Teri Sforza: Why we need a union

I've worked at the Orange County Register for more than two decades, through knuckle-busting news wars, during journalism's fattest, happiest times. We had hundreds of reporters on staff back then, blanketing Orange County. Of course we understand the business has radically changed, but what Alden has done to my newspaper breaks my heart. We have only a few dozen reporters now — a fraction of what we had in our heyday — trying to cover not just Orange County, but massive Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties as well. It was always hard to do all that needs to be done — and now it's impossible.

Mind you, the editors in our organization are good people committed to producing the best product we possibly can. The owners of our organization appear not to care, so long as the money is rolling in. We have one reporter covering beats that used to employ five or six; we have zero reporters covering our elected representatives in Sacramento and Washington. My dearest wish, frankly, is to make ownership as miserable as possible for Alden Global so it cuts us loose and we can regroup as a nonprofit news organization. That's the best way to serve our readers.

Teri Sforza is a reporter for the Orange County Register/SCNG.