http://www.mediaworkers.org Representing media employees in California and Hawaii Copyright 2011 Pacific Media Workers Guild en-us Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:30:37 -0400 Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:30:37 -0400 http://www.sjguild.org/rss/jpg/Norcal.jpg http://www.mediaworkers.org 140 55 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/23/BU931KR0NC.DTL#ixzz1VxpNV9ac As newspapers nationwide struggle to evolve viable business models, Bay Area News Group said Tuesday it will consolidate 11 local newspapers in the East Bay into two regional newspapers and lay off 8 percent of the staff. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/23/BU931KR0NC.DTL#ixzz1VxpNV9ac http://newsonomics.com/the-newsonomics-of-what-readers-want-to-read-next/ We’d all like to know what comes next. That can be a spiritual quest, a political one, or in the case of news publishers, one that would help them know what it is readers who land on their site would like to read next. http://newsonomics.com/the-newsonomics-of-what-readers-want-to-read-next/ http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2011/08/23/news-group-rebranding-merges-oakland-tribune-contra-costa-times-other-locals-into-three-papers/#more-37937 Guild leaders have begun reaching out to government and community agencies to help members cope with job loss in the East Bay, noting the chaos of consolidation and failed business plans shows no sign of ending. An interview by KQED with Media Workers Executive Officer Carl Hall surveyed the new landscape. http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2011/08/23/news-group-rebranding-merges-oakland-tribune-contra-costa-times-other-locals-into-three-papers/#more-37937 http://www.mediaworkers.org/index.php?ID=8037 BANG-East Bay management plans to reorganize its publications under two daily mastheads, each with its own local section, with new emphasis on bigger-picture news on the cover. Those changes will involve job loss. Management tells the Guild they estimate about 40 newsroom layoffs in BANG-EB, including both members and management. Including other parts of the company, they estimate that we will lose about 120 jobs. http://www.mediaworkers.org/index.php?ID=8037 http://www.mediaworkers.org/index.php?ID=8036 In a news release today, the Bay Area News Group announced a "rebranding" of its East Bay newspapers that will mean the loss of 120 jobs. Managers said about 40 newsroom jobs will be cut. The company will close its Walnut Creek plant, and collapse several small dailies under two common mastheads, The Times and the East Bay Tribune. Regional news, business and sports will be emphasized, the company said. http://www.mediaworkers.org/index.php?ID=8036 http://www.teamster.org/content/nlrb-orders-reinstatement-santa-barbara-news-press-journalists The National Labor Relations Board this week unanimously found that the publisher of the Santa Barbara News-Press violated the law by firing workers in the newsroom during a 2006 union organizing campaign. The NLRB ordered the newspaper’s management, Ampersand Publishing, to reinstate the eight fired journalists, in addition to other remedies. http://www.teamster.org/content/nlrb-orders-reinstatement-santa-barbara-news-press-journalists http://www.mediaworkers.org/index.php?ID=8034 http://www.mediaworkers.org/index.php?ID=8034 http://www.mediaworkers.org/index.php?ID=8033 http://www.mediaworkers.org/index.php?ID=8033 http://www.mediaworkers.org/index.php?ID=8032 Current and former Chronicle employees are hoping for a lot of sun, once again, when they reconvene at Lake Temescal Regional Park in Oakland for the annual employee picnic on Saturday August 20, from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. http://www.mediaworkers.org/index.php?ID=8032 http://www.cjr.org/the_kicker/employees_at_the_bay_citizen_f.php The Bay Citizen unit member Aaron Glantz said he looked forward to contract talks starting soon, after the NLRB formally certified the new bargaining unit. Management and the Guild reached settlement over challenged ballots that eliminated need for further delays. "I’m really excited to get going on the next phase, and rather than will we or won’t we, asking how are we going to do this," Glantz told the Columbia Journalism Review. http://www.cjr.org/the_kicker/employees_at_the_bay_citizen_f.php