In 2000, Thomson Newspapers sold The Repository to Copley Press.
We got lucky.
A family-owned newspaper chain with a history of caring for its
employees, Copley accepted The Newspaper Guild as the representative of
employees, accepted its contract, improved benefits, spent money on physical
and other improvements, encouraged community involvement and emphasized good
journalism.
Just six years later, on the eve of The Repository's sale
again, the
newspaper industry has changed DRAMATICALLY and all Repository employees who
value their jobs should be concerned. What Copley represented is a dying
breed of newspaper owner.
Nationwide, lagging advertising revenue and declining circulation
mean
lower profit margins and unhappy stockholders. Major newspaper chains have
been sold; the most obvious example is Knight Ridder, former owner of the
Akron Beacon Journal.
Publishers nationwide have adopted slash-and-burn tactics to slow the
decline of profit margins that business owners in many other segments of our
economy would kill to have. If you've paid any attention to The Newspaper
Guild's newsletter "The Guild Reporter" mailed to your home, you know the
litany of bad news.
It has been estimated that 44,000 journalism jobs have been
lost in the last
few years. But it's not just the newsroom that is a target for
bean-counters. Remember what happened to jobs at the Independent in
Massillon? Jobs in the business, administration, advertising and circulation
departments were eliminated and the work moved to Canton. The same fate
could befall these departments at The Repository under circumstances that
are all too plausible.
Look to the newspapers to our north for examples.
Last fall, the new owner of the Beacon Journal "Black Media Group"
cut the
newsroom staff by 20 percent and eliminated at least 30 other jobs. The
Newspaper Guild represents only newsroom staff there; because of contract
provisions, newsroom employees were given 60 days notice before layoffs.
Nonunion employees who were fired were given 10 minutes to collect personal
possessions, then escorted to the door.
At The Plain Dealer, the Guild represented about 340 employees
six years ago.
Today, through buyouts and hiring freezes, that number has been reduced by 100.
What can Repository employees do? Brothers and sisters, stand
together!!
All the power we have lies therein.
We stand for a community newspaper.
We stand for jobs in Canton.
We stand for a quality workplace and a quality product.
We stand for a contract, built layer upon layer over 30-plus years,
that benefits Newspaper Guild members and the company.
Help us! Be visible in your support!
Will it work? We don't know, but what is the cost? A little time, a gesture
or two of support, a few well-placed words? Is that something you can't afford?