An unhappy GateHouse employee sent me the following information from the company’s annual report. I was going to post it later today, but what the heck:
| Item 9B. | Other Information |
(a) On March 4, 2010, 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 2010.
| Executive Officer | Cash Bonus | ||
| Michael R. Reed
Chief Executive Officer |
$ | 500,000 | |
| Melinda A. Janik
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer |
$ | 150,000 | |
| Scott T. Champion
Regional Manager |
$ | 50,000 | |
| Polly Grunfeld Sack
Senior Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel |
$ | 125,000 | |
| Kirk A. Davis
President and Chief Operating Officer |
$ | 250,000 | |
| Mark Maring
Treasurer and Vice President of Investor Relations and Strategic Development |
$ | 75,000 | |
Folks, these are NOT salaries. They are CASH BONUSES. They got the bonuses because they are obviously doing such a sparkling job for the stock holders:
- Reported revenues for the fourth quarter were $150.2 million, down 10.3% from the prior year quarter. Full year reported revenues were $585.0 million, a decrease of 13.8% from the prior year.
- Reported operating costs and SG&A expense decreased $17.1 million or 12.3% for the fourth quarter and $68.0 million or 12.0% for the full year.
- Reported net loss for the fourth quarter and full year was $4.3 million and $530.6 million, respectively. The full year net loss includes $481.4 million of non-cash impairment charges recorded in the second quarter to goodwill, mastheads and other long-lived assets.
- As Adjusted EBITDA was $29.3 million and $91.0 million for the fourth quarter and full year, respectively; down 4.4% and 30.7% from the comparable prior year periods.
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Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. He comments on media, news and politics. He also owns and operates 
As an employee of a GateHouse owned newspaper, this just disgusts me.
In one day, Michael Reed has made more money than I have made in my 18 year career in the IT department of a medium sized daily. I have bled, sweated and shed tears for this place in those 18 years. I have seen the sun come up babysitting sick servers. I have gotten filthy crawling through ceilings stringing cable. I have passed up some great moments in my life because I was dedicated to my work and proud of my position.
But not anymore.
Take note you greedy, capitalistic pigs. The "be glad you've got a job" mantra is wearing very, very thin. I'd rather be unemployed then work for a company that spits in it's employee's faces. And when enough good people are gone, then hopefully you'll be the ones bleeding, sweating and crying.
From a former JS employee: GateHoax executives give the Eboli Virus a run for its money when comparing mindless, life sucking organisms. At least Eboli has a rational motive behind its existance.
Kirk davis sold his soul for more money at corporate. He is a great talker. He should be a motivational speaker.
Guest…your last paragraph is right on…the economy is slowing picking up at, at least in Peoria and there are more jobs. I think locally PJS will be in trouble b/c good, hardworking, dedicated employees (like your self whereever at Gatehouse you are at) will leave for better jobs and better treatment. I heard of this happening at other newspapers in Illinois (not Gatehouse owned). They get rid of 20+ yr ad rep to save money and hire some entry level guy who doesn't have the relationships with those advertisers. Guess what happens…the advertisers cut way back or cut out completely..a lot more kick in the bucket than that veteran employee….good job, now you've lost a great employee who knew the town & had relationships
Wow…I read the report but I don't see where it states the actually bonus $$ received. Where did those statistics appear in the document?
Look again. It's in there.
Page 133 – Item 9B – Other Information
Surprise, surprise. The company laid me and two of my colleagues off last year, neutering its arts staff, as cost-saving measures, and we learn that Kirk Davis (who told my colleagues and me, to our faces, that there would be no layoffs) gets a cash bonus equivalent to eight years of my salary. Silver lining: he wasn't the highest bonus earner. Glad to be gone from there, honestly.
I used to work for a Gatehouse paper in Leavenworth, Kan. There they just fired the editor and have no plans to replace him. They told the rest of the staff they would have to pick up the slack in a newsroom that was already down a reporter and oh by the way they have to take a pay cut as well. Note to journalist looking for a job: DO NOT take a job at one of their newspapers. You'll make more money working at McDonald's with better benefits.
Get out your calculators. In 2009, GateHouse lost 530.6 or 454.5 million (with a capital "M") dollars, depending on which report number you want to use. Losing almost a half a billion dollars in one year is staggering. As of March 23, 2010, Yahoo Finance reported GateHouse's market capitalization at $6.97 million dollars. Long term debt is reported at 1.195 BILLION dollars. Although principal payments are not due till 2014, the interest payments add up! The strategy for cutting expense laid out in the SEC report GateHouse filed at the end of last year, calls for consolidating as many administrative and management jobs as possible. Gauging from the comments in the SEC plan and looking at the total number of properties, I would predict 30-40% of Gatehouse employees will lose their jobs in 2010. The question is, can the company survive? It's an extremely big ship. Although water logged, the crew has time to do damage control. Personally, I think chances are slim at best that this company will stay afloat. My advice to any prospective job applicants would be to run away from this company as fast as you can.
On a recent "Washington Week" program on PBS, financial analysts predicted that a serious economic dowturn will impact our nation between the years 2012 and 2014. The consenus was uniform. This downturn will make our present economic woes look like a small bump in the road. The coming economic crisis will be precipitated by the US national debt. Our national credit may be downgraded in the coming days. If you were a GateHouse employee who was thrown overboard into the cold icy Atlantic, consider yourself lucky. You have time to get to a lifeboat. Although the bow is down only 5 degrees, the orchestra is playing, and the champagne is flowing freely in the first class lounge, the problems are dire below the water line. Basic math tells us that they are trying desperately to keep the ship afloat. If you were let go, it was not personal. Go find some people to work for who have a little more common sense and wisdom. Even with the vigorous measures taken by GateHouse management, they probably won't survive the next economic downturn.
Why is everyone surprised by this? That is the corporate culture, personal gain over the company as a whole. It matters little to the CEO, CFO, vice president and the whole assorted group that the company and its papers are bleeding revenue. Or that employees receive no bonuses or overtime (at least that is the way it is in the small daily I work in). Anybody have an interest in starting up there own media endeavor?