This is what America gets instead of community newspapers

* Gannett/USA TODAY Headquarters, McLean, Virginia
* Owner:  Gannett Co., Inc. - Arlington, VA
* Architect:  Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates - New York, NY
* Interior Architect: Lehman-Smith + McLeish - Washington, DC
* Developer: Hines - Washington, DC

820,000 SF Corporate Headquarters including Base Building and Interior Improvements in McLean, Virginia.  Project includes two office towers extending above a common "podium" which contains food service, auditorium, conference center, healthworks and other corporate support facilities.  Scope included open and enclosed office space, newsroom spaces, production areas, and executive offices.

    * Gannett Tower:  12 Stories; USA TODAY Tower:  9 Stories.
    * 2,048 Parking Spaces In Structured And Grade Parking.
    * Atrium with Engineered Smoke Control System.
    * 4,000 SF Data Center Plus Additional IT Spaces Throughout Facility.
    * 2,400 Ton Chilled Water System.
    * Site Amenities Included Guard House, Softball Field, Volleyball Courts and Tennis Court.
    * Helistop (Per FAA Regulations).
    * 4 Megawatt Standby Generator System.
    * 750 KVA Redundant UPS Distribution System.

Coming up roses

December 17, 2009

Dear colleagues:

As we celebrate the holiday season, I want to take a moment to thank you for all of your tremendous work and support for Gannett in 2009.

It has been a difficult year on many fronts but we are closing out the year on a far more positive note than how it began. Our company is much stronger and better positioned, we are seeing encouraging signs that advertising is coming back and our revenue results so far in the fourth quarter are the best we have had all year.

During the course of the year, in an extraordinarily challenging economy, we maintained a healthy level of profitability, moved our core media properties forward and continued to invest and build out our digital businesses. Not many companies have been able to achieve what we have this year and this is testament to your hard work, commitment and talent. I know it has not been easy and I greatly appreciate all that you have contributed and sacrificed during a very trying time.

We head into the new year with good momentum – but also with some caution and pragmatism about how the economy will perform in the early months of the year. Thanks to your efforts and the disciplined way we approached this year, Gannett is strong and able to continue moving ahead in what we hope will be a year of greater economic stability.

Thank you again for your good work. I wish you and your families a very happy and safe holiday season and the very best in the new year.

Sincerely,

Craig

Craig's going to lose about 20 grand in his weeklong furlough

Dear Co-workers:

We are about to begin the second quarter without any real relief in sight from this unprecedented economic downturn and its challenge to our company. Despite all of your truly remarkable efforts to reverse the trend, our revenue numbers continue their downward slide and we have been faced with more difficult decisions.

One of those choices was between more layoffs or another round of furloughs. We chose, for most employees, a furlough program consisting of at least one week of unpaid leave to be taken in April, May or June.

The program will differ from the first quarter’s in a couple of important ways:

* The length of the furlough for employees will vary somewhat by division or location, depending on the division’s operating needs and results.
* Our higher salaried employees will be asked to make an additional sacrifice. This could be a second furlough week or a week’s furlough plus a temporary salary reduction equivalent to one week’s pay for the quarter, depending on the division and/or location.
* Some hourly employees will not be required to take a full week. Each division or location will have different requirements for employees in this category.

Because of the variations, your division head will be the main source of information about your particular program. Memos will be going out shortly to each of you with specific details.

Corporate employees will be participating, as with the first quarter’s program, including all of our company officers and me. Corporate’s memo will come from Gracia.

There will be some exemptions, similar to the first quarter’s program. For instance, some locations that recently have had, or are in the midst of, layoffs or significant salary reductions will be exempt. Represented employees again will be asked to participate in lieu of layoffs.

As with our first program, we are doing furloughs to hopefully mitigate the need for layoffs and to preserve our operations in the face of these extraordinary economic times. We believe this is the best possible course, given the alternatives.

We also need to keep innovating, selling ads and reaching out to audiences to prepare for the return of the economy. When that happens, I believe we will be well prepared to move quickly and take advantage of the new opportunities.

Again, I must thank you all for your hard work, loyalty and dedication. I am truly looking forward to the day I can send an email that congratulates you on getting us through these hard times.

That day isn’t here yet, but I believe it will be. So we must continue to do whatever we can to keep Gannett strong and prepare for the future.

Sincerely,
Craig

Dubow slashes his own pay to $60,000 per week in wake of corporate free-fall

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE/ AP Business Writer

Gannett Co. slashed its chief executive’s pay package by 60 percent last year, passing along the financial misery that has tormented the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as its stock price and profit shrank amid an industrywide drop in advertising revenue.

CEO Craig Dubow was granted 2008 compensation valued at $3.1 million, based on The Associated Press’ analysis of figures Gannett filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday. That’s down from 2007 compensation of $7.9 million, which included estimates provided by the company of stock options that overstate what they are currently worth.

As big as the decline in Dubow’s 2008 pay package was, it still fell short of the 79 percent plunge in Gannett’s market value that erased $8 billion in shareholder wealth last year.

The AP calculations include executives’ salary, bonus, incentives, perquisites, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year. It is based on an amended SEC filing that includes changes Gannett made to explain the value of Dubow’s stock awards more clearly than the McLean, Va.-based company’s initial disclosures on Tuesday.

Gannett, which publishes USA Today and more than 80 smaller daily newspapers, has been scrambling to cope as the recession has exacerbated revenue declines from a years-long shift of advertising from the print medium to less expensive alternatives on the Internet, particularly with classified ads. Gannett’s annual ad revenue from publishing fell 21 percent since 2006 to $4.15 billion last year.

Although it’s considered to be in better financial shape than many newspaper publishers, Gannett still lost $6.6 billion last year. Most of the loss stemmed from non-cash charges to account for the crumbling value of Gannett’s newspapers and the costs of eliminating more than 4,000 jobs last year, or about 10 percent of the company’s work force.

Girding for even tougher times ahead, Gannett last month decided to cut its stock dividend for the first time in its history. The 90 percent reduction in the quarterly payout will deprive shareholders of about $325 million during the next year.

Beginning this year, the company also has stopped paying for Dubow’s home security to save money.

Dubow’s 2008 pay consisted mostly of a $1.17 million base salary and a $875,000 bonus.

The salary reflects Dubow’s decision to lower his own annual base pay to $1 million in November from $1.2 million, a 17 percent reduction that will remain in effect through 2009. He also is relinquishing another $19,200 this year under a cost-cutting program requiring most of Gannett’s U.S. employees to take an unpaid week off before April.

Gannett’s board cut Dubow’s 2008 bonus in half, to $875,000, after concluding that an even more drastic reduction wouldn’t be appropriate because he and his top lieutenants had already been punished by the company’s falling stock price.

All of the stock options that Gannett has awarded its top executives during the past eight years wouldn’t generate a profit now because their cost to exercise the options is higher than the current value of the stock. The phenomenon, which is affecting more executives and even some rank-and-file workers throughout the country, is known as being “under water.”

Dubow’s compensation included another 235,000 stock options that were valued at $817,800 when they were awarded in February 2008. The options have an exercise price of $31.75, meaning Gannett’s shares will have to rise by about 13-fold for Dubow to have a chance to profit from them. Gannett shares rose 2 cents on Wednesday to $2.46.

In December, Gannett gave Dubow 100,000 shares of restricted stock valued at $132,000.

The company estimated that restricted stock that Dubow received in previous years have plummeted by about $3.5 million, or 87 percent. Dubow hasn’t been able to sell his restricted stock because of Gannett’s rules requiring its executives to own significant stakes in the company.

Dubow’s 2008 compensation package was rounded out by $144,002 to pay for his life insurance, company car, personal use of the corporate jet, lunches and home security.

"Most" employees get furloughs

Today Gannett is implementing a furlough program across all U.S. divisions and at corporate headquarters. This means that most of our U.S. employees - including myself and all other top executives - will be furloughed for the equivalent of one week in the first quarter. This furlough will be unpaid. Unions also will be asked to participate.

We are doing this to preserve our operations and continue to deliver for our customers while confronting the issues raised by some of the most difficult economic conditions we have ever experienced.

After much consideration, we decided a furlough program would be the fairest and least intrusive way to meet these fiscal challenges in the first quarter, which is traditionally the lightest time of the year. We sincerely hope this minimizes the need for any layoffs going forward.

As the day goes on, you will be receiving information from your division presidents explaining the program, including some FAQs to help answer any of your questions and address your concerns about pay and benefits.

We have made some very difficult decisions this past year, all with the goal of keeping Gannett strong and preparing for the future. I understand I have asked a great deal of you, and I regret adding to your burden with this program.

But my sincere hope is that this step removes the need to do anything more drastic, and that business conditions improve. As always, I thank you for your patience and loyalty to Gannett.

A Christmas message from Craig Dubow

Dear Co-workers:

As this painful and difficult year closes, I wanted everyone at Gannett to know how much I appreciate your hard work, support and concern for our business. We could not have come this far, through these tough times, without the willingness of everyone here to give this company their all.

I want to assure you that relative to our media peers and many other industries, Gannett is transforming and leading the way. We are profitable, and our debt is moderate.

Gannett is in this position because of your hard work and sacrifices and because we made and executed on tough decisions throughout the year. We managed our cash and our debt. We've decided what to buy and what not to buy. And we've made the toughest decision of all: to keep expenses in line with revenues.

I know, as well as anyone here, that the decision to layoff employees is unpopular and wrenching. But acting as we have allows us to move forward in this recession and support the mission of our newspapers and TV stations while positioning ourselves for the digital future.

We can do this because we have a solid strategic plan. We are executing on it and we will be prepared to move quickly when the economy improves.

Our plan is to grow our digital business in a way that takes full advantage of our local strengths and our national footprint. The plan is about making smart acquisitions and partnerships such as becoming the majority owner of CareerBuilder; buying out our partners in ShopLocal and merging it with PointRoll; investing in Mogulus and 4INFO; and rolling out our internal and external digital ad networks.

Our plan is about innovation, such as the bold step of changing the newspaper paradigm in Detroit or launching ContentOne, which will change the way we share information throughout the company and with vendors.

Next year will continue to be difficult. But it also will be a year of solid management and great experimentation - of trying new ways to deliver information in ways customers want and need it. In the end, that is what we are all about and have been for more than 100 years.

Thank you all, and my best wishes for a brighter, happier new year.

(Translation)

Dear Co-workers,

Because we executives at Gannett care more about increasing our own salaries than we do about advancing local news media during this difficult time of transition for newspapers, we are going to focus on acquiring companies and services that have absolutely nothing to do with quality journalism, such as the aforementioned CareerBuilder. With any luck, these acquisitions will allow us executives to continue filling our coffers while the quality of our local newspapers and online media outlets continues to suffer. Also, though we pretend otherwise, these acquisitions will probably have no good short-term or long-term effects on the company, and you will all probably be laid off by March. Happy holidays!

Love,
Craig

— Provided by News and Information Center Employee who doesn't want to lose job

Dubow takes 17 percent pay cut or $200,000 a year

Gannett Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Craig Dubow today announced that he will take a voluntary $200,000 (17%) salary reduction beginning November 1 and continuing through 2009. Also, all company and divisional officers will have their salaries frozen for 2009.

"All Gannett employees are making deep sacrifices for their company," said Dubow. "I have great empathy for those employees and their families who have lost their jobs. I also recognize that our employees are working harder and harder to produce results in a challenging business environment. But I firmly believe the steps we are taking now are necessary and will serve as the foundation for our future success. I want to thank all our employees for their patience and loyalty during these difficult times."

Gannett Presiding Director Karen Hastie Williams said: "We commend Craig for his leadership in taking this step. The Board is well aware that the company and the media industry generally are experiencing difficult times. The Board believes that the company's strategic plan has set the right course given the secular and cyclical challenges the company faces. The Board continues to support Craig and his management team and their efforts to lead Gannett into the future."

---
Oh, what a huge sacrifice! It's a good thing bonuses and stock options are the real money

10 percent "involuntary" staff reduction

To: USCP Publishers & General Managers

As all of you are painfully aware, the fiscal crisis is deepening and the economy is getting worse. Gannett’s revenues continue to be severely impacted by this downturn, and our local operations are suffering. While we are doing our best to reduce all non staff-related expenses, I am sorry to report that we must do another round of layoffs across our division.

To that end, we will institute an involuntary staff reduction of approximately 10% by the first week of December. The terms of the severance will be one week for each year of service with a cap of 26 weeks.

Each Publisher is responsible for developing their local plan to achieve the expected goal. Decisions will be made locally because each of our markets is unique, with differing market conditions and individual needs in light of our previous reductions.

I have asked that all plans be completed by November 14th at which time they will go through the standard review process.

I fully understand this announcement will cause you concern but I felt that once a decision was made it should be communicated as quickly as possible.

While this is more bad news, it is a sign of Gannett’s determination to remain healthy and viable as a company during these turbulent economic times. We continue to be a leader in our industry, not only because of our fiscal strength but also because we have a plan to aggressively grow the company when the economy returns.

Robert J. Dickey
President, Gannett U.S. Community Publishing

Decades of brown-nosing and this is the thanks 100 directors get

September 9, 2008

Dear Fellow Employees,

Given the job reductions across our division in the past month, I wanted to share with all of you our reasoning and plans for the future under a new structure we are implementing beginning today.

Like many businesses, the weakening economy has had a significant effect on our financial performance. Hardest are the classified categories – real estate, employment and automotive, where our year-over-year classified losses are in the 25% range. But it does not stop there: All segments are struggling with the current economic conditions and, unfortunately, forecasters predict that a rebound won’t occur until well into 2009 or later.

While our local market position remains strong, it is critical to our future as the preeminent local news and advertising source that we adjust and align our resources for continued success. Although we worked hard this year to manage costs, the decline in revenue has outweighed expense reductions almost threefold. Last month this led us to adjust our workforce by 1,000 positions, while attempting to minimize the impact on content creation and ad sales capacity.

Today, we are revising our overall organizational structure by eliminating approximately 100 department head positions. This new structure flattens our executive management ranks, enhances the role of our group sites and aligns corporate resources with the field as we aggressively pursue our print and digital strategies to deliver what readers and advertisers want.

Group directors in circulation, finance, human resources, information technology, marketing and production/operations have been appointed to support their area of expertise across their group. Current executives within their respective groups will fill the new group director positions as well as retain their current responsibilities. You can find a listing of these new directors at the end of this letter.

I believe this new structure will improve communication, streamline processes, accelerate program deployment and, most importantly, improve our marketing efforts.

This is a difficult time for those leaving us and, I am sure, for you and your colleagues still on the job. I would like to emphasize that none of these job reductions was a reflection on anyone’s performance. Those affected made valuable contributions to their newspapers and they will be missed.

We have important work ahead of us as we maneuver a changing media landscape amidst a difficult U.S. economy. But I am confident the desire and need for accurate news, information and advertising content is only increasing and we – with our multiple platforms ­ are in the best position to deliver it.

Over the coming months I will be travelling to many sites to hear first hand how best to position U.S. Community Publishing for the future and to update you on our plans to improve our market share. In the meantime, do not hesitate to call or email me with your thoughts and ideas. I know each of you has tremendous insight that can be beneficial to our overall future.

I strongly believe that our local media companies will always play a critical role in their communities. You and your colleagues are key contributors to this important mission each and every day. Thank you for your support and dedication in these difficult times … times we will successfully navigate.

Respectfully,
Bob

Gannett cuts 1,000 newspaper jobs

Thu Aug 14, 2008 2:36pm EDT

By Robert MacMillan

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Gannett Co Inc plans to eliminate 1,000 positions from its local newspapers around the U.S. because of declining advertising and circulation revenue, and may cut more if those conditions persist.

The largest U.S. newspaper publisher said the cuts equal about 3 percent of the positions in its Community Publishing unit, according to a memo obtained by Reuters on Thursday. The unit accounts for the vast majority of the company's newspapers, except for USA Today.

About 600 people probably will be laid off as part of the cuts, the memo said. The remaining cuts will come from retirements, resignations and other vacancies that will go unfilled.

Gannett, which is based in McLean, Virginia, sent the undated memo to publishers of its more than 80 community newspapers, asking them to notify employees by August 15.

The company, which publishes USA Today, is the latest U.S. newspaper publisher to slash headcount because of falling advertising and circulation revenue.

McClatchy Co, The New York Times Co, The Washington Post Co and Tribune Co all have cut their employee rolls, either through buyouts or layoffs.

U.S. newspaper publishers have been battered by a steep fall in classified advertising revenue brought on by wider economic woes spurred by the housing crisis as well as a steady migration of readers seeking free news on the Internet.

At Gannett, publishers are getting a reduced payroll dollar amount that they must meet based on the unit's financial performance and previous reductions, and have several options to reach their targets such as leaving open vacant positions, normal resignations and retirements, and layoffs.

"We would prefer no more reductions, but... we must keep expenses in line with revenue," the memo said. "If advertising and circulation revenues continue to decline, further payroll reductions may be necessary."

At the Gannett-owned Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky, Publisher Arnold Garson told employees that 15 of them will lose their jobs, and added that the company does not see the revenue declines easing any time soon, according to an article posted on the paper's website.

Gannett publishes newspapers in more than 30 states, including The Arizona Republic, The Green Bay Press-Gazette in Wisconsin, The Honolulu Advertiser in Hawaii and The Courier-Post in southern New Jersey.

Gannett shares rose $1.56, or 8 percent, to $20.82 on the New York Stock Exchange. Many other newspaper shares rose as well on Thursday.

--Reuters

Thanks, Craig. How much did you make this year?