"I loved reporting; I hated the law breaking.''
-- Hilary Funk, a reporter for Alabama's Montgomery Advertiser from August 2007 until she was laid off in December 2008.
Her remarks appear in a sworn deposition she gave in a federal court lawsuit filed against the paper last October by a former sports editor, David "L.C." Johnson, who claims he was fired after complaining that Advertiser employees weren't getting paid OT.
Gannett denies Johnson's allegations, and says he was fired for poor performance.
Funk's deposition numbers 64 pages, but is well worth reading -- every single word. She paints a vivid and often sympathetic portrait of employees and local management, squeezed by Corporate's shifting demands during the upheaval that followed Gannett's reorganization of newsrooms and advertising sales departments in 2007.
Funk learned about Johnson's lawsuit on Gannett Blog, then e-mailed his attorney to describe her own experience at the Advertiser.
"I feel for all the people at that paper," she wrote, "whenever I remember the hours, the lack of compensation, and the constantly changing Corporate line that upper management would be expected to fulfill in days, even if it were a 180-degree turn in direction."
Reading guide
A deposition is a type of sworn testimony, given by potential witnesses to attorneys gathering information outside of court.
In Funk's 64-page deposition, she references several other Advertiser employees. Two of the most important ones to keep in mind are Executive Editor Wanda Lloyd, and former Managing Editor Mel Gray.
Funk is initially questioned by Johnson's attorney, Heather Leonard of Birmingham, Ala. Then, starting on the very bottom of Page 19, Gannett's attorney -- Lynlee Palmer, also of Birmingham -- takes her turn. It goes back and forth from there.
[Image: today's paper, Newseum]
This puts a microscope on what it means for a newspaper, any newspaper, to be owned by a corporation. On the one hand purporting to be a voice of the people, then you hear about stuff like this. Makes you sick.
ReplyDeleteThe sad thing about this story is that it's not exclusive to one newspaper. It's the entire chain.
ReplyDeleteI currently work in a department that has a staff of three and two of us are considered managers (IE salaried employees), meaning we get no OT. The third person never writes down OT because the one time they did, they got called to the EE's office and fed the BS corporate line that they need to work smarter and more efficiently.
We all average 50-60 hours a week and seldom get one day off a week, much less two. We've complained to our "boss" about being severely understaffed and our "boss" says we're just not managing things correctly.
And before someone chimes in with "Well if it sucks so much, just quit", I would love to, but I have a wife, kids and a mortgage. I'm looking to get out, but journalists in their mid-30s aren't necessarily prized catches these days.
Unfortunately, this scenario is one of Gannett's biggest "elephants" in its operations. Most have been told that they aren't working "efficiently" if they require OT to do their jobs. The bosses know that the typical Gannett employee is doing the jobs that three to five people -- or more -- did five years ago but they are getting pressure from up above to slash salaries. This will continue. This is now the long-term plan.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that it is eliminating the key element that Frank Gannett knew was necessary for survival: local autonomy and local leadership. The lack of local leadership has created a void that has created a vicious circle which is feeding off itself at an increasing pace. Those circ numbers won't stop their rapid plunge now. Someone at the Crystal Palace must realize that.
Yes, these changes in the industry have been on their way for some time. However, DuBow's mismanagement is causing the speed at which this company is dying to rapidly accelerate.
Hilary Funk's deposition just underscores what has been happening in Gannett *for decades*!! No overtime! It's understood you better work it if you want to keep your job. Managers don't want to hear any reference to unpaid work so they can preserve their deniability -- and their jobs. I worked in several Gannett newsrooms in reporter and editor jobs. In one of them there was a Wage & Hour "investigation," and nothing came of it. You know why? Just check out the mindset of the opposing attorney questioning Ms. Funk. Corporate smokescreens. Good luck to all of you people still laboring in Gannett sweatshops.
ReplyDelete@2:51 -- You say "journalists in their mid-30s aren't necessarily prized catches these days." First you need to wake up. Then you need to go for it. I would love to be in your shoes, to be young enough to have a chance at a second career. I'm 20 years older, though. Opportunities to do something else are far fewer for us.
ReplyDeleteA conversation on a copy desk at a Gannett site in the early 1990s.
ReplyDeleteCopy desk chief, talking to hourly copy editor after work on a project: "How many hours did you work?"
Copy editor: "I don't think you want to know."
CDC: "More than usual?"
CE: "More than usual."
CDC sighs heavily, knowing most of the hourly CEs routinely worked 42 to 45 to get the job done.
CDC: "Well, OK. Try not to make a habit of that."
Soon, CE is promoted to a salaried job in which 45 hours is more or less the minimum.
Real life story:
ReplyDeleteThe first question at budget time to editors is "How about this OT? Can we cut it?"
"But what about breaking news?"
"Well, let's cut it to help the overall number and if you have breaking news, we'll just explain it"
Then, throughout the year...
"We gotta get OT down. You can't be over budget in ANY category. Overtime is a sign of bad management."
I have worked at 4 Gannett properties, and all of them paid overtime whenever employees incurred it. Can I really be the only person who does not relate to what is being said in this thread?
ReplyDelete@7:13 p.m. -- I do apologize. I realize there are opportunities out there for me, but I'm having a hard time finding them. So far, every place I've interviewed, I've gotten the same question "So, you've worked at a newspaper your entire life? Any other job experience?" And then I usually get the followup call or e-mail saying they've decided to go with someone with more experience in that field. I'll just keep knocking on doors and see what happens. Best of luck to you also.
ReplyDelete1:13 - I hear what you're saying. Editor of the high school paper, started working at the Daily senior year, worked all through college, put in 15 since then. Not just the only job I ever had, the only one I ever wanted.
ReplyDeleteNot to say it's any better to be treated like a used tissue in your 50s or 60s, but to hear that sentiment when you're 36?
I'm just waiting for someone with cash who would be satisfied with 20% profits to start a shopper. I'd love to help build a product my hometown can use again.
Paying overtime may be standard at some Gannett properties, but it was never the practice at The Journal News. Througout the years there have been mandates to never put more than 37.5 hours on your time card, which eventually faded in favor of the "take comp time" phase even when there was no time to take and managers did not ensure it was taken, to the degrading "you're working inefficiently" remark coming from editors with little to do themselves.
ReplyDeleteThis is Gannett World.
Wait until more laid off employees start contacting these attorneys. Could show a pattern of behavior. Troubling.
ReplyDeleteThe time sheet is that work of fiction, the dirty little secret. Comp time, rather than overtime is encouraged, but of course, it is like dog years. You rarely take off what you put in and only one supervisory editor I worked for (now laid off) was diligent about making sure you took off for what you put in. I've rarely gotten back the hours I've put in and that includes working partial days which were supposed to be personal days. The people I feel sorry for are the so-called "exempt" employees who put in a ton more time than they get compensated for. The only time we were ever spoken to about time sheets was usually in the wake of a state Dept. of Labor audit (which were prompted by articles or investigative series that state officials didn't like, more than any whistle blowing.)
ReplyDeleteBut in fairness, this is an industry wide issue of bilking hours from employees. No one at my first weekly bothered to explain what comp time was and like a little idiot, I took one for one hours for any o/t worked. Until I was writing about the local police contract and read in black and white what comp time was supposed to be paid at. Makes the strong case for a union or someone to represent us grunts. Upper management will only feather their nests with millions of dollars while crying poor mouth to us at review time.
In Lansing, non-exempt hours are taken seriously. HR is good for us on this one.
ReplyDeleteThis went on with hourly workers as well!
ReplyDeleteI wonder how much this issue has to do with union shops versus non union? In Appleton, where the hourly workers are in a union, there are hardly any reporters in the building on Fridays since they've already used all their time that week.
ReplyDeleteIf you knew you could bail early every Friday, wouldn't you find a way to have breaking news on your beat on Monday? Nothing happens in Happy Valley on Friday afternoons anyway.
ReplyDelete@1:13 and 5:27 -- No need to apologize, but please realize that 36 is still young enough to pursue a new course. Be aggressive in marketing your skills. As is, this is what I can do for you. I write, edit, communicate, have community contacts, have street savvy. Whatever applies for you. Don't bring the newspaper into the conversation and don't let prospective employers do that if at all possible.
ReplyDeleteI sympathize with Funk as a young reporter. In order to get the best stories, in order to put the necessary work into a key project, you work off the clock. If you asked to be paid for the overtime you worked, you'll get pulled off the story or project. You will get paid for the OT at my site but you won't be doing a special project anymore. You won't be given that big story.
ReplyDeleteIn the short term, I'm sure I could use that OT pay but in the long term, if I ever want to move up and out of my little rural paper, I need to "break the law" in order to have a decent portfolio full of quality work.
Now if only there were some non entry-level jobs out there to apply for, that's be nice.
You know what would boost morale at some properties? If the truly exempt, the EE, ME and even some DMEs making the big bucks worked long hours. Hell, if they even worked 40 hours.
ReplyDelete8:29 p.m.: You got that right! The top editors at Westchester, and let's include the VP News in this, are tremendously talented in making themselves appear so busy, so hard-working. It's too bad that creativity doesn't transfer into the paper.
ReplyDeleteA lot of sacrifices have been asked and continue to be asked of the troops, but the top folks don't carry any part of the load.
The shame of it is that these people are, for the most part, incompetent hacks who wouldn't know what to do without corporate telling them. Hey, wait a minute. That's what makes them valuable. They don't think on their own. They leave that to corporate!