Gannet journalists walk off the job in protest against budget cuts

WASHINGTON – Hundreds of journalists working for the largest newspaper chain, Gannet, walked off the job Monday.

They were protesting budget cuts and calling on shareholders to vote of no confidence in CEO Mike Reed. They said Reed is responsible for the company’s financial woes.

The journalists, represented by the NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America (CWA) union, claim the CEO is jeopardizing readers’ access to local news and threatening reporters’ livelihoods.

“He has reduced local content by relying on wire service and regional stories [and] cut newsroom staff. As a result, our communities are not being served and our employees are demoralized,” CWA said in a statement. 

However, the company said in its statement that its leadership is focused on investing in local newsrooms and marketing content in a difficult economic climate.

The journalist union said Reed collected a salary of $7.7 million in 2021 and $3.4 million last year. It also said he has forced journalists to seek work elsewhere and cut budgets for local coverage.

“From a shareholder perspective, these cuts to local news reporters and local news don’t just weaken civil society, they diminish the future of that company in the community,” the union said. 

The New York Times reported Monday that Gannett has cut its staff nearly in half since 2019.

Gannett has also closed dozens of newspapers altogether, including six weeklies in the Akron, Ohio, region last February and four newspapers in Northern Kentucky last year.

Five months ago, Gannett also laid off 6% of its 3,440 employees in its media division.

Gannett is headquartered in Tysons, Virginia, in Washington, D.C., and owns the national newspaper USA Today and several local papers.