A Stronger Guild certified

The sector election referendum commitee has certified the vote for last month's election for the Newspaper Guild's highest offices.

The certification confirms Bernie Lunzer as president, Carol Rothman as secretary-treasurer and Connie Knox as sector chairperson

Lunzer and his running mates ran on a platform stressing the changing face of journalism.

"We argued for the need for change within the Guild, to strengthen the Guild with a focus on real member involvement. We will fight for constructive engagement with employers throughout the industry, to respond to the challenges of building a robust, profitable industry across all platforms -- collaborating where possible, fighting where necessary."

This is an exciting time in the journalism industry, and this election demonstrates Guild members' resolve to tackle the issues facing media industry workers with vigor and determination.

Speaking out on BANG

John Bowman offers his opinion on the BANG union vote at his blog, Spin Ditties.

As a former MediaNews editor, he's well-positioned to give a particular insight into the situation. He believes the re-organizing was purely a stunt to bust the Bay-Area bargaining unit.

As you'll recall, last summer Dean Singleton's company went through all sorts of contortions -- eliminating reporter and editor jobs in strategic places, merging various operations -- all with the goal of being able to decertify the Guild as a bargaining unit for its old ANG properties. And it worked, for a while: The company's paid dailies in the East Bay and on the Peninsula have been, since then, blissfully union free, as was the Contra Costa Times before them.

And of course, that move might just blow up in their face.

At any rate, MediaNews is now staring at the last possible outcome it wanted: a fully unionized Bay Area work force instead of the exact opposite.

If it comes to pass, it couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of guys.

The fact MediaNews engenders that kind of sentiment, even from former editors - a position known for company loyalty - speaks volumes about the morale and corporate culture MediaNews employees are dealing with.

Senate reverses FCC

Editor and Publisher reports that the U.S. Senate has passed a resolution opposing the Federal Communication Commission's decision to ease the restrictions on media ownership.

The new FCC rules would open a "gaping loophole for more mergers of newspapers and television stations across the country," according to Sen. Byron Dorgan, sponsor of the resolution. Senator Daniel Inouye from Hawaii cited the decline of local news and investigative journalism as evidence against greater media consolidation.

According to the article, all that representative government will be for naught however, because President Bush is expected to veto the action anyways.

Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said he was "disappointed with the Senate's action" and would recommend to the president that he veto the bill.

"The FCC's approach modernizes a 30-year-old rule in a way that improves the financial viability of the newspaper industry, which faces an increasingly competitive media market," he said.

Of course, this doesn't answer one nagging question: If news is so bad, why are some folks trying to buy their way in?

That's exactly what Gatehouse Media CEO Michael Reed wants to do. Reed believes the downward valuations of the larger media players is unfairly depressing the value of smaller market dailies.

"What that means is there's a fantastic buying opportunity in that space."

In an era where everyone is decrying the loss of revenues and laying off employees, it's strange to hear about plans to buy more newspapers, but that's exactly what Reed claims to have in mind.

Of course, it sounds less strange once you realize that for the most part, small market dailies aren't losing money - they just aren't making as much as they did before the internet took classified advertising away.

BANG vote scheduled

One Big BANG reports that a date has been set for the Bay Area News Group union campaign, following their successful card-signing drive.

MediaNews management opted to hold the BANG vote on Friday, June 13 - the final date allowed by the National Labor Relations Board.

If successful - and there's little evidence to suggest the workers have any intention of changing their minds - the BANG union will mark a significant change in the journalism industry. As content sharing and "clustering" become more common, the traditional "one newsroom" bargaining units have found themselves marginalized and less capable of advocating and protecting the rights of journalists. This is the first step in reshaping the media labor paradigm to reflect the changing face of journalism, and restoring the balance of power between labor and management.

We wish them the best of luck (though none seems to be needed) and like many others, will keep a close eye on the East Bay this June.

Past and present P-T staff together again *

Last Saturday, former and current Press-Telegram staffers got together for a friendly basketball tournament. Everyone says it was a great time, and a good chance to re-connect with the people who might not share the same office any more, but remain close friends.

Here's a slideshow from the event. Enjoy...


* UPDATE: Reporter Karen Robes shared her thoughts on the game:

They were hard fought battles. Some fell. Some used their stomachs
as part of their defensive strategy. Some pulled out pick-and-roll
plays to win.

But in the end, there could only be one and this year it was the
Long Beach Lakers, who came from behind May 10 at Wardlow Park to
win the first ever P-T basketball tournament and tickets to Catalina
Island.

In terms of camaraderie, the tourney was a success. People who
rarely speak to each other now stop to chat about the games and the
scrapes and bruises earned from great (and not-so-great) plays. One
staff writer said it was something that was badly needed after a
series of tough company changes.

Tremendous thanks to co-commissioners Diandra Jay and Robert Meeks,
who turned their conversation at the Long Beach Courthouse into a
five-on-five half-court tournament that drew more than 30 current
and former P-Ters.

P.S. Diandra for MVP!

Photos by Stephen Carr and Vicki Di Paolo; slideshow by Stephen Carr