What do online journalists think of the Santa Barbara mess?

From Noah Barron on September 17, 2007 at 6:08 PM

I can't speak to the ethics/online journalist community angle too well, but as a Santa Barbara local I can say with certainty that the paper sucks now. Time-honored vets like Barney Brantingham have all left (he moved to the Independent) and readers--my mother included--are canceling subscriptions left and right. It's a long road back to readability for the SB News-Press.

From David White on January 3, 2008 at 11:47 AM

Miami Herald article - Newspaper Broke Labor Laws Over Firings:

http://www.miamiherald.com/business/AP/story/363640.html

Posted on Wed, Jan. 02, 2008
Newspaper broke labor laws with firings

The Santa Barbara News-Press and its owner violated federal labor laws in firing eight reporters for union activities, and the workers are entitled to return to their jobs with back pay, a judge has ruled.
The newspaper demonstrated "widespread, general disregard for the fundamental rights of the employees" and ordered the reporters reinstated with back pay, administrative law Judge William G. Kocol ruled last week.

"This decision really is all-encompassing; it's everything we wanted it to be," said Melinda Burns, the first of the reporters to be fired.

The National Labor Relations Board had alleged in a 15-count unfair labor practices complaint that the paper fired the eight workers, who had no history of disciplinary action, only after they began to fight for union representation.

Attorneys for the newspaper and owner Wendy McCaw said they were "extremely disappointed" with the ruling, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday. The paper "will exhaust all possible appeals and fully expects to achieve justice through that appellate process. The matter as a whole is in its infancy," they said.

Messages left with McCaw's spokeswoman and attorneys Tuesday night were not immediately returned.

McCaw and other newspaper managers testified during hearings that concerns about biased reporting led to the dismissal of Burns and another employee who was let go in January 2007.

Six other reporters were fired in February after protesting the previous two firings by hanging a sign over a freeway pedestrian bridge that read "Cancel Your Newspaper Today!"

That act of disloyalty was behind those firings, managers had argued. But Kocol ruled that the hanging of the banner was a protected activity and that all eight employees were fired for their union ties.

The judge also ruled that the paper had spied on reporters' union activities, forced them to remove anti-McCaw buttons and wrongly fired a fellow supervisor. Kocol also ordered new evaluations for Anna Davison and three colleagues, who he says were given poor performance reviews and denied bonuses for their union ties.

The News-Press has been steeped in controversy since July 2006, when a dispute between McCaw and the staff spilled into public view after nearly every top editor quit to protest what they said was the owner's interference with coverage.

McCaw shot back with a front-page note to readers saying those who quit were upset that they could no longer inject their personal opinions into the newspaper.

Newsroom employees voted overwhelmingly that September to form a union. The workers and the paper have been clashing since then over the legitimacy of the vote, which was certified by the Labor Relations Board last year.

Burns said she would return to work at the News-Press despite the turmoil.

"I think that the only thing we have is to try to turn this thing around and put out a good newspaper," she said.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

© 2008 Miami Herald Media Company. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.miamiherald.com

From David White on January 8, 2008 at 2:59 PM

http://www.teamster.org/08news/nr_080104_1.asp

Teamster Journalists Win Vindication Against Santa Barbara News-Press

Judge Tells Newspaper to Rehire Fired Journalists

January 4, 2008

(Washington, D.C.) – A National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) federal judge in California has ruled that the owner and publisher of the Santa Barbara News-Press must hire back the eight journalists she fired in retaliation for their efforts to join the Teamsters Union.

Journalists in the newsroom at the News-Press began a union organizing campaign in 2006 and voted to become Teamsters in September of that year. The judge found that the publisher illegally threatened and coerced workers who supported the union and unlawfully fired eight journalists in retaliation.

"I congratulate our Teamsters members at the News-Press for bravely standing strong and fighting against this unscrupulous publisher who has no regard for reporters and their journalistic ideals," said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President.

Many of the fired journalists had worked at the News-Press for more than 10 years.

"We won a significant battle with the NLRB's ruling in favor of our members at the Santa Barbara News-Press," said George Tedeschi, Teamsters Vice President and President of the Teamsters Graphic Communications Conference. "This ruling is a great victory for them and for all workers."

The NLRB's ruling now sets the stage for union representatives to begin negotiating the first collective bargaining agreement.

"We are elated that the judge came down so strongly to protect our right to unionize," said Melinda Burns, a 21-year News-Press veteran who was fired in October 2006. "He understood that we are fighting for workers' rights and journalistic integrity, and he did not let (Publisher Wendy) McCaw get away with breaking the law."

"This has been a long, hard struggle," said Dawn Hobbs, a former crime and courts reporter with the News-Press. "Without the support of the Teamsters, I don't know where we would be today. But this whole ordeal will be worth it when we are able to negotiate a fair contract that protects our rights and when we are able to walk back into the News-Press building and write the quality journalism our community deserves."

The Teamsters Graphic Communications Conference represents more than 70,000 journalists, pressmen, bindery workers and other crafts in the newspaper and book publishing industry in the United States. Founded in 1903, the Teamsters Union represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

From David White on January 10, 2008 at 9:24 AM

http://www.latimes.com/business/careers/work/la-fi-newspress1jan01,1,6985118.story?coll=la-headlines-business-careers

From David White on March 24, 2008 at 10:20 AM

Court asked to immediately reinstate fired newspaper workers

The Associated Press

Article Launched: 03/07/2008 09:34:21 AM PST

LOS ANGELES—The National Labor Relations Board wants a federal judge to order immediate reinstatement of eight newsroom employees fired by the Santa Barbara News-Press.
In an injunction petition filed Thursday in federal court, the labor board said the newspaper had been stalling since Administrative Law Judge William Kocol recommended the reinstatement with back pay after finding in December the workers were fired for union activities.

The judge condemned the News-Press for flagrant misconduct and "widespread, general disregard for the fundamental rights of the employees."

The News-Press is owned by Wendy McCaw's Ampersand Publishing LLC.

News-Press Attorney Barry Capello said the newspaper has filed legal documents countering the reinstatement recommendation. The labor board's request for an injunction is an effort to circumvent that process, he said.

"Our position is the workers should not be reinstated," Capello said. "They were properly terminated for acts of disloyalty."

McCaw and other newspaper managers testified during previous hearings that concerns about biased reporting led to the dismissal of two workers in January 2007.

Six other reporters were fired a month later after protesting the previous two firings by hanging a sign over a freeway pedestrian bridge that read "Cancel Your Newspaper Today!"

The paper has been embroiled in controversy since July 2006, when nearly every top editor quit in protest over what they said was the owner's interference with news coverage.

McCaw said those who quit were upset they could no longer inject their personal opinions into the newspaper.

Newsroom employees voted to form a union. The workers and the newspaper had been fighting since then over the legitimacy of the vote, which was certified by the labor board.

From David White on May 7, 2008 at 10:15 AM

http://www.independent.com/news/2008/may/06/emnews-pressem-emindyem-settle-lawsuit/

News-Press, Indy Settle Lawsuit
An End to Dispute Over Alleged Copyright Infringements
By Nick Welsh

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Owners of the Santa Barbara News-Press and Santa Barbara Independent agreed to put away their legal swords this week, finally concluding a settlement to the News-Press’s complaint that the Independent had infringed upon its federal copyright protections.

The settlement, signed April 28, brings to an end the federal legal battle that Ampersand Publishing, the parent company of the News-Press, initiated against the Independent on November 9, 2006. The News-Press contended that the Independent violated the law by posting a link on its website that provided readers the full text of an article written by then-News-Press reporter Scott Hadly about the resignation of former editor Jerry Roberts over a conflict about journalistic ethics with owner and publisher Wendy McCaw in July 2006.

Several other editors and longtime columnist Barney Brantingham also resigned at the same time. The Independent posted the link in an online Poodle column in August 2006 after the News-Press refused to publish the Hadly article. The Independent pulled the link shortly after the News-Press objected. But attorneys for the Independent argued that posting the link even without the News-Press’s consent was legally immune from sanction under terms of “the fair use doctrine.” That doctrine effectively allows limited copyright infringements to go effectively unpunished so long as they are done in the service of social satire or community education, not merely scooping the competition.

The federal judge in this case, Edward Rafeedie, however, rejected the Independent’s assertions of fair use protections. At the same time, he also rejected most of the other claims made against the Independent by the News-Press in their lawsuit. They included a host of unfair business practice allegations. Rafeedie, who has since died of cancer, never bothered to hide his impatience with the News-Press lawsuit, and bluntly urged both parties to settle. As part of that settlement, the Independent has agreed not to challenge Rafeedie’s ruling that the Independent had, in fact, violated federal copyright law. The financial terms of the settlement have not been disclosed other than the provision that neither side would recover attorneys’ fees from the other. “The case has been settled to the parties’ mutual satisfaction and we’ve agreed not to comment further,” stated Independent publisher Randy Campbell.

The settlement effectively does away with the five-day jury trial the News-Press had been insisting on sometime this year. It also closes the door on News-Press legal efforts to compel Independent executive editor Nick Welsh to divulge his confidential sources about the turmoil at the News-Press. Specifically, the News-Press had alleged that Welsh had obtained a copy of another of its unpublished news articles, this one written by former reporter Vlad Kogan, about the multi-million dollar arbitration dispute between former News-Press editor Roberts and Ampersand. Welsh had denied ever receiving a copy of the article in question, and no evidence was presented to show that he had. But the News-Press insisted that it should be allowed to question him regarding his sources none-the-less. While Rafeedie expressed some skepticism about this line of inquiry, he delegated the ultimate decision on whether Welsh should have to divulge his sources to a federal magistrate. With the settlement, that entire issue is now moot. In a short statement, the Independent's Campbell said, “I report that we refused to identify or disclose confidential sources throughout this Civil Action."