How about some innovation rather than imitation?
By now we hope you know that The Des Moines Register is owned by Gannett, a Virginia-based company that once boasted itself as the largest provider of news and information in the nation. (It has in recent years changed “largest” to “a leading.”)
We also hope you know that Cityview is locally owned, and always has been.
This distinction becomes increasingly important as Gannett newspapers operate in even more of a cookie-cutter fashion each year. Our latest cases in point involve their blatant efforts to rip off established and respected ideas from local competitors.
For more than a decade, The Des Moines Business Record has recognized young leaders in the community with its “Forty Under 40” event, and we have saluted do-gooders of all ages with our “People Making a Difference” issue. In a blatant effort to steal the thunder, the Register’s queen of cookie cutter publications, Juice, announced its “Young Professional of the Year” awards. One might think that a Fortune 500 company could come up with its own ideas, but this is, after all, Gannett, a company chock full of managers looking for quick fixes that will propel them to their next promotions while leaving operations in ruins.
As a result, we continue to aggressively protect our “Best of Des Moines” trademark from Gannett, as have other independent, alternative newsweeklies across the nation. But that hasn’t stopped Gannett efforts to cash in on the “Best Of” success, cleverly changing names in attempts to avoid cease and desist letters.
Like you, we are disappointed in what has happened to a once-great daily newspaper here in Des Moines, and we can’t help but wonder what might have been if Gannett management would have spent their time and money focusing on ideas to make the daily “the best” instead of stealing ideas from others for their ancillary publications and leaving the door wide open for an inevitable daily competitor. CV
