Newspaper Publisher Sees Nothing Wrong with Outsourcing Local Journalism

Putting cost-savings above his newspapers' quality and accuracy, MediaNews Group CEO Dean Singleton says his company is exploring more ways to outsource and offshore work – including copy-editing and design jobs.

Singleton, whose holdings include many TNG-CWA papers, said, "In today's world, whether your desk is down the hall or around the world, from a computer standpoint, it doesn't matter," the Associated Press reported.

Singleton's comments, coming during and after a speech to the Southern Newspaper Publishers Associations, angered Guild leaders. They said it was the first they'd heard of his plans, and that they will fight to save local jobs – for readers' sake, as well as workers.

"We understand the need for newsrooms to operate more efficiently in tough economic times," said Sara Steffens, chair of the bargaining unit for newspapers recently organized by TNG-CWA in the San Francisco Bay area. "But outsourcing copy-editors is a terrible idea. The move would damage beyond repair the things readers and advertisers value most about newspapers: Our wealth of local knowledge, and our commitment to accuracy and fact-checking."