TNG-CWA Sends the Message: Democracy Depends on Good Jobs, Good Journalism
Updated 12-14-06! TNG-CWA members across the country joined together for a day of action to Save Journalism on Dec. 11. They rallied, testified and focused members' and public attention on the harm that job cuts in the news industry causes to workers, communities, quality journalism and democracy itself.
In Los Angeles, members of CWA Local 9400 at the Daily News wore black to support San Jose members in their fight on Dec. 4, then had a good showing of members -- and even non-members -- wearing stickers and talking about how to fight off future layoffs. Members plan to meet to discuss more ways to mobilize to save journalism and jobs.
At the San Francisco Chronicle, TNG-CWA officers and stewards distributed materials and had lots of one-on-one converstions with members. Among the reponses: "It's great that the Guild is doing this. I've always thought the industry needed to market itself this way" and "we need to get this message out to the public." A local high school journalism teacher passed out wristbands to his class and bumper stickers were everywhere in the newsroom.
In Dayton, Ohio, about 25 TNG-CWA members rallied outside the Dayton Daily News, cheering and carrying signs and getting support from the public in the campaign for quality journalism.
In Canton, Ohio, TNG-CWA members wore wristbands and stickers, mobilizing around the pending sale of the Canton Repository. Several members spent time during the day talking with community leaders and the impact it could have on the newspaper and reporting of local news.
Newsday journalists, in Melville, N.Y., sent a letter to parent Tribune Co., calling for an end to staff reductions and the need for additional resources to cover news on Long Island and elsewhere. The letter, signed by 112 employees, said the ability to provide readers with a comprehensive news report and investigative storeis had been undermined by cuts in the workforce and newsprint.
Members of TNG-CWA Local 38218 in York, Pa., celebrated "Festivus," airing their grievances over bargaining for a new contract for more than a year at the York newspapers.
In Minnesota, about 150 members from the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press and supporters rallied together, releasing 100 black balloons into the air to spotlight the loss of quality journalism jobs at the newspapers since 2005.
"We're standing outside a building that six years ago had 240 people to put out the news – writers, editors, photographers and artists," said Brian Bonner, a reporter at Minnesota's St. Paul Pioneer Press and member of TNG-CWA Local 37002. "Today we have 175 people doing the same jobs that 240 people used to do."
In Nashville, TNG-CWA members joined a broad coalition in speaking out against further rollbacks in media ownership rules, the subject of a Federal Communications Commission hearing. Watch the video.
"We gather in Nashville with a goal – to protect this country's democracy by ensuring that many independent, credible voices are heard on our nation's airwaves and in the press," said Carolyn Tuft, a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter and member of TNG-CWA Local 36047. "We must stop the media conglomerates from stripping the country of more media outlets, further eroding the check and balance that a strong free press provides the public and our democracy."
In Pittsburgh, in the midst of difficult contract talks, TNG-CWA members and workers represented by 13 other unions at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette lined the boulevard outside the newspaper to demonstrate their solidarity.
"We live in what can be a cantankerous town, but we're blessed to have a variety of media telling Pittsburgh's story. Newspapers, radio stations, TV stations, Web sites - we all compete for the eyes and ears of the people we serve. At the end of the day, most of us believe all this competition serves the common good. Because we make each other better," said columnist Brian O'Neill.
"In the past five years, more than 40 jobs have disappeared from our newsroom, more than 15 this year alone. We closed our Washington, D.C., bureau, leaving only one reporter (the lone union member in that office) to cover the nation's capital with a Pittsburgh perspective. We lost one of our political cartoonists, too. The end result is the people of Pittsburgh have fewer watchdogs looking out for them. Fewer people are covering your community, your school board, your local hospital, your government and your favorite teams," O'Neill said.
Across the state in Philadelphia, Guild members marked the day with bitter, ongoing talks as the fought save jobs and their pension plan. A strike is still possible.
In San Jose, TNG-CWA members distributed materials around the Mercury News and held a teach-in with educators and journalism students at DeAnza College.
The Milwaukee TNG-CWA distributed materials and information around the Journal Sentinel and workers at the Catholic News Service in Washington, D.C., stood for a minute of silence.
This item will be updated as more reports come in.
