Spirits among staff of Newsquest owner Gannett may not be high as it lines up another round of redundancies. But their mood will no doubt have been lifted by a video that emerged from the local newspaper publisher’s Town Hall meeting on Tuesday.
Gannett chief executive Gracia Martore and her team are shown lip-synching and playing guitars in a cover of The Lego Movie song Everything is Awesome.
Lines such as “everything when you’re part of the team” and “everything is better when we stick together” will surely have comforted those about to lose their jobs.
But it’s the “rap” delivered by Gannett executives that take things to another level: “Turn that frown upside down/Hey folks, Gannett’s in town/So many websites, TV stations/Publications across the nation/Find a lead, meet a client/Make the sale/You’re a giant/Sell those ads, make commission/Ta-da! You’re a sales magician.”
They then list Gannett’s assets (including USA Today) – all, unsurprisingly, “awesome” – before concluding “We’re the company with clout/Gannett is awesome/Peace! We’re out.”
Gannett executives may not have known that the song’s writer has revealed it was written during a “very ugly divorce” and its upbeat lyrics are laced with sarcasm. Perhaps its message about conformity and consumerism is more appropriate than they realise?
