How much is good journalism worth? This is a question being considered by publishers across the country who have yet to find a way to spin gold from the interwebs. How much is good journalism worth in Akron? We’ll soon see.

            On Friday, March 5, the members of the Akron Beacon Journal Newspaper Guild will vote on a new contract with the paper. The contract involves pay cuts as well as health care and vacation concessions.

            The Guild – which represents reporters, editors, photographers and others – has been working under a contract that expired in July 2008. On Feb 10, the Guild approved an authorization to strike; negotiations stepped up with management until they reached a tentative agreement last week.

            The Beacon Journal initially asked the Guild for the following terms: a 16.7% reduction in wages, a pension freeze, and a larger share of health care expenses; overall, it would equate to at least a 25% reduction in wages and benefits for employees.

            “Our members would much rather be concentrating on doing great, award-winning journalism than worrying about cuts that could put them out of their homes,” says BJ reporter and Guild secretary Stephanie Warsmith.

            The Guild points out that the newsroom managers and other non-union employees in the building weren’t asked for similar cuts. And the newspaper appears to be hiring for positions outside the newsroom. When union officials demanded a look at the paper’s books to see for themselves how viable the company is, they were waved away. The Guild pitched unpaid vacation time to offset expenses.

            About a year ago, the Beacon negotiated with its other union: the Teamsters. The company initially asked for a 15% wage cut, an increase of hours, a pension freeze, and a cap on health care costs. Carmen Parisi of the Teamsters called the offer the worst he’s ever seen. At the end of the bartering, an agreement was reached which cut wages by 10%.

            In late 2006, the Newspaper Guild had 140 members. After significant layoffs and buyouts of veterans that number dwindled to about 85. Other departments experienced layoffs as well.

            A current employee described the process. “They called the last four digits of your social security number – you went to a room – you got the news – police and security were already on hand to escort you out.”

            Ouch.     

After the tentative agreement with the Beacon Guild was reached, Canadian-based publisher David Black announced that he was purchasing Hawaii’s biggest newspaper, the Honolulu Advertiser. He already owns the Honolulu Star Bulletin, the city’s other daily.

            Black bought the Beacon Journal in August 2006, for $165 million. He is a modern day wanna-be Hearst, owning more than 170 print publications, most of them on the west coast and in Canada. The majority of his publications are weeklies and community newspapers; with the purchase of the Beacon and the Advertiser, he owns four dailies. In July 2006, he purchased Washington state’s King County Journal. The paper’s final edition was January 21, 2007.

            In a 2008 Seattle Weekly article, journalist Don Ward spoke to Black about the shuttering of the KCJ: “With hindsight, we were fortunate to have made that decision early on, because today it would really be hemorrhaging. The daily industry is not good now, and being the third daily in the market would be a recipe for losing money,” said Black.

            Make no mistake. Black is no journalist. He’s an unapologetic businessman, a character displaced from some Ayn Rand paperback. To some, that’s a compliment.

            But the Beacon may end up hemorrhaging Black. On Sept 22, 2009, a group of retirees filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the Beacon Journal and Black. The suit claims the two engaged in a bait-and-switch.

            The plaintiffs are members of the Communication Workers of America Local 14514. Part of their contact gave them guaranteed lifetime employment. The Beacon wanted them to take an early retirement and give up their lifetime employment in exchange for cheap prescription drugs and other health care benefits for them and their spouses.

            The plaintiff’s lawyer, Sudodh Chandra maintains the Journal replaced the low-cost coverage with high-cost plans. One plaintiff said the out-of-pocket medical costs went from $100 to $6000 per year.

            When pressed about how the Guild might vote, Stephanie Warsmith explained that the Guild “understands that we are the worker bees.”

            And so it goes.

-Rick Gedeon rick@clevelandindependent.com