Standup drama

On Monday, Dec. 11, thousands of Newspaper Guild members and other supporters stood up for quality journalism by demonstrating against the job cuts that have plagued the news industry.

More than 44,000 news industry employees have lost their jobs over the past five years. At least 34,000 of them worked at newspapers alone. These cuts represent not just a few jobs spread across our industry, but a substantial reduction in the number of journalists working at newspapers, television, radio and other media companies.

And it’s happening here, too. In the 11 years since the merger of The Milwaukee Journal and the Milwaukee Sentinel eliminated about 100 newsroom positions, another 31 newsroom staff jobs have disappeared from the Milwaukee Newspaper Guild’s bargaining unit. That includes 12 News Information Center positions and one photo tech job that were downsized, but the other 18 jobs – 16 journalists and two support staffers – simply weren’t filled when people left.

Today, the Journal Sentinel has 13 fewer reporters covering local and suburban news than in 1995, even though we’ve added a bureau in Racine. We’re also down 10 sports journalists, six street photographers and three copy editors, offset partly by the addition of nine JS Online staffers and seven MKE journalists to our bargaining unit.

These cutbacks aren't momentary, or due to a poor economy. It's all about money. They represent an accelerating and alarming trend by corporations to demand higher profit margins from their news operations.

Fewer people in the newsroom mean less news coverage. With fewer journalists, the whole community suffers. With smaller staffs, editors are being forced to decide which stories not to report, cover or investigate. We all lose when "the news" is reduced to nothing more than a commodity on a profit-loss statement.

To see what news industry workers across North America did to support quality journalism, go to www.savejournalism.org. And while you're there, check out the video on a press conference held by Guild members attending the Federal Communications Commission hearing in Nashville.

Let's not grow old together

Journal Communications recently sent out letters declaring the company would cut off retiree health insurance for any current employee who hadn't turned 50 by the end of this year.

But many workers didn't realize those letters came in two versions: one for those under 50 and one for those over 50. If you read the over-50 edition, which includes more details, you can see the company is pushing older employees to retire before April 1, but if you read the under-50 edition, it just looks like another benefit the company is cutting back on.

The Milwaukee Newspaper Guild's leadership has been seeking more information on this move and on our options. We'll discuss this issue at our quarterly membership meeting at noon Monday on the second floor of Turner Hall.

Also on the agenda are a possible settlement of our grievance over vacation payouts (see Sept. 1 posting, "Parting gift: A kick in the TVA"); an update on our talks about pension changes; and a discussion of what we can do to support the international Guild's efforts to stand up for journalism in the face of job cutbacks at newspapers nationwide. Lunch is included.