Leaders of The NewsGuild-CWA, the largest union of journalists and media workers in the U.S., reiterated their concern over the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) and called on Congress to make sure labor protections and nonprofit newsrooms were part of any deal. The Guild also denounced Meta’s threat Monday to withdraw our members’ journalism from Facebook as a strong-arm tactic to avoid regulation.

The Guild represents about 17,000 media workers at more than 220 media organizations, from the New York Times, Washington Post and Philadelphia Inquirer to the Idaho Statesman, Arizona Republic and St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Much of the news industry has been consolidated in the past several years under chains controlled by hedge funds like Alden Global Capital (MediaNews Group/Digital First Media and recently Tribune Publishing), Fortress Investment Group (Gannett), and Chatham Asset Management (McClatchy). The Guild also represents journalists at not-for-profit controlled newsrooms such as the Center for Public Integrity, VT Digger and the Philadelphia Inquirer. 

FORT WORTH — The Fort Worth NewsGuild is on strike, effective immediately. 

Journalists at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram are the first in Texas and the first at a newspaper owned by McClatchy to strike. Members of the Guild decided to strike with an overwhelming majority of support — 91% of signed members — because of the company’s continued refusal to bargain in good faith. 

Journalists at The Courier Journal, Kentucky’s highest-circulation newspaper, today secured a confident victory in their long-awaited union election. Eligible staff voted to certify the new Courier Journal Guild by a margin of 22 to 4. The Courier Journal Guild is part of the Indianapolis NewsGuild, TNG-CWA Local 34070.

Billy Kobin, Metro Government and Breaking News reporter, was one of many staffers to share his excitement after the election results were announced. “The outcome of the vote was never really in doubt, as I had confidence in our support and collective strength,” said Kobin. “But seeing the vote tally happen live was a welcome sight nonetheless. It’s time to keep the momentum going.”

Online “strike paper” is part of an esteemed tradition

It’s rare for private-sector union members to go on strike these days. But it’s even rarer for journalists to walk off the job.

I remember occasionally bringing up the idea of a strike with fellow NewsGuild members when I was a reporter at The Monterey Herald from 2004 to 2014, but it always seemed like no one had the will or ability to make it happen. We had rent payments, mortgages, medical expenses, kids in college and so many other reasons that made the few dollars we’d receive in strike pay seem untenable.

Today The NewsGuild-CWA (TNG-CWA) responded to Standard General’s new FCC filing that attempted to rebut the detailed showing that TNG-CWA and the National Association of Broadcast Employees-CWA (NABET-CWA) submitted to the FCC after reviewing the hedge fund’s and related parties’ confidential filings. Standard General, backed by Apollo Global Management, is attempting to take over TEGNA’s 64 local TV stations.

TNG-CWA’s President Jon Schleuss said the following:

“Journalists are advocates for the truth and Standard General’s most recent attempt to brush off their repeated promises to bankers of station-level job cuts doesn’t pass our standards. Standard General repeatedly asserted on the record to the FCC that it ‘does not intend to reduce station-level staffing’ but its 12 major lenders apparently relied on Standard General’s financial projections showing just the opposite.”