one step closer to the abyss.
MASON CITY – The geniuses that call the business shots at the Globe Gazette in Mason City are firing as many as 12 employees due to the failure of the $2 million used printer they bought and installed just a few years ago.
Many in town have noticed the Globe Gazette’s ever-shrinking size, razor-thin pages, slanted journalism, glaring errors and extremely blurry photos in what is left of the once-proud newspaper that produces nothing on Monday’s.
Back in 2014, the Globe proudly proclaimed their “flexo pressline” printer was being removed from the building and a used “refurbished” Goss Urbanite “offset printer” press was purchased and to be installed at a cost of $2 million.
“Our company is making a huge investment in this facility,” the former Publisher of the Globe Gazette, the late Howard Query said. The “new” used printer was supposed to make their newspaper better.
According to a 2014 report from NewsandTech.com, “Offset printing will provide a more consistent print job with sharper color, allowing the paper to provide “the quality we want to produce for our customers,” late Globe Gazette Publisher Howard Query said. “It’s a new beginning,” Query said. “After Wednesday’s issue (was) printed, we (pulled) the plug on our flexo press, a technology many companies thought years ago was the wave of the future. But it just wasn’t cost-effective.”
But, as anyone who has picked up a paper in Mason City knows, the photos, images and graphics in the Globe’s print products never looked good and were consistently blurry and unprofessional-looking.
Tuesday, the Globe Gazette, in a slyly-worded statement, said they would be printing their newspapers in Des Moines and attributed the decision to “a cost-prohibitive capital investment that would be required to meet the demands of today’s advertising and subscriber customers.” We are to ascertain, then, that their behemoth printer sucks and likely due to the fact the parent company Lee Enterprises is hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, a second try at getting a printer that actually works would not be happening.
The Globe said Gannett publishing services in Des Moines will be printing the very small, thin newspaper they offer.
and will likely never recover.
As a result of their print operation going out of business, the Globe says they are firing up to a dozen employees.
“The affected employees, about a dozen, are part-time workers. Those who qualify will receive severance packages,” The Globe admitted. NIT will find out what that amounts to, if anything, through our sources. (They didn’t have the guts to write that those folks are actually losing their jobs – just “affected”.) For some reason, the Globe slipped into their statement Cerro Gordo county’s low unemployment rate, seemingly saying that they can’t hire anyone for the glamorous job of working in their distribution center and that may have contributed to their decision to go out of the printing business.
Just last month, the Globe was still advertising for a press operator – a job no one seemed to want nor will ever hold.
NIT will report the next phase of the Globe Gazette’s obvious downsizing and possible going-out-of-business announcement.
Grab a cup of coffee. Or a bit of sherry. Or whatever. Then sit back and read my “diatribe.
I have “inside information” re the Globe-Gazette’s actions. This info dates back to 1993, when they hired me as an independent News Correspondent.
The date that I was to be interviewed, I was approximately 10 minutes late because I heard of an accident (via my C.B. radio) on I35 that I detoured to photograph while en route to my interview. Pic wound up on page Three (the “North Iowa” page.
Pretty heady stuff for someone with no news photography training. The interview went well and I was offered a contractual news writer/photography position
Started out covering social news in Wright County (where I lived at the time).
I submitted my writing & rolls of 35mm film containing photos by typing them up. On a TYPEWRITER. I hand-delivered my work by driving 47 miles from my home to Mason City.
No…I was not paid for mileage. Just the thrill of seeing my submissions in print was payment enough for the deliveries.
Of course, the Globe also paid me quite well for my stories and pics. Fast-forwarding a bit: I purchased a fax machine to send my stories. But I continued to hand-deliver film.
Many…Many of my stories were published on Page One. Some above the fold; some below. But still on the cover.
Eventually, the Globe furnished me with a portable computer-sort of an early laptop that came from Radio Shack. I had to hook it up to a phone line and use the internal modem to send stuff.
It got to the point where I started covering nine North Iowa counties. News stories with pics; real estate pics, various mugshots, etc.
That laptop proved to be too unreliable, so I was allowed to do my writing in the Globe’s newsroom…using “(CR) tubes” that were vacant.
During this period, we had THREE desk editors on duty every night. We also had full press crews who were assisted by various teams of people that took the written news and (via many steps) turned it into printing plates for news stories, photos & ads.
This WAS all a well-oiled PROFITABLE machine. Until Lee Enterprises (The Globe Gazette’s mother company), decided to get greedy and started spending LOTS of money buying other media. Turned out that Lee could not afford to maintain the QUALITY of the Globe and still be able to pay for its money-losing purchases. So they started cutting corners.
My first personal “hits” were that, as news correspondent, I no longer received copies of the Globe for free. Which really sucked, because when I submitted claims for my freelance work, I was required to submit the width and length of my stories. Plus the sizes of my pics. So I had to PURCHASE (out of my pocket) copies of the Globe to obtain these measurements. But the Globe was “generous” enough to sell news correspondents single copies at 1/2 price. Which eventually came to be full price. But you know what? Actual employees (including staff reporters, editors, press operators, etc. were also charged full price.
Fast forward several years to NOW. ALL (full time/dedicated new desk editors are gone. There are no longer any REAL news reporters. Just a couple people who are allowed to attach their names to news releases or court documents or whatever.
How often do you see actual quotes from face-to-face interviews any more?
As a “mere” news correspondent, virtually NONE (other than Franklin County court records) of my written submissions did not include direct quotes from actual interviews.
And when was the last time a Globe reporter did ANY investigative reporting? I did my share of that.
Ask the Honorable Judge James Drew about the story I wrote about him about how he and the former Franklin County Magistrate conspired to “fix” a traffic ticket for a Hampton attorney. I have a copy of that PUBLISHED story. And former Franklin County Judge Stephen Carroll’s responses to that story.
I also interviewed an actual juvenile rape victim (with her mother’s permission) who wanted her story told. I have my copies of this story also.
And HUNDREDS of other stories that I actually wrote; i.e. did not just attach my name to a news release. PLUS I know how to SPELL!
I have called the current Globe Managing “Editor” out so many times for lack of substance in stories, BLATANT spelling/falsehoods/verbiage/punctuation errors, etc. that he has actually BLOCKED all of my comments to him and his alleged “reporters”.
Due to the fact that the Globe is being printed in China (or wherever) once the copy (such as it is) is sent to the place place of printing, it can no longer be amended.
When the Globe printed its paper on premises, there actually WAS a “Hold the Press” option to add major breaking news stories. Or make corrections.But no more. Whatever the “editor” sends to the print shoppe is what we will see.
In closing here (aren’t you glad? I COULD have added a few thousand MORE words here! LOL!)
Despite the fact that I resigned from my News Correspondent status, I still have (employee) contacts. Last I heard is that the “news room”; once a buzzing beehive, is, these days, more like a mausoleum. Full of emptiness. Just like the Globe Gazette.
the employees of glob are at a “I don’t give a shit” attitude, Ive submitted a ad twice on line and get a return, have received your ad and someone will call u in the next 4 business hours and talk to you, Im still waiting for that call.
The Globe has been a worthless excuse of a ‘news’paper for several years. The grammatical/typographical errors get worse all the time and these are supposed to be professionals. (Maybe they’re owned by the same people as KIMT!) And now with the printing in Des Moines, the news is even older by the time the paper is printed. The price has been going up while the quality has been going down.
John Skipper just announced his “retirement” today, fleeing from the sinking ship.
Well those old CNN fake news printers in Des Moines will tell us the truth – HA HA HA HA – Maybe the ambassador can even throw in a little BS/ or piggy poop production updates.
All I need is NIT, why do we even need the Globe? Anyone who actually cares about the issues in MC knows better to not read the Globe and go straight to NIT. Skipper better retire so he can cash out what little they have left in the bank before it’s too late!!!!!! Then who will write the articles??? I can’t even remember the last time I went on to the GG website. Well, I take that back, I checked it out over the John Lee issue, other than that, it would have been years.
Oh, by the way; John maybe you should contact the Mason City Human Rights Commission about your employment rights.
“Moron” is not a protected class 😉
He’s over 40, though, and that is.
Oh, my goodness, I can’t believe it! John Skipper is getting the ax? You mean that after all the many years John gave Mason City his unbiased reporting on former Mayor Eric Bookmeyer, Robin Anderson, the Chamber, and the YES gang, the door is all the Globe is offering him. Shame on them. Well maybe now John and Eric can get together for a game of cribbage, and reminisce about the good old days.
I heard he got fired in the 1990’s from the Globe, something about fake expense reports. Good source told me all about it. I’m not 100% sure it’s true, though.
Is that true??
Hey Matt… now you can hire “silly me” to be your reporter. but only have to pay him what he is worth!!! good cheap deal for you
He’d have to pay me to work here. And he ain’t got the cash to do it.
I can’t believe the Globe pulled the CRAP about not being able to find employees as a reason for moving printing to Des Moines. How LOW can you go. This move was ALL about dollars. If they DID have a problem getting employees, how about giving some of the part-timers a full-time position with actual pay and benefits. RIP GLOBE BASTURDS!
That was a low blow, wasn’t it? Sneaking in that albatross statement about low unemployment numbers. People do leave jobs for BETTER jobs with MORE PAY. The Globe basically admits they can’t offer that to the working people in MC. You might notice, fewer and fewer cars parked at the Globe, for less time and fewer days each week. It’s a miracle anyone has a job at that place.
One of the comments said the KIMTTV farmed out to Rochester, not wanting to hijack this thread but does anyone think its strange that CBS/KIMT Mason City is a hour and 30 plus minutes from Rochester and La Cross Wisconsin Ch 8 CBS/WKBT is only just over a hour from Rochester. WHY DOES KIMT NEED TO AFFILIATE TO THE REGION? Sorry, got carried away…..
Long story short, Hospital.
Just went to the GLobe G website and there is no mention of this anywhere. Maybe someone should contact them and tell them this is local news.
It was in the paper this morning.
Off-set printing came into being back in the mid 1960’s. This just shows how far behind that rag really is.
The story appeared in the GG before you borrowed then manipulated the information for your own personal gain. When was the last time YOU shared any information about YOUR profils and losses? Your successes and failures? You didnt even speak to your city council defeat. You are the LOOSER Marquardt.
Skipper, Mayberry … is that you again?
Enjoy your hourly scan of NIT 🙂
Bias towards middle aged people are we. Tell me then what is the definition of punk?
“You are the looser…” Did you have Bodacious for a teacher?
Matt, when do you think the Globe will finally give up and just become a meager WEEKLY newspaper and then finally ONLINE ONLY? How many employees will they need then?
Clark, that’s a great question. Probably very soon the Globe will only produce a once-a-week newspaper. And it won’t be very good, either. It’s just fate that this happens. Probably 8-10 of the roughly 12 people still working there will get the cardboard box visit to their desks – pack up and get out, they’ll be told. (As is customary at the Globe, a few of these poor souls will be offered their jobs back at a greatly reduced pay rate, and they will happily accept, since they are not skilled enough to do any other job except seeing eye dog.) Once the Glob totally throws in the towel and goes “online only” – that will be the end of the Globe Gazette. They can’t generate enough dollars to cover the overhead.
And yet all these businesses are saying and advertising that their hiring and the fact of the matter is they are not. Just claiming that their business is growing in leaps and bounds and they can’t find people because they fail background checks and drug tests. Gee, wonder what’s next. At least the jails making bank. All this money being funneled by the Feds is going to dry up soon too. Who else making tons of money. Got’s to be the hospital. Oh, but not to worry the stock market wouldn’t rip you off. There’s a new marshal in town and just call it NIT.
So why even be open? How is this going to work?Will the paper be delivered late afternoon?Bad weather you won’t get it at all. Higher price for a paper that’s already over priced.What a cluster f@#$!
This will not end well for the GG. It is apparent that their owner, LEE, is slowly guiding this mess into oblivion. Soon, Skipper, Mayberry and the other tools left warming chairs in that sorry box at 300 N. Washington will be door greeters at Walmart or wiping tables at the local brew pub for their new bosses. Remember how pathetic the GG is the next time they give you advice on literally anything regarding your own life. They can’t even run their own lives or even that sad newspaper. I predict the big move coming up is the sale of their building and a move to a much smaller one, probably a vacant fast food joint. There is no way the GG / LEE can afford the tax, upkeep and utilities in their current dwelling. $5 a month for online subscriptions won’t cover these expenses and even the meager hourly wages for the stumblebunnies in the news room. It will soon be over, they just won’t admit it quite yet. Now I hear how they mis-treat their own delivery people (thanks for the notes, btw) – NIT will report on that soon.
The e-edition just increased to $11 a month. Was $9 before that.
Sour grapes…… you are next to go.
We haven’t seen a new advertiser here in months and months. Same old cookie cutter word press sites. And he isnt generating any new subscribers either. Matt is likely to cross the “finish line” first.
Thank you for checking NIT everyday and taking copious mental notes about what you see … you should hang out with Skipper and Mayberry in the Globe newsroom, since they do this every hour or so, I am told.
Sorry to disappoint, but NIT is quite solvent and turning a real nice profit. Plus, our printer works great!
I get the Des Moines Register (presumably printed in Des Moines) during the middle of the night. It’s on my doorstep when I check each morning at 5:30 a.m. Of course the GG papers will be delivered in acceptable time.
Mark my words, the Globe will be later than ever and the news will be more out-dated than ever. Sources tell me the daily news cutoff time will be 7 PM for the next day’s news. The Globe newspaper is on its way out. Weekly next.
kind of sad in a way. Our TV has been shopped out to Rochester, and our printed paper to Des Moines.
Mason City is declining at a rapid pace.
The ONLY thing that could save us is some type of large scale job creation. the bleed of our young people is only going to continue. kind of sad
Many people, a good share of them outsiders, cried how bad the pork plant would have been for this town. Well, here is what happens when a town does not grow. We lose services. This should be a huge clarion call to our elected officials. a city that is not growing is dying. There is no middle ground.
The pork plant would have killed Mason City altogether as we know it. That hog plat guaranteed our youth would flee Mason City along with their parents, good Doctors, good Teachers, and any other logical minded person who didn’t want to become a welfare city that doubled their police force to fight the crime that would have come with it.
And you based all your comments on hearsay. Prove your statements or shut up
Go talk to Storm Lake officials. At one time there was a list of towns and statistics put out by the State of Iowa that clearly shows the negative effects to communities that have these massive hog kills.
This is actually old news that should have done your homework to find out. All this information is out there is you are smart enough to find it.
Now you shut up!
All the old slaughterhouse cities grew into violent place. Lucky for MC they were a cement town. Back in the day of river dumping the 12th street bridge was the go to place to catch big monster catfish with a fiberglass fishing pole. Decker’s feed you in more ways than one.
Gee, I seem to remember a kill plant was here in River City also at one time. But of course we killed that off for the betterment of more jobs.
It is time the Mason City Government establish by “ordinance” an “Official Publication” sent out monthly informing Mason City taxpayers of our official city business. This publication should include all agenda items, all expenditures, and all city business.
As the Globe Gazette WAS the official publication for city business it is now necessary for City Government to pursue a different avenue to keep the citizens informed.
This publication could easily be included with our water bills sent to each residence. Renters that don’t receive a water bill could request a copy from city all if they so desire.
An EXCELLENT idea and quite overdue. State elected leaders need to retract the law requiring local bodies to pay to print public notices in newspapers. This is a huge, huge waste of taxpayer dollars. Don’t believe the Globe’s so-called circulation numbers. A corpse has better circulation. Rid the taxpayers of this burden and waste immediately!
what exactly constitutes a town? the streets? the buildings? or is it the citizenry? if a town is rapidly purged of its population, everyone who can getting the hell out, only to be repopulated with an army of underpaid transient serfs, has the “town” been saved from dying? or has a once proud american community simply been killed off, sacrificed on the alter of globalism, and replaced by a zombie version of its former self?
yes we are in a decline, yes, we some large scale job creation would be fantastic to stop it, and if we cant have that i’d take continued decline every day over what would have happened had the chamber of commerce gotten their giant death palace.
Pork plants produce, pollution and disease, growth is harmonic to all life, creative and sustainable not an environmental disaster and disease laden that supports the pharmaceutical and medical community, they own people, they have made slaves out of people and keep them on the hamster wheel of no fortune, only owing them a ton of $, they are you’re slave masters.
what exactly constitutes a town? the streets? the buildings? or is it the citizenry? if a town is rapidly purged of its population, everyone who can getting the heck out, only to be repopulated with an army of underpaid transient serfs, has the “town” been saved from dying? or has a once proud american community simply been killed off, sacrificed on the alter of globalism – and replaced by a zombie version of its former self?
yes we are in a decline, yes, some large scale job creation would be fantastic to stop it, and if we cant have that i’d take continued decline every day over what would have happened had the chamber of commerce gotten their giant death palace.
what a liberal leftist rag……….
You sure got that right, its just the liberalist lefty rag sheet we ever seen here in Mason. This Mayberry, he should get showed the door, he is no good. Have not liked him ever since he kicked Todd Blodgett column out.
Mayberry has a beard to, we hear he is communist. Looks like one. Somebody told us he live in Northwood on count of his wife, she work’s in Albert Lea, from what we got told.
Bye bye Glob you ugly dumb bunch of liberal fairy’s.