The Future of Gannett, According to CEO Craig Dubow
Oy…
Right now at Gannett, we are nearing the moment when we can follow a consumer through their day and put ads in front of them based on who and where they are – newspaper or TV in the morning in print or online, Captivate on the way to the office, non-daily or Metromix to plan the weekend. At any time, day or night, they can link up with their peers through our social networking capabilities on our Web sites and the Moms sites. And our hundreds of mobile sites can provide them with local news, in their pockets, on demand.
In the future, we believe we will be able to begin this process even earlier in the cycle – anticipating consumer and advertiser needs and creating the products they must have even before they even know they want it.
This is the future of our industry, and it is happening right now at Gannett.
Which is why, given all that we have accomplished and all we are doing, we believe our current stock price undervalues our company and our prospects.
Oh my. What about journalism Craig? What about giving the people a freaking product they might want to buy? What about comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable?
What ever happened to our fourth estate?
I think he has watched the Matrix one too many times…
Or something. I think that was meant to reassure shareholders…(?) That is scary.
Also –
If the NJ website is an example of Gannett’s new media prowess…they are screwed.
The Fourth Estate died during the Reagan Administration. It was a slow and painful death, but a death nonetheless.
As a journalism major who has spent 20 years in the print media, I find Dubow’s comments sad, yet not surprising. Silly me, I thought the purpose of a news organization was to deliver the news. What I should have realized was that putting ads in front of consumers wherever they might be was the top goal.
And of course, the principal reason I turn to the NJ site is for social networking. Why use Facebook when I can go to delawareonline?
If Gannett is able to do this, why can’t they fix a simple subscription billing problem?
The problem with modern commercialism is its successful omnipresence Society’s mores are at best a secondary meme. For Dubow they aren’t even on the radar.
Framing everything in terms of the ‘good of materialism’ is evidently no longer covertly understood or shameful but somehow is the overarching, accepted ‘correct’. heh. NOT.
Break out all of the ’80’s movies dealing with greed as a disease model. We do seem to have ‘moved along’ past all that as a culture.
Republicans should own this problem because it did rise with Reagan but the DC DINOs like Tom Carper are keeping it firmly bipartisan.
I don’t call the local rag “Snooze” for nuttin’.