Gannett journalists deserve more — support their fight to save local news!
Gannett
In the last 15 years, more than 1,800 local newspapers have closed their doors for good. Half of all journalist jobs have disappeared. Entire communities have been left without meaningful coverage.
The remaining employees are being pushed to the brink, struggling to produce top-tier journalism while working in the lowest-tier conditions.
Gannett, an American media conglomerate that owns USA Today and hundreds of other daily and weekly local newspapers across the country, is the biggest newspaper chain in the US and one of the worst offenders.
Most recently, the biggest newspaper chain in the United States has cited financial hardship and threatened layoffs.
Meanwhile, Gannett is paying down debt, hiring anti-journalist attorneys and using $100 million for stock buybacks. The company’s CEO, Mike Reed, took home more than $7.7 million dollars in 2021, compared to the median Gannett journalist’s salary, $48,419.
Gannett journalists across the country, from New Jersey to Florida, from Arizona to the Hudson Valley, unionized with NewsGuild-CWA to fight back against Gannett’s austerity measures and save local news. They need your help to boost their message and organizing efforts and pressure Gannett to do the right thing.
SIGN THE SUPPORT PLEDGE:
I support vibrant local news. I call on Gannett to provide:
Adequate Hiring: Gannett has cut thousands of jobs across the country and allowed vacancies to remain unfilled, forcing employees to produce top-tier coverage with smaller and smaller staffs. Gannett must immediately increase hiring and commit to providing the resources that good local journalism requires.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: In-depth, accurate and balanced news coverage requires employees that have a diversity of views, cultures and backgrounds who can navigate the communities they serve. As Gannett hires, trains and promotes employees, it must seek to improve diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the company.
Ability to Advance in the Craft: Gannett must offer fair pay so that local journalists can live and thrive in the communities they serve. To retain talent, they must have job security, access to training and career development, healthful and safe working conditions and advancement opportunities. Workers must be afforded the benefits and paid-time off that support healthy work-life balance.
Sponsored by
To:
Gannett
From:
[Your Name]
I am writing to express my support for the local journalists in my community who are employed by a Gannett-owned newspaper.
Local journalism is a critical public service, now more than ever, and I believe Gannett should pay its workers livable wages, provide healthy working conditions and negotiate fair contracts for unionized newsrooms.
When newsrooms suffer, our democracy and our communities suffer. Prove your values and commitment to the greater good by investing in union journalists.
I call on Gannett to provide:
Adequate Hiring: Gannett has cut thousands of jobs across the country and allowed vacancies to remain unfilled, forcing employees to produce top-tier coverage with smaller and smaller staffs. Gannett must immediately increase hiring and commit to providing the resources that good local journalism requires.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: In-depth, accurate and balanced news coverage requires employees that have a diversity of views, cultures and backgrounds who can navigate the communities they serve. As Gannett hires, trains and promotes employees, it must seek to improve diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the company.
Ability to Advance in Our Craft: Gannett must offer fair pay so that local journalists can live and thrive in the communities they serve. To retain talent, they must have job security, access to training and career development, healthful and safe working conditions and advancement opportunities. Workers must be afforded the benefits and paid-time off that support healthy work-life balance.