Action Alert: Save Local News!
Our union family at The NewsGuild-CWA recently launched a major campaign to protect local news from ongoing efforts by media conglomerates to buy up and consolidate media outlets.
Corporate news chain Gannett is destroying America’s local papers – including publications across Rochester, Utica and the Hudson Valley – and shrinking vital local coverage, laying off local journalists we need reporting on and delivering news about our communities.
At the time of Gannett’s mega-merger with GateHouse in 2019, the NewsGuild predicted that the news companies’ deal - financed by Wall Street investors - would result in a massive loss of resources and staff. In the last four years, the Guild’s dire predictions have come true as the company slashed half of its staff to service its massive self-incurred debt load of $1.8 billion, robbing newspapers of the resources they need.
Gannett continues to prioritize its own bottom line, hiring reporters to cover Taylor Swift and Beyoncé and blundering in its use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) over actual journalists – all while hollowing out local news coverage.
Leadership, Stewards Training, and Skill Building at Recent Local Conferences
MASSIVE Mobilization by NewsGuild-CWA Tells New York Times: TIME IS RUNNING OUT