I’m not quite certain what Gannett’s chief executive, Gracia Martore, hoped to achieve with this video.
Did she and her senior staff think lip-synching to the song from The Lego Movie, Everything is Awesome, would boost their media company’s image? It was done, evidently, as an internal team-building exercise. But, with some employees, it hit the wrong note.
For example, it certainly won’t have had the journalists at Gannett’s UK operation, Newsquest, who began a 12-day strike today, singing along.
I see the National Union of Journalists picked up on the video, having embedded it into their website article about the strike.
At first I thought it was a spoof, but the latter part shows that it is real. And it has been verified by Jim Romenesko. Commenters to his site express their bewilderment. “Wow”, said one, “who knew lip-syncing could be so completely tone-deaf?”
As for the strike, it kicked off with NUJ staff picketing outside Newsquest’s south London headquarters. They are demanding a 3% pay rise and also oppose the group’s restructuring plans, which are due to take effect next Friday (26 June).
Sources: Jim Romenesko/YouTube/NUJ
