Gannett Newsrooms Strike Over Deep Pay Cuts and Management Complaints

Journalists at two dozen Gannett Co.-owned newspapers across the country staged a walk-out Monday and Tuesday to protest pay and working conditions.
The strike involves hundreds of journalists at newspapers in eight states, including the Arizona Republic, the Austin American-Statesman, the Bergen Record, the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, and the Palm Beach Post.
Gannett’s annual shareholder meeting was held during the strike, during which the company’s board was duly elected despite the NewsGuild-CWA union urging shareholders to withhold their votes from CEO and board chairman Mike Reed as an expression of no confidence in his leadership.
The NewsGuild said Gannett’s leadership has gutted newsrooms and cut back on coverage to service a massive debt load.
Gannett’s workforce has shrunk 47% in the last three years due to layoffs and attrition, and some newspapers have forsaken coverage of local sports or business, while others have dropped local news coverage altogether to focus on regional news.