The new guy hired to rescue The Union’s parent from the onslaught of Internet competition comes from Procter & Gamble.
He’s been touring the Swift newspapers, politely dismissing Craigslist. As many of you know, Craigslist — started in 1996 — has eaten newspapers for breakfast while industry executives “leaned back.”
“I don’t know if you’ve ever bought anything off of Craigslist,” Bill asked, according to Swift’s online newsletter. “It’s a fairly unsatisfactory process.”
Consumers don’t seem to mind: A post of the spike in garage sales posted to Craigslist is here.
“For the newspaper industry, the amount they’ve lost on classifieds has been absurd. It’s a number of factors coming together,” as an analyst at eMarketer told Media Life last week. “It’s the economy, for one. But there’s also the free sites like Craigslist. Together they’ve put a real damper on newspaper classifieds, more so than on online classifieds, but they’ve put a damper on both in terms of dollars.”
Meanwhile, Nevada-based Swift has been quietly cutting its newsroom resources, including at The Union, to cope with a drop in ad revenue.
And Swift’s new CEO is hiring an executive assistant.
“Executive Assistant in Carson City, Nevada – Do you have a great attitude and a lot of energy? Are you terrific with people? Can you multi-task and prioritize well? Do you have great office, writing, typing, planning, organization and coordination skills? Swift Communications seeks an experienced Executive Assistant based in Carson City who will report to the CEO. This position will provide the highest quality customer service and administrative support in a prompt, professional and courteous manner to the executive team, Board of Directors, publishers and management staff. This includes planning meetings, negotiating travel costs, managing calendars, maintaining electronic and paper files, preparing correspondence, audio dictation, meeting minutes, preparing and distributing reports and many other support functions.”
What kind of message does this send to the rank and file during deep company-wide cost cutting?
Once Bill hires his assistant, let’s hope he can rally the troops to beat back Craigslist with the spirit of an entrepreneur, as well as a retired Fortune 500 executive. Otherwise, entrepreneurs are going to step up and challenge Swift, as they have in Vail, with the Mountaineer.
All the Swift markets, including here, are highly vulnerable to new competition. The Internet is reshaping the media landscape, creating a more level playing field. Swift has a lot of “fixed costs.”
In the meantime, I still wish they’d fix this typo on the career’s page, where Swift is trying to recruit able young journalists: “I like the company values, challenging work environment, entrepreneurial spirit, restlessness, willingness to fail, creativity, and it’s (sic) people.” – Patrick C., Manager
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