At least one LANG publisher, probably at the Daily Breeze, was laid off today, probably as part of the consolidation everyone predicted would happen as Digital First Media takes over operations at MediaNews Group (see post below).
Hopefully there will be fewer companies to reference once the DFM strategy gets underway.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
71 comments:
The DFM era is underway. There was training of late for advertising and marketing, and a day long LANG senior management meeting Thursday at Covina. Two publishers are gone in a week. This is the post-post media news era. Like the company or not, and you don't, change comes and looks like what you are seeing. Next stop: Orange County Register?
two publishers??? that is incorrect. isn't it one?
Lambert would be the second.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to go back in time and make sure Dean Singleton's parents never meet. If you are successful, you may be able to save print journalism.
If not, hey, time travel is a gas anyway.
Wow, a senior managers meeting and sales training. What is next, selling an ad or gosh, delivering a paper and making some money. When will the consolidaion of the mastheads happen...the content is allready there. We are getting close to the last employee standing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBEtPQDQNcI
two publishers, between the both of them they couldn't run to the front door. so the new plan to save and prosper mng is underway. this could provide a lot of memorable moments for those on the sideline. selling digital with their product lineup should prove a bit difficult. although i am sure customers have been lining up to get in the gate first. oh my.
Print newspapers as "road kill on the Information Superhighway."
Great video. 1994.
I'll buy a tablet if I get the sleek, tall supermodel that comes with it in the video -- especially when she barks the command "Read article!" to the tablet on the passenger seat next to her. The tablet should be programmed with the response: "Yes mistress."
"two publishers, between the both of them they couldn't run to the front door."
priceless.
Shuffling the deck chairs
Lambert could see the writing on the wall, so his buddy old Steve "hear me roar, it's all about me" O'Sullivan bailed him out and handed him a parachute. Lambert knew that he was the worst publisher ever, so without further adieu, he went before he got let go and shown the door like he did to so many. Good luck to both Steves, who will most likely strangle each other before long since both are so full of themselves, there is room for one one wherever they go.
Re: youtube poster: Wow, and allalong, Ol' Lean Dean was just a stone's throw away in Denver, oblivious to what his empire could of been. L.F.O.L. As usual, MNG has been, is and will always be late for everything because they do not have the people who can visualize the future.
Who was the publisher for the Breeze ?
8:35 PM: What brand of crack you smokin?
@ 11:26 PM
I think it's Phillip Sanfield ?
Breeze publisher let go was Linda Lindus. Sanfield left 2 years ago for a better job at the Port of LA.
I hear Lindus was a genius.
re: 9:52 Q:
I'm smoking reality crack because "having said that" u certainly need to begin smoking it too so you can wake up and smell the stench of your MNG. On a serious note, anyone left at LANG needs to find an out today because your days are counted. No amount of spinning words will make LANG and the other MNG papers come back to life.
Are publishers relevant anymore ?
Hurst and Chandler are dead.
P.S. This will make the Breeze's 8th publisher and I think the Press-Telegram's 10th
Hope the new guy keep his sh*t in boxes.
i think little eddie hired a guy who ran a shopper in arizona. when did he get killed? for most, if you are in any part of the newspaper biz your days are numbered, no scoop here. many have said it prior, a dead model, dying customers, no leadership or thinking ability and no online relevence. doesnt sound like a bright future. these clowns at mng are at the bottom of the food chain.
the only thing these folks can now do is pray they can forge a partnership with an internet company that has the technology and the audience. the question is, why do they need mng? no content left and doubt there is anything that can be done to get custpmers back. to much competition and not enough wow in their product to say the least. continued reduction in staff, service etc. they just can't make it in today's enviornment. they need people who can sell. my last check tells me the closet is empty.
It's kind of sad to see a journalism person refer to one of the most (in)famous newspaper publishers in history as "Hurst."
I suppose he never saw "Citizen Cane."
got to forgive typos in blogs...gee, I hope it was a typo and not a current lang scribe.
The tar pits are getting closer each day for these dinosaurs. Good riddance.
is this becoming the pony express of the internet? Gary, post something please.
Two words: jury duty
The new Daily Breeze publisher is ... current Daily News publisher Jack Klunder! Thanks to Kevin Roderick, we know Jack worked at the Times, then LANG, then the Times, then LANG. Sounds like a winner. Gossip away!
I thought it was darn near impossible for a journalist to get selected for jury duty...you lucky guy.
Klunder isn't a bad guy. Straight forward and little ambiguity. A shame he works for these nitwits. Jack, hire someone to sell somethin will ya?
Sorry, 1:55, but "Hurst" instead of "Hearst" isn't a typo. It's some kid of 23 or 24 who has no idea who Willie Hearst was.
He's the guy with the castle, right?
" Hearst " is dead and so is your medium. I bet the guys who are crapping all over this youngster are the ones who refused to use a video camera, blog or use social media.
Copy Boy!!!!
It aint the rank and file that are refusing to use technology. It is the morons who run the joint for not having the vision or balls to create a plan that might work. It doesnt appear that lang employees refuse to do what they are told, their so called leaders havent a clue. Cant disagree that the medium is dead in most cases. Many papers today will be long gone in the next decade or much sooner. No chance of revenue increases and circ sliding down the toilet.
It's the negatory thinking that drives newspapers under the bridge. When the economy cycle comes back, all the weather stripping of the decks will mean lean papers will be closer to profitability so keep your good blind eye on the future so you don't miss it when it comes around.
Sorry, 12:58, but I've done all three. If the medium is dead, it's at least as much due to people not reading anymore as it is to bad business.
Read up sometimes on the difference in your brain waves when you read and when you watch TV.
It's the negatory thinking that drives newspapers under the bridge? Are you kidding 11:31? Negatory thinking? What about a sounder less costly business model that is cheaper to produce, deliver and gets better response and results? Do you think that might have a tad to do with it? If you really believe when the economics of the country improve, newspapers will be sitting pretty and getting closer to profitability, I have some land in Palmdale that I know the value will increase shortly. You must be on some great I can't see it medication.
11:31 you've got your head in the sand. the medium is on it's death bed on life support and will never come back. are you in la la land? i would love to see your face when that does happen. have you been hiding under a rock?
11:31 it's NOT coming back around. are you a journalist? you should be well informed and know better. even my teenage son knows this.
Come on Dean, you should know better. Buy more, cobble together multiple losing enterprises and abracadabra, they will all be profitable. The big problem short of being in a dead industry for most is the twits like 11:31 who can't see the obvious. Here you go 11:31, have some more of this delicious koolaid.
11:31 "we’ve got three years more of printing the hard copy Times before they shut it down."
get a clue!!
11:31, classified will come roaring back in print led by recruitment, real estate and automotive. Then newspapers will figure out the internet and lead the pack in tech innovation. Great leaders will flock to run these highly profitable firms and all will be well. By the way, it's only a cold sore.
Well if the economy turns around maybe well see whose drinking the kool aid last? I've got a hunch that part of the decline in subscriptions is too many people out of jobs. When economy turns around, more people will be getting up again early and will have time for a quick read just like the old habits.
Right 12:38. Yu are exactly right, readers will stop dying, read their news on computers. Delivery will magically get to the customers driveway at a low cost because of falling fuel prices and a massive increase of circulation that will make it less expensive to deliver the print product. And, let us not forget advertisers who will be lining up to pay exorbinate rates for their classified and retail ads and depart this new fangled electronic crap. It might be a great time for you to invest all your money in newspaper stock, you will make a killing. Of course it will be hard for you to spend your gains in the rubber room you will be in. But, hey, good luck to you.
12:38, listen man. I'm not going to insult you like the other commenters, but I have to disagree with you. the bad economy has exacerbated the decline of the print news industry, but it is not the only cause. the cause is multifarious, mostly changing habits among consumers and the proliferation of other options for news and entertainment. the same is true for advertisers. so I hope you can see that when the economy turns around, it will not resolve those issues and save newspapers, especially poorly managed ones. sure, you might see a bump in advertising and circulation in, say, 2013 compared to 2010. but those structural issues will remain, with the migration of readers and advertisers from print to online being the key.
12:38 right. you're sooo right. hahahahahha.
12:38 may i ask...are you a college educated journalist? what do you do at LANG? b/c you sure have your head up your derriere. you don't even sound educated. the decline of newspapers has nothing to do with the econmy. and yes, i'm sure people who lost their jobs have NO time now to read the paper but when they are back in the rat race working they will start reading. and stop looking online. and my 20 something and under sons will start reading too. and they all lived happily ever after.
and forget about the fact that most of the news printed in newspapers is hours old. that can't be any reason. and that the young demo doesn't read. and oh, that it's just all related to....it's the economy, stupid.
insult away, the moron deserves it.
news scoop. the tooth fairy, easter bunny, santa claus, and tinker bell are all going to work for lang along with hope, vision, leadership and creativity. just as soon as the economy gets better and newspapers have their day in the sun again. let it be written. let it be done.
me thinks 12:38 is prankin y'all.
Gary, this was once an excellent blog. Now it's just a place for a couple of bitter trolls to post comments. I'm done coming here and you should be embarrassed.
All of these poster alleging there is no content left on MNG, must not read then newspaper. While admittedly it has suffered, there are still a few reporters who put out news NO one on the internet would even begin to know how to report (save for a few non-profits that feature newspaper reporters). To say the information gathering ability and institution of newspapers needs the internet more than the internet needs newspapers is laughable and most likely the remarks of some hack who couldn't cut it. When was the last time a blogger broke a story... if you can't remember, it's because it rarely happens. So keep writing your nonsense posts and pretending you're not the failure you are.
6:56, it is a free country and you don't have to waste your time here if you choose not to. The world and this blog should survive. I enjoy reading the blogs, funny, bitter or accurate. If you don't, don't.
For all of you who are under the delusion that only journalists read and post here. You are wrong. I am sure you can tell by my writing, but I am not a journalist. I have been involved in other aspects of the newspaper. Fortunate to have been succuessful in it at a better time and place.
I am sure there is some good journalists left at Lang, clearly not many. If the breaking articles were that often and great one would suspect the readership would be a bit stronger. Of course there are nuggets from time to time, but, not enough. Local news in these papers is virtually not there. Not much content on a day to day basis and not getting stronger.
Memo to 12:38...the Los Angeles Times by my sources is billing about 5 million a week in revenue. Sounds like a lot, but, they use to do more than that in classified alone. Even though you know that newspapers aren't about to relive their glory days, that is a sad, sad number and will only falter further.
I am just guessing that it won't be long for major big city newspapers to stop delivery to the driveway...what a shame.
Papers are coming back, only fewer of them and with smaller sections, and fewer jobs, readers and ads than today. But the end of home delivery will be offset by the reduction in owner-occupied driveways, due to the housing collapse. Be positive, not cranky danky. And the prospects for ex-newspaper Internet trolls is getting better by the post.
You need to click your ruby red slippers together to get back home.Oz hasn't been good for your mental stability.
There's no place like digital first ... No place like digital first ... No place like ....
OH, and speaking of people with Napoleon Syndrome: no sooner had Lambert departed the company than stubby and stout replacements started sprouting in his place over at the Sun properties. The Little Dictator Vacuum Principal strikes again and again and again!
At this company, set the lowest expectations for your leaders, then it is much harder to be disappointed. They even manage to surprise on the down side...twits. They should all wear t shirts...you can't fix stupid. wish I'd of thought of that saying.
While watching cnbc this afternoon, I heard them report that Kodak was most likely going to file bankruptcy. They have lost about 30 billion in market cap from about 14 years ago. A sad analogy, I thought between Kodak and the newspaper business. No innovation,not willing to listen to news users, not embracing technology especailly in the earlier days, poor management etc etc. Kodak should have owned the digital camera market and a host of other leading firms...they thought they were bullet proof, just like newspapers use to think. They were wrong too.
I knew the world was coming to an end when Polaroid stopped making SX-70 film.
1:38, some truth in what you say but it isn't as simple as that. As far back as 2005, Lambert was ranting in Sun editorial meetings that he didn't care about the print edition at all.
Rather than use some innovation, but still try to be really good at what you do well, guys like Lambert threw it all away and tried to do stuff they couldn't do.
Lambert had trouble picking his nose. He parroted what he was told. No substance or an original thought.Making money is just fine, that is what a firm is supposed to do. Caring about customers, employees and planning the future is also a responsibility. They failed big time in all of the above. No excuse.
How about good original local content!!! Not copy pasting the same stories in 70 papers. Also the allway ignored young people who read from smart phones etc. People going to the airport for Xmas/ thanksgiving is not interesting. It's been done! Oh and hire a promotions dept. Win a Free IPad app will not drive traffic.
a promotion dept, advertise your own product, spend money to let your non readers know what you can offer...my gosh, that's brilliant! that's why it won't be done. frankly, that ship has sailed a long time ago. newspapers are today's ghost towns. slowly disappearing right before our eyes. we have met the enemy and it is us. so long, i'm going to miss you.
Outsource, furlough, vacation accrual/ wage freeze.
Where are the occupy journalism protesters !
http://vodpod.com/watch/588340-liveleak-com-ha-ha-your-medium-is-dying#
If you make the decision to be a hardass and not give a crap about the people who work for you, you'd better be sure you're never down and out.
Little Stevie Villechaize played Napoleon for years, and crapped on dozens of people. He seemed to take real pleasure in his firings.
Now when we think about him, it's almost impossible not to laugh and laugh and laugh.
most of the time i find that how you treat people comes back at you in ways you never imagine...good and bad. that doesn't mean everyone will agree with your decisions or like them, but, a thoughtful explanation goes a long way.i guess that was a concept yet undiscovered at lang or their managers.
is the rumor true about wdn building shutting down? new editor coming in? more consolidation? or elimination?
I haven't heard, but, makes logical sense. circ losses, no advertising, virtually no local news...why keep the masthead. It isn't wdn any longer nor has it been for many years. My guess is that they need two to three buildings at most to do the current job they do, and, that is only because of the driving distance. Frankly, one building and let people work from home most of the time makes more sense.
Don't know why cities w their papers (Pas, SGV W. Cov & WDN Whit) don't take over the papers in some type of eminent domain and make them non-profits. I bet some old geezers will donate their estates to the papers so they can run w/o budget worries, get some real old school journalists in there and most likely, they would put out some good shit once the staff is not pressured to perform or get fired.
Because the cities don't care. My guess is that they are enjoying the fall of the traditional press. They have trouble running a city, why take on a dyind albatross?
Post a Comment