NewsGuild-CWA study shows Gannett newsrooms underpay women and journalists of color as much as $27,000
NewsGuild research using Gannett data finds large pay gaps across the company based on race and gender.
A first-of-its-kind pay equity study of 14 Gannett newsrooms by NewsGuild members sheds light on stark pay disparities for women and journalists of color and a workforce whiter than the communities they cover.
The study of nearly 450 employees also shows that unions make a difference. Unionized newsrooms with pay scales in their contracts had significantly smaller gender and racial pay gaps than newly organized units with no contracts yet in place.
While The Desert Sun was not one of the newsrooms included, we only recently obtained our own pay data from Gannett and will participate in future studies. We currently have no reason to believe the trends experienced across the company will differ significantly within our unit. “Our newsroom is made up of talented people committed to doing the best work they can. They deserve equal pay because they do equal work,” Desert Sun NewsGuild Chair Chris Damien said. “It’s that simple.”
You can find the report here.
Key findings:
Women who worked at least 30 years at newspapers currently owned by Gannett earned $27,026 less, or 63% the annual median salary of male peers.
Women of color earned $15,726 less, or 73% of white men’s median salary.
Women earned $9,845 less, or 83% of men's median salary.
Women 50-60 years old earned $6,642 less, or 90% the median salary of men in the same age range. The gap grew to $10,677 when including part-timers.
Journalists of color earned $5,246 less, or 90% of the white median salary.
Experienced female journalists and journalists of color were rare. Men outnumbered women age 30 and above, or with at least 10 years at the company, by about 2 to 1. White journalists outnumbered journalists of color age 40 and above, or with at least 10 years of service, by more than 4 to 1.
Thirteen of 14 newsrooms were whiter than the communities they covered. Only the Knoxville News Sentinel was more diverse than its county.
The Arizona Republic was the most diverse newsroom but had the largest gender and racial pay gaps. Women made nearly $30,000 less in median wages than men. People of color earned about $25,000 less in median wages than white employees.
Unionizing improves pay equity. Newsrooms with union contracts had a gender pay gap that was $6,846 smaller and a racial pay gap that was $5,443 smaller than newsrooms currently negotiating first contracts.
Members of the NewsGuild, an international union of journalists, have led the way in calling for fair pay in the media industry.
But this is the first time, we believe, a pay equity study has been released for multiple units across a newspaper chain. By combining data, small newsrooms that would not have been able to conduct pay studies on their own were able to participate.
Gannett pledges diversity, but doesn’t back it up with pay
Gannett pledged in 2020 to hire and promote more women and employees of color to reflect national and local demographics in the workforce.
In 2021, a company report found Gannett’s executive team was 84% white and 73% male, while its newsrooms were 58% male and 79% white. (Similarly, our study of 14 newsrooms found 59% of employees were male and 78% were white.)
The company announced “inclusion, diversity and equity are core to our business,” and all employees should have “equal opportunities to thrive.”
“(W)e are committed to … driving positive change. While this will, at times, mean addressing and combating systemic barriers and having uncomfortable conversations, we believe silence is not an option. We want to … become a leader not just in what we do, but who we are as a company,” CEO Mike Reed said in the 2021 report.
However, neither report promised to ensure fair pay or correct pay gaps, key parts of attracting and retaining talent. And though the company touted its commitment to transparency, Gannett has never publicly released a pay equity study.
We believe our 14 newsrooms are not outliers but examples of the problems with, and potential solutions to, pay equity across Gannett.
We call on Gannett to:
Release anonymized pay data for the entire company, broken down by location, department, job title, years at the company, age, gender and race. Additional data, such as sexual orientation, military service, educational attainment or religion, is welcome.
Take swift action to eliminate pay disparities, including back pay.
Raise the starting salary to a living wage and implement pay scales based on experience companywide.
Create policies and ongoing reviews to improve hiring and retention of people from underrepresented groups, as well as to eliminate future pay disparities.
Voluntarily recognize and bargain in good faith with employees that unionize.
Journalists of The Desert Sun win landslide vote to unionize
The Desert Sun NewsGuild has won its vote to unionize.
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. -- Journalists of The Desert Sun on Wednesday won a resounding victory in their unionization campaign, forming a union with a vote of 13-1, well surpassing the simple majority needed. A regional office of the National Labor Relations Board oversaw the vote, which was completed by mail-in ballot and counted in a video conference due to the pandemic.
The vote count came exactly two months after the newspaper’s staff went public with their effort to form a union. At the time, they released a mission statement calling for fair treatment, diversity in hiring, pay equity and protections for veteran journalists. Ninety percent of eligible employees signed union authorization cards indicating they wished to be represented by the NewsGuild, but Gannett — the newspaper’s parent company — declined to voluntarily recognize the union. Instead, through local management, they informed staff that they “respect the right of each of you to choose for yourself whether you do or do not wish to unionize.”
That choice has now been made.
“This win is big because it reaffirms what I already know: our reporters, photographers and producers are united behind our steps to better the newsroom,” photographer and videographer Vickie Connor said. “I’m excited because I know we will bring this winning energy to the bargaining table to fight for the changes we want and need.”
The Desert Sun NewsGuild and Gannett will next begin bargaining their first contract. The Desert Sun NewsGuild is now a unit of Media Guild of the West, a local of The NewsGuild-CWA, the nation's largest union for news industry employees.
“I'm grateful to my colleagues who worked incredibly hard to achieve this victory," said Janet Wilson, senior environment reporter. “Now, we can work collectively on issues like equitable pay and scheduling, job security and a diverse newsroom that represents the entire Coachella Valley. Hopefully, Gannett will speedily recognize these shared goals with a fair contract.”
The successful effort at The Desert Sun is part of a surge of organizing drives in newsrooms across the country, including at Gannett, which merged with GateHouse Media in a private equity-funded takeover in 2019. The company has laid off workers and frozen certain benefits throughout the pandemic. Consolidation has hit close to home, as several dozen employees of The Desert Sun were laid off last year when the newspaper’s printing press was shuttered.
Elsewhere around the company, The Arizona Republic voted overwhelmingly to organize in 2019. Four Gannett newsrooms in Florida — the Palm Beach Post, Palm Beach Daily News, Naples Daily News and Ft. Myers News-Press — voted to unionize only hours apart last June. Three Gannett-owned newsrooms in New Jersey — the Bergen Record, the Daily Record and the NJ Herald — jointly announced a unionizing effort earlier this month.
Journalists of The Desert Sun announce union organizing campaign
Organizers filed a petition for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board and requested voluntary recognition from Gannett, the paper’s parent company.
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. -- Journalists of the award-winning The Desert Sun took a major step Thursday toward forming a union.
Organizers filed a petition for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board and requested voluntary recognition from Gannett, the paper’s parent company. Members of the organizing committee also presented local management with the request after 90 percent of eligible staffers signed cards saying they want to be represented by The Desert Sun NewsGuild. The group will become a unit of Media Guild of the West, a local of The NewsGuild-CWA, the nation’s largest union for news industry employees.
The Desert Sun NewsGuild will represent 20 reporters, producers and photographers. Key issues include increased newsroom diversity through hiring, equitable and adequate pay, job security for veteran employees, prompt hiring to fill vacancies and contracts that will allow employees to stay in the Coachella Valley long-term.
“The Desert Sun is a great newspaper, but its history of low, inequitable wages has led to a high turnover rate,” health and homelessness reporter Nicole Hayden said. “Staff invest in local small businesses and many want to raise families and buy homes here. Unionizing will allow us to earn wages that empower us to work and live here for many years.”
Colin Atagi, a Desert Sun breaking news reporter for 15 years, has seen newsroom staffing slashed by more than half since he was hired.
“Reporters and photographers have been burdened with increased workloads that impose stress both physically and mentally. Personally, I've watched many friends come and go due to layoffs and buyouts,” Atagi said. “The cycle is constant.”
In a signed mission statement distributed throughout the newsroom and to local management, employees wrote, “Our goal is the long-term health of The Desert Sun, its journalism, its staff and its readers. We want to ensure the newspaper remains an institution of knowledge and truth. We know our local management shares those goals, and we hope the company does, too. The best way for the paper to flourish is through collective bargaining for its journalists.”
Producer Daniel Simon, who designs multimedia packages and online resources, said, “I support the NewsGuild because, as a producer, I want to be in a newsroom where I am capable — with adequate resources and support — of continuing to build bridges between the community and our newsroom in a crucial time where the community’s trust in news has fallen.”
The union campaign at The Desert Sun is part of a surge of organizing drives in newsrooms across the country, including in November at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and in October at The Dallas Morning News and Al Día, as well as at The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Tribune in 2018.
Gannett in particular is experiencing this trend, as it has imposed successive buyouts and layoffs and has consolidated printing, copyediting and other operations, including in the wake of a costly takeover by Gatehouse Media. The Arizona Republic voted overwhelmingly to organize in 2019, and four Gannett newsrooms in Florida — the Palm Beach Post, Palm Beach Daily News, Naples Daily News and Ft. Myers News-Press — voted to unionize only hours apart this June.