We Are Starting To Get Tired Of Saying This......
We Hate To Say We Told You So, But We Told You So
Hearst to cut staff at area papers: Advocate, Greenwich Time are on the list
The Hearst Corp. joined other Connecticut newspaper owners in seeking to reduce costs in a tough economy, telling employees of its Fairfield County properties there will be job losses next year.
In a letter to employees sent Friday, publishers of the various Connecticut newspapers wrote, "The current economic downturn has exacerbated an already challenging year for our newspaper and our industry, forcing us to eliminate duplication of work across the Connecticut Media Group. As a result, there will be a reduction in staff in the first quarter of 2009."
Hearst owns The Advocate, Greenwich Time, Connecticut Post and The News-Times of Danbury, all daily newspapers. It also owns Darien News-Review, Greenwich Citizen, Fairfield Citizen-News, New Canaan News-Review, New Milford Spectrum, Norwalk Citizen-News and Westport News, all weekly newspapers.
Hearst Newspapers Is Being Tight Lipped
They Are Too Embarrassed To Say
How Few Employees They Currently Have
Hearst spokesman Paul Luthringer said the company was not disclosing information beyond the letter to employees at this time, including how many positions Hearst is looking to trim or the total employment within the Connecticut group.
COMMENTS:
Here Is A Sign That The Ugly Rumor Is True....
Hearst Newspapers Wont Need So Many Employees If The Advocate, Greenwich Time, and The News-Times of Danbury Are All Folded Into To The Flagship Connecticut Post
Virtually everyone in town is waiting to see if Greenwich Time Managing Editor Jim "I Like Our Letter Writers Better Than Nasty Bloggers" Zorba will take the voluntary buyouts, giving those who choose that route two weeks of severance for each year of employment - up to a maximum of 52 weeks - health and dental coverage under COBRA, payment for all accrued 2009 vacation time and a company-sponsored outplacement program.
If Managing Editor Zorba decides to jump ship we will all miss his DAILY LOCAL HARD HITTING EDITORIALS IN THE GREENWICH TIME .
Will Cub Reporter Colin "King Of The BOE Press Release" Gustafonson Be Joining Ex-Greenwich Time Editor Joe Pisaniani And The Other Failed Greenwich Time Employees At The Lackluster "Our Greenwich Blog".
PLEASE SEE:
Greenwich Time, R.I.P? - Greenwich Round Up says so. I have my issues with this particular blog’s antipathy toward the paper and its former editor, Joe Pisani,whom I like, but but its editor seems to have a direct line into the organization and several former and currentemployees. His previous predications about the GT have proved accurate - his latest include a raise in the newsstand price from fifty to seventy-five cents, layoffs of still more staff (there aren’t many left so what are they going to do, fire the custodian?)
MORE:
With all due respect to bloggers, people who write to newspapers are just the best. Our letter writers show the courage to share their views with the world - whether opining about the financial bailout, the presidential election, downtown parking or Henrietta the turkey - and they do so with their identities known to all.
Comment To Jim Zorba:
With all do respect to editorial suits who are just now beginning to recognize the power of Bloggers and citizen journalists. Jim Zebora is being less than genuine in his editorial. Jim Zorba knows damn well who Greenwich Diva is and how Neil "I Won't Publish The Fake Beach Passes In My Desk Drawer" Vigdor screwed her over in the Greenwich Time.
Jim Zorba knows damn well knows who Greenwich Gossip is and how former Greenwich Time owner Bill Rowe placed a ban, that is still honored today, on any of his letters every appearing in the Greenwich Time.
Jim Zorba knows damn well who StationStops is and how his comments were removed from and he was locked out of Hearst Media message boards, because he complained that news websites had did a poor job of reporting on the mugging at the Riverside Walgreen's.
Jim Zorba knows everyone at Our Greenwich, because he was involved in firing most of them from the Greenwich Time newsroom.
Jim Zorba knows that For What It's Worth was fired because a bunch of real estate advertisers came into the Greenwich Post wanting him fired, because he said the Greenwich Real Estate market is going to hell in a hand basket. Jim Zorba would never consider hiring the best real estate columnist in Greenwich, because he is afraid he will have to meet with angry advertisers from Coldwell Banker.
Jim Zorba damn well knows who Greenwich Roundup is. We have had more than a few talks with Mr. Zorba.
Jim Zorba knows that as of January of this year the Greenwich Police Department had 80 Civilian Complaints in the previous 24 Months. That's about one complaint every 8 0r nine days.
Jim Zorba knows that more that 98% of the complaints are routinely found to be unfounded.
Jim Zorba knows that this were getting so bad that the so-called "GPD Internal Affairs Investigator" also known as, Captain Michael "The Judge Says I Was Illegally Appointed" Pacewicz was finding the cases unfounded without even bothering to talk to complainants or their witnesses.
Jim Zorba at first started to do the right thing and assigned a Greenwich Time Crime Reporter Martin Cassidy to investigate how civilian complaints are handled at the Greenwich Police Department, but cowered under his desk in fear when Greenwich Police Chief David Ridberg went ballistic.
Jim Zorba sits on the Civilan Complaint Process investigation in much the same way that Joe Pisani sat on The Martha Moxley Investigation.
Please See:
Jim Zorba Continues:
It's a more civilized way of making a statement than hiding behind a conjured-up screen name.
Writers to Greenwich Time tend to be pretty intelligent folks, too, and I learn something from them every day. It's especially heartening to see the informed, thoughtful give-and-take on this part of the editorial page.
Reasonable people can and do disagree, and in their letters to the editor they do so in what I believe is an extraordinarily civilized way.
Unlike many blog-posters.
Comment To Jim Zorba:
Jim Zorba Seems to confuse civilized with complacent.
Jim "If I Can't Beat The Bloggers - Then I Will Attack Them" Zorba, probably thinks that it is uncivilized when Bill Clark calls his paper the "Yellowich Time", but you never hear of blogs being complacent.
No one says things like Greenwich "Yellow" Diva, Greenwich "Yellow" Gossip, Station "Yellow" Stops, For "Yellow" It's Worth, Our "Yellow" or Greenwich "Yellow" Roundup.
Jim Zorba knows that before anyone goes to the weekly newspapers or the bloggers with a story they go to the "Yellowch Time" first.
The "Yellowich Time" gets first shot at virtually every news story in town and they often bungle thier chance.
When Hamilton Avenue mothers went to Jim Zorba's crew complaining that the modular classrooms were leaking they were REPEATEDLY ignored.
When those same Hamilton Avenue Mothers came to Greenwich Roundup we started publishing posts like this in February until Betty Sternberg was forced to shut down the modulars in March.
Please See:
There was not one previous article in the Green
When Glenville Parents came to the Zorba crew with pictures and stories about the conditions inside thier school the Zorba crew could not be bothered with such trivial matters.
Please See:
When the "New And Improved" Hamilton Avenue Modulars were leaking AGAIN, the Zorba Crew once again could not be bothered.
Please See:
When a Greenwich parent got pictures of three heavily damaged classrooms in the "NEW" 30 Million Dollar Ham Ave School the Zorba crew was not interested and still has not fully reported whats going on inside that building.
Please See:
09/10/08 INSIDE HAM AVE PICS 1
09/10/08 INSIDE HAM AVE PICS 2
09/10/08 INSIDE HAM AVE PICS 3
09/10/08 INSIDE HAM AVE PICS 4
09/10/08 INSIDE HAM AVE PICS 5
09/10/08 INSIDE HAM AVE PICS 6
Perhaps Jim Zorba is right that we are a bit edgy and somewhat rude when Greenwich Roundup publishes a post like......
But isn't rude for Colin Gustafson to put up an August headline that insults the intelegence of every taxpayer in Greenwich?
August 08, 2008
A variety of unresolved facilities issues - most of them easy to fix - are preventing the Hamilton Avenue School from receiving sign-offs from inspectors necessary for students to return to the building, the school board told parents last night.
Broken glass needs to be repaired, as well as cracks in some of the floor-level surfaces that must be patched. .... Blah ..... Blah ...... blah ..... Blah ..... Blah ..... Ham Ave Is Opening On Time !!!!!!!
What does Jim Zorba want us to do, say something nice and polite like......
"Excuse me dear kind Sir , If I may Mr Zorba, I beg to differ with Colin and think that he might be only posibly getting one side of the story, because there are no quotes from parents, students,teachers or taxpayers who must pay for this 3o Million Dollar fiasco."
"Wouldn't it be prudent for Colin to first listenen to the BOE and then start listening to other voices in this civilized community, oh dear Sir Zorba."
Jim Zorba Continues:
Local-level discourse reveals the fabric of our community. This year, we have seen voluminous dialogues on subjects such as the ad hoc Wiffle ball field in Cos Cob, the cupcake controversy in the Greenwich school system, and of course dear Henrietta, the Tod's Point personality recently relocated under the state Department of Environmental Protection's turkey - or is it citizen? - protection program.
"That turkey has just as much a right to live there and play as any of us do; that is her home," one man wrote, urging that Henrietta be left alone.
"This turkey came running at me and attacked me," the letter directly below read. "It had me backed up against a rock wall." She vowed to stay away from Tod's Point until Henrietta was gone.
Comment For Jim Zorba:
Greenwich Roundup and other bloggers will admit that we found it hard to get worked up about "Henery/Henrietta" the turkey. Jim Zorba's news crew clearly owned this important earth shattering story that is affecting all of the taxpayers of Greenwich.
Clearly on stories that really matter to the single family home owners of Greenwich the so-called newspaper was "Behind The Times" to the point that many in town said Zorba's news crew was clueless.
To this day Jim Zorba and his crew referes to the "cupcakes controversy" while Bloggers say things like "lack of integrity"
When the Board Of Education Press Release went out Zorba's crew ran it through the spell checker and published it as news. Like most BOE press releases it was published without any questions being asked.
Here Is How The Greenwich Time Reported The So-called "Cupcake Controversey"
This Is How Greenwich Roundup Reported The "Lack Of Integrity Issue" from day one:
05/28/08 Greenwich Post And Greenwich Time Websites Have Breaking Glenville School News. Where's The Greenwich Citizen?
For the Record Greenwich Roundup and a few other bloggers have repeatedly asked to be placed on the Board Of Education's Press Release Email List, just like the Greenwich Citizen, Greenwich Post and the Greenwich Time.
The Board Of Education has not honored these public document requests, because Greenwich Bloggers are not complacent.
Is the Board Of Education being civilized to Greenwich Bloggers?
There is a strong long held tradition in Journalism that if a reporter or a news gathering organization is excluded from a press conference or press kit, then all reporters would report on the exclusion and boycott the offending groups press conference.
Public officials who wanted to manipulate news gathering and reporters were exposed and told, "Guess what if you exclude this reporter, then there will be no press conference, because no reporter will show up."
It was the only honorable and civilized thing fellow reporters to do.
Greenwich Roundup exposed how reporter Chris Fountain was let go over first amendment issues. The Greenwich Time was very brutish and uncivilized to turn a blind eye to the troubles of a fellow reporter.
When Sarah Littman was let go at the Greenwich Time, the uncivilized Greenwich Bloggers were there supporting this reporter.
Maybe, Jim Zorba should go ask citizen journalist Bill "I Was The Only Reporter Asking For The Two Month Old Document" Clark how many hoops he had to jump through to get a copy of the school survey rating Betty Sternberg's performance.
Jim Zorba has forgotten the number one rule in Journalism.
"A great reporter afflicts the comfortable and comforts the afflicted."
The Greenwich Time is Way Too Comfortable And Is Now Crying Because They Are Being Afflicted By The New Media Consisting Of Citizen Journalists And Bloggers.
David Warner thouht he would enjoy a comfortable 30 years in complacent Greenwich and then retire with a big swan song like Joe Pisani did.
But the one thing that Ex-Greenwich Time Editor David Warner didn't count on was a bunch of feed up bloggers in complacent Greenwich.
Mr. Warner was only able to take the heat of Citizen Journalists for about 100 days.
Please See:
Greenwich Roundup Exclusive
Ex-Greenwich Time Editor Creates Controversy Where Ever He Goes.
More On The Ferguson's Library Funded Dan Malloy Political Event
* Fergouson Libray Director And Employees Working For Malloy
*Taxpayer Fergouson Computer Server Used For Political Event
*Ferguson Library Tax Dollars Used To Pay For Pisani And Malloy's Private Party.
"What really struck me that night was the selflessness and sacrifice of the people who labored for months to put this affair on, starting with the major domo, Ernie DiMattia, head of the Ferguson Library in Stamford" - Joe Pisani (Our Greenwich - Oct 21st, 2008 )
by joyhaenlein
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