I don't know enough about the US/Chicago newspaper scene to know why this is bad news, (save that concentration of media ownership is always bad news) but I take your word for it - and send sympathies, and good luck for future dealings under the new owner.
I'm sorry ... in putting that up there, I forgot that I've gained a bunch of new folks on my f'list, many of whom were not around in 2013 and 2014 as I was part of my union's negotiating team, (the Chicago Newspaper Guild, now the Chicago News Guild, part of the national union the News Guild, and part of the even larger Communications Workers of America) attempting to negotiate a new contract with Ferro and the Chicago Sun-Times, which at the time owned my company's papers. It was a hard-fought 15 month negotiation, during which Ferro fired all the company's photographers in May 2013, in the middle of negotiations, and was pretty much as anti-union as it gets. We bled during those 15 months (and we were already still reeling from a 2009 decision, under earlier owners, that stripped us of 15 percent of our salaries), and bled more to get what we managed to get.
When Ferro sold his suburban newspapers to their current owner, the Chicago Tribune, one of the few blessings of that deal (which came in late 2014, less than a year after we signed the new contract) was that we were away from that bastard. And now ... we aren't. Perhaps not coincidentally, we're getting word that layoffs may be in our future. This, when we have fewer than 50 reporters in three suburban companies that once had almost 200.
So, definitely not happy today, but I wanted to give you some context.
Thanks for the overview; I didn't remember the timing. Also, the Trib doesn't want people to read anything online for free, apparently. (And giving them money hasn't worked on this computer in the past.)
Yeah, I'm finding that some people can bypass the paywall, and others can't. Weird is at least one way to describe that. However, if you hop over to my LJ cross-post, and go to my answer to wendymr, there are four links to stories about what happened, and at least one of them should bring you up to speed.
You may not recall the 15 horrific months or so back in 2013-14 when my union was negotiating for a new contract with my then owners, Wrapports, Inc./The Chicago Sun-Times, but Michael Ferro was the chairman of Wrapports/CST and fought us tooth and nail with every dirty trick in the book. This was one of the low points. It appears I can't shake the oleaginous bastard.
The actual union staffers I talked to while Pioneer Press were part of Sun-Times have always carefully not elaborated on what the negotiations were like, but I always got a sense that this was the case. It's still sad to have it confirmed
Yeah. I was on the negotiating committee and it was one of the hardest times in my union life, which goes back to 1976 in Canada, and with Pioneer stretches back to 1983.
Oh, yes, indeedy, it is that and more. What I can't understand is why these people - who know how desperately poor the Sun-Times was when it sold us to the Trib in late 2014, who must have known that the poverty was directly tied to Ferro's policies - would let him seduce them into taking him on in any way. But never underestimate both the cupidity and stupidity of high-level corporate people.
Oh, damn; I never know when they're going to put things behind a paywall. Here are four links to stories about what I was upset about, I don't think these are behind paywalls. The Poynter and Reader stories are particularly good.
But in short, I know you followed my 2013-2014 struggles as my union fought our then-owners, Wrapports/Chicago Sun-Times for a contract. Ferro was the majority owner of the CST at the time.
The struggle was made even more bloody by Ferro's decision to fire all the company photographers in May of 2013, in the middle of negotiations. He was actively anti-union. And the decisions he made about the Chicago Sun-Times were so bad that CST bled money even more than it normally did.
He then sold all his suburban newspapers off to arch-rival the Chicago Tribune. Wrapports/the CST had, at the time it sold us off, only $3 million in daily operating funds; that's how badly he ran that company into the ground.
One of the few slivers of hope in the sale was our happiness to be away from Ferro. But now we're saddled with him. And the more I think about it (and some of the writers at those links have hinted or outright said it), the more I think he always was planning something like this, because the Tribune was his ultimate goal.
Ferro is nosed out only by Conrad Black in terms of awfulness and disastrous consequences for journalism. And yesterday I had to listen to the horrible man claim, in an interview with Tribune CEO Jack Griffin, that he wants to protect and pay journalists because he thinks so well of them. My head almost exploded.
And today, just one day after we get the news that Ferro is with us still, comes word that layoffs may be being considered for the suburban properties. Again. In a group of daily and weekly newspapers who now have fewer than 50 (or fewer than 40, perhaps) reporters, where we once had around 200.
And today, just one day after we get the news that Ferro is with us still, comes word that layoffs may be being considered for the suburban properties. Again. In a group of daily and weekly newspapers who now have fewer than 50 (or fewer than 40, perhaps) reporters, where we once had around 200.
Мать моя! In spite of the blacklisting, I still know people at Pioneer Press who I'd rather not see unemployed (and I've rather not see you unemployed, either, but since we've never actually met in person, it's a bit different). And I have a bad feeling that they would try to cover the gaps with stringers, which is not good for stringers.
Edited Date: Sunday, 7 February 2016 02:49 am (UTC)
WTF? What on earth? Never mind; I won't ask, it's not my business, but ... augh.
And you are absolutely right about the situation not being good for stringers, either. That's something I think people outside the union don't think we worry about. But we do.
WTF? What on earth? Never mind; I won't ask, it's not my business, but ... augh.
I've made references to it before, on Liverjournal, Twitter and elsewhere, but now that I think about it, I only wrote about it in fairly broad terms, and I never put little bits of info in one place. At first, I hoped that the situation could be fixed, and when it was made clear that the situation couldn't be fixed, I decided to save it for a big "inside Tribune Publishing" post, but I never got around to writing this, between work and the fact that there were other things I would so much rather blog about.
To try to make a long story short... Well, there are a lot of things I don't know about, because, to this day, my former editors aren't allowed to share things with me, but the parts I do know is that I ran afoul of a local activist. I misquoted him, and he (apparently) thought it was deliberate attempt to make him look bad. And he at the very least threatened to sue the Trib (whether he ever actually did remains a mystery to this day). At first, I was told simply not to talk to him. Then, I made a typo when quoting a law (didn't capitalize "state" in the "State of Illinois,") which would normally be easily overlooked, but which was enough for someone higher up the editorial food chain to take me off politics entirely and have me stick to events coverage and non-controversial fluff. While at one of those events, the activist tried to talk to me, and took offense when I didn't talk back. And, when I asked whether he was suing the Trib or not, he said I was harassing him. Next thing I know, someone way high up on the food chain (don't know who, was the hints I got suggest some Trib executive) ordered my editor not to use me. And, as I later found out, that order covers pretty much everything that falls under Chicago Tribune Media Group(it maybe Tribune Publishing in general). Hence "blacklisting."
...And that wasn't very short at all, was it? I guess I needed to vent a bit.
That's something I think people outside the union don't think we worry about. But we do.
While some of the statements made by Chicago Newspaper Guild made me wonder, the reporters and editors I dealt with have actually been pretty respectful, and never treated me like I was any less of a journalist. So that's reassuring.
Edited Date: Tuesday, 9 February 2016 03:24 am (UTC)
This sounds like Tribune paranoia (although the ST also used to periodically do that sort of thing.) And, really, to consider not capitalizing "state" in "state of Illinois" a typo? That's ridiculous. In my day, she said, acting like the old fart she is, even a misquote merited a correction and a "hey, don't do it again," from lower management. I really hate professional paranoia.
While some of the statements made by Chicago Newspaper Guild made me wonder
As a Guild, we always have to take a strong stance against the managerial practice of trying to supplant the people they've hired on staff. But part of the frustration we have is that managements who are happy to misuse their own staff are also happy to misuse stringers: they'll cut the pay rates because they can, they'll be arbitrary in the way they respond to complaints (as you know), and they do it because they know stringers have no recourse. Many stringers work just as hard for a company as the company's own staff - but they don't have the benefit of a decent salary or, well, benefits.
Also... This is something I pieced together from second-hand accounts, so take it with a certain grain of salt. But, from what I understand, back when suburban papers' sale to Tribune was announced, the editors and reporters were pretty much sent to the Tribune Tower as fast as possible, but the page designers had to stay behind. For several months, they weren't allowed to communicate with Tribune editors, and nobody would tell them what would happen to them... until the transition was complete around February 2015 and they were all unceremoniously fired.
The fact that all of this flew under the radar makes it even worse.
There were in fact five page designers who were kept in limbo. At first we were told that it was just a bureaucratic mess-up - "someone forgot to put their names on the list of employees making the move" - and then ... when we realized neither company gave a crap about these five, we tried to negotiate them spaces at the Trib. No go.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: Friday, 5 February 2016 03:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Saturday, 6 February 2016 12:02 am (UTC)When Ferro sold his suburban newspapers to their current owner, the Chicago Tribune, one of the few blessings of that deal (which came in late 2014, less than a year after we signed the new contract) was that we were away from that bastard. And now ... we aren't. Perhaps not coincidentally, we're getting word that layoffs may be in our future. This, when we have fewer than 50 reporters in three suburban companies that once had almost 200.
So, definitely not happy today, but I wanted to give you some context.
no subject
Date: Saturday, 6 February 2016 01:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Sunday, 7 February 2016 01:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Sunday, 7 February 2016 01:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Thursday, 4 February 2016 06:08 pm (UTC)My condolences.
no subject
Date: Thursday, 4 February 2016 07:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Thursday, 4 February 2016 06:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Thursday, 4 February 2016 07:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Friday, 5 February 2016 04:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Sunday, 7 February 2016 02:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Sunday, 7 February 2016 09:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Thursday, 4 February 2016 07:12 pm (UTC)*hugs you hard*
no subject
Date: Thursday, 4 February 2016 07:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Friday, 5 February 2016 02:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Saturday, 6 February 2016 12:15 am (UTC)But in short, I know you followed my 2013-2014 struggles as my union fought our then-owners, Wrapports/Chicago Sun-Times for a contract. Ferro was the majority owner of the CST at the time.
The struggle was made even more bloody by Ferro's decision to fire all the company photographers in May of 2013, in the middle of negotiations. He was actively anti-union. And the decisions he made about the Chicago Sun-Times were so bad that CST bled money even more than it normally did.
He then sold all his suburban newspapers off to arch-rival the Chicago Tribune. Wrapports/the CST had, at the time it sold us off, only $3 million in daily operating funds; that's how badly he ran that company into the ground.
One of the few slivers of hope in the sale was our happiness to be away from Ferro. But now we're saddled with him. And the more I think about it (and some of the writers at those links have hinted or outright said it), the more I think he always was planning something like this, because the Tribune was his ultimate goal.
Ferro is nosed out only by Conrad Black in terms of awfulness and disastrous consequences for journalism. And yesterday I had to listen to the horrible man claim, in an interview with Tribune CEO Jack Griffin, that he wants to protect and pay journalists because he thinks so well of them. My head almost exploded.
And today, just one day after we get the news that Ferro is with us still, comes word that layoffs may be being considered for the suburban properties. Again. In a group of daily and weekly newspapers who now have fewer than 50 (or fewer than 40, perhaps) reporters, where we once had around 200.
no subject
Date: Sunday, 7 February 2016 02:47 am (UTC)Мать моя! In spite of the blacklisting, I still know people at Pioneer Press who I'd rather not see unemployed (and I've rather not see you unemployed, either, but since we've never actually met in person, it's a bit different). And I have a bad feeling that they would try to cover the gaps with stringers, which is not good for stringers.
no subject
Date: Sunday, 7 February 2016 09:29 pm (UTC)WTF? What on earth? Never mind; I won't ask, it's not my business, but ... augh.
And you are absolutely right about the situation not being good for stringers, either. That's something I think people outside the union don't think we worry about. But we do.
no subject
Date: Tuesday, 9 February 2016 03:22 am (UTC)I've made references to it before, on Liverjournal, Twitter and elsewhere, but now that I think about it, I only wrote about it in fairly broad terms, and I never put little bits of info in one place. At first, I hoped that the situation could be fixed, and when it was made clear that the situation couldn't be fixed, I decided to save it for a big "inside Tribune Publishing" post, but I never got around to writing this, between work and the fact that there were other things I would so much rather blog about.
To try to make a long story short... Well, there are a lot of things I don't know about, because, to this day, my former editors aren't allowed to share things with me, but the parts I do know is that I ran afoul of a local activist. I misquoted him, and he (apparently) thought it was deliberate attempt to make him look bad. And he at the very least threatened to sue the Trib (whether he ever actually did remains a mystery to this day). At first, I was told simply not to talk to him. Then, I made a typo when quoting a law (didn't capitalize "state" in the "State of Illinois,") which would normally be easily overlooked, but which was enough for someone higher up the editorial food chain to take me off politics entirely and have me stick to events coverage and non-controversial fluff. While at one of those events, the activist tried to talk to me, and took offense when I didn't talk back. And, when I asked whether he was suing the Trib or not, he said I was harassing him. Next thing I know, someone way high up on the food chain (don't know who, was the hints I got suggest some Trib executive) ordered my editor not to use me. And, as I later found out, that order covers pretty much everything that falls under Chicago Tribune Media Group(it maybe Tribune Publishing in general). Hence "blacklisting."
...And that wasn't very short at all, was it? I guess I needed to vent a bit.
That's something I think people outside the union don't think we worry about. But we do.
While some of the statements made by Chicago Newspaper Guild made me wonder, the reporters and editors I dealt with have actually been pretty respectful, and never treated me like I was any less of a journalist. So that's reassuring.
no subject
Date: Tuesday, 9 February 2016 06:56 pm (UTC)While some of the statements made by Chicago Newspaper Guild made me wonder
As a Guild, we always have to take a strong stance against the managerial practice of trying to supplant the people they've hired on staff. But part of the frustration we have is that managements who are happy to misuse their own staff are also happy to misuse stringers: they'll cut the pay rates because they can, they'll be arbitrary in the way they respond to complaints (as you know), and they do it because they know stringers have no recourse. Many stringers work just as hard for a company as the company's own staff - but they don't have the benefit of a decent salary or, well, benefits.
no subject
Date: Sunday, 7 February 2016 02:53 am (UTC)The fact that all of this flew under the radar makes it even worse.
no subject
Date: Sunday, 7 February 2016 09:31 pm (UTC)