Episode 1: Organizing to Defend ”Paper and People” with Tonia Moxley

This episode explores the wave of labor organizing overtaking newsrooms across the country even amidst the coronavirus pandemic. In April, The Roanoke Times in Virginia became the latest newspaper in the South to form a labor union when workers voted 47 to 3 to join The Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of America.

Shortly after The Roanoke Times unionized, the paper’s parent company, Lee Enterprises, announced plans to eliminate the copy desk and move the design department out to the Midwest later this fall. The decision would result in the elimination of 10 workers. That’s one-fifth of the newsroom.

In this week's episode, host Jonathan Michels talks with reporter Tonia Moxley about the union campaign at The Roanoke Times and its implications for media workers throughout the South and the future of local news reporting. Moxley is a 20-year veteran reporter at The Roanoke Times and the chair of the Timesland News Guild.

For a transcription of this episode, please click here.

Show notes:

• “Copy Desk Defense” campaign to save the jobs of 10 workers at The Roanoke Times.
• “News Deserts and Ghost Newspapers: Will Local News Survive?” report from the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media.
• “Do You Live in a News Desert?” interactive graphic 
• “Why Newsrooms Are Unionizing Now” report about the proliferation of journalism unions