Friday, August 28, 2015

Today in Labor History

August 28  --  Union Communications Services, Inc.

The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom—the Martin Luther King Jr. "I Have A Dream" speech march—is held in Washington, D.C., with 250,000 participating. The AFL-CIO did not endorse the march, but several affiliated unions did – 19632015.08.24 history mlk.march
(Martin Luther King, Jr., and the March on Washington: Written for 5 to 8 year-olds, this is a very nice introduction to Martin Luther King, Jr., and the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, that watershed event in the fight for civil rights. It uses the March as a point of reference as it talks about segregation in America and the battle for equal rights.)

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Zacks Lowers Tribune Publishing to Sell (TPUB)

Tribune Publishing (NYSE:TPUB) was downgraded by Zacks from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in areport released on Thursday, MarketBeat reports.
According to Zacks, “Tribune Publishing Company is a diversified media and marketing solutions company. It operates daily newspapers and related Websites, and various ancillary businesses. The Company operates Websites and mobile applications, including a primary online product for each local newspaper, which is an expanded version of the newspaper, providing local, national, and international news. Its daily newspapers include the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Sun Sentinel, the Orlando Sentinel, The Baltimore Sun, the Hartford Courant, The Morning Call and the Daily Press. Tribune Publishing Company is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. “

Mighty Machines - Hot Off the Press!



Some reasons why LA's rising crime rate is not a surprise - LA Observed

Some reasons why LA's rising crime rate is not a surprise - LA Observed

Hedge Fund Appeal Denied in Tribune Media Bankruptcy Case

By , Delaware Business Court Insider

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has denied the appeal of a hedge fund vying for litigation that could leave it with more money than it is on track to receive in the Tribune Media Co. bankruptcy case.

Aurelius Capital Management, a hedge fund specializing in distressed debt, bought $2 billion of pre-leveraged buyout debt from the Tribune company, former parent company of the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. According to Third Circuit Judge Thomas L. Ambro's opinion, Aurelius appealed a district court decision denying Aurelius' appeal of Tribune's Chapter 11 reorganization as equitably moot.

Read more: http://www.delawarelawweekly.com/id=1202735602666/Hedge-Fund-Appeal-Denied-in-Tribune-Media-Bankruptcy-Case#ixzz3k3SOJ5lT

Can a magazine live forever? Scientific American, at 170, is giving it a shot

Can a magazine live forever? Scientific American, at 170, is giving it a shot

Today in Labor History

August 27  --  Union Communications Services, Inc.

Some 14,000 Chicago teachers who have gone without pay for several months finally collect about $1,400 each - 1934

President Truman orders the U.S. Army to seize all the nation's railroads to prevent a general strike. The railroads were not returned to their owners until two years later - 1950

Thursday Morning in the Blogosphere

This is one of many massive warehouses I visit 
weekly moving food and paper products




Print finances high-quality journalism - Editors Weblog

Newspaper circulation figures continue to fall - RTE News

Newspaper Death Spiral Made Plain in One Chart - Observer

The state of the U-T and Tribune Publishing - San Diego Reader

The Virginia shooting and the dark side of the social media age - Poynter

Most of national audience now mobile-only at 4 UK newspapers - Journalism

USA Today Cuts 90 in Buyout Offers to Staffers Age 55 and Older - The Wrap

Ancestry Collaborates with Gannett to Digitally Archive Newspapers - MarketWatch

Ms. Huffington seems to believe that journalism skills are worth nothing - Romenesko

Miami Herald grows audiences with growing number of niche smartphone apps - INMA


Wednesday, August 26, 2015

News crew shot dead on live TV in Virginia* - LA Observed

News crew shot dead on live TV in Virginia* - LA Observed

Journalists rally around fallen broadcasters with #WeStandWithWDBJ

Journalists rally around fallen broadcasters with #WeStandWithWDBJ

Gunman kills reporter and videographer during live broadcast

Gunman kills reporter and videographer during live broadcast

LA Times flashback: 1982 newsroom phone list - Native Intelligence

LA Times flashback: 1982 newsroom phone list - Native Intelligence

Today in Labor History

August 26 - Union Communications Services, Inc.2015.08.24 history 16tons
Fannie Sellins and Joseph Starzeleski are murdered by coal company guards on a picket line in Brackenridge, Pa. Sellins was a United Mine Workers of America organizer and Starzeleski was a miner - 1919
(Sixteen Tons carries the reader down into the dark and dangerous coal mines of the early 1900s, as Italian immigrant Antonio Vacca and his sons encounter cave-ins and fires deep below the earth’s surface.)

After three-quarters of the states had ratified the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, women win their long struggle for the vote - 1920

With America in the depths of the Great Depression, the Comptroller of the Currency announces a temporary halt on foreclosures of first mortgages - 1932

In what some may consider one of the many management decisions that was to help cripple the American auto industry over the following decades, Ford Motor Co. produces its first Edsel. Ford dropped the project two years later after losing approximately $350 million - 1957
2015.08.24 history womens.strike.equality
The Women’s Strike for Equality is staged in cities across the U.S., marking the 50th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment, under which women won the right to vote. A key focus of the strike—in fact, more accurately a series of marches and demonstrations—was equality in the workplace. An estimated 20,000 women participated, some carrying signs with the iconic slogan, “Don’t Iron While the Strike is Hot.” Another sign: “Hardhats for Soft Broads” - 1970

More than 1,300 bus drivers on Oahu, Hawaii, begin what is to become a 5-week strike - 2003

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

La Verne Day at the Fair - Thursday, Sept. 10


Fight to end chronic homelessness must start in childhood, report says

By Josie Huang

A new study of Los Angeles County's public assistance records found that children make up nearly half of those residents who’ve been homeless — a scenario that puts them at higher risk of homelessness as adults.

Read the entire report by following this link

Tuesday Night in the Blogosphere

What my iPhone looks like after dropping

What one key LA Times editor liked in the past week - LA Observed

What one key LA Times editor liked in the past week - LA Observed

Today in Labor History

August 25  --  Union Communications Services, Inc.

Birth of Allan Pinkerton, whose strike-breaking detectives ("Pinks") gave us the word "fink" - 1819

Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters founded at a meeting in New York City. A. Philip Randolph became the union's first organizer - 1925

L.A. Times op-ed on online corrections: ‘There’s a stunning lack of transparency’

L.A. Times op-ed on online corrections: ‘There’s a stunning lack of transparency’

Los Angeles Times Video is targeted to blind users

The Los Angeles Times, commonly referred to as the Times, is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country. In 2000, the Tribune Company, parent company of the Chicago Tribune and local television station KTLA, purchased the Los Angeles Times. It is currently owned by Tribune Publishing. 


Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Today in Labor History

The national Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners is founded in Chicago in a gathering of 36 carpenters from 11 cities - 1881

Coal company guards kill seven, wound 40 striking miners who are trying to stop scabs, Virden, Ill. - 1898

With the news that their boss, Florenz Ziegfeld, was joining the Producing Managers’ Association, the chorus girls in his Ziegfield Follies create their own union, the Chorus Equity Association. They were helped by a big donation from superstar and former chorus girl Lillian Russell. In 1955 the union merged with the Actor’s Equity Association - 1919

Teamsters official William Grami is kidnapped, bound and beaten near Sebastopol, Calif. He was leading a drive to organize apple plant workers in the area - 1955
2015.08.10 history blackjacks.to.briefcases(From Blackjacks to Briefcases is the first book to document the systematic and extensive use by American corporations of professional unionbusters, an ugly profession that surfaced after the Civil War and has grown bolder and more sophisticated with the passage of time. Since the 1980s, hundreds of firms—including the Detroit News, Caterpillar and Pittston Coal, to name but three—have paid out millions of dollars to hired thugs. Some have been in uniforms and carried nightsticks and guns, others have worn three-piece suits and carried attaché cases, but all had one simple mission: to break the backs of workers struggling for decency and fair treatment on the job.)

The North American Free Trade Agreement—NAFTA—is concluded between the United States, Canada and Mexico, to take effect in January, 1994, despite protests from labor, environmental and human rights groups – 1992
What was to become a 232-day strike by major league baseball players over owners' demands for team salary caps began on this day; 938 games were cancelled - 1994

August 11
Federal troops drive some 1,200 jobless workers from Washington D.C. Led by unemployed activist Charles "Hobo" Kelley, the group's "soldiers" include young journalist Jack London and William Haywood, a young miner-cowboy called "Big Bill" - 1884
2015.08.10 history platform.strikers
One hundred "platform men" employed by the privately owned United Railroads streetcar service in San Francisco abandon their streetcars, tying up many of the main lines in and out of the city center - 1917

Int’l Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union receives CIO charter – 1937
Maine lobster fishers form a local of the Machinists union as they face a 40-year low price for their catches, and other issues. By October, the New York Times reported, it had 600 members, 240 of them dues-payers - 2013

The Washington Post is decorating the walls of its new office with nearly 1,000 headlines

The Washington Post is decorating the walls of its new office with nearly 1,000 headlines

Wednesday Morning in the Blogosphere

The Blogging Pressman visits the Los Angeles Times Production Facility



Newspapers fading fast? - WHBY

Help Wanted: Tribune Media Needs a New CFO - Investopedia

Tribune Publishing doing ‘top to bottom’ digital review - Politico

Production: Consolidation is More Than about Cost Reduction - E and P

Tribune Publishing shares down 12% on falling Q2 income - USA Today

LA Times notes: New VP, partnership, data editor and obit - LAObserved

Online news overtakes TV news and printed newspapers - Paso Robles Daily

E.W. Scripps Stock Leaves Print Media Rivals in Dust - Here's Why - TheStreet

Tribune Publishing makes $3 million on $410 million in revenue - Chicago Tribune

Tribune Publishing income plummets in second quarter of 2015 - Chicago Business Journal


Monday, August 10, 2015

VICE voluntarily recognizes workers’ union

VICE voluntarily recognizes workers’ union

Hey Fox 11, how are those contract talks going? - LA Observed

Hey Fox 11, how are those contract talks going? - LA Observed

Today in Labor History

August 10  --  Union Communications Services, Inc.

The Air Line Pilots Association is founded at a meeting in Chicago attended by 24 activists from across the country - 1931

2015.08.10 history mike.quillHundreds of Transport Workers Union members descend on a New York City courthouse, offering their own money to bail out their president, Mike Quill, and four other union leaders arrested while making their way through Grand Central Station to union headquarters after picketing the Interborough Rapid Transit offices in lower Manhattan - 1935

President Roosevelt signs amendments to the 1935 Social Security Act, broadening the program to include dependents and survivors' benefits - 1939

Construction on the St. Lawrence Seaway begins. Ultimately 22,000 workers spent five years building the 2,342-mile route from the Atlantic to the northernmost part of the Great Lakes - 1954

I.W. Abel, president of the United Steel Workers of America from 1965 to 1977, dies at age 79 - 1987

President Barack Obama signs a $26 billion bill designed to protect 300,000 teachers, police and others from layoffs spurred by budgetary crises in states hard-hit by the Great Recession - 2010

Career Beat: Ben Welsh named data editor at the Los Angeles Times

Career Beat: Ben Welsh named data editor at the Los Angeles Times

Gabe Parman Rest in Peace - Former Pressman L.A. Times

Long time pressman Gabriel X. Parman 71 passed away last Monday August 3rd, 2015 from complications brought on by Alzheimer's. Gabe worked as a pressman for the Los Angeles Times, at the Chatsworth Production Facility. After leaving the newspaper Gabe retired to Laughlin, Nevada, where he worked as a card dealer at several of the casinos doting the edge of the Colorado River.

Gabe was preceded in death by his brother Joe Parman, a pressman at the old downtown pressroom.

If anyone has a photo of Gabe please forward to ed.padgett@gmail.com

Sunday, August 09, 2015

Los Angeles Times Reunion - Cook's Corner

Yesterday the men and women that once produced the Los Angeles Times Orange County version gathered at Cook's Corner to reminisce about the heyday at the newspaper. Everyone in attendance thoroughly enjoyed themselves and plan to gather again some time soon.











Friday, August 07, 2015

Garcetti gets a C from LA Times editorial writers - LA Observed

Garcetti gets a C from LA Times editorial writers - LA Observed

Report establishes new formula for evaluating quality of local news

Report establishes new formula for evaluating quality of local news

Friday Morning in the Blogosphere

Dodger Stadium 



Tribune Media CFO Steven Berns resigns - Chicago Tribune

Big Changes in Oregon Newspapers - Oregon Business News

Newspaper circulation, costs are down and revenues are up - Poynter

Newspapers Still Facing Troubles with Continued Job Loss - Breitbart News

Analyst Rating Update on Tribune Media Company - Insider Trading Report

Media wipeout taking down pillar of bull run in US stocks - Chicago Tribune

Los Angeles Times and KCETLink Media Group are partnering - PR Newswire

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune is moving offices to Monrovia - LA Daily News

Orlando residents fed up with unwanted newspapers in driveways - WFTV Orlando

Nikkei’s ‘bombshell’ purchase of Financial Times stuns Japanese media - Editors Weblog


Doug Smith is becoming senior Metro reporter while Ben Walsh will take over as data editor

To: The Staff
From: Megan Garvey, Deputy Managing Editor, and Shelby Grad, Assistant Managing Editor
Doug Smith, one of The Times’ most admired journalists, is hanging up his slide rule after a decade-plus as data editor and moving to a new assignment in Metro.
This would be would be cause for despair, but for one thing: Ben Welsh is succeeding him as head of the data team.
As a senior reporter in Metro, Doug will look for interesting yarns, characters, controversies and slices of life wherever they may be lurking. He will also pitch in on rewrite, and he will continue to team with colleagues on select data stories.
Doug is one of those rare journalists of whom it can be said that he’s done just about everything, and done it with distinction. He’s covered earthquakes, riots, wildfires, floods, the Iraq war, LAUSD scandals, motorcycle lane-splitting and much more. Major projects too numerous to name have been elevated by his involvement.
A career highlight of which he is especially (and justifiably) proud: His stories on unchecked development in the Santa Monica Mountains helped lead to the creation of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in 1978.
Over the course of his career, Doug worked in almost all the local LAT bureaus, including Glendale, Monrovia, Chatsworth, Van Nuys, Redondo Beach and West L.A. He made it to the downtown newsroom after doing rewrite on the 1997 North Hollywood bank robbery, which won a Pulitzer Prize for breaking news reporting. Finally aboard the mother ship, he served as an education reporter, GA reporter and data reporter.
Doug’s work creating The Times’ data team was recently celebrated at the Editorial Awards, so we won’t repeat that history here -- except to say that he identified the importance of data journalism when few in the newsroom knew what it was, and that the team he created is one of the best in the business.
Ben has been at the center of our best data work since he first walked past the spinning globe more than seven years ago. He is the ultimate multi-hyphenate: programmer, digital trouble shooter, teacher, investigative reporter, innovator.
From investigative stories on the Fire Department’s 911 response times to digital innovations like Mapping L.A. and the schools guide, Ben’s influence is hard to miss. In addition to his work for The Times, he created the digital news archive PastPages and is co-founder of the California Civic Data Coalition, a team of developers dedicated to opening up public data. He’s active in NICAR and other digital journalism organizations and is a rock star at conferences and seminars.
Ben grew up in Iowa and holds a B.A. in journalism from DePaul University in Chicago and a master’s from the Missouri School of Journalism. He worked in television news in Chicago before joining the great Hawkeye State migration to Los Angeles.
As data editor, Ben will manage our team of data journalists, serve as a liaison with other editorial departments and work on strategic planning both for his department and the larger digital operation. He’ll also continue to report and write stories.
The change takes effect Sept. 10, which happens to be Doug’s 45th anniversary at The Times.
Please join us in congratulating two great colleagues.

New York Times Co. reports big progress in digital for the second quarter

New York Times Co. reports big progress in digital for the second quarter

Today in Labor History

2015.08.03 history gurley.flynnAugust 07
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Wobbly organizer, born - 1890

Eugene Debs and three other trade unionists arrested after Pullman Strike - 1894

Actors Equity is recognized by producers after stagehands honor their picket lines, shutting down almost every professional stage production in the country. Before unionizing, it was common practice for actors to pay for their own costumes, rehearse long hours without pay, and be fired without notice - 1919

United Slate, Tile & Composition Roofers, Damp & Waterproof Workers Association change name to Roofers, Waterproofers & Allied Workers - 1978

Some 675,000 employees struck ATT Corp. over wages, job security, pension plan changes and better health insurance. It was the last time CWA negotiated at one table for all its Bell System members: divestiture came a few months later. The strike was won after 22 days - 1983

Television writers, members of The Writers Guild of America, end a 22-week strike with a compromise settlement - 1988

August 06
Cigarmakers' Int’l Union of America merges with Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union - 1974

American Railway Supervisors Association merges with Brotherhood of Railway, Airline & Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express & Station Employees - 1980

Brotherhood of Railway Carmen of the U.S. & Canada merges with Brotherhood of Railway, Airline & Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express & Station Employees – 1986
Some 45,000 CWA and IBEW-represented workers at Verizon begin what is to be a two-week strike, refusing to accept more than 100 concession demands by the telecommunications giant - 2011
August 05
Using clubs, police rout 1,500 jobless men who had stormed the plant of the Fruit Growers Express Co. in Indiana Harbor, Ind., demanding jobs - 1931
Thirteen firefighters, including 12 smokejumpers who parachuted in to help their coworkers, die while battling a forest fire at Gates of the Mountain, Montana - 1949

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) took effect today. The first law signed by President Clinton, it allows many workers time off each year due to serious health conditions or to care for a family member - 1993
August 04
The Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers is formed. It partnered with the Steel Workers Organizing Committee, CIO in 1935; both organizations disbanded in 1942 to form the new United Steelworkers - 1876

An estimated 15,000 silk workers strike in Paterson, N.J., for 44-hour week – 19192015.08.03 history ibt.ups.strike
Nearly 185,000 Teamsters begin what is to become a successful 15-day strike at United Parcel Service over excessive use of part-timers - 1997
August 03
Uriah Smith Stephens born in Cape May, N.J. A tailor by trade, in 1869 he led nine Philadelphia garment workers to found the Knights of Labor - 1821

Fighting breaks out when sheriff’s deputies attempt to arrest Wobbly leader Richie “Blackie” Ford as he addressed striking field workers at the Durst Ranch in Wheatland, Calif. Four persons died, including the local district attorney, a deputy and two workers. Despite the lack of evidence against them, Ford and another strike leader were found guilty of murder by a 12-member jury that included eight farmers - 1913

Florence Reece dies in Knoxville, Tenn., at 86. She was a Mine Workers union activist and author of Which Side Are You On?, written after her home was ransacked by Harlan County sheriff J.H. Blair and his thugs during a 1931 strike - 1986
2015.08.03 history which.side(Which Side are You On? The Story of a Song: This wonderful children's book tells the story of a song written in 1931 that has become an anthem for people fighting for their rights all over the world. Florence Reece’s husband Sam, a coal miner in Kentucky, was helping organize a union when all hell broke loose. The company and its hired thugs started attacking miners and their homes, including Reece’s. While bullets flew around her and the couple’s seven children and they took cover under their bed, Florence took out her pencil and started writing—and the song was born.)

Some 15,000 air traffic controllers strike. President Reagan threatens to fire any who do not return to work within 48 hours, saying they "have forfeited their jobs" if they do not. Most stay out, and are fired August 5 - 1981

Wednesday, August 05, 2015

Journalists and hotel housekeepers: Why both need a union

Journalists and hotel housekeepers: Why both need a union

CEO of Tribune Publishing, Jack Griffin, puts on the happy face

From: Jack Griffin
Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2015 12:41 PM
Subject: Celebrating Our One-Year Anniversary

Dear Colleagues:

Tomorrow marks an important milestone in our Company’s history: It was on Aug. 5, 2014 that Tribune Publishing began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

This event is especially important for a mission-driven business such as ours, and I want to take a moment to thank each of you, in every department across the Company, for your hard work and steadfast commitment over the last 12 months.

In that time, our Company achieved a number of successes, notably:

· Each of our brands earned significant industry and peer awards for outstanding journalism. Among them: The Los Angeles Times earned two Pulitzer Prizes for criticism and feature writing. The Chicago Tribune was named a finalist in two Pulitzer categories for investigative reporting and local reporting. The Baltimore Sun was also named a Pulitzer finalist for editorial cartooning. The Daily Press earned the Virginia Press Association’s coveted First Amendment award. The Hartford Courant earned recognition from the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists for the brand’s yearlong efforts to mark its 250th anniversary of continuous publication. The Orlando Sentinel earned six first-place awards in the Florida Society of News Editors Journalism Contest. Sun Sentinel earned recognition for excellence in education and features writing from the Education Writers Association and the Society for Features Journalism, respectively. And The Morning Call earned the state’s highest award for journalism, the Pennsylvania News Media Association’s G. Richard Dew Award for Journalistic Service.

· Our brands continued to deliver unmatched local news and information in the communities they serve. The Baltimore Sun’s coverage of the death of Freddie Gray demonstrated the power of a local brand in driving national and international coverage. Earlier, the Los Angeles Times brought back “California,” a daily section devoted to local and state-wide news. The Chicago Tribune editorial team published a “New Plan of Chicago,” a call-to-action to address the city’s social problems and improve the quality of life.

· Our brands embraced new forms of storytelling across platforms. The Orlando Sentinel and Sun Sentinel continued to pioneer video journalism, each earning nominations for a regional Emmy. Orlando Sentinel was also awarded a grant from The Knight Foundation to build a digital database, “Tabs on Tallahassee: Tracking the Florida Legislature in Real Time,” to better inform residents on legislative news. Additionally, Tribune Content Agency recently introduced the TCA Video Network, a new premium video syndication service. And our native advertising team, Tribune Content Solutions, significantly expanded the portfolio of solutions we offer marketers nationwide.

· Our digital team introduced deeply engaging online and mobile experiences, including a comprehensive suite of Apple Watch apps for all of our properties. Collectively, our iconic brands and digital properties, including ForSaleByOwner.com, now attract more than 43 million unique visitors and generate more than 362 million page views every month, allowing our Company to reach more consumers than ever before.

· We completed significant acquisitions adjacent to the markets in which we have major operations. We operate in large and important markets and our brands are the bedrock of the communities they serve. We acquired The San Diego Union-Tribune and its nine community weeklies and related digital properties, forming the California News Group, which also includes the Los Angeles Times. Earlier, we acquired 38 suburban-Chicago daily and weekly titles, which are now fully integrated into the Chicago Tribune Media Group portfolio. The California and Illinois acquisitions are in addition to others we completed in Maryland and in Connecticut prior to our spin.

While there is still much work to be done in the year ahead, with your commitment and expertise we will continue to extend the influence of our brands.

The introduction of new platforms presents opportunities for us to deepen our connections to consumers and marketing partners, and we have the visionaries in place to help us achieve these goals.

Together, we are building something extraordinary at Tribune Publishing, and our story has only just begun. Here is to another successful year.

All my best –

Jack