Add two more to the thousand cuts that have decimated local news coverage in Chicago.
Monday, the jobs of two longtime Tribune Publishing employees were unceremoniously “eliminated” by the company, moves by the company that will only further stretch the tiny staff of Tribune’s suburban newspapers and diminish the quantity and quality of community news available to Tribune readers.
Wendy Fox Weber, who has worked for the Tribune Suburban papers under numerous ownership groups spanning four decades, learned Monday that her position as entertainment editor was being cut. Wendy was chair of her bargaining unit and played an integral leadership role in bargaining a first contract for Tribune Suburban journalists — a process that, after some six years, wound up just two months ago with a contract that improved pay and working conditions for CT Suburban members as well as Guild members at other Tribune bargaining units across the U.S.
For Tribune readers in the Chicago suburbs, it should be disappointing to learn that the company said it is turning away from coverage of arts and entertainment in Chicago’s suburbs — which have a vibrant cultural scene but fewer and fewer sources to turn to for information about what’s happening in their communities. It is not lost on our members that the first staffing cuts after signing a historic contract have targeted one of our most vocal and effective leaders. Shame on Tribune Publishing, and be certain that the Guild and Wendy will remain active advocates for our members.
Pioneer Press Editorial Assistant Nancy Swanson also learned Monday that the job she held for a decade was also being eliminated, with the company counting her modest salary as a necessary cut. Nancy’s work will be heaped onto overworked editors and other staff of Pioneer Press, further taxing a newsroom staff that struggles hard to provide news and information for a sprawling coverage area that includes some of Chicago’s largest suburbs. Nancy was the friendly voice on the other end of the line when readers called with questions, complaints or praise, and was proud of her work on dozens of community-focused coverage areas, from building events calendars to youth sports information, to coordinating the popular “Throwback Thursday” historical photo feature. Her work helped knit together Pioneer Press communities, and she loved doing it.
The members of the Chicago News Guild demand that Tribune Publishing rescind the layoffs and restore Wendy Fox Weber and Nancy Swanson to their jobs.
A recent report by a legislative task force on the state of Illinois journalism found that there are nearly 90% fewer newspaper journalists working in our state than there were just 15 years ago. Losing two experienced journalists, who have lived and worked in the communities that they cover for years, is significant in a state where so many jobs have already been lost. Alden Global Capital, the owners of Tribune Publishing, have been among the “leaders” in this industry-wide race to the bottom, having cut staffing across all Tribune publications by more than half during just the three years since they took over the company. No newspaper company has more readers in Illinois than Alden, and those readers— and Nancy and Wendy— deserve better from Alden.
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