UNIONIZED GANNETT JOURNALISTS WILL PROTEST USA TODAY’S FOOD & WINE EVENT CALLING OUT THE COMPANY’S TREATMENT OF EMPLOYEES

For immediate release: October 7, 2022 

UNIONIZED GANNETT JOURNALISTS WILL PROTEST USA TODAY’S FOOD & WINE EVENT CALLING OUT THE COMPANY’S TREATMENT OF EMPLOYEES

Journalists employed by Gannett are highlighting the contrast between this lavish event and their employer’s greed when it comes to paying their employees equitable wages, forcing many to suffer from food insecurity.

This demonstration comes amidst a string of direct actions taken by unionized Gannett employees all across the country protesting recent massive staff cuts across newsrooms. 

Journalists are fighting for strong contracts across the board in hopes of restoring local news.  

ASHEVILLE, NC — Unionized journalists employed by Gannett-owned newsrooms are traveling to Asheville this weekend with representatives from The NewsGuild-CWA to protest USA Today’s Food & Wine event on Saturday, October 8th. They plan to distribute leaflets outside and during the event, from 12 pm ET to 4 pm ET, calling out Mike Reed, CEO of Gannett, who took home an $8 million dollar salary last year and authorized a $100 million stock buyback, all while laying off 400 employees and eliminating 400 open positions. The journalists did a similar demonstration back in September at Citi’s Global Technology Conference where Mike Reed gave a speech.  

The unionized newsrooms participating in this action include members from The Record Guild and Asbury Park Press - MyCentralJersey (APP-MCJ) Guild, who together with the Hudson Valley News Guild, Atlantic DOT Guild, Utica and Rochester Guilds make up the Gannett Atlantic Regional Union, represented by the NewsGuild of New York. 

“Many journalists who work for Gannett continue to struggle to afford even the most basic of needs due to the company’s history of low wages. The company has shown time and time again the disdain they have by failing to provide cost of living raises and substantial salary increases for employees while executives continue to rake the benefits of our work to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Kaitlyn DiSpigna, Court Reporter, The Record, Unit Chair, The Record Guild. “The journalists of Gannett will not see the profits made by its food and wine event. We are currently fighting for fair contracts so we can finally stop worrying about facing food and housing insecurity and having to rely on public subsidies or financial assistance from family.”

This action follows a string of national collective action taken by unionized Gannett newsrooms. The NewsGuild-CWA represents more than 50 Gannett-owned newsrooms across the country. In August, the Gannett Atlantic Regional Union, together with unionized newsrooms like AZCentral and The Arizona Republic (AZ),  IndyStar (IN), The Palm Beach Post (FL), Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI), and the Austin American-Statesman (TX) staged a coordinated lunch-out to protest threat of mass layoffs. Hundreds of journalists participated in this action. Just this week, the newsrooms will hold a national online rally, open to not yet unionized Gannett newsrooms, as well as journalists that were laid off in August. Special guests will include musician and activist Billy Bragg, Florida Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and New York State Senator James Sfoukis. 

Guild members at Gannett are demanding the company invest in their newsrooms and strengthen local news by providing employees fair pay and stronger salary minimums, increased staffing, and a real commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

“This weekend’s Gannett-sponsored lavish event boasting ‘nationally renowned culinary artists’ is just another slap in the face to its employees, many who have also won national awards for their reporting but who have taken home poverty wages for decades, lost homes, face food insecurity or have had to rely on family members for basic resources, all while deeply committed to their work and the communities that depend on their work,” said Cheryl Makin, Reporter, Mycentraljersey.com, Unit Vice-Chair, APP-MCJ Guild. “Our unions are fighting to restore what Gannett continues to decimate and we won’t stay quiet on what this company owes us.” 

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