Newspapers are part of the fabric on their communities. Throughout the history of our country, they have been one of the primary means by which people communicate fundamental ideas about their lives, their desires and their demands.

Today, the newspaper industry as a whole is changing radically, and not always for the best.
Huge corporations like the Gannett Co., which owns the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, 
thrive in monopoly situations. They squeeze out competition, thus stifling dissenting voices and diminishing the amount of news in a community.

Some of them -- our employer among them -- treat their employees poorly. They demand more and give less in return. Money that should be kept in the community to pay decent salaries and benefits is shipped off to corporate headquarters instead to satisfy institutional shareholders and corporate executives.

Workers lose, and so do readers.

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

We, the undersigned, are concerned about the future of the Democrat and Chronicle, the lone surviving daily newspaper in Rochester, N.Y. We feel employees of the newspaper are being wrongly punished for simply belonging to a union -- and that this mistreatment is a symptom of larger issues. We insist that that the Gannett Co. invest more resources in Rochester's daily newspaper and extract less money from the community in corporate profits. We want a bigger, more vibrant and more diverse newspaper. And we want a newspaper that treats everyone -- including its own employees -- fairly and honestly. We would like an end to corporate profit-taking, and an end to mistreatment of the Democrat and Chronicle's own employees.

Signed by:

Campaign Launched:
March 14, 2005