors going uncaught.

 

Well, you were being an ass for not including Rosie and Astro to begin with.

 

I would think that in most college towns the student paper is better than the local paper. There is strength in numbers.

 

You make free stories about progress on the vaccine, official announcements, death and case counts, etc.

Literally every thing else you listed -- homeless without food, toilet paper hoarding, etc. -- are features and should be behind the paywall because they aren't essential.

Coverage can be compared to covering a hurricane.

 

Why?? Who made newspapers Mother Teresa when newspapers are throwing their own people out the door on the streets?? Why should newspapers perform a service to the public when it is devastating and ruining the lives of their own employees? I just don't get this line of thinking. A newspaper's articles are valuable right now in getting out the word. What's this about letting people have that information for free when everything else is being hoarded, or prices jacked up?? Again, this philanthropy is nonsense when suits are ruining lives of their own employees by making them penniless and homeless.