May 13, 2020 – The digital employees of People Magazine announced Wednesday that they are seeking voluntary union recognition from the Meredith Corporation, the magazine’s parent company, so they can join their print colleagues at People in the NewsGuild-CWA’s New York local. Continue reading “People Magazine’s digital staff seeks to end the ‘digital divide’ and join union”
Group toughed out delays to win with more than 80% of the vote
May 12, 2020 – Journalists at the Orlando Sentinel won a resounding victory Tuesday, voting 36-8 to form the Sentinel Guild.The vote will give photographers, reporters, editors, columnists and staff a voice at work and the right to negotiate with Tribune Publishing, the newspaper’s Chicago-based parent company. The Sentinel Guild will become a unit of Local 3108 of The NewsGuild-CWA. Continue reading “Journalists of Orlando Sentinel Win Union Vote”
May 11, 2020 – Staffers at Pop-Up Magazine Productions announced May 11 that they are forming a union as part of the Media Guild of the West, a local of The NewsGuild-CWA. They are part of a surge in union organizing among news industry workers. Continue reading “Staff of Pop-Up Magazine Productions joins union surge”
May 8, 2020 – Workers at Inside Higher Ed won voluntary recognition of their union from the company’s leadership team on May 7. The IHE Guild can now begin negotiations with Inside Higher Ed for a fair contract. Continue reading “Inside Higher Ed Recognizes Guild”
May 5, 2020 – “Stop lying now and respect journalists’ right to organize and form unions.” Continue reading “NewsGuild to Gannett: Stop lying, respect journalists’ right to organize”
Statement from Jon Schleuss, President, NewsGuild-CWA on Announcement of the 2020 Pulitzer Awards:
May 4, 2020 – “On behalf of more than 24,000 members of the NewsGuild, we extend warm congratulations to all the winners and finalists of the 2020 Pulitzer Awards. We are particularly proud of The NewsGuild members who won or were finalists. Journalists run to the story, even during a pandemic. Your dedication continues to advance our craft, benefiting us all.” Continue reading “Congrats, Pulitzer Prize Winners”
By Randy Furst (Illustration by Steve Sack)
May 4, 2020 – On April 3 and 10, 28 union reporters and four management editors were permanently laid off at the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Rachel Dissell, whose break-through investigative journalism had a big effect on Ohio and Cleveland, was one of the reporters laid off. Continue reading “Massive cuts impact journalism in the communities they serve”
For Immediate Release: April 9, 2020
Contact: Sally Davidow | sdavidow@cwa-union.org
‘More Americans will die’ if they cannot access critical information
The NewsGuild-CWA told congressional leaders that public funding to continue news coverage must be a priority in the next stimulus package, writing on Thursday, “More Americans will die” if they cannot access the critical information news outlets provide.
“As the nation shelters indoors, Americans are turning to local, regional and national news in record numbers for life-saving information,” NewsGuild President Jon Schleuss wrote in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
“Many publications have lowered digital paywalls to provide COVID-19 coverage for free,” Schleuss wrote. “At the same time, the news industry is seeing plummeting ad revenue created by business closures.
“At this moment when Americans need reliable, community-focused coverage, we risk losing it all,” he warned.
The loss of revenue is already devastating local news coverage. News outlets across the country have cut staff significantly and furloughed employees. Some have reduced publication and distribution, or stopped publishing altogether. In New Orleans, which is facing one of the most dire outbreaks of COVID-19 in the nation, the local paper has seen online readership quadruple, even as a decline in revenue led to the furlough of 10 percent of the staff.
“This is the worst possible time to eliminate or weaken crucial sources of local information, given the rapid spread of the virus, the frequently changing directives from governments and the urgent need to update information about sources of assistance,” Schleuss said.
Funding recipients must remain independent of partisan influence, he said, but, he added, “Failing to protect our local news literally puts lives at risk.”
To protect the news industry’s ability to continue serving the public, the NewsGuild said Congress should adopt measures that include:
“Communities across the country are in dire need of assistance to preserve access to life-saving news. By enacting the support package described above, you can protect that access and keep communities connected during this crisis,” Schleuss wrote.
###
The NewsGuild-CWA represents more than 24,000 journalists and other media workers in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. The Guild is a sector of the 700,000-member Communications Workers of America.
April 8, 2020 – The NewsGuild-CWA is pleased that 19 senators are asking Senate leaders to include funding to support local journalism and media in any future stimulus package.
“This is an important step in protecting life-saving news operations from devastation and we will work to win broad, bipartisan support for such a package,” said Jon Schleuss, president of The NewsGuild. Continue reading “NewsGuild praises senators’ call for funding for local journalism”
News-gathering operations are essential for a well-functioning society, especially in times of crisis.
