By Charly Edsitty
The UNITY News Online

Recently unemployed members of the National Association of Black Journalists gathered at UNITY on Thursday to give a voice and an open ear to those affected.

The meeting was spurred by an NABJ listserv post by Tina A. Brown, which drew an overwhelming response. She has been a staff writer at The Hartford Courant for 16 years and wrote that she took a buyout from the newspaper and would be out of a job by July 31.

“People are feeling kind of panicked,” said Jackie Jones, an NABJ member who helped coordinate the impromptu gathering of affected members attending the convention. “They don’t know where the industry is going.”

NABJ offered financial assistance to recently laid-off members to enable them to attend the convention.

Jones and fellow meeting coordinator Neil Foote, explained that comments on the listserv indicated that this was an important issue among the members.

After addressing the group, which met at the Sheraton hotel, Jones and Foote opened the floor to the audience. Many shared stories of surviving several rounds of buyouts and job cuts, and discussed skills that could be transferrable to other careers.

Both Jones and Foote are working to create a volunteer committee that will assist members who lose jobs. They hope to have a committee in place in two to three weeks.

“I could feel the pain of what people were writing on the listserv,” said former NABJ President, Sidmel Estes-Sumpter, who attended the meeting.

She lost her job two years ago at a Fox affiliate in Atlanta after 27 years.

“I was broadsided, I had no clue it was coming and beat myself up wondering why I didn’t see it,” she said.

Estes-Sumpter said she sunk into a depression after losing her job and faced home foreclosure.  She is still financially struggling, but is optimistic about her future.

“The first thing is to never give up,” Estes-Sumpter said. “Second, it’s not you. You are not the problem, it’s the industry. Third, think differently about being a journalist.”

Estes-Sumpter’s story is all too familiar to Brown who explained that more than a month ago she received an e-mail from her executive editor stating that there would be “significant” buyouts and layoffs that would affect people in the newsroom.

Brown explained that her exit wasn’t about the money, but a chance to change her life and take it in another direction. Employees were given nine days to make a decision.

Brown is hopeful about her future and said she is relying on her skills to pull her through hard times. Leading by example, she hopes to show other journalists that everything is not lost.

“There may be a time when I am panicking and crying, but right now I am not there,” Brown said.  “I have my faith, savings, family, friends and most of all I have skills. I can do anything.”

Brown holds no resentment toward her former employer but worries that job cuts may be affecting the bigger picture of journalism.

“Freedom of the Press might be destroyed because people have gotten into so much debt,” Brown said.  “I’m getting bought out because a company made some bad business decisions.”

By CORINNE Z. LYONS
The UNITY News

Freezes have been placed on hiring, people have been laid off or offered buyouts, and traveling budgets have been sliced.

Many financially-strapped media companies are being forced to find more ways to reduce their budgets, and foreign bureaus, once thought to be untouchable, are being considered as a way to cut costs.

“The trend has been to reduce international reporting and reduce resources,” says John Schidlovsky, director of the International Reporting Project. “It’s financial reasons because international bureaus are expensive.”

Several journalists are fearful the industry could lose sight of the valuable role played by international reporters. They are concerned about the direction in which the industry is headed and want to bring attention to the issue.

Mary Rajkumar of the Associated Press, Keith Richburg of The Washington Post, Ellen Weiss of National Public Radio and Pradnya Joshi of The New York Times are scheduled to discuss the issue at a panel session at 11 a.m. Friday in Room W178.

The panel was designed to provide insight into what readers find relevant in the world.

For many media outlets, continuing international reporting means using wire services or freelancers. Schidlovsky said IRP provides journalists with fellowships to go overseas for five weeks. That might not be the best option, but it is better than nothing, Schidlovsky said.

Richburg said international reporting “can, and must, continue despite cutbacks.” 

For the AP, it means training journalists in other countries, said Rajkumar, international projects editor.

“International reporting is more important than ever because what happens in other countries affects all of us,” Rajkumar said. “We see repeatedly with immigration, terrorism, the Iraq war, the economy and any number of other issues. It’s also just plain interesting.”

By VANNESSA MARAVILLA
The UNITY News

The always stressful journalism industry has become even more so as rounds of buyouts and layoffs cast a cloud of uncertainty over rapidly shrinking newsrooms.

Journalists are forced to work harder than ever as they try to keep their jobs and fill the roles of former colleagues. Many struggle to stay sane while bracing for the sting of the unexpected.

“It does affect you profoundly and is somewhat of a downer,” said Bobby Calvan, a 43-year-old reporter at the Sacramento Bee. “All the while you are trying to not hear the bad news.”

The negative climate has prompted Calvan and his colleagues to band together and stick it out, bringing greater camaraderie to the newsroom.

By CONNING CHU
The UNITY News

UNITY: Journalists of Color Inc. has surpassed its projections in sponsorship and revenue for this week’s convention. But as the journalism industry grapples with job cuts, company sell-offs and a crippled U.S. economy, the revenue and registration numbers have dipped below those for the 2004 convention.

UNITY President Karen Lincoln-Michel said convention revenue from sponsorship was at $2.5 million, which is $100,000 above projected revenue. Revenue for this year’s convention stands at $4 million, not including registration, while revenue for the 2004 UNITY convention was $4.5 million.

Onica Makwakwa, UNITY executive director, said revenue was “on target” with expectations for this year’s convention.

Given the slow economy, Lincoln-Michel said, “we have done quite well.”

The media have been hard hit with declining readership and plummeting profits as the industry shifts to converging journalism to multiple platforms, including the Internet. Newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times and The Palm Beach Post, have slashed hundreds of jobs in the past few weeks, while other companies have been sold or consolidated.

In the past four years, the industry has seen The McClatchy Co.’s buyout of the Knight-Ridder Newspapers, which owned The Miami Herald and San Jose Mercury News. Also, the Tribune Co., which owns the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, was sold to real estate developer Sam Zell and is now privately owned.

The weak economy has caused an emigration of journalists from the industry. Those who have stayed are taking on more responsibility to cover workforce losses.

NABJ Treasurer Gregory Lee said the combination of factors has put a strain on UNITY attendance. “There is a concern about making the numbers,” Lee said, adding that UNITY should adjust the registration goals for each alliance partner.

“Reductions would help us tremendously, as far as the bottom line,” he said.

As of July 16, Makwakwa said, registration for the convention was 6,000. She said the numbers could change because last-minute and on-site registration may boost attendance. In 2004, 8,100 attended the convention in Washington, D.C.

Advertising and exhibitor booth sales from companies that purchase space in the convention’s Media and Career Expo and Marketplace are also on the decline. Booth sales were at $1.4 million — $100,000 short of the organizers’ goal of $1.5 million — Lincoln-Michel said, noting that more recruiters will be attending this year than for the 2004 convention.

Gannett Co., which owns a slew of newspapers and news stations, is one of the convention sponsors. Gannett has also taken part in a number of buyouts and layoffs at some of its newspapers.

Tara Connell, a spokeswoman for Gannett Co., said the company committed to be one of the convention?s sponsors a couple of years ago, before rumblings of an economic dive. Recently, Gannett Co. has been frugal, she said.

Connell said, however, the company remained committed to supporting UNITY because the convention gives Gannett the opportunity to promote itself and to recruit journalists.

“We are very much interested in hiring and retaining journalists,” Connell said. “There is always a need for talented journalists.”

Not all media companies were able to afford the costs of UNITY though.

Lincoln-Michel said organizers needed to approach non-media companies for support after a number of media companies turned them away, citing dwindling funds for recruitment and advertising. Wal-Mart Inc. and Boeing Co. are examples of non-media companies that have signed on as sponsors and will recruit at the convention.

BY THE NUMBERS

UNITY Registration
2008: 6,000* Chicago
2004: 8,100 Washington, D.C.
1999: 6,800 Seattle
1994: 6,000 Atlanta

UNITY Revenue
2008: $4 million*
2004: $4.5 million
1999: $2.5 million**
1994: $300,000

* As of July 16. Convention ends July 27.
** Estimate based on a formula. Partner associations received formulaic shares of job fair and advertising revenues, according to the Unity ‘99 chapter in “Rugged Waters: Black Journalists Swim the Mainstream.” [2003]

By Dioni L. Wise
The UNITY News Online

A newspaper subscriber strikes back. A (Raleigh) News & Observer subscriber is suing the North Carolina-based newspaper for cutting staff and content in the paper.

Leah Friedman, News & Observer reporter, writes:

Keith Hempstead, a Durham lawyer, filed the suit last month in Wake Superior Court. He says he renewed his subscription in May just before the paper announced on June 16 the layoffs of 70 staff members and cuts in news pages.

The paper, he says, is now not worth what he signed up for and therefore the cuts breached the paper’s contract with him.

“Plaintiff alleges fraud in that the newspaper announced changes in the coverage after procuring renewals from Plaintiff and other subscribers,” Hempstead says in the complaint.

Have you experienced a similar display of discontent from a reader or viewer?

Quench your thirst for discussion and chat it up.

ABOUT “The WATERCOOLER: You know that Julia Roberts movie and song by Bonnie Raitt “Something To Talk About?” Well, The UNITY News Online will use “The Watercooler” to give *you* something to talk about. Topics will include happenings at the UNITY Convention and the news industry, in general. Feel free to leave comments. Please read our discussion guidelines before posting.