Tue
Mar 28 2017
04:54 pm
Gannett swings the axe again...
By: Andy Axel

...this time at newly acquired assets in Memphis and Knoxville.

In Memphis, sources tell the Scene that 17 staff members were eliminated in the newsroom, including seven digital producers, two photographers, two reporters, one clerk and five editors. In Knoxville, 11 were eliminated from the newsroom, including four managers. The cuts largely follow the "Newsroom of the Future" model implemented in Nashville, which slices out middle managers and copy desks in favor of a newsroom with editors and planners at the top and reporters at the bottom, with little in between.

Gannett stock (NYSE:GCI) unchanged at $8.15 in after hours trading.

Topics:
bizgrrl's picture

Pretty soon they'll just

Submitted by bizgrrl on Tue, 2017/03/28 - 6:12pm.

Pretty soon they'll just offer local sections in USA​ Today.

R. Neal's picture

Featuring stories culled from

Submitted by R. Neal on Tue, 2017/03/28 - 6:15pm.
(in reply to bizgrrl)

Featuring stories culled from Facebook and Twitter.

Rachel's picture

How much you wanta bet that

Submitted by Rachel on Tue, 2017/03/28 - 8:43pm.

How much you wanta bet that nobody was cut from the sports section?

R. Neal's picture

Yeah. Not to wish ill on

Submitted by R. Neal on Tue, 2017/03/28 - 8:48pm.
(in reply to Rachel)

Yeah. Not to wish ill on anyone, but John Adams?

danandrews's picture

Right now we need to protect the journalists we got.

Submitted by danandrews on Tue, 2017/03/28 - 8:59pm.

Right now we need to protect the journalists we got.
Here is my list of journalists that are left that actually know what is going on in City County Building...

Mike Steely, Knoxville Focus.
Sandra Clark, Betty Bean, and the Shopper
I am leaving KNS blank for now...

Bloggers we got Hornback and that is it...

Let me clarify my statement.

When I say someone that knows what is going on. I mean if you walk up to the reporter or blogger and ask "name every city council, county commissioner, and Board Of Education member..." they can rattle the names off with ease.

Also if you are out in Farragut definitely support the Farragut Press!

Rachel's picture

Tyler what's-his-name has

Submitted by Rachel on Wed, 2017/03/29 - 6:13pm.
(in reply to danandrews)

Tyler what's-his-name has been doing a decent job of covering the City. He was at Council tonight, so presumably he's still standing.

BrianHornback's picture

Thanks Dan

Submitted by BrianHornback (not verified) on Thu, 2017/03/30 - 8:24pm.
(in reply to danandrews)

I appreciate your kind sentiment. To the people that were RIF'd, I am sorry and hope your gap in employment is very short and you are bouncing back quick.

jbr's picture

ITIL ...

Submitted by jbr on Tue, 2017/03/28 - 9:16pm.

ITIL ...

tlc's picture

Creative Babble 101

Submitted by tlc on Tue, 2017/03/28 - 9:33pm.

"Today was the first step as we re-secure and level-set our economic vitality to support our journalism." -Laura L. Hollingsworth, President, USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee.

Seriously, how does this person sleep at night? (I know...likely, quite well.)

Rachel's picture

What the hell does

Submitted by Rachel on Wed, 2017/03/29 - 2:48am.
(in reply to tlc)

What the hell does "level-set" even MEAN?

Somebody's picture

More MBA euphemisms for

Submitted by Somebody on Wed, 2017/03/29 - 8:13am.
(in reply to Rachel)

More MBA euphemisms for treating staff like so many widgets on an excel spreadsheet.

This is about product and widgets now.

Andy Axel's picture

There is barely a product

Submitted by Andy Axel on Thu, 2017/03/30 - 3:39pm.
(in reply to Somebody)

and the widgets, such as they are, are distributed on Facebook and Twitter, not on Gannett's god-awful platform.

R. Neal's picture

Sandra Clark at the Shopper

Submitted by R. Neal on Tue, 2017/03/28 - 11:02pm.

Sandra Clark at the Shopper reportedly out, according to multiple sources.

R. Neal's picture

Scott Barker is also a

Submitted by R. Neal on Tue, 2017/03/28 - 11:06pm.

Scott Barker is also a casualty, according to multiple sources.

cafkia's picture

Any chance y'all remember

Submitted by cafkia on Wed, 2017/03/29 - 1:51pm.

Any chance y'all remember back when I was complaining about destroying 3 historically Black neighborhoods to put up a sincerely ugly building where all could see it and in the process remove some of the lunch business downtown restaurants depended on?

Turns out I was giving Victor and the KNS waaaaaaaaay too much slack.

Average Guy's picture

I was so hoping to coin the term

Submitted by Average Guy on Wed, 2017/03/29 - 1:55pm.

"news desert", but alas; (link...)

R. Neal's picture

McElroy statement on reorg...

Submitted by R. Neal on Wed, 2017/03/29 - 3:37pm.

McElroy statement on reorg...

Today the News Sentinel launches a historic new approach to covering the news.

In collaboration with colleagues across Tennessee, we’ve created a virtual statewide newsroom designed to sustain impactful, intensely local journalism for years to come while deepening our reporting on issues that affect all Tennesseans.

Lots more BS at the link.

R. Neal's picture

More BS from Nashville suits.

Submitted by R. Neal on Wed, 2017/03/29 - 3:46pm.

More BS from Nashville suits. Check this out:

As part of the statewide evolution, thought-provoking David Plazas will continue to lead The Tennessean’s opinion pages. But he will become part of a larger statewide team led by veteran journalist Mark Russell of Memphis, who will direct the Commercial Appeal’s editorial and opinion work as well as the statewide network’s engagement efforts. The Tennessean’s editorial positions continue to be the domain of our local editorial board headed by me and Editor Michael Anastasi.

Same thing with sports.

More...

Tennessean transformation continues with statewide coordination

R. Neal's picture

Why even have local editors

Submitted by R. Neal on Wed, 2017/03/29 - 3:53pm.
(in reply to R. Neal)

Why even have local editors then? McElroy can be replaced by an intern in Nashville. Or a bot.

fischbobber's picture

What relief!

Submitted by fischbobber on Wed, 2017/03/29 - 4:10pm.
(in reply to R. Neal)

Good thing they're assigning our local staff to the aggressive reporting of the aftermath of the big fire in Gatlinburg. Cause, you know, like, that's the only issue we have in East Tennessee.

Treehouse's picture

After the fire is gone

Submitted by Treehouse on Thu, 2017/03/30 - 4:00pm.
(in reply to fischbobber)

Thanks for saying that. All I heard on TV and in the Sentinel was about people being great volunteers and giving time and money and everybody was helping the fire victims. But it took Heather Duncan at the Mercury to tell the story about the poor folks who didn't qualify for help and how they became homeless and/or jobless.

Andy Axel's picture

David Plazas is a horror show.

Submitted by Andy Axel on Thu, 2017/03/30 - 3:30pm.
(in reply to R. Neal)

He's the worst example possible of a shallow, shape-shifting smirk merchant. He's a bullshit salesman carrying a mouth full of samples. The only thoughts he provokes when I read/hear his opinions is "how does this hack keep drawing a paycheck?"

R. Neal's picture

More from

Submitted by R. Neal on Wed, 2017/03/29 - 8:17pm.

More from reddit:

"Advertising was hit hard today. Employees were told they would now have to reapply for the remaining positions that were left and obviously there were fewer positions than employees. Drastically cutting outside sales reps, auto, majors, etc. and eliminating obits, pre-prints, call center."

Sandra Clark's picture

Axed

Submitted by Sandra Clark on Wed, 2017/03/29 - 8:45pm.

Just got my new computer up and running after being RIF'd yesterday. Hey, 12 years is about 11 years, 8 months longer than many thought I'd last at KNS.

Bean was commiserating and I said, "Don't worry. I am me and the Shopper is it and I'm not it and it's not me."

And Bean said, "God, Clark. You sound like Winnie the Pooh."

Launching a new biz. More to come.

R. Neal's picture

Sandra, hope you are doing

Submitted by R. Neal on Thu, 2017/03/30 - 7:06am.
(in reply to Sandra Clark)

Sandra, hope you are doing OK. Has it been 12 years since you sold to KNS? Time flies. Surprised you stuck around with them as long as you did. Anyway, good luck!

R. Neal's picture

Knoxville's newsroom of the

Submitted by R. Neal on Thu, 2017/03/30 - 7:07am.

Knoxville's newsroom of the future is in Nashville.

bizgrrl's picture

Are you sure? It might be in

Submitted by bizgrrl on Thu, 2017/03/30 - 7:09am.
(in reply to R. Neal)

Are you sure? It might be in Atlanta or Birmingham.

Andy Axel's picture

Nashville's newsroom of the future

Submitted by Andy Axel on Thu, 2017/03/30 - 3:27pm.
(in reply to R. Neal)

has no beat reporters over the age of 26, and has no copy editors, columnists, or photographers.

R. Neal's picture

Mercry weighs in...News

Submitted by R. Neal on Thu, 2017/03/30 - 7:22pm.

Mercury weighs in...

News Sentinel’s “Historic New Approach” Starts With Massive Layoffs

This is interesting:

"...rumors have been circulating this week that Gannett will cut the print edition of the News Sentinel from seven days a week to three. Earlier this month, the company announced that two of its daily newspapers in Louisiana and one in Mississippi will switch to a Monday-Wednesday-Sunday schedule in April."

More at the link.

jmcnair's picture

And David Hunter

Submitted by jmcnair on Thu, 2017/03/30 - 10:35pm.

http://www.davidhunteruncensored.com/2017/03/who-will-watch-watchers.html

I don’t expect to do that [set the country on fire], but I will try to what Scripps Howard, my old employer once suggested: “Give the people light...”
Bbeanster's picture

One fact check:The Knoxville

Submitted by Bbeanster on Fri, 2017/03/31 - 12:51am.
(in reply to jmcnair)

One fact check:

The Knoxville Journal wasn't closed down by Gannett. It was closed down by the Persis Corporation, a family-run operation out of Honolulu. We were goners from the day they hired Gerald Garcia, an editor with a long reputation as a shut-down specialist, to run the paper.

danandrews's picture

Truth justice and the comics...

Submitted by danandrews on Fri, 2017/03/31 - 1:27pm.

https://comicskingdom.com/ So, now I am starting to look around. To be honest, this is so awesome. For twenty dollars a year, you get hundreds of daily newspaper comic strips, crosswords, sudoku, and more. You can select your favorites and all in all this is really top notch

Andy Axel's picture

Newsroom of the future is here today....

Submitted by Andy Axel on Fri, 2017/03/31 - 3:47pm.

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