Sports Editor, Montgomery Advertiser

I'm certainly not against putting content on the Internet. In fact, I think if done correctly, it's a great supplement to the print edition. But like BrianGriffin said, I think Gannett (and probably a lot more companies) are willing to sacrifice the print product for the sake of jumping on the cyber superhighway.

Case in point that doesn't threadjack: I spent a week in Montgomery earlier this year and checked out their paper every morning. Two of the six days I was there, their main art in sports was actually a web tease of a video they had done online. It wasn't an action shot, just a shot of a player about to start talking.

I just looked at our daily paper and I counted at the very least 15 teases to our web site in just the A section.

I understand we want to direct traffic to our web site, but to me this is akin to the lady at the McDonald's counter saying "You know, if you go two registers over, she's giving it away for free." Eventually, that customer will figure it out and quit going to the lady that's charging.

 

i hear they've gotten a lot of responses to this one.

 

here's an interesting question, but considering all of those people fired, are they eligible to apply for this gig?

 

From what I understand, those fired are fired. However, there is a chance they could come back on a part time basis.

 

Here's some interesting numbers.
When this gig was posted in April of 2007, it had a daily circ. of 49k daily and 59k Sunday. According to the latest numbers, it's a 40k daily and 47k on Sundays.
Is that the norm for declining circulations, especially considering it's a town of 200k?

 

That's a large decrease for a town that size. However, this paper has had a few issues that have hurt its quality over the years.

 

Is this job even open anymore?

The first post on the thread said the ad would expire Dec. 26. There is no longer any such ad on the traditional job sites, and the original job ID (997416) now takes you to a listing for a reporter position at the same paper.

I know interviewing began a few days ago. Is this job filled or no longer open for some other reason?

Anyone?

 

I'd hazard a guess that Montgomery filled the SE from within and is looking for a reporter to replace the one promoted, OR Gannett's looking for cheaper talent to replace a reporter with a high salary who was broomed in the layoffs.

I do not know, but that's my two cents.

 

That would make sense, but the reporter position (I just looked it up) looks like a news GA. Doesn't sound like someone who would be promoted to SE.

 

From what I hear, they're not done interviewing. But that's just from a friend of a friend. They are in the middle of the process though.

 

It's just odd that an ad with a Dec. 26 expiration date is gone from all the job listings sites by Dec. 18 with the process still ongoing.

 

Face it, newsprint is going extinct. That's fine. Accept and embrace it. People still want LOCAL news. There are ways to get advertising revenue online if you know what you're doing - and selling subscriptions isn't the right way. Get people to your site, get them to register/get their demographic info and partner with advertisers who can benefit from those readers - example - a sports fan visits Local University story - have links to purchase Local U gear - charge fee for each link and a percentage of anything that reader purchases.

Specifically about the MA - down there this summer. On said day - a hot (Surprise!!) day. Front page Centerpiece? a no-shit story on it's hot in Alabama in the summer - below fold story? a story of a homeless fat cat from -- wait for it --- New Jersey - not even a local fat cat.

News judgement counts folks and dem down der in bammy don't have it.