Over 200 journalists from 14 Gannett newsrooms across the U.S. will hold a one-day walkout on Monday, the day of the company’s annual shareholder meeting.
This will be the union’s largest collective action to date as journalists across the nation go on strike to protest CEO Mike Reed’s cost-cutting decisions at Gannett, which owns The Augusta Chronicle.
Kaitlyn Kanzler, a reporter for The Record in New Jersey, said many employees need public assistance or private charity to get by. Meanwhile, Reed took home $3.4 million in 2022.
“Mike Reed has been a disaster for our newsroom,” she said. “While Reed and his executive friends make millions, we’re forced to accept wages that are too low to pay the bills.”
A spokesman for The Augusta Chronicle said it will continue to put news out on Monday in spite of the work stoppage.
“Our goal is to preserve journalism and serve our communities across the country as we continue to bargain in good faith to finalize contracts that provide equitable wages and benefits for our valued employees,” he said.
While The Augusta Chronicle won’t be participating in the strike, other Gannett newsrooms are extending the strike to two days or more, according to the NewsGuild, which represents more than 50 Gannett bargaining units and more than 1,000 employees.
The 14 participating newsrooms extend across California, Arizona, Texas, Indiana, Florida, New Jersey and New York.
The strike is coming two weeks after the NewsGuild sent a letter to Gannett shareholders asking them to withhold their vote on Reed, who it says has neglected investments in newsrooms in favor of servicing the company’s self-incurred debt burden. Reed has, “weakened our company, forsaken the towns and cities where we have outlets and impoverished shareholders,” the letter said.
At the end of 2019, Gannett reported 21,255 employees, but by the end of 2022, that had fallen by 47% to 11,200 employees, according to the letter.
Meanwhile, the guild says the ratio of CEO pay to median employee salary at the company in 2022 was 66:1 with Reed earning $3.4 million. In 2021, he took home $7.7 million. The guild said it recommends a CEO-to-median salary ratio of 20:1.
Since Gannett and GateHouse Media merged in 2019, Gannett’s stock price has fallen by about 70%, and the number of newspapers it owns has fallen from 261 to 218. For the same time period, the S&P 500 rose 33% and shares of competitor Lee Enterprises lost a smaller 32%.
The guild calls the merger an “unmitigated disaster” and says the decline in readership is due to mismanagement by Reed, who has “hollowed out” newsrooms with “shrinking pay and benefits.”
The guild sampled ten publications and found that local news stories had declined by between 59% and 95% over the past decade.
Jon Schleuss, president of the NewsGuild, said Reed has overstayed his welcome at the company.
“Under Mike Reed’s watch, Gannett has become radioactive to investors,” he said. “Reed doesn’t care one bit about a long-term strategy to invest in the company by investing in journalists. Instead, Reed’s singular focus has been on stuffing his own pockets.”
