Times-Standard's corporate owner on union-busting warpath
I was walking through the parking lot of the Times-Standard yesterday morning on my way to a meeting, when I bumped into a T-S executive who had read my diatribes in the local blogosphere about Dean Singleton, CEO of the parent company that owns the Times-Standard, Media News Group (MNG). My blogosphere rants were about working conditions in the Times-Standard newsroom, where I used to toil, and Dean Singleton's reputation of running his newspapers like sweatshops.
Marcy Burstiner, an HSU assistant professor of journalism and veteran Bay Area journalist, also knows Singleton by reputation. Burstiner writes a column on the local media for the North Coast Journal. In her latest piece, Pray for the Reporter, Burstiner writes:
I avoided working for Singleton, not because of politics but because of his disregard for quality, his focus on newspapers as product and his tendency to pay reporters little, work them hard and bust their unions.
Though MNG and Singleton are based in Denver, the company owns something like 25 percent of California's daily newspapers. And that was before Singleton bought two of the Bay Area's largest dailies last year: The San Jose Mercury News and the Contra Costa Times. Singleton dominates the Bay Area market now.
Back to the conversation I had with the Times-Standard executive yesterday. He took issue with what I had written about Singleton, going so far as to say he considered Singleton a "visionary."
Well, now comes the revelation that Singleton is trying to bust the union that represents newsroom employees at the cluster of East Bay newspapers his company has owned for decades, known as the Alameda Newspaper Group (ANG).
So tell me, how is union-busting visionary?
Times-Standard Editor Rich Somerville has also tried to convince me that Singleton has turned a corner, that as he ages he is concerned about his legacy and is working to improve the journalism product of this newspapers.
So I ask Rich the same question: How does union-busting improve the journalism product at MNG?
More to come....the rest of the story.
Here is the rest of the story, as I see it:
The SF Weekly story relates how the Northern California Media Workers Guild is taking on Singleton, with help from a $500,000 endowment from the national Newspaper Guild, which views this a test battle between newsrooms and management in the daily newspaper industry, which is in sad decline across the nation in the Infotainment Age.
In typical fashion for an alternative weekly, the writer portrays the union as the virtuous warrior up against the omnipotent and evil empire that is MNG, with Singleton as its reviled head. I was once a member of that union, (when it was called the “newspaper” guild) while working at a sizeable NorCal daily. While I do support the guild in what is a fight to the death with Singleton, I feel it's too little too late.
The truth is that the guild has not been very strong or very motivated for the past generation. And its past will hurt it in this battle, while the daily newspaper industry as a whole is fighting for its future.
When I entered journalism almost 20 years ago to this day, newspapers were already under assault from broadcast media – television and radio, which was eating away at advertising revenue that was the dominion of the once-almighty dailies. In my opinion, chains such as Knight-Ridder, which owned the San Jose Mercury News and the Contra Costa Times until Singleton bought them last year, and McClatchy, which owns the three Bees in the Central Valley (Sacramento, Modesto and Fresno), could have busted the union any time they wanted.
But, in contrast to Singleton and MNG, these two chains invested in their core product: journalism. Having their newsrooms unionized fit their philosophy, the image they wanted to portray. These companies had happy newsrooms with well-paid staffers. These were the jobs that NorCal journalists coveted. (McClatchy acquired Knight-Ridder last year, in the deal that sent the Mercury News and the CoCo Times to Singleton’s ownership.)
Case in point: The CoCo Times, which was a family owned newspaper until Knight Ridder bought it some time in the late ‘80s or early ‘90s, has never had a unionized newsroom. The Guild failed to organize the Times' newsroom, even when owned by a union-friendly corporation. That's because Times newsroom staffers earned significantly more, and enjoyed more pleasant working conditions, than the unionized staffers who toiled in Singleton’s slave shop East Bay dailies, which included once-great Oakland Tribune. But it was a mistake.
And this is why I have a beef with the Guild, which in my opinion has been guilty of short-sighted leadership and complacency for decades. If the Guild had organized the CoCo Times newsroom years ago, Singleton would not be in a position today to bust the union at ANG.
Most of my journalism career was spent at smaller-market, nonunion shops. My impression of the Guild in NorCal is a union run by those who worked at the Bay Area’s largest newspapers, who earned good livings, and did not do enough to help those in nonunion shops. Case in point: the Times-Standard. Here’s a fact: The Times-Standard, under MNG's mandate, pays its newsroom employees poorly (bring it, newsroom!). Here’s another fact: The Times-Standard earns a nice profit, in part because it gets away with substandard pay. More fact: The Times-Standard sends those profits to MNG.
I suspect MNG's two new Bay Area newspapers, where most of the staffers work under a union contract (the Mercury News), are still not profitable.
If so, the reporters and editors here in Eureka earn less while their newspaper earns a profit, only to see that profit get funneled to their Bay Area colleagues who earn substantially more under union contracts but produce unprofitable newspapers.
This is not just a Dean Singletonism. It’s a failure of the Guild, for having ignored small-market newspapers like the Times-Standard for decades, in addition to failing to organize the CoCo Times. And I know T-S newsroom staffers have looked to the Guild for help in the past, but were politely refused. If the Guild had undertaken to organize more newspapers and other journalism outlets (such as Bay City News Service in San Francisco) over the past several decades, it would be a much more powerful entity today, in a much better position to take on Singleton.
I wish the Guild nothing but success in this fight. Many of my San Jose State journalism school classmates work at the Mercury News, CoCo Times and ANG newspapers. But I am skeptical. And I am disappointed that once again the Times-Standard is being ignored.
The SF Weekly story puffs up the union’s campaign, "One Big BANG: A One-Guild Universe," which is an effort to organize 11 of Singleton’s ANG newspapers. Hello! Look up here on the North Coast. The Times-Standard, I believe, is a part of ANG under MNG’s structure. It is Singleton’s largest California daily north of the Bay Area. Why is it being left out in the cold? Again.
Comments
Gee I don't know Andy...messing with Singleton might be like messing with Arkley. These people are powerful and ruthless. Either one of them are capable of bringing out the bug spray and the next thing you know there will be a dead wasp on the floor.
Posted by: Another Voice | December 20, 2007 10:29 AM
No worries, Another Voice. The Times-Standard knew the Wasp would have sting to it, and that it might be an occasional victim. While Singleton may be ruthless with unions, I know he's not a vindictive man.
As for Arkley, well I haven't done much to offend him have I? Not yet anyway. I doubt he even knows, or cares, this blog exists.
Posted by: Andrew Bird | December 20, 2007 12:07 PM
Just a comment from a former T-S'er. I respect what Marcia has to say. It's better to have a sh-t paper than no paper, esp. if you have a family to feed. I guess I am lucky (or maybe unlucky) to not have that obligation yet. But I have managed to continue living and writing without either Mr. Arkley or the Times-Standard. Man does not live on bad ledes alone. Tomorrow I'm having lunch with Jitka and Marketa and Jirina. Hesky holky! Cau, Jamesy
Posted by: James Tressler | December 20, 2007 12:29 PM
Dean has been called a visionary because he saved papers that probably would have been closed. In many cases it was tough and ugly, with layoffs and cutbacks but the paper survived.
The profitability of a paper ensures its independence. If the paper cannot support itself financially and provide a return for its investors, why is it being published? In the case of the bay area papers it is more about the regional economy. When the dot com bust hit the papers got hurt. When the economy picks up the papers will be able to generate consistent financial results.
The guild lost touch with reality over the last 20 years when newspapers where pulling in bushels of cash. The arrogance of both the guild and newspaper ownership kept both from recognizing the need to adapt to a changing world. The guild did not want to bother with smaller papers because the big money was in the metro areas. It is important to note those companies that were union friendly are now walking away from the business.
TS payscale still has a way to go to be above average but they have made some progress. TS scale will not compare to the bay area papers because their circulation is higher as well as the cost of living. Payscales generally follow circulation numbers plus or minus a factor related to regional costs.
As far as Dean giving you a bad time for this blog, it won't happen, he doesn't work that way.
Posted by: BT DT | December 21, 2007 06:08 AM
Thank you for your insightful comment, BT DT. I remember as a cub reporter ranting to the editor of the first daily I worked for that the newspaper's first responsibility was to...you know I can't remember what I said it was, but he replied, "this newspaper's first responsibility is to stay in business." I had no answer for that.
I received a great journalism education at San Jose State University from a group of outstanding professors and instructors who worked at the Mercury News. But when I look back now after 20 years, perhaps the one shortcoming is we did not learn much about the business side of newspapering.
All that said, if Singleton truly is concerned about his legacy, MNG's tactics need to change. If he busts the ANG union, nobody wins.
Posted by: Andrew Bird | December 21, 2007 07:37 AM
The key here is negotiate. The guild needs to recognize the reality of newspapers in today's market and understand how they fit into the reality. They should learn about the business side of newspapering. The union has made some bad choices protecting members who don't perform or perform poorly. That can't keep happening if the union wants their papers to prosper (and their jobs to continue). The guild should not be fighting to protect 'business as usual' when the business is changing.
Dean needs to get involved in wage scales. Believe it or not, it is the regional publisher, local publisher, editor and hr who sets the payscale. The way executive compensation is structured there is little incentive for those individuals to raise wages. It has been too easy for Dean to say payscales are a local decision when he is the one that sets the expectation for profits.
Both sides need a reality check.
Posted by: BT DT | December 21, 2007 08:47 AM
We need a Peoples Paper.
A newspaper put together by the people, Not a corperate run propaganda machine. Remember when real news was reported, backed by facts?
I don't care what color Mizz Hilton's panties are, I don't care if Britney is bald. I don't care what's playing in Arleyville. I care a about The real facts. The real issues. I care about our economy that is in shambles, I care about the huge suicide rates in our military right now. I care about real jobs in our commuity. I care about being energy independant and the devices that can do that. I care about the self sustainability of our community. What are the real issues? How do we solve them?
How can we become a self sustaining community which is only as strong as its weakest link? We have cattle, We have farms, We have other resourses, What would it take to cordinate efferts to grow, raise, and consume what we produce here. What would it take to make us energy independant? What would it take to make a clean, vibrant, prosperous, self sustaining, independant community. Is'nt that what we all really want? These are real issues the main stream media does not address. They do not want you to address them. We are lucky to be in this great place. There are so many talented, briliant, creative people in our community. We are lucky. We just need to gather them all together for solutions to the real issues. To do this we need a real newspaper so people can start thinking about real issues.
Posted by: Keep it Simple | December 24, 2007 02:18 PM