Asheville News

Deadline day at the Citizen-Times

Jason Sandford November 11, 2008

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

According to Gannett Blog, today is deadline day (emphasis on dead) at the Asheville Citizen-Times and a host of other Gannett-owned newspaper properties for employees to declare whether they will take a voluntary buyout. Gannett has extended the buyout in an overall effort to make another 10 percent across-the-board cut of personnel to stem its financial losses. Gannett will make the cuts next month, according to Gannett Blog.

And speaking of Gannett Blog — an odd comment was left on the blog, which gets thousands of hits each day from company employees. A loyal reader e-mailed me the comment, which is below. I don’t know what it is referencing, although it sounds as though it might have been local gadfly Don Yelton announcing his newspaper cancellation. Yelton has a public access show called “Citizens Speak.” I’ll have to call him and check.

The idea of the Asheville Citizen-Times shutting down its press and having the newspaper printed in Greenville is a notion I mentioned a few weeks back and comes as no surprise. Right now, though, I’ve only heard it discussed as a possibility and not a certainty.

Last night a local public television broadcast announced that Gannett was “shutting down” the press in Asheville and moving the printing to Greenville. The local “host” a wacky local politico, televised the cancellation of his home subscription. Of course it took about 5 minutes for his call to be answered at Center of Excellence in Greenville.

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

Notice: Film institute at Blue Ridge Motion Pictures closes

Do your holiday shopping at local tailgate markets in and around Asheville

1 Comment

Zipperhead November 11, 2008

Can you believe Gannet suggested that you can volunteer for a buy out in order to save a co-workers job. So, who’s to say that they might let that person you saved go any way a few weeks or months later.
And don’t forget this classic:

"The critical issue with the AC-T’s financial performance has been and continues to be its mediocre ad department where incompetence rules. Excuses always abound about why the ad sales team can’t sell: "the content wasn’t right for us to sell it"; "the economy’s down so we can’t sell"; "we have too many products to sell"…on and on. The culture of the AC-T ad department is one of whining and passing the buck. Because performance issues in the AC-T advertising department never get addressed, who knows — like cockroaches, they may end up being the only ones left."

This is so true.

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