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RECENT LOCAL NEWS FUTURE OF NEWSPAPERS
Can the dailies survive behind paywalls? A little over a year from now, you may no longer be able to read any Bay Area daily newspaper online for free. And it's not just happening here. All over the country, after years of bankruptcies and plunging revenues, the largest media and entertainment outlets are finally getting up the gumption to demand that you pay for what they produce. If they succeed, the odd quirk of history that gave us instant online gratification will come to an end. But will they succeed? More objections filed in MediaNews Group parent's bankruptcy case Two more objections were filed Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in connection with the pre-packaged reorganization plan offered by Affiliated Media Inc., parent of Denver-based newspaper chain MediaNews Group Inc. BANG-EB: THE GUILD UPDATE News of the MediaNews bankruptcy The MediaNews bankruptcy marches ahead. So far, proceedings in Delaware bankruptcy court seem to agree with the idea that Chapter 11 proceedings will be limited to MNG's holding company, Affiliated Media Inc., and will not affect employees or union contracts. David R. Hock of Cohen, Weiss and Simon represented The Newspaper Guild/Communications Workers of America locals at the first day hearing on Jan. 26. It appears the pre-packaged bankruptcy will come to a swift conclusion, heading for confirmation without objection on March 4. MediaNews Group reportedly worried its phones will be shut off In its reporting about the impending bankruptcy filing by Affiliated Media, the holding company of MediaNews Group, its owner, the Denver Post left the B-word out of the headline -- and its published version of an Associated Press story about the filing left out intriguing info included by other papers, including details of MediaNews boss Dean Singleton's salary. PRESS RELEASE
CEO and top editor named for S.F. news launch Nonprofit to supply Bay Area news for NY Times The Bay Area News Project, a new nonprofit public media organization based in San Francisco, announced today the names of its two senior leaders, Chief Executive Officer Lisa Frazier and Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Weber. In conjunction with The New York Times, the media non-profit also announced it will supply news for the Bay Area sections of The Times. BANG-EB: THE GUILD UPDATE MediaNews bankruptcy filing stirs union legal action Guild will fight to protect contracts MediaNews Group's planned bankruptcy filing raised alarms throughout the company, and Guild members have wasted no time getting our legal department on the case. Our East Bay leaders were part of a national MNG Guild gathering in San Francisco, where an announcement was issued the day after the long-rumoured debt plan was unveiled. FUTURE OF JOURNALISM News Project on track, posts for new tech job KQED won't be 'founding partner,' says UC dean Neil Henry of UC Berkeley confirmed that the News Project has "secured an outstanding CEO and an extraordinary editor in chief whose names will be announced later this month," and added that "KQED will not play a role as a founding partner, but we look forward to its active participation." A report on MediaBistro discusses a new job posting and says the project is "moving forward." The Tablet Hype
They can't possibly save magazines and newspapers Sports Illustrated dazzled the technorati and knuckle-draggers alike earlier this month with a demo of a digital tablet prototype of the magazine promised for 2010. Radiating a wow-factor equal to some of the media gadgets in Steven Spielberg's Minority Report, the SI demo promises full-motion video, lightning-quick screen refreshes as you flick from page to page, and the power to customize the device per your preferences. SINGLETON MESSAGES STAFF
MediaNews nearing debt deal with banks Singleton asks patience of employees MediaNews CEO Dean Singleton and President Jody Lodovic said Thursday that the company is close to an agreement with its banks on a debt restructuring plan. Once the plan is completed toward the end of the first quarter of 2010, they added, the company expects to have a "manageable level of debt" and will look forward to "a changing but exciting future."
Joe Strupp: Goodbye 'E&P'? A wonderful ride After writing about too many layoffs, buyouts, furloughs and shutdowns, I got the news myself Thursday when bosses at parent company Nielsen gave us the word that E&P would cease to exist. THE NEWS PROJECT Top management to be named soon for Bay Area startup Participants in the founding of the Bay Area News Project outlined some of their goals in a status report published by the American Journalism Review. For the Guild, it's all about quality jobs. One union representative said the effort is intended "to invent a new structure and a new model to set the foundation for what we really want to do, which is journalism." BANG-EB: THE GUILD UPDATE Health care costs creep ever higher Management has sent open enrollment packets for next year's health benefits to all workers at both the Bay Area News Group-East Bay and the Mercury News. In most cases, California MediaNews Group employees -- union or not -- are covered by the same health plan. The Guild has negotiated protections against premium increases at the Merc and Monterey Herald, but we did not yet achieve this in our first round of contract negotiations in the East Bay. Our contract guarantees, however, that Guild-covered workers at BANG-East Bay be treated the same as management when it comes to health care. Brokaw Road office closed in San Jose We spend less on rent, more on staff and organizing In an effort to better use the resources of our newly merged local, staff and officers of the Mercury News unit decided to close the Guild office on Brokaw Road. We finished packing and gave the keys back to the landlord last week. This will allow us to maintain a high level of staffing and organizing support despite budget constraints. FUTURE OF JOURNALISM
Cal journalism students celebrate hyperlocal launch Richmond Confidential news site debuts online Students at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism launched Richmond Confidential, the school's third "hyperlocal" news site, with a pizza party Thursday night at North Gate Hall. Local politicians offered congratulations along with Cal faculty and the Media Workers. We urged the students to make their voice heard as the new nonprofit media collaboration known as the Bay Area News Project takes shape. How union helped new Bay Area News Project San Francisco philanthropist/financier Warren Hellman grabbed most of the ink, and pixels, after the announcement last month that he would provide $5 million in seed money to help UC Berkeley and KQED sponsor a nonprofit multimedia local news website. Pretty much ignored in the press coverage was the role of the local Media Workers Guild in creating the Bay Area News Project (BANP)-- the current informal name of the embryonic news enterprise. NEWSROOM OF THE FUTURE
Hellman news play: KQED, UC -- and N.Y. Times? Nonprofit in talks with NY Times Financier Warren Hellman is teaming up with public broadcaster KQED Public Media and UC Berkeley's graduate school of journalism to create a nonprofit news organization by next year to fill gaps in local news coverage left by the decline of the San Francisco Chronicle and other daily papers. The venture may also include the New York Times Co., which said it has had "fruitful" conversations with the other participants. FUTURE OF NEWSPAPERS
Time for frank talk about Mercury News 'Our work here is important. We need your help to preserve it.' We need to talk. We need to talk about the Mercury News, about why it's vital to you and about how we can make it better in a time of shrinking staffs and declining profits. Maybe you've read about how the newspaper business, and the Mercury News with it, is struggling. Maybe you've taken that to mean that we've lost our determination to bring you the news, or that we're just playing out the string. We haven't and we aren't. Text of award honoring Sylvia Ulloa The Frank Rene Sauliere Award is the highest honor our local can bestow on one of its members for outstanding Guild service. It is not given every year, only when a Guild member exhibits exemplary leadership and service. It has been awarded only 15 times over the San Jose Guild's 72-year history. This year, the honor goes to Sylvia Ulloa, who over the course of her years serving as unit chair, local president and vice president of the newly merged San Jose and San Francisco local, has displayed remarkable leadership and a fierce commitment to protecting the interests of Newspaper Guild members during the union's most tumultuous and challenging period, which includes the merger of the locals. BULLETIN More layoffs imminent at Chronicle No details known as yet The Guild was given a "heads-up" today that more layoffs are in store for The Chronicle. There were no details as to numbers or departments, but additional information was expected within a day or two. Palo Alto's Daily News packs on the pounds For the third time this year, the Daily News of Palo Alto is undergoing a format change. Starting Tuesday, it will measure 21 inches in length -- this after having already tried on and rejected lengths of 16 and 11 inches. The paper apparently can't stop swigging from the "Drink me" bottle. BANG-EB: THE GUILD UPDATE Copy desk, other issues raised with MediaNews Guild representatives from BANG-EB and the San Jose Mercury News met with MediaNews Group representatives this week to discuss the recent staff reductions, copy desk consolidation, internships and other important issues. Both units had concerns about the recent move of copy editors from San Jose into the Walnut Creek newsroom. Williams joins California Watch The Center for Investigative Reporting announced today that it has hired Lance Williams as an investigative reporter covering money and politics for CIR's new California Watch project. Williams joins California Watch from the San Francisco Chronicle, where he helped break many of the newspaper's exclusive stories on the BALCO steroid scandal. With Mark Fainaru-Wada, he wrote Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports. The book, combined with the Chronicle articles, prompted Sen. George Mitchell's investigation of baseball's steroid era and led to many reforms. Mercury News layoff and buyout information Mercury News layoff and buyout information Guild contractual benefits available to editorial members who took a buyout or were laid off by the Mercury News. SJ Layoff and Buyout Information
Former Mercury News photographer Len Vaughn-Lahman dies at 55 He was a sweet-souled bear of a man, a globe-trotting photojournalist who infused his work with heart and true grit. And whenever former Mercury News photographer Len Vaughn-Lahman rolled off on assignment, he'd bring back not only the perfect photo, but stories that were as much a part of him as what he had seen through the lens. BULLETIN The Guild has been trying to answer the many questions regarding the upcoming editorial work reduction in the BANG-EB unit. Executive Editor Kevin Keane sent out answers to many of them yesterday afternoon. Instead of replicating them, the information is posted below. There are also additional questions we have asked the company. We asked how many guild positions are among these 18. The company was checking, but an early answer was that it will probably depend on how many volunteers there are. If you volunteer, you will qualify for unemployment insurance. The company said it will not challenge claims, as it has done in the past. If you're a Guild member, and your dependent child is starting college in the fall, he or she may qualify for $500 scholarship from the union. Check out the flyer and application. PRESIDENT'S VIEW
Finding glimmers of hope in frontline workers At the Guild convention in Washington, I was part of a panel that reviewed recent concessionary bargaining situations, and it was my job to recount the brutal round of talks this spring at the San Francisco Chronicle. We made a difficult decision in the best interest of the majority of our Guild colleagues. I'm proud of that decision, and proud of our members at the Chronicle, as well as those at the Sacramento and Modesto Bees, who made similar sacrifices.
News workers offered path to skills upgrade Everybody: Take the survey! MediaNews workers: a deal for you As Bay Area newspapers cut hundreds of jobs, skill training programs are springing up to help out-of-work print journalists find new jobs -- and help current members at MediaNews papers increase their prospects while they still have jobs. A survey and special scholarships are in the works -- and here are early details. REBEL GIRL Steffens to focus on her other family for a while Sara Steffens stepped aside Saturday as East Bay unit chair. She was presented a framed poster of "Rebel Girl," commemorating the famous Wobbly lyric written by Joe Hill about Elizabeth Gurley Flynn in service of the "One Big Union," which provided inspiration for the "One Big BANG: One Guild Universe" organizing drive that led to the founding of the East Bay unit in 2008. CAREERS IN FLUX
How to get free multimedia training New consortium aims to help 100-200 news workers Guild members are welcome at a June 17 job forum in the South Bay that will include a career coach, resume-writing help and other resources. Also, former San Jose Guild leader Luther Jackson, now a consultant, is leading a survey as part of an exciting new multi-media training project for unemployed Guild members looking to gain new skills. Details of the San Jose settlement Here are some details of the new contract your bargaining committee negotiated with the company. As you know, it is a difficult period in the newspaper industry and the country. This contract settlement represents our best efforts at protecting workers, jobs and quality at the Mercury News.
The San Jose bargaining committee and representatives of the Mercury News have come to a tentative agreement on a new 18-month contract. Lead negotiator Darren Carroll will be verifying details of the deal with the company's representatives.
Most journalists don't fall into their profession by accident. It's a calling. It's a passion. It's an obsession. It's the best job anywhere. Journalists aren't accidentally falling out of their profession either. They're laid off. They're bought out. Their papers close. There are fewer jobs everywhere.
He took the money -- but won't run A 'farewell-for-now' note from Del Vigil Former Chronicle Staff Writer Delfin Vigil took out an ad in the Fri., March 5, San Francisco Examiner to publish an essay headined, "Chronicle In Ruins." He was laid off in the recent job reductions. He sent us the following "farewell for now" note. BANG-EB: THE GUILD UPDATE
East Bay unit officer elections June 6 in Oakland As summer approaches, a new Guild season awaits Meeting date change: Because of the holiday-related switch in EC/RA meeting plans, our BANG-EB meeting moved, too. Now, plan on June 6, 11 a.m., in Oakland to elect unit officers and hear about negotiations. BARGAINING BULLETIN East Bay contract 90% complete Core issues left include right to bargain on pay Guild negotiators met Tuesday with Bay Area News Group-East Bay management to continue our push toward a first contract. Tentative agreements were reached on union membership and dues deduction policies, as well as a preamble that emphasizes cooperative effort to advance the twin goals of editorial quality and business efficiency. Hellman has 2-month timeline to create business model for news Noted San Francisco financier Warren Hellman said in a statement Friday that he and "a team of business and media experts" are, as rumored in recent weeks, working on a plan to develop a new, sustainable model for community journalism in San Francisco and the Bay Area, given the intense pressures on daily papers, including the San Francisco Chronicle. Mercury News Bargaining Bulletin 16 Mediator keeps talks in confidence Representatives of the Guild and the Mercury News met today and had a serious discussion about pay cuts, jurisdiction and consolidation. At the direction of federal mediator David Weinberg, details of the current negotiations will remain in the confidence of the bargaining committee until we get more information from the company. CHRONICLE UNIT BULLETIN Hearst puts hatchet away at least until May Management has told us that there would be no announced layoffs this Friday and that any layoff announcement would be "most likely sometime in May." No other details were given. Mercury News Bargaining Bulletin 15 But pay may fall -- and some jobs move to East Bay Guild and Mercury News negotiators on Tuesday traded proposals, and both sides expressed hope for a collective bargaining settlement in early May. Company officials dropped several demands, including removing advertising sales representatives from the bargaining unit and seeking a 40-hour work week. But the company made clear its need to find significant permanent savings to ensure the newspaper survives. BARGAINING BULLETIN Nailbiting time in East Bay talks Progress after three days of talks -- focus shifts to Merc Three days of intensive negotiations in Pleasanton have produced significant progress toward a first contract for the Bay Area News Group-East Bay Guild unit. We have not yet reached our goal of a comprehensive labor agreement, which will be subject to a ratification vote by our membership. But discussions between the BANG-EB bargaining committee and management resolved a number of critical areas, including severance, management rights, overtime provisions, flexible schedules and subcontracting. Eugene Bryant, longtime union leader, dies of cancer When Eugene Bryant Jr. went in to battle for his troops, the newspaper labor negotiator came prepared with his arsenal of facts and held his ground firmly. But the burly former college football player never raised his voice. Chronicle, Teamsters agree on job cuts The approximately 235 Chronicle drivers represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 853, are scheduled to vote Sunday on what was presented as the company's final offer, said Rome Aloise, the local's secretary-treasurer. San Francisco Chronicle reaches tentative deal with Teamsters The San Francisco Chronicle, under the gun by owner Hearst Corp. to slash expenses, has reached a tentative deal with a second union to do just that, according to a report Tuesday by Bloomberg. OBITUARY
When Gene Bryant retired as an international representative for The Newspaper Guild in 1995, he made sure that he owed the union a week’s work for the final salary he collected. Months later, he came back to lend a hand in the final drive to another contract between the Guild and the San Jose Mercury News.
OBITUARY
Remembrance of Gene Bryant set April 18 Longtime Guild rep for San Jose and TNG A remembrance of the life of Gene Bryant will be held Saturday, April 18, at 11 a.m. at the Dunsmuir Estate and Gardens at 2960 Peralta Oaks Court, Oakland, east of I-580 near the Oakland/San Leandro city lines. Mr. Bryant, a veteran Bay Area Guild leader and international representative, died March 30 at the age of 76. He had suffered from leukemia. |
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