tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3039863.post7768121274914252751..comments2023-10-24T01:17:35.297-07:00Comments on Etaoin Shrdlu: Navigating painfully through perilHowardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08379598516764590842noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3039863.post-86604698021614831952009-04-28T08:03:00.000-07:002009-04-28T08:03:00.000-07:00Howard, I truly love your comment on Ms. Morgan...Howard, I truly love your comment on Ms. Morgan's article (link posted above). Berating her for not speaking with you. This is what has become typical of your responses when people give FACTS and hold your feet to the fire. You babble on about how bad a position the N&O was financially in 1995, yet you weren't even at corporate then. And as an employee of the N&O for over two Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3039863.post-9039838458295528362009-04-26T12:12:00.000-07:002009-04-26T12:12:00.000-07:00What we need right now is some hope. Employees who...What we need right now is some hope. Employees who are enduring the turmoil need a reason to stick around, like maybe the execs could promise to restore some of the pay cuts if we reach certain profit targets ... just an idea ...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3039863.post-64342099398855641492009-04-23T22:07:00.000-07:002009-04-23T22:07:00.000-07:00Howard, a few things.
I always liked you when you...Howard, a few things.<br /><br />I always liked you when you came around to the newsroom. You seemed liked a smart, standup guy, so against my better judgement I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you have confused the N&O with one of the many other newspapers in the chain.<br /><br />But whether it's a memory problem or not, this constant back and forth about the N&Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3039863.post-46712894775086294612009-04-23T16:18:00.000-07:002009-04-23T16:18:00.000-07:00"... Frank would surely know, but I don't know wha..."... Frank would surely know, but I don't know what he said, or in what context."<br />What Frank said:<br />http://www.indyweekblogs.com/triangulator/2009/04/22/frank-daniels-jr-says-howard-weaver-mistaken-on-no/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3039863.post-35827352921419415902009-04-23T11:46:00.000-07:002009-04-23T11:46:00.000-07:00Charles: I have not insinuated, hinted or implied ...Charles: I have not insinuated, hinted or implied anything about the N&O's financial stability prior to purchase. I said it directly, based on numerous contemporaneous and subsequent conversations in which it was widely understood to be the case. I continue to believe it to be true.<br /><br />I realize I am emmbarking on a hopeless task in substantiating my claim beyond that, however.<brHowardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08379598516764590842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3039863.post-49856024476768615182009-04-23T10:49:00.000-07:002009-04-23T10:49:00.000-07:00Howard W., you keep insinuating, hinting and imply...Howard W., you keep insinuating, hinting and implying that the N&O was not in good financial shape when McClatchy purchased it for $373 million. You suggest it again in your reply to Andy Bechtel. You've said as much several times.<br /><br />My understanding, having discussed actual numbers back when I was at the paper, is that the paper was very healthy. Frank Daniels Jr. has weighed inCharles Fishmanhttp://www.walmarteffectbook.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3039863.post-44529150427475439202009-04-23T10:39:00.000-07:002009-04-23T10:39:00.000-07:00Andy: Perhaps N&O was in dire straits *because...Andy: Perhaps N&O was in dire straits *because* it did strange things like that? (I'm sure that program wasn't huge, but I mean operations overall). <br /><br />It's certainly no demonstration of economic acuity.Howardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08379598516764590842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3039863.post-59093087423997897892009-04-23T10:08:00.000-07:002009-04-23T10:08:00.000-07:00Allow me to offer anecdotal evidence about the N&a...Allow me to offer anecdotal evidence about the N&O's health in the years leading up to its sale.<br /><br />In the early 1990s, the Daniels family offered N&O employees interest-free loans to buy a home computer. You simply filled out a form and provided an invoice for the computer you wanted. Each payment would be deducted from your paycheck.<br /><br />It was a nice benefit in a Andy Bechtelhttp://editdesk.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3039863.post-71226217411603886752009-04-23T09:40:00.000-07:002009-04-23T09:40:00.000-07:00I'm writing on my former boss' Web site in...I'm writing on my former boss' Web site in any capacity a reader would care to ascribe: former Washington bureau chief for McClatchy, former ME of a newspaper much like the N&O (DM Register), now researching new media at USC J-school.<br /><br />I've long thought that, pound for pound, the Raleigh News & Observer has been the nation's finest newspaper. Its understanding David Westphalhttp://www.ojr.org/ojr/people/davidwestphal/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3039863.post-86649877754300188412009-04-22T15:43:00.000-07:002009-04-22T15:43:00.000-07:00Howard W. —
I offer the information from 1995 bec...Howard W. —<br /><br />I offer the information from 1995 because you have said several times — without providing any data — that the News & Observer was in poor or failing financial shape, and was basically rescued by McClatchy. That, I think, is simply not true. Feel free to correct me. (Improving the performance of the paper after purchasing it doesn’t mean it wasn’t in good shape to begin Charles Fishmanhttp://www.walmarteffectbook.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3039863.post-24158495773661468482009-04-22T13:06:00.000-07:002009-04-22T13:06:00.000-07:00Thank you, Charles, for this thoughtful and straig...Thank you, Charles, for this thoughtful and straightforward note. I appreciate that you are working to engage constructively – and, not least, that you sign your name.<br /><br />Your analysis suffers throughout from one fatal error: comparing 1995 or any other previous year to the current economic cataclysm. (Talking about what McClatchy paid for the N&O 14 years ago is irrelevant. For the Howardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08379598516764590842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3039863.post-69641410151283632942009-04-22T10:55:00.000-07:002009-04-22T10:55:00.000-07:00Howard Weaver writes: “...those who argue that McC...Howard Weaver writes: “...those who argue that McClatchy took over a thriving N&O and greedily ran it into the ground are misinformed, and perpetuating that myth hurts the cause of reconstruction.”<br /><br />He says he’s offering facts to puncture the myths. Um, what facts?<br /><br />I was a senior editor in Raleigh when McClatchy bought the News & Observer in '95. The N&O then Charles Fishmanhttp://www.walmarteffectbook.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3039863.post-9160690125056464732009-04-22T10:26:00.000-07:002009-04-22T10:26:00.000-07:00Howard, you have indeed been expressing the facts ...Howard, you have indeed been expressing the facts as you know them (whether you are believed or supported is a much different issue) but the problem is, you are -- or, rather, were -- pretty much the only one in McClatchy doing this.<br /><br />The downside of this, of course, is that because you were the only outside "face" of McClatchy, you became a convenient target as well. Frank -30-https://www.blogger.com/profile/06077091185218143621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3039863.post-87572646278592307232009-04-22T10:06:00.000-07:002009-04-22T10:06:00.000-07:00I'm confused. Is McClatchy a bad company for not ...I'm confused. Is McClatchy a bad company for not feeling people's pain or is McClatchy to blame for being too nice ("family friendly" no-layoffs policy)?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3039863.post-86126293385362416942009-04-22T09:08:00.000-07:002009-04-22T09:08:00.000-07:00As someone who voluntarily left my last paper for ...As someone who voluntarily left my last paper for a start-up, I don't know the pain of losing a job, but I have seen plenty of friends hurt. <br /><br />The problem is I see a lot of journalists going from understandable pain and anger to what seems like cheerleading for the death of the companies that used to employ them. That doesn't help.Dave Mastiohttp://www.blognetnews.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3039863.post-25797797245702013622009-04-22T09:07:00.000-07:002009-04-22T09:07:00.000-07:00Well, at least you're paying lipservice to acknowl...Well, at least you're paying lipservice to acknowledging the pain now.<br /><br />But the reality is that McClatchy could have prepared for a bad future by doing what high-performing companies do: Get rid of the haters, the obstructionists and the dead weight.<br /><br />But the "family friendly" no-layoffs policy and lax management did just that. That was encouraged from the top.<br /><br />But Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com