gannett plans to layoff 3,000 by december.

Michael, a few of the other reporters picked up on it and whispered, winked and smiled while spreading the word around the newsroom. If an editor noticed, it never got back to me. I think they were busy deducting already-taken vacation days from my final paycheck.

 

That Currie piece was the biggest crock of shit I have ever read in my life. Mr. Currie please read this anonymous message board post and let me tell you your Real Life Real News is as dumb an idea as humankind has ever come up with. Nice company you have, sir. Your company is a disgrace to American business. So there. Real Life/Real News. Such a concept. Nice job, Gannett.

 

I actually worked for a Gannett paper and am still not sure what constitutes "real life, real news".

Look, I go cover a football game. I tell you what happened and why and why it matters. If you don't give a rats tail about football, it doesn't matter how many interviews I conduct or how thoroughly I research or how well I write. If you don't give a rats tail about football..... chances are you ain't reading it anyway.

Once had an ME who came from a background as a lifestyle editor. Her idea was to use sports as a way to sell papers. OK, fine. But she never could get it through her head why we covered the stuff we covered. I remembered trying to explain to her why I wrote about some senior HS football player's last game and why I said nothing about where he was going to college. Yes, I did ask the question and he said "I don't know". Did she really want me to print that Johnny was dumb as dirt, couldn't pass the ACT and wasn't even being recruited by the local D-II school? Did we really need all that in print, to humiliate the kid? I just wanted to give him something to savor, catching a TD pass in what was almost certain to be his last-ever competitive game.

 

I remember that well. NBC. TVS. Syndicated conference game of the week. Life before ESPN, much less ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNClassic, etc.

 

Anyone can write. Anyone can report. It's doing both of them at the same time that gives people problems. The suits will quickly find that out.

 

I disagree with your first two sentences. Not just anyone can write. Reporting? Yesterday I read a message board where some fans "broke the news" about the brother of a former college player dying in an accident. Fifteen to 20 posts into the thread, there was still confusion about which of the former player's brothers was dead and which was alive and unharmed. The same "news" and confusion was repeated on other boards within minutes and remained unresolved for hours -- about an accident that occurred four days prior.

 

Gannett is getting rid of AP News on their websites.

 

They will find that out, but do any of us truly think they will ever really care? The product's quality will continue to decline, but they will save so much money by making major cuts.

My hope for this business is gone, and that's just being realistic after looking at those at the top. I look forward to the day that those looking to get out find something better than their wildest dreams.

 

Replacing it with what?

 

USA Today content. They will be keeping financial news and the stock ticker at no cost.

Hope it goes better than the inauguration micro site which has live video right now.

Classic Gannett, the live video is missing audio and keeps freezing

 

AP's video on the other hand has been working fine. I've been watching for the last 45 minutes.

 

I'm thinking Gannett wants USA Today to be the last newspaper standing. It'd benefit them.