The print newspaper industry is already in steep decline.
Gannett is the biggest publishing behemoth when it comes to local news. Worth 3 billion dollars, they own 400 different newspapers with 11,000 employees spread out across the country.
General newspaper viewership, whether it be online or in print, has declined over 55% since the dawn of the 21st century, as Pew Research reveals. Starting at 60 million daily readers, now only 55 million people read newspapers.
And now two dozen newspapers are revolting. Gannett built their empire by buying up local newspapers across the country for cheap as they lost revenue. Gannett then put some original, local articles in, but much of it is just recycled content from USA Today, Gannett’s national newspaper.
But journalists from over two dozen newspapers are walking out of the job. The writers on strike number in the hundreds, across eight states.
The strike comes coincidentally on the same day that CEO Mike Reed decided to convene a shareholder’s meeting.
The entire point of the strike is based on complaints about Reed’s leadership style, with worker’s receiving historically low pay coupled with unusually long hours. Reed also downsized the newsrooms he purchased by 30% on average, creating a bevy of layoffs.
Gannett’s newly created worker’s union demanded shareholder’s withhold their votes unless Reed conceded to the striker’s demand. They re-elected Reed as board chair anyway, creating even further ire for the journalists off the job.
The union rep said, “Gannett CEO Mike Reed didn’t have a word to say to the scores of journalists whose livelihoods he’s destroyed, nor to the communities who have lost their primary news source thanks to his mismanagement.”
The union did sit down with Reed before going on strike. They asked for their base salary to be $60,000 a year. Right now the average is $51,000 a year.
One union rep tweeted after the meeting and called it a “complete joke.”
Guess you can’t blame a guy for trying.
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