The NewsGuild is a democratic union, where members set the agenda and locals are self-governing. Leaders are elected through direct, one-person, one-vote, elections. National decisions are made at biennial conferences, which typically occur just prior to the conventions of the Guild’s parent union, the Communications Workers of America.
The Executive Council guides the Guild’s work between the union’s biennial conferences. It is comprised of a Chairperson, a President (who also serves as a CWA Vice-President), an Executive Vice President, six Regional Vice-Presidents and the President of CWA/SCA Canada.
International Chair Diane Mastrull
Diane has been president of the Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia since January 2018 and a Guild member at The Philadelphia Inquirer since 1997. She is a night and weekend editor. When she’s not editing stories on nights and weekends, negotiating contracts or organizing demonstrations for pay raises or against threatened layoffs, Diane runs. A lot. Notably, she runs Philly’s most popular race, the Broad Street 10-miler, and the annual Philadelphia Half Marathon. She believes running teaches valuable lessons about setting and achieving goals — an important aspect of bargaining! Follow Diane on Twitter @dmastrull or contact her at dimastrull@gmail.com.
President Jon Schleuss
Jon (he/him/his) grew up in rural Arkansas reading the morning Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and the afternoon Camden News. He found his way into journalism through college radio. He became the online editor of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette at age 21, moving the paper to do more breaking news, use social media and report live election results. In 2013 he joined the Los Angeles Times as a data and graphics journalist, writing and telling innovative stories using computer programming. He taught journalism students how to code at the University of Southern California. He was part of the group of workers who organized the Times in 2018. He ran for president and won in 2019. As NewsGuild president, Jon serves on the Executive Board of the CWA. He lives in Washington, D.C. Follow Jon on Twitter @gaufre or contact him at jschleuss@cwa-union.org.
Executive Vice President Marian Needham
Marian comes to The NewsGuild through the Buffalo local, where she was the administrative officer. She was hired by the national union in 1990, first as director of contract administration, and later, as a sector rep. Marian was elected to a second term as executive vice president in 2019. You can reach Marian at mneedham@cwa-union.org.
CWA Canada President Carmel Smyth
Carmel is president of CWA Canada and sits on both The NewsGuild and CWA Executive boards. She’s an award-winning journalist who has worked across Canada for private and public broadcasting, in radio, television and online for 25 years. She was the national president of the Canadian Media Guild for nine years. Contact Carmel at csmyth@cwacanada.ca.
Regional Vice Presidents
Regional vice presidents serve on the Executive Council, which oversees the Guild’s national operation. They are responsible for conveying concerns from locals in their region to the E.C., and for providing locals with reports on TNG and E.C. actions and activities. They serve as a conduit between the union’s national operations and the administrative officers, local presidents and other activists in their regions.
Kathy McCabe, Region 1 Vice President
Kathy is the treasurer of the Boston Newspaper Guild TNG-CWA 31245 and is a metro reporter and editor at the Boston Globe. Follow her on Twitter @globekmccabe or contact her at katherinemmccabe@comcast.net.
Dan Gabor, Region 2 Vice President
Dan (he/him/his) is the President-elect of the Washington-Baltimore NewsGuild for the 2022-2023 term. He has been a member of the Guild since 2016, working at the AFL-CIO as a Senior Data Coordinator. Dan is passionate about modernizing our union, leveraging the power of new technology and new organizing tactics to seize the moment, build strong unions, mobilize NewsGuild members, and increase worker power. Dan was elected to the TNG Executive Council at the October 2021 sector conference. Follow Dan on twitter @dan_gabor or contact him at dan.m.gabor@gmail.com.
Sandy Tan, Region 3 Vice President
Sandy has been an active member of the Buffalo Newspaper Guild TNG-CWA Local 31026 for more than 20 years and served two terms as president through 2022, helping to negotiate some of the most difficult contracts in the Guild’s history. She works as a full-time Buffalo News reporter covering the Erie County government, the largest county in Western New York. She’s an advocate for openness and transparency, member engagement and mobilization. Follow her on Twitter @SandraTanBN or contact her at santan716@gmail.com.
Michael Cabanatuan, Region 4 Vice President
Michael has spent the better part of two decades as a Guild activist and even longer than that as a journalist. He’s in his fourth term as vice president of The NewsGuild-CWA Sector Executive Committee, where he represents members and locals west of the Rockies. Cabanatuan joined the Guild in Modesto, where he helped bargain The Bee’s first contract after seven years under posted conditions. He was president of the Pacific Media Workers Guild, Local 39521, for 10 years, and is a reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle, where he covers general news and breaking news after years as a transportation writer. Follow him on Twitter @ctuan or contact him at CTUAN@aol.com.
Bill Baker, Region 5 Vice President
In addition to service as Region 5 Vice President, Bill serves on the Executive Council of the NewsGuild of New York local. He is the New York Times Unit Chairperson, where he also has worked as a Telecommunications Coordinator for 15 years. He has been a union member (CWA, IBEW, NewsGuild-CWA) in the field of telecommunications for most of his career of more than 30 years. Follow him on Twitter @BillBaker380 or contact him at nytunitchair.bb@gmail.com.
Andrew Carillo, Region 6 Vice President
Andrew is the 1st vice president of the Denver Newspaper Guild TNG-CWA Local 37074 and a senior organizer at Service Employees International Union Local 105. Contact him at andrewcarillo@gmail.com.