Those measures were alluded to in the company's quarterly statement, filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company also filed its annual report with the SEC today, and buried near the bottom of the long report was this nugget:
On March 12, 2009, awards of annual cash bonuses to certain GateHouse Media, Inc. executive officers were declared, as set forth below. It is anticipated that such bonuses will be paid out late in the first quarter or early in the second quarter of 2009.
Though the bonuses are less than what has been awarded in the past, just awarding bonuses would indicate the company was on solid footing, and not delisted by the New York Stock Exchange and selling for six cents per share on the Pink Sheets.
The top bonus, $75,000, went to Polly Grunfeld Sack, senior vice president, secretary, and general counsel. Mark Maring, treasurer and vice president of investor relations and strategic development, received $70,000.
Picking up $50,000 apiece were Michael R. Reed, CEO; Gene A. Hall, executive vice president; Scott Champion, regional manager and former co-president; and Kirk Davis, president and chief operating officer.
11 comments:
So losing $673 million and letting your stock lose 99.7 percent of its value, both in one year, were company goals? Wow these guys are good, they totally deserve their bonuses. This is the most unique business strategy I've ever heard of.
Where are those Gatehouse defenders on this one? Come on, please, someone try, just TRY to justify this based on any sound reason or business logic.
this is the shortsightedness of big business right now. they give VPs bonuses and slice and dice the underlings. Guess how much buying power that one VP represents (how many media purchases they make in a year) vs. the numerous regular joe's they let go of to make those bonuses possible? in other words, keep killing the economy with your bonuses fat cats, and your target demographic won't have the buying power to sustain your business. How great will that bonus feel then?
This trickle-down theory is just about run its course hasn't it? wake up!
Absolutely ridiculous. At the Gatehouse paper I used to work at, hourly workers have been cut from 40 hours to 35 and the 401K match has been dropped all because of "cost-cutting measures". Meaning that 80 percent of the employees there have actually received a pay CUT.
There have been layoffs of employees who worked there for over 20 years, and those layoffs mean that it's harder for the others to get their work done in a regular 40-hour week, never mind the new 35.
A starting reporter made $23,000 - $25,000 - so Polly gets her BONUS that is three times what the people actually writing the news get in a whole year. Gatehouse Media is a disgusting example of how corporate greed is ruining this economy. It makes me sick that a company that is so pitiful can continue to operate on a corporate level as if it is going strong while chopping off the bottom or making their working even harder.
These people couldn't work for me.
Which people couldn't work for you?
Yeah, I used to work for Gatehouse Media in Massachusetts. I was laid off in order for them to cut costs. That bonus money could have kept many people still employed as they pay very little. Sigh... just not fair. No defense here. I think it's despicable.
I served as a GM/publisher for Liberty and then Gatehouse for nearly five years. Things were pretty bad under Liberty, but at least those guys had some idea of how to run a newspaper company. The new people brought on when the company became GateHouse are complete idiots. The CEO is worthless.
I left for bigger and better things and am sure glad I did. I do feel sorry for my friends who don't want to/can't find a job with a better company. I even more so, I really feel sorry for the communities who have to suffer through having a newspaper published by GateHouse.
I wonder what kind of bonus Gloria got?
Former employee, I never saw such a bad company to work for! They tried to get out of paying their salespeople. Now I have a labor complaint against them. They are going to pay big!!! I can't wait for judgement day!!! Scott Champion didn't know what he was doing? He got demoted thank goodness!!! Imagine an IPO opening for $17. and going down so fast? I warned others not to buy this stock. Oh well they are loosers.
I currently work for a Gatehouse paper in Michigan. It's sad to see what Gatehouse is doing to our community and it's employees. Our staff consists of employees who have dedicated their lives to their career and community. Personally, I manage the graphics dept. and work between 55-70 hours/week on average. I have 2 employees under me that I try to keep under 40 hours. (not always possible). Deadlines are non-existent. The time away from my family is a crime at best. Our sales manager works comparably the same amount of hours…sometimes brings her young daughter in with her in the evening…and sometimes puts her to bed and comes in around midnight and stays until 3-4am + or - just to get all her reports and paperwork done so she can pound the streets by 8:00am Only to get grief the next day from the publisher. It's never enough. Gatehouse will continue to rape the communities in which they exist, and strip every bit of life from their dedicated employees. I might ad at this point, our dedication is to the communities we serve…NOT TO GATEHOUSE!
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