On Thursday, workers at the New York Daily News and Forbes staged a walk-out, further heightening concerns within the US newspaper industry. The walk-out follows a week marked by the Los Angeles Times terminating over 100 journalists.
According to The Associated Press, both strikes are historic, as it's the first-ever at the business-focused magazine in more than a century and the first at the storied newspaper in more than three decades, according to the NewsGuild of New York.
The one-day strike at the Daily News coincides with the Forbes walk-out that runs through Monday.
In midtown Manhattan, dozens of Daily News staffers and their supporters picketed Thursday outside a small co-working space - the newspaper's office since its lower Manhattan newsroom shuttered in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic, said the AP.
Using changes to overtime policy and "chronic cuts" as fuel for the first Daily News walk-out since 1991 - the year the paper was bought by the British press baron Robert Maxwell.
Alden, a "vulture" fund known for slashing newspaper budgets in search of profits, bought the company that owned the Daily News the following year, reported The Guardian.
The publication noted that The Daily News "once boasted the 'largest circulation in America' and was 4,000 employees strong." But "by 2000, circulation dropped by nearly half, and the publication underwent several rounds of devastating job cuts. Since the spring of 2022, 27 people have left, and the [News] Guild staff now totals 54 people."
Ellen Moynihan, the metropolitan desk reporter, explained to The Guardian: "Everyone I work with cares so much about this paper and this city, but Alden only cares about extracting money instead of investing in us. Reporting and producing a newspaper is not a job that fits neatly into an eight-hour box, and if we are not allowed to report the news as it happens, stories go untold."
ABC News quoted Michael Gartland, a reporter and the union's steward on X, "We are fed up with Alden Global Capital's constant cuts and apparent commitment to shrinking the paper." He cited efforts to curb overtime pay, among other problems.
In an email to ABC News, Forbes spokesperson Laura Brusca said the company is "working diligently" to reach a contract with the union. She also confirmed the company told employees Thursday it would lay off less than 3% of its staff.
"We are disappointed by the Union's decision to stage a walk-out, but respect their right to take this action," she continued.
