http://www.mediaworkers.org Representing media employees of Northern California Copyright 2008 Media Workers Guild en-us Sat, 19 Jul 2008 14:24:17 -0400 Sat, 19 Jul 2008 14:24:17 -0400 http://www.sjguild.org/rss/jpg/Norcal.jpg http://www.mediaworkers.org 140 55 http://www.mediaworkers.org/index.php?ID=5297 In a statment of solidarity, the National Writers Union protested the layoff of 29 newly organized BANG-EB newsroom employees, demanded justice be done by the NLRB, and promised to lend "any and all available resources to support our Guild brothers and sisters, including resisting any attempt by BANG-EB or MediaNews Group to use freelance and staff journalists as clubs against each other." http://www.mediaworkers.org/index.php?ID=5297 http://www.modbee.com/breakingnews/story/364385.html In an update to employees, Publisher and President Margaret Randazzo said that based on an analysis of printing The Modesto Bee in Sacramento, "it is clear that this move makes both financial and operational sense." http://www.modbee.com/breakingnews/story/364385.html http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003829495 The Baltimore Sun says it has eliminated about 100 jobs in its latest round of job cuts. Union leaders said the cuts included 55 newsroom jobs. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003829495 http://www.startribune.com/25540659.html The Newspaper Guild and the Star Tribune reached a tentative agreement Wednesday concerning a proposed three-year contract. http://www.startribune.com/25540659.html http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2008/07/private-time-for-gci-lee-mni-and-nyt.html The shares of Gannett, Lee Enterprises, McClatchy and New York Times Co. have fallen so low that the companies have become candidates for transactions that could convert them to private ownership. http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2008/07/private-time-for-gci-lee-mni-and-nyt.html http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003828949 The Orlando Sentinel is quietly cutting newsroom staffers this week, according to several sources at the paper. They maintain that plans are in the works for up to one-fifth of the newsroom’s jobs to be eliminated by the end of the month. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003828949 http://awfj.org/2008/07/16/reflections-of-a-former-and-future-film-critic-mary-pols-comments/ This March I left my job as a film critic for the Bay Area-based Contra Costa Times, Oakland Tribune and San Jose Mercury News. Along with 101 colleagues, I took a buyout. It was a clear and obvious choice... Not so obvious: why the steady decline in the amount of locally generated criticism in daily newspapers. http://awfj.org/2008/07/16/reflections-of-a-former-and-future-film-critic-mary-pols-comments/ http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080716/NEWS/807160349 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will cut its workforce by 8 percent, some 189 jobs, and eliminate its "geographically targeted news sections" as part of a cost-cutting plan the paper announced Wednesday. http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080716/NEWS/807160349 http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080716/NEWS/807160349 The Press Democrat on Tuesday announced it would lay off 5 percent of its work force, or 17 full-time positions, to reduce costs in response to sharp declines in advertising revenue. http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080716/NEWS/807160349 http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez16-2008jul16,0,7498609.column Way back in my cub days at the Oakland Tribune, the paper I read growing up, I learned to check the bulletin board every day to see who the owner was. We had four of them in six years, and a wise man would have known then to leave journalism for dry-cleaning, embalming, clam-digging, anything with a brighter future. But I enjoyed my job enough to feel like a thief every time the paycheck cleared, and I stubbornly believed the newspaper industry would smooth out eventually. It’s apparent, looking back seven newspaper jobs later, that I’m an extremely slow learner. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez16-2008jul16,0,7498609.column