David Schimke has written an excellent overview of the impending Newspaper Guild strike at the Saint Paul Pioneer Press as a City Pages cover story.
Knight Ridder, the multinational owner of the hometown paper, is hell bent to break the union by any means necessary (KR is insisting on the removal of a “strike sympathy” clause in the existing Guild contract) and retain its profit margins at any cost (KR is shrinking its way to greatness at all of its newspapers). Unfortunately, the issue is getting no coverage in the local mainstream outlets. Several months ago, the paper let part-time cartoonist Kirk Anderson go. Anderson’s parting shot was heard around the network as journalists volleyed the memo back and forth.
“I hope seeing my rolling bloody head bobble down the stairs doesn’t frighten anyone, I hope it just makes you cheesed off about the mess it leaves behind. Strong journalism doesn’t come from frightened workers. Strong journalism comes from empowered employees who believe in themselves, in their mission, and who know that their company supports and cares about them and their mission too.”
I have friends and neighbors at the paper, and strike or no, the perennial underdog Pioneer Press will surely be disfigured beyond recognition.
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