NORFOLK, Va. — The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press reporters joined more than 200 Tribune Publishing journalists, designers, and production workers at seven newsrooms across the country in a 24-hour walkout on Thursday, according to the Tidewater Media Guild.
Workers could be seen in Norfolk on 150 West Brambleton Ave. holding handmade signs with the following text: "Didn't get your paper? Blame Alden [the hedge fund that purchased Tribune Publishing in 2021]," "Save local news," and "Journalists deserve more," among other messages.
The walkout is a protest to Tribune Publishing's refusal to pay journalists, designers and editors a fair wage and management's threat to take away the 401k benefit match, said the Tidewater Media Guild.
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Tidewater Media Guild says the walkout is the single largest coordinated action journalists at the company have taken against Alden Global Capital since the hedge fund purchased Tribune Publishing in 2021.
"Alden's attempt to eliminate their matching contribution to our 401ks represents an active divestment from our futures at this paper," said Gavin Stone, breaking news reporter at The Virginian-Pilot and co-chair of the Tidewater Media Guild. "This, combined with their refusal to offer meaningful wage increases, will send reporters out the door — and hurt Virginians who rely on journalists to keep them informed and engaged with what is happening around them."
According to the Tidewater Media Guild, Alden has slow-walked negotiations and offered non-starter proposals, including a proposal that gives the company the ability to eliminate the company's 401k match, which would jeopardize workers' ability to retire; refusing to provide any across-the-board pay increases, even though most reporters haven't had a raise in over five years, and proposing two years of $1,500 bonuses instead of a pay increase.
A Chicago Tribune Guild study from 2023 showed that journalists of color at the Tribune make a median wage that's $10,000 less than their white counterparts, while women typically make $20,000 less than their male counterparts while examining median salaries.
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The Tidewater Media Guild says Alden's cuts have hurt journalists' ability to provide quality public information and hold power to account, while the company also gutted newsrooms.
In response, unionized journalists at papers owned by Alden have held a series of escalating collective actions to protest the company's actions.
"Journalists don't really go into this job for the money, but continuous cuts are making it nearly impossible to continue doing the important work of keeping our communities informed and holding power to account. Staff here are spread far too thin," said Natalie Anderson, a city government reporter at The Virginian-Pilot and the Vice Chair of the Tidewater Media Guild. "This is about standing up for sustainability so we can continue to provide our local communities with the journalism they deserve."
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Pete Dujardin, a veteran public safety and court reporter at The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press, who started with the Press in 1997, said Alden Capital's ownership of the Daily Press has been bad news for the paper and the readers they serve.
"We still have a masthead, but the once-proud Daily Press is a shell of its former self. We no longer have reporters covering York County, the Middle Peninsula, or Isle of Wight — and reporting in Newport News, Hampton, Williamsburg and elsewhere is stretched beyond thin," Dujardin said. "The company walked away from a long-term lease on a centrally located newsroom at City Center a few years back — and now has no workspace on the Peninsula at all. Now, the money men at Alden are adding insult to injury by refusing to offer even close to a fair contact to the few workers they have left."
*Editor's Note: WTKR News 3 has a news-gathering partnership with The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press.
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