Comments on: Insiders: Bewkes Fired Griffin Over Poor Communication, Talent-Drain Fears http://paidcontent.org/2011/02/18/419-bewkes-fired-griffin-over-poor-conmmunication-talent-drain-fears/ The economics of digital content Fri, 13 Dec 2013 18:54:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Buh Bye http://paidcontent.org/2011/02/18/419-bewkes-fired-griffin-over-poor-conmmunication-talent-drain-fears/#comment-82568 Wed, 23 Feb 2011 05:55:53 +0000 http://paidcontent.wp.gostage.it/2011/02/18/419-bewkes-fired-griffin-over-poor-conmmunication-talent-drain-fears/#comment-82568 Griffin was widely known as a self promoter within the corridors of MDP. He stacked the Meredith office in Des Moines and NYC with his own hires so he guaranteed loyalty and that is why he survived so long there.

His mistakes at Meredith have been completely covered up by his own PR machine and spin factory. I’ll bet that his purchases and directions are slowly pushed aside or sold in the coming years.

MDP lost more than $100 million in 2009 while Griffin still managed a full bonus AND he made sure the employees did not get one. A decent leader would have foregone a 7 figure bonus when his leadership yielded such horrible fiscal results that were then forced down the throats of hundreds of employees. Griffin got his, made sure his hand picked team got theirs and then turned up his nose at the serfs.

The noise from Time is exactly what was said about Griffin at MDP for years during his reign. Imperious, out of touch, standoffish, bullying, but no one ever said anything about Griffin’s comments about religion or anything close to him being a sexist. That appears to be classic piling on but there’s no need to pile on someone so obviously out of touch with everyone but his own ego.

]]> By: Scott Kauffman http://paidcontent.org/2011/02/18/419-bewkes-fired-griffin-over-poor-conmmunication-talent-drain-fears/#comment-82567 Mon, 21 Feb 2011 07:09:19 +0000 http://paidcontent.wp.gostage.it/2011/02/18/419-bewkes-fired-griffin-over-poor-conmmunication-talent-drain-fears/#comment-82567 Going to work in the Time & Life Building in 1987 was a dream come true. It was there that I first learned about the separation of church and state in a business setting. And management was out in front of the prevailing social issues of the era, including gender equality in the work force. The general public will probably never know whether the charges of “sexism” and “racism” are warranted here. And if reports that Mr. Griffin invoked or imposed his religious views during meetings with staffers prove to be true, it would add a layer of cluelessness to the alleged insensitive behavior. In the court of public opinion, people are too often guilty until proven innocent. But in the time-honored belief that “where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” one can only imagine that Mr. Bewkes had little choice but to cut his losses.

]]> By: Scott Kauffman http://paidcontent.org/2011/02/18/419-bewkes-fired-griffin-over-poor-conmmunication-talent-drain-fears/#comment-82566 Mon, 21 Feb 2011 07:07:51 +0000 http://paidcontent.wp.gostage.it/2011/02/18/419-bewkes-fired-griffin-over-poor-conmmunication-talent-drain-fears/#comment-82566 Going to work in the Time & Life Building in 1987 was a dream come true. It was there that I first learned about the separation of church and state in a business setting. And management was out in front of the prevailing social issues of the era, including gender equality in the work force. The general public will probably never know whether the charges of “sexism” and “racism” are warranted here. And if reports that Mr. Griffin invoked or imposed his religious views during meetings with staffers prove to be true, it would add a layer of cluelessness to the alleged insensitive behavior. In the court of public opinion, people are too often guilty until proven innocent. But in the time-honored belief that “where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” one can only imagine that Mr. Bewkes had little choice but to cut his losses.

]]> By: Time Inc.'s Culture Blows http://paidcontent.org/2011/02/18/419-bewkes-fired-griffin-over-poor-conmmunication-talent-drain-fears/#comment-82565 Sun, 20 Feb 2011 16:16:19 +0000 http://paidcontent.wp.gostage.it/2011/02/18/419-bewkes-fired-griffin-over-poor-conmmunication-talent-drain-fears/#comment-82565 And the Time Inc. old-school mentality and culture lives on. As a 12+ year digital specialist who was brought in to help define and grow their digital business, management was/is terrible. The old school mentality still exists and they are well behind in a number of areas – from multiple ad-serving systems to their deals with ad networks to how digital is perceived and positioned throughout the organization. There have been improvements but they are not moving nearly as quickly and efficiently as they need to. Rothenberg is a HUGE step in the right direction. I applaud Griffin for his efforts to change culture but it saddens me to see the old guard still exists and holds influence. Shame on you Bewkes. YOU have what sounds like a good vision [for digital and new media] but your execution has been appalling.

Visit People.com…one of the first things consumers see on the page – offer for free print issues…Mark Golin is fantastic but stop pressuring him to pimp these offers and enforce terrible design. Ridiculous. I could comment on Time Inc. sites for another 20K words.

]]> By: The state of Iowa. http://paidcontent.org/2011/02/18/419-bewkes-fired-griffin-over-poor-conmmunication-talent-drain-fears/#comment-82564 Fri, 18 Feb 2011 03:53:35 +0000 http://paidcontent.wp.gostage.it/2011/02/18/419-bewkes-fired-griffin-over-poor-conmmunication-talent-drain-fears/#comment-82564 Jack was book smart. But he could not inspire a group of hookers with a fistful of $20′s. Most people did not like being around him.

]]>