Journalism is under assault, from evolving technology that challenges how news is distributed to media corporations whose only response to economic downturns is to slash and burn.

Journalists and our brothers and sisters in advertising see this as a time to strengthen our newspaper and improve our value to readers; Lee Enterprises and its corporate cousins see this convergence of technology and economy as a perfect storm, a convenient opportunity to cut staff far beyond what is required and to assault the foundations upon which our union is built.

These corporate suits and dollar-strangling publishers also are beginning to breach what for generations has been a solid wall between advertising and editorial. They see the newsroom as a potential arm of advertising, with tailor-made “niche” publications (”Style,” “Summer Fun”) and stories made to order.  Merging advertising and features, for example, would destroy our readers trust: Which stories are honest? Which were written in return for ads? Which were bought and paid for?

It is time to think about an ethics policy for the Post-Dispatch, one generated by the journalists and advertising professionals who work here. Let’s start a discussion right here. To kick things off, here are links to two ethics documents:

Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics

Newspaper Guild-CWA principles of Professionalism and Honesty in the News Media

Speak up! This is our union; this is our profession. It’s up to us to protect them.

(This post was written March 26, 2009; we apologize for the delay in publishing it — admin)

I was called in to HR on 2/27/09 to be told that I was amongst several being laid off that day at the Journals.  I was not allowed to return to my desk to gather my personal belongings….it was done FOR me and placed in a box and I was escorted out of the building.  I was told during my “exit” interview that it was me this time around…based on my numbers…sales.

It is easier for Lee Enterprises to lay off the Journals employees because they are NOT Union – I wish we had been.  The Union had approached the Journals at West County only to be told to vacate the premises….WE were told that if we valued our jobs we would NOT talk to the Union at all!  There is a person who is leaving my old department now – has taken a position at the Post-Dispatch and do you believe this?  There is a help wanted ad to replace her in my old department?!  Is this even legal if there was a layoff?  Aren’t companies supposed to CALL BACK employees that have been laid off?

I was so distraught that day over the complete shock of losing my job that I signed an agreement with the HR Director.  It was a termination agreement with a severance offer.  Mind you – our “severance” packages are equal to two weeks pay per year.  I was let go on 2/27 and my two years would have been on 3/1/09.  Therefore I only got 1 year severance – in which was taxed at a higher bonus rate to boot!  Over $400 in taxes was taken out of my check!   I am not sure if LEE got one over on me or not in my “lay off”….however….I really need to know from someone if they can re-hire in my department without calling back employees first?!  Or is Lee actually going to get away with it because the Journals are NOT Union.  That is the way LEE likes it…NO UNIONS!

Someone please advise me on this one because I am not only confused but livid at this point and want to make my point CLEAR when I call tomorrow!

That, according to Advertising Age, is for the 12 months ended Sept. 28, 2008. Not too shabby.

Would have been nice to know this before the furlough vote last week.

AdAge says, under the hedline

It’s Not Newspapers in Peril; It’s Their Owners

For all the apocalyptic news about newspapers, there’s a distinction worth making: Newspaper owners are far more endangered than the medium itself.

Even as they take blow after blow from recession and digital media, newspapers themselves still earn decent profits. They do even better outside big cities, which tend to get all the attention.

Read the rest of the story here.

The “reorganization” of the newsroom is typical Post-Dispatch and, at the same time, a fitting metaphor for the Lee Way.

Forget, for a moment, the practical problems created in some departments — some copy editors, for example, will need to file for monthly mileage expenses to communicate with their designers. Forget, too, how the “reorganization” was first billed as a system in which the continuous news desk would be encircled by rings of designers, then copy editors, then reporters etc, all feeding back to the center and a modern, 21st-century, print/online production team. Now, all of the traditional fiefdoms have been preserved.

Instead, take the coat locker/file drawer/bookcase units. No please, take them. Away. That must be what management heard after they asked us, “What furniture would you like to keep?” And we told them, knowing full well that 1) they didn’t care to really know, and 2) they had already made up their minds. But like Charlie Brown, we placed our trust, however shaky, in Lucy one more time … and then the football was snatched away.

What reason did you hear for the removal of the lockers? Here are three: 1) They’re ugly. 2) There’s not enough room. 3) The bosses can’t see us hiding behind them (obviously, this our favorite). But the answer depended on who you asked. Oh, and who made the decision? That kept changing, too. It’s Chinatown, Jake. What reason were you given?

The truth is that it’s not about the coat lockers; sadly, it’s about us. We are the furniture.

And furniture doesn’t need to be consulted, listened to or respected. It just needs to be moved, or tossed out. Our brothers and sisters in advertising and circulation know this all too well. Now our Post-Dispatch security guards know it, too, and unfortunately they didn’t have the protection of a union contract.

They will be out on the street, treated like furniture tossed to the curb for bulk-item pickup day. They were told they could apply for jobs with Whelan Security — for half of what they make now. And oh, by the way, that 5 weeks vacation time they haven’t used? Well, here’s the thing: It’s not Lee policy to pay unused vacation time.

Furniture.

A colleague who took the buyout six months ago recently discovered that she has no dental coverage. When she called Delta, she was told she had “opted out” when she signed her early retirement papers in September.

“No, I didn’t,” she said.

“Yes, you did, we have a paper with your signature on it.”

“Well, I don’t remember signing it and, besides, I don’t have a copy of it,” she said. “Can you send me a copy?”

Delta said no, they can’t. So our colleague called HR in Davenport and was told the same thing; no copy. No COBRA dental coverage. No recourse except to get your own insurance because, anyway, six months have gone by and it’s too late.

“Is this the way you treat retirees?” our friend asked.

“Well,” the HR lady in Davenport answered, “you Post-Dispatch people are the only retirees we’ve ever had to deal with.” (Presumably because nobody in a nonunion Lee paper felt it was worth sticking around long enough to have a career and retire. But we digress.)

“You Post-Dispatch people.”

You furniture.

The way Lee Enterprises handled these layoffs clearly shows its contempt for the union and the contract. Now, Lee is laying off the guards. The company will cut jobs to save money but give Mary Junck $3.7 million in salary, etc., as the stock hits the toilet and revenue declines.

Speaking of declining revenue, why would Lee lay off people in circulation and advertising, when the company says it wants to grow those two areas? Either management is clueless or Lee is going to outsource the jobs.

In my 30 years in the newsroom at the Post, I’ve encountered some bosses — fortunately, not many — who didn’t care about the contract or their employees. But, largely, employees in the newsroom who work hard are valued. This doesn’t seem to be the case anywhere else in the building (please, Guild members in other departments, correct me if I’m wrong.)

Please everyone stand united in our efforts to ensure that Lee honors the contract. If Lee gets away with this, management here will ignore the rest of the contract, too.

What do you think of Lee’s latest attack on our contract? Sound off in comments!