Today's Top Stories

Guild Joins Fight for Federal Shield Law for Journalists

The Guild has added its name to supporters of a bipartisan federal shield law bill introduced last week in the U.S. House and promoted during a news conference Wednesday on Capitol Hill. Addressing the secret seizure of AP reporters' phone records, Guild President Bernie Lunzer said, "We are...

Scholarships Honor 50th Anniversary of Famous March

The AFL-CIO-Union Plus Dreams of Jobs and Freedom Scholarship is funded by the AFL-CIO and its member unions to help graduating high school seniors realize their dreams of a college education. The scholarships honor the 50th anniversary (Aug. 28) of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom,...

AP Photographer Describes Rescue Effort at Moore School

Sue Ogrocki, an Associated Press photographer in Oklahoma and a Guild member, was at Plaza Towers Elementary School on Monday as children were rescued."Parents and neighborhood volunteers stood in a line and passed the rescued children from one set of arms to another, carrying them out of harm's...

Guild Team Reaches Tentative Agreement at Seattle Times

After nearly five months of negotiations, the Guild bargaining team has reached a tentative contract with the Seattle Times that includes a 1.5 percent wage increase next year and a lump-sum bonus in 2015. A vote is expected within two weeks; the bargaining team is unanimously recommending...

Hawaii Tribune-Herald Negotiations Lack Aloha Spirit

The Guild bargaining committee at the Hawaii Tribune-Herald in Hilo met with the company in Honolulu last week to attempt to narrow the scope of negotiations to critical issues including wages, job security, health care and management rights. The union offered compromises but the only one the...

Single Mom's Story Illustrates Court Interpreters' Struggle

No raises for more than five years and skyrocketing increases in health care costs mean making "decisions I wish I didn't have to make," writes California court interpreter and single mom Katy Van Sant. Her story illustrates why the Pacific Media Guild-represented interpeters are fighting so...

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News Corp. Buries a Whistleblower

A case study in Rupert Murdoch’s corporate culture

Ryan Chittum — August 22, 2011 — Columbia Journalism Review

What happens when a low-level Rupert Murdoch employee blows the whistle on criminal wrongdoing? He gets harassed and destroyed by News Corporation. What happens when a Rupert Murdoch executive runs the company accused of said crimes, for which News Corporation eventually unloads a whopping $650 million in three settlements? He stays on as CEO and adds the title of New York Post publisher. This is the corporate culture of News Corp.

Tabloid's Pursuit of Missing Girl Led to Its Own Demise

Steve Stecklow and Jeanne Whalen — August 22, 2011 — Wall Street Journal

In a new twist on the telephone hacking case in the UK, News of the World published more-detailed voice mails from Milly Dowler's phone than the police, lawmakers and the public have until recently believed. A review of two early editions of the April 14, 2002 papers found that early versions contained detailed quotes from voice mails. In the final edition, the article contained only one passing reference to a voice mail.

Print vs. Online

The ways in which old-fashioned newspapers still trump online newspapers.

Jack Shafer — August 22, 2011 — Slate

I remain a big fan of NYTimes.com and especially of the Times Reader. But less than a year after my Times cancellation, I was paying for home delivery of the newspaper again. Even though I spent ample time clicking through the Times website and the Reader, I quickly determined that I wasn't recalling as much of the newspaper as I should be. Going electronic had punished my powers of retention. I also noticed that I was unintentionally ignoring a slew of worthy stories.

L.A. Times employees settle lawsuit over stock ownership plan for $32 million

Jerry Hirsch — August 22, 2011 — Los Angeles Times

A group of former and current Los Angeles Times employees settled a federal lawsuit against GreatBanc Trust, the trustee for Tribune Co.'s employee stock ownership plan, for $32 million. The suit, filed in 2008, also included the newspaper's corporate parent, Tribune Co., and its chairman, Chicago-based real estate mogul Sam Zell, but they were subsequently dismissed from the litigation.

Newspaper group given 2nd warning from NYSE

David Elbert — August 22, 2011 — Des Moines Register

Lee Enterprises said Friday that it has received a second warning from the New York Stock Exchange because its share price remains below one dollar, but said it expects to meet listing requirements. An Aug. 15 NYSE letter to the company notes that continued listing requires an average market capitalization of not less than $50 million over a 30-day period or shareholder equity of not less than $50 million. Based on Friday's close of 71 cents, Lee's market value was $27.9 million.

The Gotcha Game

Howard Kurtz — August 22, 2011 — The Daily Beast

Newt Gingrich rips a Fox News debate moderator for asking a “gotcha” question about his struggling campaign. Another panelist gets booed for asking Michele Bachmann about her comment that women should be submissive to their husbands. Christine O’Donnell, the failed Senate candidate in Delaware, walks out on Piers Morgan after refusing to answer queries about what she wrote in the very book she’s promoting. What’s going on here? In part, it’s about working the media refs.

Corporations pushing for job-creation tax breaks shield U.S.-vs.-abroad hiring data

Jia Lynn Yang — August 22, 2011 — Washington Post

Some of the country’s best-known multinational corporations closely guard a number they don’t want anyone to know: the breakdown between their jobs here and abroad.
So secretive are these companies that they hand the figure over to government statisticians on the condition that officials will release only an aggregate number. The latest data show that multinationals cut 2.9 million jobs in the United States and added 2.4 million overseas between 2000 and 2009.

Tony Burman, Al Jazeera and the future of news

Gayle MacDonald — August 22, 2011 — Globe and Mail

When we get to the point where the American public knows more about Charlie Sheen and Casey Anthony than they do about the debt crisis or world affairs, then there’s a failure there. And to a great extent, that failure lies with the media -- not the public. In the U.S., the broadcast media in particular does a poor job of making crucial issues clear and relevant for Americans to understand. And I think that’s a real threat to a functioning democracy.

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