Hansen & Witosky out at Register

[83Clone]

Surprised Peterson didn't take it

[NobodyBeatsCy]

It's doubtful you've ever read anything by Basu. She is an excellent journalist, researcher and writer.

If you dig opinion pieces on how everyone is a victim, how the U.S. does everything wrong and how those who disagree with her are complete idiots.... then yeah... excellent.. I guess.

I'll just keep skipping over them

[chuckd4735]

Surprised Peterson didn't take it

I would doubt it was offered to him.

[capitalcityguy]

I tend to be a Register defender out here from time to time, but this simply bites the big one.

Cityview's take on the situation:

It’s all part of a Gannett plan to entice up to 665 senior and relatively well-paid workers nationwide to go home for good.

Cityview | Central Iowa's Independent Weekly

[DistrictCyclone]

They will replace Hansen with someone half his age for half his pay. With benefits, a pretty good gig for a twentysomething whippersnapper.

The Register will be around a lot longer than you will be.

If rebecacy were aged 92, I might be inclined to agree.

If it survives much longer, it will be in name only. Many have already argued that it no longer exists in a form that would be even remotely recognizable to someone who last read it 10-20 years ago.

[CycoCyclone]

Anyone else miss the big peach?

[VeloClone]

Anyone else miss the big peach?

I did until I learned their reasoning for getting rid of it. I heard they wanted to be able to do color pictures throughout the peach. Apparently it is difficult and the results are poor on peach newsprint.

[alarson]

It's doubtful you've ever read anything by Basu. She is an excellent journalist, researcher and writer.

Lol, no. She's awful, especially considering how many others have been fired that shouldve gone after her.

Overall on this, I get that theyre trying to reduce costs, but doesnt removing the best, established writers only reduce the quality, resulting in fewer sales? Its a race to the bottom with no winner.

[Clone83]

Sad.

Here are some remarks of their publisher from a couple of weeks ago (saw then via Google News):

Sturgeon Bay native Hollingsworth embraces change | Green Bay Press Gazette | greenbaypressgazette.com

Hollingsworth spoke Tuesday at University of Wisconsin-Green Bay's "After Thoughts" series for women. In April 2011, the university presented the Sturgeon Bay native with an Alumni Association award.

Hollingsworth said change is an ever-accelerating constant. . . . .

That said, when asked if newspapers are dead, Hollingsworth answers with a definitive "no."

She said newspapers continue to matter because they provide trusted news and information.

"We envision communities growing and thriving directly because of the information we are providing every day," she said. "We are in the greater good business."

How that information is delivered is changing. Actual newspapers continue to provide the bulk of revenue, but online advertising is growing more than 20 percent a year. And delivery platforms are expanding to include every kind of mobile electronic device.

"The printed product reaches 75 percent of all adults over 30 days (in Green Bay). I wouldn't go tossing that away," she said.

Readers 45 and younger, however, show a growing preference for digital delivery and the industry is responding. News organizations are remaking themselves to become instant news providers in any way the reader wants to receive it.

"Is it working? I don't think any of us know fully yet. We are in year two or three of a five- or six-year process," she said. "Our customers, in the very near future, will subscribe to our product (available across all platforms). We deserve to be paid for the high value we bring."

Her recommendations for guiding a company through change include:

» Get cost structures down. Stabilize your core business. Look at what you have to do and what you can outsource to others.

» Fund the old way only enough to sustain the new. Put the rest of your assets and resources into new investments.

» Be bold, innovative. Empower your team to act.

» Find new revenue streams.

» Solicit and hire new skill sets.

» Make sure you are surrounded by the best people.

» Ensure that any one of your employees can explain your vision to anyone.

» Prepare for the worst case. Understand the trends and listen to what that is telling you. Multiply the worst case by two and prepare for that.

» Don't sugar coat. Get comfortable with the uncomfortable.

» Act in the long term while managing for the short term.

Things change ... though some of this IMO was probably self- (or company-) inflicted and too late to do much about now.

No way they could have known this then, but had they managed to maintain a greater statewide presence their delivery costs ultimately would have come down, via the web, and timeliness of delivery (electronic) would have been as good or better than their competitors. I am probably biased but believe they might well be in a better position today had they not been sold to Gannett for the big $$$. Viewed from the outside, particularly by the owner of a new newspaper such as USA Today, a large part of the value was probably viewed as attributable to the caucuses, and the associated publicity, which previously weren't that big of deal.

The Register was simply a high quality newspaper in the 1970s, and the newspaper's own political slant was the norm, or more popular then. Guys like David Yepsen (his old Monday column especially) and James Flansburg though (mid to late 1980s early 1990s, both around before) just seemed like solid reporters.

Obviously much of what is happening now is due to larger trends.

On a more positive note Des Moines is a growing community, so maybe someone can make a better go of it.

[Judoka]

It's doubtful you've ever read anything by Basu. She is an excellent journalist, researcher and writer.

Remember that time she wrote multiple columns and organized protests and letter writting campaigns over a decades old mural of a caveman in the kitchenette of an ISU dorm?

There is certainly some hard hitting journalism right there.

Local news and sports are pretty much the only reason to pick up a newspaper, yet they seem to be some of the first stuff cut in many cases.

[Knownothing]

No basu is horrible. Unless you love americas enemys who we pick on and they do nothing wrong to us.

[BCClone]

Basu is probably the worst columnist I have read, right there with Kaul. Both like to insult the other view and not give much substance and even acknowledge the other view might have some merit.

[alarson]

Local news and sports are pretty much the only reason to pick up a newspaper, yet they seem to be some of the first stuff cut in many cases.

Yeah, at some point they might as well farm out ISU coverage to someone like CF\CW who already makes it their business to cover ISU full time.

[Clone83]

Yeah, at some point they might as well farm out ISU coverage to someone like CF\CW who already makes it their business to cover ISU full time.

I agree.

But as part of a larger network (Gannett) I tend to envision a lot like what they have now but charging money for it.

[jdoggivjc]

They will replace Hansen with someone half his age for half his pay. With benefits, a pretty good gig for a twentysomething whippersnapper.

The Register will be around a lot longer than you will be.

I hughly doubt there will be any hard print newspapers by the end of our lifetimes. With e-readers and smartphones and a saturation of news on the internet newspapers are on life support. In fact, I doubt most major newspapers will still be printing daily papers a decade from now. Which sucks for the Rag since their online edition sucks and most of their news is just reprint AP articles. The Rag is quickly headed toward minimal staff to cover local stories.

It's doubtful you've ever read anything by Basu. She is an excellent journalist, researcher and writer.

You forgot your