Buffalo History Museum event postponed after threats of violence were made against Buffalo News editorial cartoonist and family

The Buffalo Newspaper Guild and Buffalo History Museum are postponing a planned happy hour event this evening at the museum in light of serious concerns about public safety and direct threats that have warranted intervention by Buffalo police.

The initial event, “Drawing Support for Local Journalism,” was planned more than a month ago to launch the Guild’s public “Protect Local Journalism” campaign at a museum exhibit highlighting the work of Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Adam Zyglis, before the exhibit’s closing.

The free, public and nonpartisan event was intended to promote a message about the need to protect this community by safeguarding a strong, local free press amid pressures being faced by news organizations across the country and here in Western New York.

However, public criticism of an editorial cartoon about Texas flooding published Tuesday in The Buffalo News, and malicious campaigning for individuals to protest and confront Zyglis at this event, has resulted in a series of death threats against Zyglis and a deluge of other direct threats to hurt him and his family.

We wholly condemn the individuals who have chosen to twist a positive, public event into an attempt to terrorize and silence Zyglis, spread fear among journalists and their supporters, and distort the mission of a free press.

Zyglis is an opinion cartoonist who puts his name to every cartoon he draws. While his work is separate and independent from the work of newsroom reporters and editors at The Buffalo News, the Buffalo Newspaper Guild will not stand for physical threats of harm against him and his family. Those who stoop to such cowardly, disgraceful and anonymous acts must be held accountable. The threats made against Zyglis are being forwarded to law enforcement.

Out of an abundance of caution and in the interests of public safety, however, we have decided to postpone the Buffalo History Museum happy hour event. It will be rescheduled. We thank the museum leadership and staff for graciously hosting this event and enduring the needless inconvenience recent events have placed upon them.

The Buffalo News remains the largest news organization in Western New York. Its staff, including members of the Buffalo Newspaper Guild, are dedicated to providing comprehensive and accurate information to the people who live and work here every day. The spiteful campaign to attack and harm Zyglis represents only one more example of the challenges we face as a community and the need to better communicate and support our vital, public role.

We encourage everyone to speak out against these hateful and illegal intimidation tactics and to support the Guild’s greater mission, found at www.ProtectLocalJournalism.com.

RELEASE: PEN Guild Heads to Arbitration Today Over POLITICO’s AI Violations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 11, 2025

Media Contacts:
Dylan Manshack, Comms, WBNG — dmanshack@wbng.org, 202-445-4033
PEN Guild politicoeenewsguild@gmail.com


PEN Guild Heads to Arbitration Today Over POLITICO’s AI Violations

WASHINGTON — Unionized journalists at POLITICO and E&E News will head to arbitration today in a consequential legal dispute over artificial intelligence. The hearing will determine whether POLITICO violated key protections around AI use that were secured in the PEN Guild’s first collective bargaining agreement—one of the first union contracts in the media industry to include enforceable rules for AI.

Today’s hearing marks the beginning of a precedent-setting fight over how AI can be implemented in unionized newsrooms. With no federal standards in place, union contracts are key to protecting journalism from unaccountable AI use by employers.

“This is one of the first major tests of enforceable AI protections in a newsroom,” said Arianna Skibell, Vice Chair of Contract Enforcement at PEN Guild. “We’re fighting not just for our contract, but for the future of ethical journalism in the age of AI.”

Last year, PEN Guild members ratified a first contract that required management to bargain over new AI tools and ensure any AI-generated content meets the same ethical and editorial standards as human reporting. The union alleges POLITICO violated these provisions twice:

  • AI-generated live coverage of major political events, including the 2024 Democratic National Convention and the vice presidential debate, was published without required union notice or human review. One summary used language barred by the newsroom’s Stylebook (“criminal migrants”) and misattributed political actions. These errors were quietly removed, bypassing standard editorial correction protocols.
  • A “Report Builder” tool, developed in partnership with CapitolAI, went live in March to generate branded policy reports for subscribers. The AI has produced major factual errors, including claims that Roe v. Wade remains law and fabricating lobbying causes of nonexistent groups.

After management failed to resolve formal grievances over these actions, the Guild escalated the dispute to arbitration.

“This arbitration is about protecting our contract, our standards, and our readers,” said Ariel Wittenberg, Unit Chair of PEN Guild. “We’re not anti-AI, but AI must serve journalism, not undermine it.”

The PEN Guild has launched a petition and released a video featuring members discussing what’s at stake. Supporters are encouraged to sign the petition and share the video on social media.

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About the PEN Guild
The POLITICO and E&E News (PEN) Guild represents over 270 journalists across POLITICO and E&E News. Formed in 2021, the PEN Guild is part of the Washington-Baltimore News Guild, Local 32035 of The NewsGuild-CWA. The unit ratified its first contract in 2024, securing significant wins including strong AI protections, guaranteed raises, improved salary floors, paid parental leave, fertility and IVF coverage, comp time and overtime guarantees, and key safeguards for equitable and ethical journalism.

Post-Gazette Lawyer Argues Against PG Reporting — and facts — in Bizarre 3rd Circuit Court Appearance

Contact: Moira Bulloch, CWA Communications MBulloch@cwa-union.org, 202-434-1168

PHILADELPHIA – Lawyers representing the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette struggled to explain to a panel of judges why they should be exempt from federal labor law in two consecutive sets of oral arguments on Monday afternoon in the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.

Continue reading “Post-Gazette Lawyer Argues Against PG Reporting — and facts — in Bizarre 3rd Circuit Court Appearance”

Newsletter: Boss faces contempt charges.

In five days, we’ll be in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette management will be on the defendant’s side of the courtroom. 

After 32 months on strike the company is facing two major issues: an enforcement order from the National Labor Relations Board and contempt charges from the NLRB for the company’s failure to follow a rare 10(e) injunction we won in March.

Continue reading “Newsletter: Boss faces contempt charges.”

City Bureau workers announce union drive with unanimous support

Contact: Email cbworkersguild@gmail.com or call 773-357-7096

CHICAGO — Workers at the nonprofit journalism lab City Bureau are forming a union and seeking to become a part of the Chicago News Guild, TNG-CWA Local 34071, joining the nationwide labor movement for a stronger media system. 

Continue reading “City Bureau workers announce union drive with unanimous support”

Snopes workers announce intent to unionize, citing majority support

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 30, 2025
Contact: carrie@mediaguildwest.org

Employees of the oldest fact-checking organization on the internet, Snopes.com, announced their intent to form a union on June 30, 2025. 

The Snopes Guild seeks voluntary recognition from CEO Chris Richmond, CFO Drew Schoentrup, executive editor Doreen Marchionni and director of accounting Amber Marsowicz after 80% of eligible staffers — and counting — signed union cards authorizing representation by the Media Guild of the West. 

Continue reading “Snopes workers announce intent to unionize, citing majority support”

Public Library of Science workers reach first union contract

After a year and a half of negotiations, workers at the Public Library of Science (PLOS) have reached a tentative agreement on their first collective bargaining agreement, marking a major milestone for the academic publishing sector. Once ratified, the contract will lock in wage increases, just cause protections, job security language and a voice in how the nonprofit operates.

Continue reading “Public Library of Science workers reach first union contract”

RELEASE: ACLU, LA Press Club, NewsGuild sue DHS for unconstitutional attacks on reporters and protestors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 19, 2025

Media Contact: communications@aclusocal.org, (213) 977-5252

LOS ANGELES – Last night, protesters, legal observers and journalists sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in federal court for attacking them with retaliatory violence in violation of their Constitutional rights to protest and report on government actions.

Continue reading “RELEASE: ACLU, LA Press Club, NewsGuild sue DHS for unconstitutional attacks on reporters and protestors”

National Labor Relations Board to 3rd Circuit Court: Hold the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in Contempt on Health Care

Contact: Moira Bulloch (mbulloch@cwa-union.org), CWA Communications, 202-434-1168

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is facing the prospect of daily, compounding fines over its refusal to comply with a U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals order to restore the health insurance plan that it illegally took away from workers in 2020.

Continue reading “National Labor Relations Board to 3rd Circuit Court: Hold the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in Contempt on Health Care”