In These Times
04-13-2017, 10:28 PM
Amid threats from management, the recently-merged editorial staffs of Gothamist and DNAinfo have chosen to unionize with the Writers Guild of America East.
The two news sites became one recently when Gothamist was acquired by billionaire conservative donor Joe Ricketts. After opposing Donald Trump in the primaries, Ricketts, the founder and former CEO of online brokerage giant TD Ameritrade, pledged at least $1 million to his campaign against Hillary Clinton. Ricketts and his wife, Marlene, initially supported Scott Walker in the Republican primary, donating $5 million to his Unintimidated PAC. He also owns the Chicago Cubs and founded DNAinfo in 2009. His son, Pete Ricketts, is the Republican governor of Nebraska.
With the merger, Gothamist will now become the “official blog (http://www.politico.com/media/story/2017/03/trump-donor-local-news-publisher-joe-ricketts-acquires-gothamist-websites-004939)” for DNAinfo in New York, with Chicagoist folding into DNAinfo’s Chicago site, also known for its hyper-local, neighborhood-by-neighborhood reporting. There have been layoffs recently, and the websites are now estimated to have around 25 editorial employees, the overwhelming majority of whom opted to join the union, according to a DNAinfo employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity, wanting to avoid any potential retaliation from management.
More... (http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/20063/journalists_at_gothamist_dnainfo_say_yes_to_a_union/)
The two news sites became one recently when Gothamist was acquired by billionaire conservative donor Joe Ricketts. After opposing Donald Trump in the primaries, Ricketts, the founder and former CEO of online brokerage giant TD Ameritrade, pledged at least $1 million to his campaign against Hillary Clinton. Ricketts and his wife, Marlene, initially supported Scott Walker in the Republican primary, donating $5 million to his Unintimidated PAC. He also owns the Chicago Cubs and founded DNAinfo in 2009. His son, Pete Ricketts, is the Republican governor of Nebraska.
With the merger, Gothamist will now become the “official blog (http://www.politico.com/media/story/2017/03/trump-donor-local-news-publisher-joe-ricketts-acquires-gothamist-websites-004939)” for DNAinfo in New York, with Chicagoist folding into DNAinfo’s Chicago site, also known for its hyper-local, neighborhood-by-neighborhood reporting. There have been layoffs recently, and the websites are now estimated to have around 25 editorial employees, the overwhelming majority of whom opted to join the union, according to a DNAinfo employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity, wanting to avoid any potential retaliation from management.
More... (http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/20063/journalists_at_gothamist_dnainfo_say_yes_to_a_union/)