News Talks Mirror Industry

The natives spoke Spanish, the pool water tasted salty and the sun pushed the daily temperature well above 90 degrees before noon. Still, most members of the Buffalo Newspaper Guild would have felt quite at home at this year’s Newspaper Guild convention in Puerto Rico.

For example, take these excerpts from the briefings on the state of the industry:

• “Although newspaper circulation is down, circulation revenue is up...
• “Newspapers have focused on cost-cutting to keep profits up...
• “Wages failed to keep pace with inflation over the past decade...
• “...Newspaper(s)...are pursuing a variety of strategies to maximize return on their investment(s)...

In short, it was a curious mix of experiences - moments of fun followed by sober realizations that we at The Buffalo News are not alone with our problems. Corporate greed, the growing monopolization of news media and the nationwide epidemic of amnesia among publishers and owners were the themes of this gathering. What the industry seems to be forgetting more and more are the ideals like community responsibility and our First Amendment role to inform the public.

But - instead of a being a bitch session - there was a strong undercurrent of excitement at this, the last convention of The Newspaper Guild. The long-awaited merger with the 600,000 members of the CWA brought a new sense of strength and a focus to our future both in the industry and as a labor union. Now we face our problems with strong allies across the labor movement.

Watch for that strength to show itself in a new union-led campaign to restore traditional journalistic ideals to the newspaper industry. Expect to learn a great deal more about community service from our sisters and brothers in the CWA. And, get ready for your invitation to become more involved in your union!

If we’re willing to walk these paths, the publishers and the owners will have no other choice but to follow us.

- Tom Dolan