News Attempting to Limit
Reporters’ Outside Activities

by Phil Fairbanks
Vice President

The Buffalo News is trying to limit free lance work done by reporters and editors on their own time and has ordered several editorial members to end their outside employment.

Editor and Senior Vice President Murray B. Light claims the actions are part of a new review of the company's long-standing ethics policy.

The Guild fears that The News' ultimate goal is to clamp down on "outside activities" in the face of growing competition from television, radio and on-line publications.

In short, the Guild thinks the issue is more than just ethics. The concern is that The News is out to seriously limit what journalists can do on their own time. The union has filed a grievance challenging The News' actions, claiming it violates the Guild's contract with The News.

"Whenever it appears the contractual rights of our members have been violated, it is incumbent on the Guild to mount a defense," said Bob DiCesare, an Editorial vice chairman.

From day one, The News has relied on the advice of an out-of-town attorney, Jeremy Sherman of Seyfarth, Shaw, Fairweather and Geraldson of Chicago.

While the law firm has a reputation for being anti-union, Sherman does not have the same reputation. Guild leaders in Chicago report that Sherman is aggressive, very expensive, but also reasonable.

Light said he called on Sherman, who has done work for The News in the past, because of his experience with ethics policies. Sherman is known as a lawyer who deals almost exclusively with newsroom issues.

The Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory describes Sherman as a labor lawyer also known for his expertise with jurisdiction issues. Officials from the Guild’s International headquarters confirm that Sherman has been an adversary of other Guild locals across the country.

Light said the current review came at the request of his ethics committee, a group made up of Managing Editor Margaret M. Sullivan, Executive Sports Editor Howard Smith and Executive Financial Editor Stephen W. Bell.

"The review, I felt, was long overdue given the changing competitive picture, ownership changes in TV stations locally and perceived violations of past approvals as reported to me by the ethics committee and staffers," Light said in a statement prepared for the Guild.

At this point, Light has ordered three sportswriters and two cityside reporters to end some freelance work.

"The review to date has uncovered some problem areas and we have asked the staffers to eliminate or curtail those activities," Light said.

In two cases, The News has ordered sportswriters to curtail their appearances on the Empire Sports network. Light says John Rigas' majority ownership of The Buffalo Sabres and his financial stake in the Empire Sports cable network pose an ethical conflict for writers.

The Guild, in its defense, notes that Light granted consent for appearances on Empire at a time when Rigas' ownership interest in the Sabres was well known. The News, in fact, ran several stories on Rigas' ownership role before it ever granted permission for writers to appear on Empire.

"The News is seeking to revoke permission it gave some Guild members for outside employment," said DiCesare. "We're interpreting that as a violation of the contract language on outside activities."

The union contends that for Light to now turn around and withdraw that consent constitutes a violation of the contract.

"The question here is whether or not The News can withdraw consent after it has already given consent for these outside activities," Buffalo Newspaper Guild-CWA President Tina Destro said. "In light of the rapidly changing media industry, corporate mergers and domination, we must fight to protect the contractual rights of our members."