Author: Jon Schleuss

Guild retains consultant in harassment probe

Recently we at the international NewsGuild-CWA retained an independent consultant to start a review with our membership at the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh to improve our culture and policies and make sure our union is safe for every member. 

In the coming weeks the consultant will speak with current and former members of the Pittsburgh local union and identify areas of improvement based on members’ feedback. We’ve been coordinating with members of the Human Rights Committee at the local for several months and I’m excited to see this new phase of work get started. 

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Newsletter: Collective action and testifying in front of Congress

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I was honored to testify before a House subcommittee on behalf of our members on March 12 about the extinction-level threat facing local news. I told members of the House Antitrust Subcommittee that in the last 16 years, 2,100 U.S. newsrooms have shut down. And there are half as many newspaper journalists working today as there were a decade ago.

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Unions condemn Facebook bullying, call for bolder steps to tackle news deserts

Journalists and media unions in Australia, the US, Canada and the UK have issued the following joint call for governments to take “bolder steps” to protect jobs and save journalism.

Journalism is a public good. Journalism is essential for democracy.

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Good news for Maryland, bad news for everyone else

Yesterday, Marylanders got some great news: a local investor wants to buy The Baltimore Sun and other Maryland newspapers owned by Tribune Publishing. Other communities with Tribune papers got bad news: the vampire hedge fund Alden Global Capital wants to take over the rest of the company.

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Newsletter: Standing up, walking out and fighting back

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Idaho NewsGuild members stood up for their fired boss last week, protesting McClatchy’s decision to abruptly fire editor Christina Lords.

Lords was terminated after tweeting how difficult it was for employees to get access to basic tools, including Microsoft Excel for an investigative journalist. She also urged readers to support the paper and subscribe. She later deleted the tweet.

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Newsletter: Update from Toledo and Pittsburgh, job opening and a note to Alden

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The Arizona Republic Guild had a lot to brag about when they tweeted about the biggest wins from their first year as a unionized newsroom: Beating back management’s threats to cut their 401(k) match, protecting producers from a round of unpaid furloughs by negotiating for volunteers and winning “due process,” to name a few. They also raised close to $1,000 for college journalism scholarships.

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Alden’s Randall Smith needs to apologize for supporting Trump

Earlier today, I wrote to Randall D. Smith, a Tribune director and the principal of Alden Global Capital,  urging him to condemn the recent assault on the U.S. Capitol by the supporters of President Donald J. Trump. I also called on him to denounce the president for inciting that assault, to condemn the attack on journalists perpetuated by the rioters and the president; and to apologize for his financial support of Trump.

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