Staffers at Santa Barbara Paper Join Large Protest (Newsie Freep?)

SANTA BARBARA Dressed in black and their mouths taped shut, reporters and staff of the Santa Barbara News-Press staged a protest Friday over a recent wave of resignations at the newspaper.

More than 300 supporters roared with applause and shouts when about 25 News-Press employees emerged from the newspaper's Spanish-style landmark building and walked to a microphone in an adjacent park.

Reporter Melinda Burns said newspaper staffers have been ordered not to speak about internal operations and were threatened with dismissal if they did.

"We are very sorry we can't speak, but thank you for coming," she said, stepping away from the microphone as members of the group put duct tape over their mouths. Many in the crowd hoisted signs, including ones that read: "Free the News" and "No More News Suppress."

The protest was the latest public display of newsroom tension that began when staff accused the daily's owner of meddling in news coverage. Six top editors and two writers have resigned, and a copy editor quit Friday.

One of those who resigned, reporter Scott Hadly, said a list of demands was presented to management Thursday. He said they want restoration of journalistic ethics, reinstatement of editors who were forced to resign, new contract negotiations and recognition of the Teamsters union as their exclusive bargaining unit.

Interim publisher Travis Armstrong said he blamed the protest partly on the paper's enemies, among them developers and politicians.

Armstrong said employees who protested would not be disciplined, adding he was disappointed by how the newspaper's order not to discuss internal operations had been portrayed.

Those who quit have said owner Wendy McCaw killed a story about Armstrong's recent sentencing for drunken driving. The newspaper had previously reported on his arrest.

She has said the resignations were prompted by her unwillingness to let editors and reporters "flavor the news with their personal opinions."

The News-Press, founded in 1855, is locally owned and published by McCaw's Ampersand Publishing LLC, which bought the paper in 2000 from the New York Times Co. It has a 57-person editorial staff, publishes seven days a week and has a daily circulation of about 41,000.

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News-Press employees, past and present, protest changes
BETHANY HOPKINS, NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
July 15, 2006 6:44 AM

More than 20 Santa Barbara News-Press employees held a news conference Friday where former colleagues spoke about recent losses among the reporting and editing ranks and the formation of a union.

At 12:20 p.m. the employees, most dressed in black, gathered at De la Guerra Plaza, where Senior Writer Melinda Burns addressed more than 200 spectators and media representatives.

"We are united and working together to make the News-Press a better paper," she said.

"We can't speak today," she added, the crowd booing as she explained that they were now forbidden to talk to the media about internal affairs of the News-Press. "But we want to thank you for coming."

The newsroom employees then placed pieces of duct tape over their mouths.

The news conference was called in response to recent changes at the paper. In the past two weeks, nine newsroom employees have announced their resignations, including Editor Jerry Roberts, Managing Editor George Foulsham, Deputy Managing Editor Don Murphy, Metro Editor Jane Hulse, Business Editor Michael Todd, Sports Editor Gerry Spratt and longtime columnist Barney Brantingham.

On Thursday, Senior Writer Scott Hadly resigned. Presentation Editor Colin Powers left the following day.

Former employees said their resignations were in protest to what they saw as editorial interference in news stories.

A July 13 note to readers from owner Wendy McCaw said that some newsroom employees left because they were no longer able to "flavor the news with their personal opinions."

Speaking on behalf of his former colleagues, Mr. Hadly said Friday that a majority of the editorial staff had committed to forming a union and had given a list of four demands to Acting Publisher Travis Armstrong: maintaining a clear separation between opinion and news, inviting the editors who resigned to return to their jobs, negotiating a contract with the employees and recognizing the Graphic Communications Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters as their bargaining representative.

Mr. Brantingham then took the microphone.

"I can't speak because I have tears," he said, confirming to the crowd that he was wearing a News-Press hat. "I love that paper. This hurts me so much."

Mr. Brantingham said he is a columnist at the Santa Barbara Independent now, but added that he still wants to see someone calm the waters at the News-Press.

"What they need is community support -- that means you," he said. Mr. Brantingham then invited others to come up and speak.

Community activist Mickey Flacks told the crowd that Santa Barbara County Action Network will sponsor a town hall meeting regarding the paper on Wednesday. She also discouraged readers from canceling their subscriptions, saying that it wasn't necessarily the best strategy.

Another speaker announced that a rally would be held at noon Tuesday in the plaza, with the theme "restoring the wall between opinion and the news."

Second District Supervisor Susan Rose shook each employee's hand, saying she was proud of them all.

Bud Laurent called the recent events at the paper "an American tragedy" and led the crowd in a chant of "Shame!"

About 20 minutes after the event began, Mr. Brantingham said the staff had to go back to work. "Let's give them a round of applause."

Mr. Armstrong, the target of a chant of "Armstrong resign," said in a written statement that the rally "indicates how much Santa Barbara cares about the News-Press."

"It's unfortunate that some of the leaders behind the rally are politicians trying to silence an independent media voice because the paper has worked to hold them accountable," Mr. Armstrong said. "Others are high-density development interests criticized by our editorial pages on environmental grounds. They've latched onto the resignations as part of a political power play to chill dissent from a locally owned newspaper."

Mr. Armstrong is on leave from his role of editorial page editor while serving as acting publisher on a temporary basis.

One woman in the plaza said the news conference was an important community event.

"I want journalistic integrity in the newspaper," said longtime local resident Patti Thurston, who heard about the gathering on National Public Radio and came out of curiosity.

"If the owner and present editors have something to say, I want to hear that also," she said.

e-mail: bhopkins@newspress.com

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