The Impact of Media Giant: Gannett Company

Who is the Gannett Company? During road trips, I always pick up complimentary issues of USA Today from hotel lobbies. Gannett Company owns USA Today, the nation’s number one newspaper. Job seekers around the globe, myself included, go to CareerBuilder, which is partially owned by Gannett Company. These two names are a drop in the bucket for this company who has built their mass media empire for over a century.

Gannett Company, an international media and marketing solutions company with 52500 employees, holds its headquarters in McLean, Virginia. 2710 of those employees are local. They are one of the Top 125 companies with annual revenue of $7.38 billion. Gannett provides media to readers and viewers through its operations in 38 states and the District of Columbia, Guam, the United Kingdom, Canada, Belgium and Germany.

Gannett Company originated in 1906 when Frank Gannett and his associates bought a half interest in the Elmira Gazette in Elmira, N.Y. Gannett and his associates expanded gradually from here purchasing various publications. During the next 25 years, Gannett expanded throughout the northeastern United States.

A major innovator in the newspaper industry’s was the Gannett Company. In 1929, Frank Gannett invested in the development of the teletypesetter, which is a a keyboard device who outputs either as punched tape that can operate a line casting machine, or transmitted by cable or wire to indirectly operate a line casting machine. To expedite the reporting of distant events, Gannett newsrooms were equipped with shortwave radio sets. In 1938, their printing presses were changed to color at the Gannett Rochester newspapers. Gannett’s corporate airplane helped make it possible to gather news from spanning the region.

In 1957, Paul Miller was elected president and chief executive officer of Gannett Company not long before the demise of Frank Gannett. In the sixties, under Miller, Gannett expanded beyond a regional newspaper group and developed a national following.

Gannett Company is currently the largest newspaper group in circulation. They own over a hundred daily newspaper publications throughout the United States and United Kingdom, and various television and radio stations. They also own USA Today, USA Weekend, USA Today Information Network, and Gannett News Service. Gannett stayed relevant in the newspaper industry by creating one hundred U.S. newspaper and TV station web sites, which include CareerBuilder.com and USAToday.com, MomsLikeMe.com, HighSchoolSports.net, Metromix.com, and action sports networks BNQT and Venture. USA Today’s iPhone and Android applications consistently rank either No. 1 or No. 2 in the news category and reached 2.8 million downloads. USA Today partnered with Amazon to enable readers to access USA Today, the nation’s largest selling newspaper, through their Kindle devices. By the end of 2009, USAToday.com averaged 56 million visits per month and was considered to be one of the most popular sites of the web.

Gannett continued to be an innovative industry leader who provides millions of people with the trusted and relevant information. Connecting readers to their communities of interest through the Internet, mobile, newspapers, television and magazines helps marketers better target their customers. PointRoll, which is a successful online advertising rich media provider, enables Gannett to be a leading marketing solutions company. Another valuable tool is ShopLocal, who excels in connecting advertisers and consumers both online and at the stores. Ripple6 helps advertisers distribute effective and easy social media solutions.

An admirable aspect of Gannett Company is their commitment to equal opportunity. Forty percent of all company officials and managers and 46 percent of company professionals are women. Minorities represent about 24 percent of Gannett's U.S. employees and 15 percent of the company officials and managers. Gannett created “Partners in Progress,” in 1979. This is a program to guarantee faster development of women and minorities in important roles within the company. The Council on Economic Priorities awarded "America's Corporate Conscience Award" to Gannett Company in February 1988 due to the company’s employment practices. In March 1988, Catalyst awarded Gannett for their distinguished records in the employment and advancement of women. Black Enterprise included Gannett Company on their list of the 25 Best Places for Blacks to Work.

Gannett Company has an impressive history and appears to be a company that will continue to grow and stay relevant by staying on top of technology and providing their readers with the information that they want. Because they have a wide readership across multiple channels, they will remain valuable to marketers who will pay them to place their advertisements. It is evident that this company values their employees and provides ample opportunities for everyone to succeed.




Works Cited:
Gannett Company, Inc. Web. 05 Aug. 2010. a href="http://www.gannett.com/%3E">http://www.gannett.com/>;.

"Who Owns What." Columbia Journalism Review. Web. 05 Aug. 2010. a href="http://www.cjr.org/resources/?c=gannett%3E">http://www.cjr.org/resources/?c=gannett>;.

"Washington Post 200: Gannett Co." Washingtonpost.com - Nation, World, Technology and Washington Area News and Headlines. Web. 05 Aug. 2010. a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/post200/2005/GCI.html%3E">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/post200/2005/GCI.html...;.