We are the journalists of the Southern California News Group. We love what we do, and we are organizing to ensure that we can continue doing it.
Our mission
Southern California's local newspapers are essential. We document communities large and small, bringing the news to millions of readers. In some of those places, we are the only ones left ensuring someone keeps an eye on the institutions and trends that affect people's daily lives.
As the workers of the Southern California News Group, we represent journalists spread across four counties, covering the news under one unified banner. We love what we do, and we are organizing to ensure that we can continue doing it.
Readers need the services we provide more than ever. Our online traffic is surging, and our digital subscriptions are up. The public is clamoring for information that can help them and their families stay healthy and safe.
Through the work we've done in our communities, we believe we have earned a seat at the table. Our owners have repeatedly demonstrated they don’t think our voices matter.
Media News Group and Alden Global Capital have cut our newsrooms to the bone. Layoffs and turnover have devastated our workforce. We face historic staffing shortages, and the exodus of journalists with decades of experience has hollowed out our newspapers. These cuts leave us less able to provide the quality product we owe our readers.
Our goal, on the other hand, is to continue serving our communities. We want to stave off further losses while providing a framework for allowing our newspapers to thrive. And we want to build newsrooms with diverse voices reflecting the communities we cover.
Some of our newspapers have been around more than a century, and we want to continue that legacy. Our owners, however, only seem to plan for their next fiscal quarter. They are not investing in our newsrooms.
Our journalists have labored for years under increasingly difficult conditions. We intend to reverse that trend. We believe that only a union — formed with the Media Guild of the West, a local of The NewsGuild-CWA — can ensure we get the fair pay and benefits we deserve.
Many of our fellow journalists working in MNG newsrooms across the country have already organized in this way. We at SCNG want to be recognized along with them. We are asking MNG and Alden to recognize our union and to work with us to protect local journalism.
Robert Morales
Bill Plunkett
Eric-Paul Johnson
Jon Paul Hoornstra
Jim Alexander
Kyle Goon
Mike Sprague
Kevin Modesti
Richard Guzman
John Plessel
Jeff Collins
David Rosenfeld
Scott M. Reid
Susan Christian Goulding
Timothy Guy
Kevin Lindsey
Kelli Skye Fadroski
Tyler Evains
Hunter Lee
Brittany Murray
James Williams
Kevin Nikolas
Jennifer Iyer
Ruby Gonzales
Javier Rojas
Daniel Aitken
Jeff Horseman
Dave Werstine
Nikie Johnson
Sean Emery
Alex Groves
Stephanie Stutzman
Teri Sforza
Sara Hoffman
Quinn Wilson
Bill Cizek
Kevin Sablan
Damian Calhoun
Chris Wiley
Steve Fryer
Kurt Snibbe
Jonah Valdez
Elizabeth Chou
Darius Johari
Josh Cain
David Allen
Olga Grigoryants
Bradley Bermont
Pierce Singgih
Hayley Munguia
Emily Rasmussen
Ian Wheeler
Jerry Berrios
Sarah Reingewirtz
Alvan Ung
Lindsey Maeda
Brian Rokos
Brooke Staggs
Dan Albano
Ryan Hagen
Steve Ramirez
Mindy Schauer
Deepa Bharath
Steven Rosenberg
Holly Andres
Eric Licas
Jody Collins
Kristine Malicse
Beau Yarbrough
Watchara Phomicinda
Gilbert Manzano
Terry Pierson
Michael Zavala
Alma Fausto
Nathaniel Percy
Will Lester
Roxana Kopetman
Sandra Barrera
Alicia Robinson
Elliott Teaford
Adam Grosbard
Jeff Fletcher
Mark Whicker
“Our communities depend on good journalism, and good journalism depends on good journalists. Every year we have less of both, but we can fix that together. Unionized, we can ensure that our co-workers keep their jobs, our stories get the time they deserve, and our communities get the journalism they deserve. I support a union because a union supports good journalism.”
— Ryan Hagen, local government reporter
“Newspaper budgets have been slashed in the last decade. When advertising revenue plummets whether from a downturn in the economy or a pandemic, reporters, photographers and copy editors are furloughed or laid off. Organizing is the only way we are going to protect ourselves from the hedge fund guillotine.”
— Jerry Berrios, digital producer
“I grew up in Pasadena, and know how a paper like the Star-News can be an institution in communities. But local news can't survive when newsrooms are gutted, employees are asked to do several people's jobs and reporters don't have a seat at the table to demand accountability from management, just as we as an institution demand accountability from those we cover.”
— Adam Grosbard, sports reporter