Newsletter: Could a Pulitzer do it?

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First, I hope you have been staying safe! After about two years of avoiding COVID, I came down with it along with several others (in unrelated gatherings). The pandemic is still very much here. Please take steps to get vaccinated, boosted, test yourself regularly if you can and wear a mask if you’re around other people indoors. I luckily healed quickly, but know many who are still suffering from the lingering effects of the virus. So, please take care of yourself and each other.

Could the chance to win a Pulitzer motivate news organizations to be transparent about diversity – or the lack of diversity – in their newsrooms? That’s the question Meredith Clark, Sisi Wei, I and others have been asking for awhile.

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Timesland News Guild members ratify contract

The journalists of The Roanoke Times and Laker Weekly have ratified a new contract with Lee Enterprises, the Timesland News Guild announced on Tuesday.

The two-year agreement includes an increase of almost 12% in the minimum salary, across-the-board pay raises of 2% in each year of the two-year agreement, and adjustments to correct pay inequities. It is the second contract for the newsroom union, which that formed in 2020, and covers about 30 people.

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Newsletter: We’re sending 15 Guild members to Labor Notes — could you be one?

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We are sending 15 Guild members to Labor Notes 2022. The conference will be a great chance for you to meet other activists and leaders in the Guild and across the entire labor movement. It is extremely inspiring talking with workers from different industries about how they build power through collective actions and a democratic union. It’s set to run from June 17-19 in Rosemont, right outside Chicago. Many Guild members will be there and if you’d like help going, we’ll cover the flight, registration and hotel for 15 members. Complete this form by Monday, April 18.

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Newsletter: Miami walks out, Buzzfeed authorizes a strike and Condé union gets bigger

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Journalists at Condé Nast are forming a company-wide union that, once certified, will cover more than 500 media employees! The Condé Nast Union will represent workers at the firm’s iconic magazines, including Vogue, Bon Appétit, Vanity Fair, Architectural Digest, and GQ. It will be one of the biggest units in recent NewsGuild history.

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Newsletter: Meet the new Guild staffers

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This every-other-week newsletter is packed with a lot of news. My hope is that we help communicate all the fights of our members through this newsletter and build solidarity within the Guild. Can you do me a favor and forward this newsletter to at least one of your colleagues and ask them to subscribe?

Folks can subscribe right here.

Danielle Newsome

We’ve got two new staffers! I’m thrilled to announce them after a lot of work to make it happen. Danielle Newsome (she/her) joins us as a new staff representative, with a focus on the jobs that used to be part of the Guild’s director of collective bargaining. This comes after all of our discussions last year to increase capacity and provide more support to our locals. And while CWA still has a hiring freeze, this position was created after the passage of the SMART resolution at CWA’s October Convention. 

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NewsGuild to Lee Shareholders: Reject Alden’s ‘Vote No’ Campaign

The NewsGuild-CWA is urging shareholders of Lee Enterprises to rebuff the latest moves by Alden Global Capital to take control of the company.

In a March 1 letter, NewsGuild President Jon Schleuss urged “fellow shareholders” to vote for three nominees to the board of directors recommended by Lee’s current board — and to reject a campaign by Alden Global Capital against two of them, Mary E. Junck and Herbert W. Maloney III. Alden’s campaign against Lee’s candidates follows a February ruling by the Delaware Chancery Court rejecting Alden’s attempt to nominate its own candidates for the board in violation of Lee’s bylaws.  

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Newsletter: 60 Minutes tells a story we know well

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Tech workers at the New York Times are going to have their ballots counted this week! The 600-person bargaining unit will be the largest group of workers to unionize with the Guild in decades. And it will become the largest group of tech workers with collective bargaining rights in the United States. It’s only happening because of the workers themselves, the support of the NewsGuild of New York, CODE-CWA and thousands of you — NewsGuild members. I’ll be heading to NYC this week to join the workers and plan to celebrate! Follow along with the workers on Twitter.  

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When a hedge fund’s shell game backfires: Lee strikes back at Alden after courtroom victory

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on SaveLocalNews.org on Feb. 18, 2022.

In a stunning Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Lee Enterprises took a big swing at Alden Global Capital, the hedge fund attempting a hostile takeover of the news chain.

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Newsletter: Have you seen this video?

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Happy New Year!

2021 was a bang-up year for NewsGuild union organizing. Journalists, staffers at nonprofits and employees of publishing houses stood up in record numbers and demanded a voice at work. In all, 2,128 new Guild members won union recognition at 42 new workplaces last year.

But the numbers don’t tell the whole story.

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