Mike Reed Sets Goals for New Gannett

This and schools who can not be broken of their fax machine habits

 

I’d prefer to destroy the work hopper than my own.

 

Always loved seeing a big newspaper building right down the street or across the street from a city hall, courthouse or state capitol building. One was "we're right here in the middle of it all and we've got our eyes open" - makes it convenient for Editorial types to interview leaders and everyone knew where you were located. Even if you still don't need a big plant, having a big sign on a tall building where you have offices asserts some authority that a suburban office park really doesn't.

 

I miss the old Denver Post building. It was exactly that.

 

The Fourth Estate

 

What is happening to the old LA Times building? And the Tribune building in Chicago?

 

Times Mirror Square News

 

Was talking today to a friend who works at the Wilmington News-Journal … he told me Gannett has a new strategy of adding a bunch of pages to the Sunday editions but not charging anything for it. Calls it “plus” or something to make the elderly readers feel like they’re getting more bang for their buck. Of course, the staff can’t produce any extra content so the plus stuff comes from other states.

Higher cost, no additional revenue, sounds like another winning business strategy at Gannett.

 

The main expense is setting up the press. Adding a few pages won't make much of a difference. Longer run times may back things up since every press is now printing 10 papers, it seems.

 

Gannett has been telling analysts that it ill go from a million plus electronic subscribers to 10 million. For that to work and the "plus" to work Gannett is going to have to invest in better content.

To pull this off first Gannett has to make USA Today a product comparable in quality to the Washington Post. It does not have to be exactly like the Washington Post of the New York Times but it needs to have roughly as many reporters and produce material that is as well written. Then Gannett could improve it's electronic product and have more material for print.

But that costs money and Gannett keeps bragging about their synergies. As long as the goal of management is to cut costs next quarter to pay down the debt the company will continue in it's spiral to Chapter 11.

 

Gannett doesn't have the staff left, at any given paper, to produce enough interesting copy to attract that many subscribers.