journalism — Case Studies — The Goodfriend Group

Journalists Beat Wall Street

The Goodfriend Group represents the Communications Workers of America, including its division of journalists, The NewsGuild-CWA. For years, the NewsGuild’s new, young President, Jon Schleuss, had been warning that hedge funds and private equity funds were undermining local journalism in the U.S. by buying local newspapers, laying off most of the reporters, and then selling the real estate and other assets. But the union was unable to persuade antitrust enforcers to stop any such transactions involving print or digital media.

Case StudyDavid GoodfriendJune 11, 2023journalismComment

Protecting Journalism During a Pandemic

COVID-19 and the resulting recession hammered workers across the economy but few were harder hit than the journalists and other employees of the local news industry. The News Guild-CWA, the largest labor union of media workers, historically had stayed out of any public policy advocacy due to the unique role of the Fourth Estate. But this was different. News Guild President Jon Schleuss believed that with local journalists losing jobs, and projected revenue losses for newspapers topping 70% in 2020, the Guild had to ask Congress for funding to keep journalists employed. They reached out to us for help.

Case Study, Blog, Op-edDavid GoodfriendDecember 21, 2020journalism, covid-19, the news guildComment