Wed
Oct 7 2015
07:49 pm
Just when you thought KNS couldn't suck any worse...
By: Andy Axel

...they get bought out by Gannett.

RELATED: Gannett Bleeds Tennessean, Pays Execs Big Bonuses

Decoding The Tennessean's "Newsroom Of The Future" Statement

The Tennessean essentially fired its staff yesterday.

That's not snark. There were 89 slots in the newsroom, and there will be 76 at the end of the month. Everyone has been invited to reapply for jobs in the new newsroom.

My sincerest condolences to those about to weather the ongoing zombie apocalypse that is a Gannett newsroom, in which the survivors truly envy the dead.

Topics:
Andy Axel's picture

If you've not encountered a Gannett newspaper's web presence

Submitted by Andy Axel on Wed, 2015/10/07 - 7:56pm.

consider yourself lucky warned.

It's the most utilitarian, boring, unreadable template this side of a Myspace homepage.

Just spend about 10 minutes navigating the Tennessean's webpage. Ugh.

R. Neal's picture

Nicely played by JMG and E.W.

Submitted by R. Neal on Wed, 2015/10/07 - 8:28pm.

Nicely played by JMG and E.W. Scripps.

bizgrrl's picture

Wow! I'm sort of

Submitted by bizgrrl on Wed, 2015/10/07 - 8:30pm.

Wow! I'm sort of shocked.

Can't really see Gannet's web presence being any worse than the KNS.

Andy Axel's picture

Just wait until the daily

Submitted by Andy Axel on Wed, 2015/10/07 - 9:19pm.
(in reply to bizgrrl)

Just wait until the daily survey questions start popping up.

R. Neal's picture

Also, Gannett now controls

Submitted by R. Neal on Wed, 2015/10/07 - 8:34pm.

Also, Gannett now controls the newspapers in Tennessee's three largest markets, along with TV stations in Knoxville and Nashville (don't know about Memphis). Who regulates this stuff? The FCC?

Thank goodness for the Chattanooga Times Free Press and the Maryville Daily Times.

cg's picture

Nope

Submitted by cg (not verified) on Wed, 2015/10/07 - 9:15pm.
(in reply to R. Neal)

Tv stations are totally different company now. Just like Scripps/Journal. Must keep the profits separate from the weights dragging you down.

Andy Axel's picture

I don't think the FCC takes an interest

Submitted by Andy Axel on Wed, 2015/10/07 - 9:25pm.
(in reply to R. Neal)

in broadcast media market share monopolies. Clear Channel should be instructive on that front.

bizgrrl's picture

I hope they don't include

Submitted by bizgrrl on Wed, 2015/10/07 - 8:38pm.

I hope they don't include more USA Today junk in the paper. Not worth reading. Really miss the WSJ section in Sunday's paper

ATSF616's picture

Indianapolis Star

Submitted by ATSF616 on Wed, 2015/10/07 - 9:05pm.

Indianapolis Star, which has been in the Gannett stable for more than a decade, incorporates a 6-8 page "USA-Today-Lite" national and international news section in each daily edition.

jbr's picture

Outsourcing

Submitted by jbr on Wed, 2015/10/07 - 9:46pm.
(in reply to ATSF616)

Outsourcing

Bad Media's picture

And the Haslam clan quietly

Submitted by Bad Media (not verified) on Wed, 2015/10/07 - 10:23pm.

And the Haslam clan quietly smile. Don't think Jimmy Jr. will get any bad media now.

Elwood Aspermonte's picture

Probably the best thing to happen to the KNS in 40 years

Submitted by Elwood Aspermonte (not verified) on Thu, 2015/10/08 - 6:23pm.

Tennessean has no problem taking a long hard look at what Billy Haslam is doing/or is not doing in Nashville, don't think they'll have any trouble calling them like they see them in Knoxville, particularly if they toss most of the wanna be crowd out of the News Sentinel sooner rather than later.

The Tennessean, the Memphis Tennessean, and the Knoxville Tennessean, could be a virtual newsroom and reporters that report on all things in and around the three largest cities in Tennessee.

Television properties have already been seperated and maybe they'll compete with each other from time to time rather that looking to see what the other is doing before they decide if they'll piss anybody off or not get invited to the next big party if they actually do their job.

Andy Axel's picture

.

Submitted by Andy Axel on Fri, 2015/10/09 - 12:37pm.
(in reply to Elwood Aspermonte)

The Tennessean, the Memphis Tennessean, and the Knoxville Tennessean, could be a virtual newsroom and reporters that report on all things in and around the three largest cities in Tennessee.

That's funny. The Nashville based Tennessean (a/k/a the weekly Kroger ad delivery wrapper) scarcely does a good job of reporting what's going on around Middle Tennessee.

Just as an example: They fired the beat reporter for the NHL franchise just as the hockey season was starting. What sort of daily has a professional sports franchise literally 6 blocks away and doesn't have a headcount to cover that franchise?

That's to say nothing of what's happened to investigative reporting (Walter Roche, quit), courts reporting (Bobby Allyn, fired), prep sports reporting (Mo Patton / Chip Cirillo, fired), music industry reporting (Peter Cooper, quit), Metro government coverage (Michael Cass, quit), Titans reporting (Jim Wyatt, quit), state government coverage (Chas Sisk, took the package), copy editing (Jon Houghton, fired), editor (Scott Stroud, quit), photojournalism (Steve Harman, fired).

But they do maintain a guy on staff whose sole job is to reformat press releases from real estate developers as "news" articles. A crossing guard has a more challenging job.

fischbobber's picture

Hey!

Submitted by fischbobber on Fri, 2015/10/09 - 12:49pm.
(in reply to Andy Axel)

Don't be cracking on crossing guards.

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