Save The News | The NewsGuild

Key jobs provision of Local Journalism Sustainability Act is recommended for reconciliation

The jobs tax credit in the Local Journalism Sustainability Act was included in the House Ways and Means Committee’s recommendations for reconciliation, NewsGuild President Jon Schleuss reported to union members this week. “This means it has a very good chance of becoming law,” he said.

The ‘shadow bank’ that — with the help of public pension funds — is aiding the destruction of local news

Editor’s Note: This article appears in full on Nieman Lab.org.

To the ancient Greeks, Cerberus was the hound of Hades, a multi-headed dog with a serpent’s tail who kept souls from escaping the underworld. His eyes burned with fiery lava and he vomited bile.

The canine’s namesake, Cerberus Capital Management, is a private equity firm that, like Alden Global Capital, specializes in acquiring distressed businesses — and, alongside Alden, it is now in the business of devouring newsrooms in the name of profit.

Cerberus was Alden’s financial backer for its recent takeover of Tribune Publishing, but the two secretive companies have a shared history that goes back to at least 2015.

NewsGuild applauds Local Journalism Sustainability Act

The NewsGuild-CWA is enthusiastically supporting a bill that would provide a path to financial stability for struggling local newspapers, digital-only publications and local television and radio stations through a series of tax credits.

“The Local Journalism Sustainability Act would provide a much-needed boost to save local news jobs,” said NewsGuild President Jon Schleuss. “Half of America’s journalism jobs have been wiped out in the past decade and the losses have accelerated during the pandemic.

Communities call on Tribune Publishing to vote against takeover bid

MAY 13, 2021
CONTACT: Sally Davidow
sdavidow@cwa-union.org
202-368-3324

Residents and local organizations served by Tribune Publishing newspapers have a message for the company’s shareholders: vote NO to a proposed takeover by Alden Global Capital.

With shareholders set to vote May 21 on a $17.25 per share bid by the New York hedge fund, dozens of prominent individuals, local unions and community organizations served notice to Trib Pub shareholders that their actions could have profound impacts on millions of stakeholders, posting a letter to shareholders on the Securities & Exchange Commission’s EDGAR database.

American Rescue Plan includes important health care provisions

The recently-enacted American Rescue Plan includes several elements of special interest to workers and their unions, NewsGuild Executive Vice President Marian Needham reports.

One little noticed benefit is a provision that grants a 100% subsidy for six months of health care premiums for COBRA-eligible people who lose their jobs or eligibility for employer coverage for the period from April 1 to Sept. 30, 2021.

Connecticut legislature hears testimony on the value of the Hartford Courant

A committee of the Connecticut state legislature heard compelling testimony Thursday about the value of The Hartford Courant to the local community and the threat that Alden Global Capital poses to it.

Congress addresses the local news crisis

In a hearing on saving “the free and diverse press,” NewsGuild president urges lawmakers to protect local news and jobs

Summing up the nation’s local news crisis as a combination of unfair siphoning of advertising revenue by online platforms and “predatory financial actors” who strip newsrooms of jobs and resources, NewsGuild President Jon Schleuss testified Friday at a congressional hearing to address the nation’s local news crisis.