Gannett 1-week furloughs

Cool Stagger. Go for it.

 

Of course, if your managers gave a shit about their employees' well-being, as I'm sure they untruthfully said they did during the meeting, they would say "we don't care what you do during your week off as long as it's not conspiring to burn the building down or go on a glass-office shooting spree."

Suffice it to say they're not checking with the lawyers to make sure it's OK for you to actually make money for yourself.

 

covered a basketball game involving our local D-I university here this afternoon and met a writer from Gannett...he said he had to turn in his week of "furlough" and has the gut feeling this is just the first of furloughs that are going to become the norm, once the brass at Gannett sees that it could save some money, etc.
will be interesting to watch this deal develop, won't it?

 

If you're on the outside, and want to see how "citizen journalism" will work in the real world.

For those of us who have to live with it, it's a royal pain in the ass at best.

Actually, this furlough - and another, and another, and another - would all add up to be one of the most outrageous, bullshit moves any company could ever make.

 

Of course this is only the first of the furloughs. Here's what will happen, this round of furloughs will go on as planned and the paper will get out as planned and stories will appear on the web as planned and page views will go up (as planned). And suits will realize you can still put out a product (Better Done Than Good!!) with half the manpower, so they'll go for another round in April.

And in April, they'll tell you that you're saving your job by accepting the furlough.

 

StaggerLee...you are exactly right. your prediction is going to come true. damn, i am glad i don't work for Gannett. i have a lot of friends who have dealt with them and they absolutely hate it. had two who have gotten out of Gannett papers in past year and are now working for small dailies or weeklies. they tell me it's like being "reborn." not having ever worked for Gannett, it's really that bad, huh?

 

I wonder if your contract allows you to blow guys at the Greyhound station while furloughed?

 

Mine certainly does.

But, my attorney demanded that it be written into the contract after that unforunate "zipper" incident at my last shop.

 

This furlough thing is a disgrace to the American way of life. Disgraceful. Let's see it's a full time job isn't it? Not at Gannett where you will be furloughed oh, 3 or 4 weeks a year. You wait and see.

 

To Gannett, furloughs will change journalism forever.

Like real life, real news. And news 2000. And mainstreaming. And interviewing sources only because they are minorities.

Yeah, those all really panned out ...

 

Thank God the sperm banks are open.