New directions, new opportunities

A lot of Guild members are asking questions, which, of course is what media folks do best,about The News Project – the innovative Bay Area newsgathering collaboration funded by Warren Hellman.

They’re wondering whether the new news organization will lead to, or hasten, the demise of the San Francisco Chronicle. They’re asking whether the Bay Area needs another newsgathering outfit when the ones that are here are struggling. And some are asking why the Guild would be involved in such an effort.

Many, it should be noted, are also sending their resumes.

But first, a little background. The News Project, and the Guild's involvement, started with a threat. On Feb.24, Chronicle publisher Frank Vega stood in front of employees and announced that unless the unions bargained significant concessions, the paper would be sold – or closed. And even if they did their part (again) to help save the Chronicle, it still might be sold.

That threat sent the Guild to the bargaining table. But it angered a lot of
people. When some of our members asked how they could help, we assigned a couple of them to contact community leaders and ask for support if the paper were shuttered. We also asked if any of those leaders might be interested in buying the Chronicle if it were put on the block.

Those contacts led to meetings, which led to studies, which led to plans, many of which were abandoned or modified, and eventually led to Thursday’s announcement of the new non-profit news organization, which will produce news for multiple platforms, possibly including a regional edition of the New York Times.

The Guild got involved for a lot of reasons. We didn’t want San Francisco to be left without a journalistically strong newsgathering operation. We didn’t want even more of our members to have to give up their professional careers. And we wanted somebody to try something bold, truly new, and journalistically strong.

The News Project promises that, though many, many details are still forthcoming.

Now for those other questions. Will the new organization accelerate The Chronicle’s demise? Well, that’s up to the Chronicle, and the Hearst Corp. My hope -- as both a Chronicle staffer and a Guild official –- is that it will actually do the opposite, that it will prompt the Chronicle to improve its journalism just as it recently improved its printing – or at least stop gutting its news staff.

I’d like to think that Hearst has some fight in it, and will step up to the challenge.

Will competition renew public interest in journalism? It’s possible. More competition will lead to better news coverage, and better products, be they online, on the air, or in print, that could lure more advertising and the kinds of demographics that attract advertisers. As less gets covered, there’s less reason to read,subscribe to, or advertise in, newspapers.

The News Project will also create more journalism jobs, allowing some of the incredibly talented folks who have been pushed out of Bay Area newsrooms to get back in the business. It may not be a lot of jobs, but it will be a significant number, and it's likely to grow.

Finally, some folks have asked why the Guild would support the creation of a competitor. Well, we’ve always represented (and supported) competitors to the Chronicle: the (Hearst) Examiner, the Oakland Tribune, the San Jose Mercury News, the former ANG papers.

As new models for journalism are developed, we want to make sure they involve quality journalism – and decent wages and benefits. Many of the new journalism experiments count on people giving away their work for free or for very little compensation. We think journalists and other mediaworkers, not to mention our readers, deserve better.

We want the news industry to thrive – not surrender -- and we want it to be union.