Forbes Magazine is staging a three day walkout beginning today. It’s their first strike in 160 years.
This is just the latest demonstration of anger by journalists who see the media business being destroyed by corporate greed. This week, the Los Angeles Times lost 115 editorial staffers including big name bylines. Last week Sports Illustrated was gutted by almost the whole staff getting fired.
“We are taking this unprecedented step to show that we will not allow such disrespectful behavior towards our negotiations to continue,” the Forbes union said in a statement. They won’t go back to work until Monday.
The New York Daily News is also set for a walkout today, says Axios online and the New York Times.. The News doesn’t even have a newsroom anymore. They’ve been whittled down to nothing by their owners. The News was once the most popular newspaper in the country. But owner Mort Zuckerman, hobbled by Alzheimer’s, could do very little as the newspaper was hit by the internet’s arrival and his inability to change with the times. The newspaper was sold to Alden Global Capital and run by the penny pinching Tribune Company.
There are reportedly layoffs coming today at Business Insider.com. And the owner of websites like Deadspin and Gizmodo is said to be looking for a buyer.
Grim stuff…
Keep refreshing…
