Big Newspapers are in crisis: budgets are being cut, reporters are getting laid off, and large media conglomerates are merging and even shuttering some newspapers completely. So unionized reporters are fighting back to try to save their jobs and strengthen journalism.
During their lunch hour Thursday, reporters from The Ledger in Lakeland demonstrated as part of a nationwide “day of action.”
Kimberly Moore, a Ledger reporter. “We are at the corner of Lime Street and Sykes Boulevard in Lakeland. And there’s about half a dozen reporters and a photographer from The Ledger standing here on the corner holding up signs. Some of them say, ‘Honk if you love The Ledger.’ Some say, ‘tell @Gatehouse_media no more layoffs.’
“Last May we laid off a couple of editors and a photographer. We’re down to, I think, about 15 people in our newsroom now. And that’s down from a high of about 100 maybe 15 years ago.”
So, what effect does that have when you had 100, roughly, reporters and now you’re down to 15? How does that affect how you cover local news?
“Well, things just don’t get covered anymore. We’re a vital part of this community and have been for more than a hundred years. It’s a frightening time in journalism when things are going uncovered. City Commission meetings in Polk County, we just kind of take a cursory glance at their agenda and try and figure out if there’s something going. But you and I both know, as reporters, that you really have to go to those meetings. You really have to hear the discussion, hear what concerns people, hear what concerns commissioners, in order to cover it properly.”
According to Robert Anderson President / CEO / Publisher of the newest hyperlocal in Lakeland, Lakeland Gazette. He said, “GateHouse and Gannett are in 100% crisis mode and continue to lose readership and revenue to the hyperlocal model of news.”
“Where do Millennials and Generation X get their news…. their phone, tablets and they live in the social media world, the printed paper will be dead in less than 10 years.”, said Anderson.
Anderson went on to say, “Currently we own and operate three hyperlocals in the United States with a readership of over 8 million per month. The numbers speak for themselves.” “GateHouse and Gannett are in it for the money, we, on the other hand, are not. We look for partners that bring value to our readers.”
“In ten years of business, I have never layoff an employee,” said Anderson