Jackson Jambalaya

It appears to me that the talent level can only go in one direction at the C-L. UP. It has been as low as humanly possible for the last several years.

wonder if this is the same Gannett...

"The technique reaches far beyond those websites, however, because once the coding was activated, it could enable Google tracking across the vast majority of websites. Three other online-ad companies were found using similar techniques: Vibrant Media Inc., WPP PLC's Media Innovation Group LLC and Gannett Co.'s PointRoll Inc", from 'Google Tracked IPhones, Bypassing Apple Browser Privacy Settings'

Kind of hard to data mine the website visitors when you put up a paywall.

will be very interesting to see how the "paid model" works for gannett. with the drop in delivery/rack sales and now paid online the ad revenue should really shine (not to mention the quality of reporting)

It is a shame because all of those listed are talented and can SPELL, it is unbelievable how some things are so totally misspelled, they must not proof anymore. I love to read Bobby Cleveland. The paper is down to those funky advertising sheets that fall out, I don't even look at them, why can't they have two full pages instead of one page and a part of one. I just throw them away. The paper is getting smaller and smaller and the subscription is going up. They tell you they will give you credit for missed papers but it seems my renewal is a month earlier every year.

I dropped my subscriptions years ago. Don't plan on going back.

"Offered buyout" = "accepted buyout"?

... with the drop in delivery/rack sales ...

Had the C-L jettisoned Hampton long ago they might have a fighting chance at survival today. The writing has been on the wall for nearly two decades but Hampton's blinders were not to be damned.

When your product has become so detached from the market segment (audience) that possesses the actual means and disposable income to pay for your product, and when you refuse to face the reality that fewer and fewer paying members of your audience are spending their hard earned $$$ paying for your dogma, then no amount of internal adjustments and even draconian cost cutting will save the business.

The C-L today is like a car dealership that sells only one model and yellow is the lone color available in the lot. Every fall General Manager Hampton shows up at the new model kickoff sales meeting, looks around the room and says 'I am excited. Can't you feel it? We've got the one model this year everyone, I mean everyone, is going to want. It's going to be a great year for yellow!'.

What the hell is a 'paywall'? I understand it's cute to keep people dependent and confused on this blog.

Buyout are no big thing. Many companies offer them to reduce cost and employee numbers. It doesn't mean they don't like the people they are offering the buyouts. It means they have the most service and usually make the most money. Rule of thumb for people who are offered buyouts. Forget the buyout/severance money you will get, and worry about your monthly retirement pay. If you can't live on your monthly retirement pay, and you don't want to have to go to work somewhere else, you stay put. If they don't get the numbers of people they want to retire, chances are good they will offer it again soon.

To 7:49: Spoken as only someone who's never worked in the hellhole that is the C-L could say. A buyout does mean they don't like you. It's only one step better than being "transitioned" out. Many, many good people have been "transitioned" out of C-L recently, none of whom were offered severance. If these fortunate, I use that term loosely, don't take the offer, they'll soon find themselves also "transitioned" without any severance package whatsoever. Going to work elsewhere after 30+ years isn't an option. Especially in a dying industry like newspapers. It's simply Gannett's way of getting rid of older employees without the threat of age discrimination suits. Also, btw, everything at C-L is political, so I'm sure there's more to the story of who's on the list than meets the eye. And no, I don't know any specifics, but I do know firsthand how things work in that building.
To 7:01: You're on a computer, obviously. If you don't know what a phrase/term means, Google it.

7:01,

A pay-wall means the CL is about to charge a subscription for you to even view their website.
Think of "Firewall" program to keep out computer viruses.

So, if you enjoy reading their content online, get out your credit card. They are about to charge you to even visit the CL Website.

Personally I think this will be the death blow to the cute lil' deal chicken.

The most I do is breeze through a couple of headlines, anyway: news that I'll get from WLBT. It's one bookmark I won't miss.

Does anyone really read the CL for news other than someone got shot?

I hear there is a new book out there that is pretty interesting How Do You Kill 11 Million People?

Sad to think, but forgive us not to understand.

No mystery why 8:57 got his ass 'transitioned out'.

10:40 No doubt with that attitude 8:47 definitely got his "ass" transitioned out. Again, being offered a buyout means usually the person can retire anyway. Also, they are usually the higher paid emplyees because of their years of service. The buyout is an incentive to go on and retire. They know some won't take it already. Lots of companies use this method to reduce costs. I think we all agree newspapers everywhere are hurting not just the local papers. It is not surprising they are trying to reduce costs. They have no choice.

You have an odd idea of 'retirement', 11:38. Unless the employee is 62 he can't draw social and of course he won't be eligible for medicare for some time, meaning he is more than likely going to be without health insurance (unless Obama's net catches him or he opts for a terribly expensive COBRA plan for 18 months). And even with two years severence (which is unlikely in itself), that money will be burned up before you know it.

So, stop already with the facade that such buyouts are good things for the employee.

It's not illegal to fire people selectively due to their income. However, it IS illegal to fire them due to their age, which is the reason they're asked to sign a 'no sue' agreement in exchange for a buyout package.

8:57 here. Funny how much people who've never worked a day inside the C-L seem to know about the internal workings of it. Very little about Gannett is a mystery to those who've worked there. The latest buyout is a CYA move by Gannett. Plain and simple.

Having worked for a company that routinely offered early retirements to cut costs, this is nothing new (buyouts).

What I want to know is if you have a subscription to the paper if you will still have to pay for access. If so, count me out.

The popups and ads are just too darn annoying.

I'll give up the rest of them just to get rid of Hampton.

oh Lord... jerry " i am angry because i was born white" mitchell is writing another book ? gee whiz, i can't help but to wonder what the subject matter is....

8:47 seems to have felt the pain. I did in 2009 after 12 years of positive reviews and raises annually. Not a writer but middle management. That round Gannett cut severance by the amount of MS state umemployment money. If you did not qualify you did not get any severance.

I was in a meeting with new employees from our dept conducted by Dave Hampton he tells them that the C-L is the MOST concervative newspaper in the deep south!! Thats you que to roll eyes like we did.

This morning I took a call from the C-L wanting me to subscribe, as nicely as I could I explained, "when hell freezes over".

"But even with USA Today not taking part, Gannett projects its new paid content initiative will contribute to a 25% increase in annual subscription revenues companywide. That in turn will swell earnings by $100 million per year."

They're showing all the best people the door and they expect subscriptions to go up?

10:01; I can't imagine a scenario where 'middle management' or long term folks targeted for layoff with severance would NOT qualify for unemployment insurance when laid off, can you? If one did NOT qualify for UI, he most likely would not fit the severance package formula either.

8:57 again. Thank you 10:01, you worked there so you get it. SF obviously never has, so let me try to break it down for him. The first round of layoffs in 2007 had a buyout formula. 2 weeks of pay for every year worked and continuation of medical/dental for that time frame. Older employees (30+ years) were paired with junior employees (2 years or less). Round two was 1 week of pay for every year worked up to 26 years, with continued benefits til severance ended. Round three was similar to round two except Gannett's share of weekly compensation was subsidized by whatever unemployment you received. And no medical/dental coverage except through COBRA, which you had to pay for yourself. (It's 102% of the full premium, btw). Round four, the current one, is only a buyout because Gannett has been sued in Indiana for age-discrimination. It's purely Gannett covering their @ss. In between all these rounds of layoffs there were furloughs and "transitionings". Transitioning means whatever job title you held no longer exists, hence your job no longer exists. No severance, no medical, no warning. Turn in your employee ID and clear out your belongings. Period. Keep in mind that HR and upper management knew weeks, if not months, in advance you were slated to be "transitioned". However, they couldn't be bothered to inform anyone until the moment you showed up for work. Usually on a Friday morning. If you saw HR Director Lindsay Carter with a yellow envelope in his hand, you knew someone, possibly you, was about to have a bad day. I'm past the resentment of how I and others were treated by Gannett. It's all water under the bridge at this point. However, I do take umbrage at SF's opinion regarding my employment there. You couldn't possibly understand Gannett unless you'd worked there. Mystery solved.

The economy is bad. Many people are losing their jobs because of companies have to downsize to stay open. The Clarion Ledger is no different. If you hate the CL is offering buyout then you must hate hundreds of companies who are doing exactly the same thing across our country. A buyout is not a bad thing for people who have the years of service and are old enough to retire anyway. Many people take the incentive buyout money and go willingly with a nest egg they had not planned on having before they were offer the buyout.

The US Postal Service just announced they were closing distribution plants in Tupelo, Grenada, Hattiesburg, and Gulfport. Don't think for a minute many people aren't going to lose their jobs. They darn sure are. Same is true with Proctor and Gamble. They just announced this week they doing away with a huge number of jobs. Think people aren't going to lose their job wih this company, too? They dare sure are. It's happening everywhere not just at the Clarion Ledger.

I'm surprised that Pravda's " Mississippi edition" has survived this long .

Good luck expecting revenue from online subscriptions.

Yes in 2009 it looked like age issues would come into play. However, Gannett company wide re-structured all position titles. So in my case age would have played a factor, except my newly classified (2008)position was eliminated company wide, thus no age issues. They did not remove me but my position title.

@3:25; all you've really done (and a swell job you did indeed) was publish the severance and layoff formula details. Nothing you posted is atypical ~ It's all standard, albeit really precise and detailed. Lawyers craft these procedures so as to avoid liability.

No need for you to 'take umbrage' at my 'opinion of your employment' since there's no possible way I could know anything about you individually or your circumstances at the CL. Nothing I've posted was directed at your particular, individual circumstances, since they're unknown to the rest of us.

I stand by my earlier assessment which remains this: Twenty six weeks of full pay and benefits in exchange for the office keys of a 55 year old employee, in life's grande scheme, is a shit deal. Six months of severance (in MS severance is not considered in the unemployment comp formula) burns up faster than a space shuttle.

You get kicked in the gut, severence burns up quickly, benefits run out, COBRA comes to a screeching halt, job prospects are few, nerves are frazzled, extreme anxiety kicks in and there is a really heavy feeling of hopelessness. Then what? I'll tell you 'then what'. THEN you get to assess how pissed off you are and post it on blogs.

I'm extremely saddenned that you and others lost their jobs and continue to lose them at the CL. However, severance is not required, benefits continuation (beyond COBRA) is not mandated and none of us is guaranteed that our job will last beyond today. If you got a walk-away package, you're fortunate.

Once upon a time, a newspaper didn't exist for the primary purpose of reflecting their readers opinions except on the opinion page.
A newspaper ( the good ones, not the rags) were to inform readers " who,what, when and where" on events happening in their community and the world . And, they were to try to do that in an unbiased way.
Newspapers are dying everywhere. We want to be entertained or to have our opinions, no matter how poorly formed, reinforced. And, somehow, we've come to believe that all opinions, regardless of the source, have equal validity in the public discourse. Balderdash!

I do not blame Hampton for the demise of the CL. A paper can have a very liberal editorial page but still turn out good journalism.

Problem King is that the opinions haven't been relegated to the editorial page for a long, long time. The other 'good journalism' is manipulated to promote the agenda. It isn't even subtle though it is less so than the unabashed zealotry found at the JFP.

The treatment of the charter school legislation over the past 10 days is a glaring example and I'm not referring to the selection of printed letters.

Using your premise Kingfish the liberal cable news outlets should be dominating the ratings.

OMG, please tell me Sherry Lucas is safe....

Yes, Sherry's a bright spot. And seems to be the only writer left (now that the delightful Cleveland brothers are gone) that doesn't run the BORING topic of "race relations" into the effin' ground every other sentence. (Despite the tireless efforts of leftie wankers like Pettus, Mitchell, Hampton et al---most CL readers don't really give a rat's patootie about the self-perpetuating cycle of rotten luck among the Negro population...)

well played emma rae, well played!

Thank you, Mr. Anonymous. Even if I detected a scintilla of sarcasm (?) I would never call YOU a leftie wanker, sir. I'll take praise in any form---even when tongue is firmly in the bestower's cheek!;);)

Hampton gone

http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20120415/COL0408/204150312/36-years-has-meant-lot-words?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Opinion|p