Mike Reed Sets Goals for New Gannett

Places that hire minority fill-in-the-blanks aren’t well run.

Places that hire very talented people who happen to be from a different background are the smart ones.

 

https://www.oregonlive.com/business...-gannett-nations-largest-newspaper-chain.html

Six????

 

You can insert dozens of other properties for the Register-Guard and the story is the same.

 

I don’t want to hear jack shit about gutting newspapers from an Advance/Newhouse property.

 

I found the problem.

Clearly, Gannett is not the only media company that had to make deep cost cuts over the past few decades. The rise of the Internet and iPhone lured readers and advertisers away from newspapers. In response, news operations across the country dramatically downsized.

But few media companies have shown Gannett’s willingness to cut staff to skeletal levels. Three times in 2022 alone, the word went out from corporate that more “cost management” steps would be necessary across the chain, which includes its flagship USA Today. Since 2019, total employment has declined from 21,255 to 11,200.​

 

Agree 100%.

That was a strong story about the demise of the Register-Guard, but all the Oregonian guy could say is “I think we’re turning a corner” without any numbers to back that up.

In other words, exactly what Reed is claiming about Gannet.

 

It’s been obvious for years what Gannett’s and the other newspaper corporations’ goal is. Suck up as much money as they can get; pay out bonuses to the suits, then declare bankruptcy and leave the suckers, er, creditors, holding worthless newspapers while they move on to the next industry that they can strip-mine.

They’re the aliens from Independence Day. The only difference is that Gannett pays lip-service to the place they’re destroying unlike the aliens who made no bones about what they were going to do.

 

Mike Reed's new goal: Cash a Gannett check on July 1.

 

So much of this resonated with my experience in Gannett. Joined a paper in 2005 that had eight full-time staffers in sports. When I left in 2019, we had eight in the entire newsroom, including editors, photogs, etc.

In comparison, my new employer has raised salaries consistently, added multi-person beats and to my knowledge has not laid off anyone since well before the pandemic. But this employer actually puts its money where its mouth is on digital first, as opposed to the lip service going on at Gannett.

 

I wish them all the success possible, only because I want my former colleagues to be have a job in the next few years. It's not like any of them will see salary increases but ...