As shareholders gathered on the annual assembly of Gannett, the biggest newspaper firm in the US following a 2019 merger, lots of of unionized staff from throughout the nation walked off the job on Monday to demand traders take motion towards what the journalists say is company greed on the prime of the group.
The journalists, who’re represented by the NewsGuild-Communications Employees of America (CWA), say CEO and chairman Mike Reed has overseen the gutting of native newsrooms throughout the nation at Gannett’s more than 300 publications, jeopardizing readers’ entry to native information and threatening the livelihoods of reporters whereas Reed collects a multi-million-dollar wage.
With the walkout, the unionized staff are calling on shareholders to carry a no-confidence vote towards Reed.
In a letter to traders final month, the NewsGuild-CWA argued that Reed has “failed shareholders” by taking over debt with excessive rates of interest when Gannett merged with GateHouse Media in 2019.
Whereas taking home a $7.7 million wage in 2021 and $3.4 million final yr, Reed has “maintained a compensation coverage that’s forcing a lot of our journalists to hunt work elsewhere,” the union wrote.
“He has decreased native content material by counting on wire service and regional tales [and] minimize newsroom workers,” the NewsGuild stated. “Consequently, our communities are usually not being served and our staff are demoralized. Subsequently, we consider it’s time for a change in management: a transparent vote of no-confidence in a man who has weakened our firm, forsaken the cities and cities the place now we have shops, and impoverished shareholders.”
With a purpose to minimize prices to service the corporate’s debt, The New York Occasions reported Monday, Gannett has minimize its workforce almost in half since 2019. The Austin American-Statesman now has 41 newsroom employees, down from 110 earlier than the merger. The Milwaukee Sentinel’s workers has been minimize from 104 to 83 in that point interval; The South Bend Tribune’s was minimize from 45 to simply 14 in South Bend, Indiana; and The Arizona Republic in Phoenix has minimize its workforce from 140 to 89.
Gannett has additionally closed dozens of newspapers fully, together with six weekly publications within the Akron, Ohio space this previous February and 4 papers in Northern Kentucky final yr.
Value-cutting measures have left readers of The Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, New York with no enterprise part; The Herald-Tribune in Sarasota, Florida with out devoted reporters specializing in the atmosphere or metropolis authorities; and only one reporter at TheAmerican-Statesman masking points associated to Metropolis Corridor, Travis County, transportation, and public security.
“We all know what occurs to communities when the sunshine from information shops dims,” said the NewsGuild final month. “Political extremism can surge, corruption has fewer watchdogs, highschool sports activities have fewer chroniclers, company misconduct has fewer witnesses, and municipal borrowing prices can rise. From a shareholder perspective, these cuts to native information reporters and native information don’t simply weaken civil society, they diminish the way forward for that firm in the neighborhood.”
The shareholder assembly and walkout come 5 months after Gannett laid off 6% of its 3,440-employee media division.
Richard Ruelas, a columnist at The Arizona Republic, organized a crowd-sourced fundraiser to assist staff as they stage the walkout, which they plan to proceed on Tuesday on the newspaper.
Whereas reducing jobs throughout the corporate, stated the Arizona Republic Guild, Gannett officers have refused to offer remaining journalists with truthful wages and dealing circumstances.
THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC GUILD IS WALKING OFF THE JOB 🧵
It’s quite simple, what @Gannett is providing us would go away some members with LESS cash of their paychecks every week, and that’s unacceptable. We’ve began a GoFundMe to assist assist our journalists https://t.co/wAPc4dSgMx
— Arizona Republic Guild 🌵 (@azrepublicguild) June 1, 2023
“After over three years of bargaining and repeated unfair labor practices, it’s additionally grow to be obvious that asking properly isn’t going to get us truthful wages, advantages and protections for our newsroom, and that Gannett has no intention to discount over these points in good religion,” said the union.
In accordance with Jon Schleuss, president of the NewsGuild, Reed oversaw a “full farce” on the shareholder assembly on Monday, ending the convention after simply eight minutes and refusing to take questions.
“What a whole joke. Mike Reed must go,” said Schleuss. “He has no capability to guide Gannett and no capability to be accountable to journalists or shareholders.”
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