A Tale of Two Newspapers, or Don't Fool Yourself

The York Dispatch and York Daily Record/Sunday News are two newspapers in a small town in Central Pennsylvania. The papers had been under a joint operating agreement, but when it expired a few years back, Singleton saw to it that the Dispatch (an afternoon paper) was gutted of its reporters, even the librarian. The order came one day that the majority of the newsrooom from the Dispatch would report the next day to work at the Record, going -- with one day notice -- to work for their long-time competitor that had a very different style.The order also was issued that the Dispatch would lose the Sunday News to the Record. The Dispatch was left with eight metro reporters, three copy editors and four upper managerial editors to put out the same paper. All papers are part of Local 38218 although there are three units -- the Record, the Dispatch and the reassigned dispatchers. Negotiations had been done in good faith for years until Singleton took the helm to bust the union first at the Record, and we assume next at the Dispatch. The Record has been without a contract for nearly three years, and members are without an evergreen clause. Thus, the Local has no real method to collect its dues, the members are afraid they'll lose their jobs and the paper is slowing on replacements (as all are these days). It's been difficult to garner support of the members as all have tired of the ongoing battle for a contract and "just want it to be over." As for our brothers and sisters in California, the non members in particular, while still riding the Knight Ridder wave, believe me that the Singleton Tsunami will hit and hit hard. Unless reporters are willing to stick together, recall days when you first started reporting for next to nothing, you will find a deluge of work, the meaningless kind, fewer colleagues to complete work and fewer benefits -- including mileage reimbursement -- to offset all of the expenses (physical, emotional, mechanical).