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Trouble on our doorstep. Read all about it in the summer/fall edition of The Frontier Reporter
We had some political mayhem and the close of Lee Enterprises’ fiscal year, all of which has spelled trouble for the Guild. Check out new features and all the Guild news you may have from the summer and fall in the latest edition of The Frontier Reporter newsletter.
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Fairbanks retires after 34 years at the News, but will remain as Guild advisor
A year into his tenure as a reporter at The Buffalo News, a columnist approached Phil Fairbanks and asked if he would be interested in working with the Buffalo Newspaper Guild.
At the time, Fairbanks was covering business and labor, and was taking classes at Cornell’s ILR School, which specialized in labor relations and union organizing. But Ray Hill, the News’ longtime columnist, insisted that Fairbanks join the Guild’s bargaining team in 1987. Fairbanks’ role became vital as the Guild negotiated its next contract with management — Fairbanks coordinated posters and handed out buttons to fellow Guild members throughout the process of negotiations. Those tokens reminded the Guild and News employees what they were fighting for.
“The News wanted us to pay 20 percent of our health insurance premium, and that’s when other employers were going after that, and that was when the News was making money, hand over fist, a million dollars a week,” Fairbanks said. “When most workers were paying for their health care, we weren’t.
“But that’s what I’m most proud of, that first mobilization campaign. That’s when you see the solidarity of the union, and now, that makes me feel good about what I’m leaving behind.” (more…)
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Sponsored content and The News — and what you need to know about it
The Buffalo News is trying to fool you into thinking advertisements are journalism.
Lee Enterprises, which owns The News, is apparently OK with letting readers think that ads — also known as “sponsored content” — should look like the real journalism produced by our hard-working Guild members. Our repeated objections have been ignored.
Discerning readers, with some effort, might be able to tell the difference. But why mislead them? Trying to trick and deceive our readers into thinking they’re actually getting news is offensive to the professionals whose job is to deliver trusted information.
Over the past few months, there have been many examples of this ongoing problem, with items posted on the website that masquerade as news articles, as well as social media posts that are displayed just like actual news headlines, without any labeling. This has to stop.
Some instances have been particularly egregious.
When an ad is made to look similar to a news story, and fails to adequately be labeled so that readers know what they’re looking at, it hurts the credibility of The Buffalo News.
The Guild has raised our objections with local management. They rejected the union’s grievance.
Labeling sponsored content, which is what the Guild is asking for, isn’t hard.
The whole situation is embarrassing and unnecessary. Lee Enterprises should start clearly labeling these ads. #ItsAnAd
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Guild general meeting minutes: Tuesday, September 29, 2020
President Sandy Tan called the afternoon meeting to order at noon Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020 via Zoom.
Vice President for Contract Enforcement Aaron Besecker said the grievance committee approved two grievances, one regarding sponsored content and one regarding management doing Guild work in ABC.
Tan discussed the remote work survey the Guild conducted with its members.
Executive officers discussed the #ThisIsGuildWork campaign. (more…)
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Guild executive committee meetings: Monday, September 28, 2020
President Sandy Tan called the meeting to order at 5:04 p.m. Monday, Sept. 28, 2020 via Zoom.
Motion/Second/Carried Besecker/Harrington to approve the executive committee minutes for July and August.
Tan said that the Tonawanda News mailers approved a new contract by a vote of 13-1. Administrative Officer Kim Leiser noted that the new contract included raises for part-timers and full-timers.
The committee welcomed Typographical Unit representative Hilary Osborn, who was participating in her first meeting. (more…)
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Guild executive committee meetings: Wednesday, August 19, 2020
Vice President/Contract Enforcement Aaron Besecker called the meeting to order at 5:09 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020 via Zoom.
Motion/Second/Carried Fairbanks/Harrington to approve the minutes for the June executive committee meetings.
Grievance Report
Vice President/Contract Enforcement Aaron Besecker reviewed the Grievance Committee meeting held just before the executive committee meeting.
A letter from Besecker and Secretary Keith McShea was written to management about our concerns about work being done by a Niagara County freelancer as well as actions by the executive sports editor. (more…)
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Guild executive committee minutes: Wednesday, July 15, 2020
President Sandy Tan called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m. Wednesday, July 15, 2020 via Zoom.
Motion/Second/Carried Besecker/Fairbanks to approve the minutes for the May executive and general Guild meetings.
M/S/C Fairbanks/Mooney to approve the minutes of the typographical unit negotiations. (more…)
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Update on freelancer issues with Buffalo News management
The Buffalo Newspaper Guild informed its membership June 8 that some digital freelancers increased how much they wrote for The Buffalo News while Guild members are furloughed, according to the Guild’s research.
Management has responded to our flier, saying that overall freelance spending for the month of April is down compared with the same period last year, and the Guild’s position is wrong.
We don’t think so. Instead, we fear management is missing the point.
Management’s response also included having a freelancer write columns on two of the biggest stories in the country: the Buffalo Bills’ first black QB discussing the George Floyd protests, and an interview with the WBFO reporter who shot the video of Martin Gugino being pushed by Buffalo police.
Guild members should find this egregious and wholly unacceptable. (more…)
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Guild members show support during furlough on social media
The Guild has begun engaging in acts of solidarity on social media since the furloughs began for all other Guild members. That includes changing social media images/avatars to the black Guild logo, “going dark” on social media and encouraging people to subscribe to The News through a special subscription link, which makes it clear that people are subscribing specifically in support of our members.
As always, while the Guild is physically separated, all members will continue to receive important updates via email, buffaloguild.org and through our Twitter and Facebook accounts, which includes messages we encourage all Guild members to share.
Link to Guild subscription special: https://bit.ly/3bKlgUa
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What is it like to work from home during the Covid-19 pandemic?
The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted how we live and how we work, particularly for Guild members in the newsroom of The Buffalo News. Mike McAndrew, the News’ watchdog team editor and a member of the Guild’s Executive Committee, and Sean Kirst, news-side columnist, share their perspectives on how the working landscape has individually and collectively changed because of the pandemic.
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Warren Colville called “forward-thinking leader” as he retires
Warren Colville has stepped down as publisher of The Buffalo News, a change that raises a flood of concerns regarding the future of the paper under Lee Enterprises.
Colville announced May 5 that he is stepping down from his post after 33 years with the News, including his tenure as president, which began in 2001, and as president and publisher, which began in 2013. (more…)
Buffalo Newspaper Guild CWA Local 31026 