January 2022
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Wirecutter employees protest outside the headquarters of The New York Times on Nov. 16, 2021 (Photo by Jeenah Moon/New York Times via Redux)


** From the senior editor
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8,700.

That’s roughly the combined number of journalists who have joined either The NewsGuild or the Writers Guild of America, East, in the past five years or so.

I have to admit that that number surprised me. I had seen stories here and there about newsrooms organizing; I didn’t realize there were so many. But, as Steve Greenhouse — the longtime labor reporter for The New York Times — pieces together ([link removed]) in his latest feature package for Nieman Reports, more than 100 newsrooms have unionized since 2015 as journalists have sought better benefits and raises, protections from layoffs, and a seat at the table as management set guidelines for working through the pandemic.

The wave of unionization has hit nearly every type of media outlet from magazines like The New Yorker to public radio stations like WBUR in Boston and dozens of newspapers in between. And, for those newsrooms that have been able to ratify contracts, the gains have been significant — setting minimum salaries, establishing grievance procedures, and extracting clauses designed to diversify applicant pools.
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As newsrooms continue organizing, they are also investing in reporting on the labor beat. Steve’s other story traces the ups and downs ([link removed]) of labor coverage from its heyday covering unions in the mid-20th century to its steep decline through the 1980s and 1990s to its resurgence during the Great Recession and pandemic. Today, the beat has evolved to include everything from strikes to the #MeToo movement to workplace safety and child-care issues.

I’d love to hear from you about the approach your newsroom is taking to labor stories. Write me back at [email protected] with your thoughts.

Until next time,

Laura Colarusso
Senior Editor, Nieman Reports
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** A Green Light for Corruption ([link removed])
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Researchers say there are tangible costs when a community loses its newspaper. The question is, do we want to pay now or pay later?

Read more ([link removed])

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** It’s Time to Ditch the Daily Covid-19 Case Count ([link removed])
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Journalists need to let go of how we once reported on the pandemic and adapt to our new reality

Read more ([link removed])

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** NYT Reporters on Afghanistan’s Media Landscape Under the Taliban: “Afghan Journalism in Exile Can Happen” ([link removed])
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Abdul Wahid Wafa and Alissa Johannsen Rubin on evacuating Afghanistan after the fall of Kabul, the threats to journalism in the country, and more

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** More from Nieman Foundation publications:
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An editor’s sensitive guide to interviewing victims of trauma ([link removed])

Narrative editor Jan Winburn created a class at the University of Montana focused on “The Worst Day Ever: Writing about Trauma”

Read more from Nieman Storyboard ([link removed]) . ([link removed])

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“To kill a journalist in Mexico is like killing no one:” Journalists in 40 Mexican cities protest following three murders ([link removed])

“Every time a journalist is killed, it silences the issue they were investigating”

Read more from Nieman Lab ([link removed]) .
Read more from Nieman Reports ([link removed])
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