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Reuters Workers Fight 'Remote Control Journalism'
Calling it "remote control journalism," TNG-CWA members at Reuters are fighting outsourcing by warning clients who buy the wire service's stories and pictures that the quality they've come to expect is at risk.
A letter to newspaper and website clients who use Reuters' pictures says that executives "are experimenting with a scheme to close the London and Washington pictures desks and transfer their functions to a newly hired, inexperienced staff in a consolidated editing center in Singapore.
"This means captions of all pictures - of everything from Capitol Hill to Hollywood - would be edited and fact-checked by workers on the other side of the world, where it usually isn't even the same day as where you are."
Employment security is one of the sticking points in two years of contract talks for the 450-member nationwide unit of journalists and technicians. Last month, members voted 301-4 to call a strike if necessary, though talks are continuing, unit chairman Peter Szekely said.
In the 2000 contract, members agreed to give Reuters some flexibility with regard to outsourcing and automation. But in return the Guild got what Szekely said is "absolute employment security" for long-time workers, then about 45 percent of the unit. Other workers still had strong protections and the company was obligated to try to place them in another job if theirs was affected.
Not only have executives "made very liberal use of their part of the bargain," Szekely said they now want more job security concessions. Together with the union's fight for fair health care and retirement benefits, the issues have drawn out bargaining since the last contract expired in March 2003.
In addition to moving photo-editing work to Singapore, Reuters also wants to use an inexperienced staff in Toronto to replace London and Washington journalists who assemble, respectively, the UK Online Report and the US Online Report.
"Never mind that the company's own sales pitch for 'US Online Report' says "Top international and domestic news stories and photographs are selected and prioritized for the American audience by our expert editorial teams in the U.S,'" another letter to clients says. "They think they can save a few bucks by producing online reports with newly minted journalists in Canada. Do you think Reuters will pass along the savings to you?
"Just because technology enables it and economic forces tempt it, doesn't mean news can be produced completely from afar," the letter continues, urging clients to call reporters personally to learn more.
Szekely said members' fight against outsourcing will continue no matter what happens with the contract. "Whether we get a contract the easy way or the hard way, we're certainly going to continue to fight against what we call remote control journalism," he said. "It's bad for the company and bad for our business and we're going to shine a light on it every chance we get."
A letter to newspaper and website clients who use Reuters' pictures says that executives "are experimenting with a scheme to close the London and Washington pictures desks and transfer their functions to a newly hired, inexperienced staff in a consolidated editing center in Singapore.
"This means captions of all pictures - of everything from Capitol Hill to Hollywood - would be edited and fact-checked by workers on the other side of the world, where it usually isn't even the same day as where you are."
Employment security is one of the sticking points in two years of contract talks for the 450-member nationwide unit of journalists and technicians. Last month, members voted 301-4 to call a strike if necessary, though talks are continuing, unit chairman Peter Szekely said.
In the 2000 contract, members agreed to give Reuters some flexibility with regard to outsourcing and automation. But in return the Guild got what Szekely said is "absolute employment security" for long-time workers, then about 45 percent of the unit. Other workers still had strong protections and the company was obligated to try to place them in another job if theirs was affected.
Not only have executives "made very liberal use of their part of the bargain," Szekely said they now want more job security concessions. Together with the union's fight for fair health care and retirement benefits, the issues have drawn out bargaining since the last contract expired in March 2003.
In addition to moving photo-editing work to Singapore, Reuters also wants to use an inexperienced staff in Toronto to replace London and Washington journalists who assemble, respectively, the UK Online Report and the US Online Report.
"Never mind that the company's own sales pitch for 'US Online Report' says "Top international and domestic news stories and photographs are selected and prioritized for the American audience by our expert editorial teams in the U.S,'" another letter to clients says. "They think they can save a few bucks by producing online reports with newly minted journalists in Canada. Do you think Reuters will pass along the savings to you?
"Just because technology enables it and economic forces tempt it, doesn't mean news can be produced completely from afar," the letter continues, urging clients to call reporters personally to learn more.
Szekely said members' fight against outsourcing will continue no matter what happens with the contract. "Whether we get a contract the easy way or the hard way, we're certainly going to continue to fight against what we call remote control journalism," he said. "It's bad for the company and bad for our business and we're going to shine a light on it every chance we get."