We’re used to seeing stories about how unions stick up for workers at news outlets. But now comes this provocative story about how some journalists at one of the world’s most recognizable media organizations are worried about the role of their union.
The Wall Street Journal’s Alexandra Bruell reports that dozens of staffers from The New York Times have formed a group — an “independence caucus” — to take a stance on journalistic independence out of fear that the union that represents the Times (and other outlets) may be leaning too far into advocacy.
Bruell reports the group includes high-profile journalists such as Megan Twohey, Julian Barnes and Emily Bazelon.
Bruell writes, “The creation of the new caucus, which is currently led by the Times employees but is open to staffers from rival publications, comes as tensions between the newsroom and the union — which also has advocacy groups among its members — have grown over the past year or so. Most recently, some Times staffers chafed when the NewsGuild held a virtual meeting during which some members debated the merits of issuing a statement calling for a cease-fire in Gaza and an end to U.S. government aid to Israel, a move that they said would compromise their neutrality and put colleagues in war zones at risk.”
NewsGuild president Jon Schleuss told Bruell that the union hadn’t considered issuing a statement, and that the meeting was held to listen to union members on all sides.
There have been other flashpoints, Bruell reported, including “when the union got involved in a dispute between some Times employees and management over the New York Times’s coverage of transgender issues.”
Bruell added, “Frustrations escalated a few weeks ago when the NewsGuild held the virtual meeting during which several members — many of whom are advocacy groups, not journalistic organizations — pushed for the union to issue the statement on the Israel-Hamas conflict.”
The NewsGuild’s membership isn’t made up exclusively of media outlets. It also represents groups advocating for viewpoints in such issues as the conflict in the Middle East, civil liberties and abortion rights. In all, the NewsGuild represents 26,000 people from 468 workplaces, including 294 media organizations.
Twohey, who was a part of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the #MeToo movement and sexual harassment allegations against Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein, wrote in a Slack message reviewed by Bruell, “Our national union has grown by leaps and bounds, and some members do not work at media organizations. We see this caucus as, in part, a way to continue important conversations in our union about how to respect and balance the different priorities of our broad membership.”
Twohey told Bruell in an interview, “We want to articulate the standards many members are required to follow and why we think they’re important, and undermining them and compromising them for us is a problem.”
Bruell’s story has more details, including some talk of journalists breaking away from the union, so I encourage you to read it.
A personal note
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The most-read story of 2023
Each year, my colleague Rick Edmonds, Poynter’s media business analyst, looks back at Charbeat’s “most engaging” digital stories of the year. That means time spent reading on the sites of its 60,000 clients.
And Edmonds reports that the most-read story of 2023 was the Los Angeles Times story on the death of actor and “Friends” co-star Matthew Perry. The Times story was written by Richard Winton, Matt Brennan and Connor Sheets.
Edmonds noted that “It was the second time in the nine years that Chartbeat has compiled such a list that a news story combined with an obituary led the 100 ranked items. Brian Stelter’s CNN story on Anthony Bourdain’s suicide was the best read in 2018.”
B.J. Terhune, the assistant managing editor for news at the Los Angeles Times, told Edmonds in an email, “Staff Writer Richard Winton and Deputy Editor Matt Brennan are the reason the L.A. Times story was not only the first published among traditional news outlets but also the most-read. … Richard’s extensive sourcing allowed us to confirm Perry’s death long before any official statements were issued. And Matt’s exclusive one-on-one with Perry at the L.A. Times Festival of Books earlier this year provided depth and context. We also sent Staff Writer Connor Sheets to Perry’s home that night, where he was able to provide news from the scene, including interviews with neighbors, giving the story even more scope.”
Rounding out the top five on Chartbeat’s list of the most-read stories:
Edmonds has more stories that made the top of the list, and more analysis. In his piece, Edmonds wrote, “I write about these lists every year for at least two reasons. The winning stories are typically great reads I missed, and, like the Pulitzer Prizes, they provide lessons in thorough reporting as well as writing craft. I hope that more newspapers, magazines and digital-only sites will follow the examples. They have data building blocks, used for business purposes, sitting in their computers. Why not be transparent and share the information on what’s being read with readers?”
Major move
Pretty big news in the sports media and business world.
After 17 years at Sports Business Journal, John Ourand — considered among the top sports media and business reporters in the business — is leaving to join Puck News.
This is a huge get for Puck, which, with this move, is jumping into sports media/business coverage. Puck was launched in 2021, and this past August, raised more than $10 million from venture capital.
CNN’s Oliver Darcy wrote, “Through a mix of scoops and a steady burn of buzzy stories, Puck has drawn the attention of prominent industry players who often read the outlet’s reporting with great intrigue. Despite having fewer than 50 employees, Puck has seen much success with its journalism, often breaking consequential stories ahead of legacy newsrooms.”
Meanwhile, this move is a bit of a blow for SBJ. Ourand was synonymous with the site. SBJ publisher Abe Madkour said in a note, “We will all miss John’s talent, energy, professionalism, humor and unbelievable contributions that have helped SBJ reach the success it has.”
Mitchell’s milestone
