Pittsburgh union fights back when 2 Black journalists banned from covering George Floyd protests – By Lauren Floyd (Daily Kos) / June 8 2020
A newspaper union is petitioning supporters Sunday to fight a ban the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette implemented to prevent two Black journalists from covering protests about the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was unarmed when a white cop kneeled on his neck for close to nine minutes.
By the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh’s description, an existing clash between management and journalists at the newspaper seemed to have reached a boiling point when Alexis Johnson, a Black member of the guild and a reporter for the paper, posted a tweet May 31. It included photos of tailgating trash left behind from country singer Kenny Chesney’s concert and read: “Horrifying scenes and aftermath from selfish LOOTERS who don’t care about this city!!!!!…. oh wait sorry. No, these are pictures from a Kenny Chesney concert tailgate. Whoops.”
Horrifying scenes and aftermath from selfish LOOTERS who don’t care about this city!!!!!
…. oh wait sorry. No, these are pictures from a Kenny Chesney concert tailgate. Whoops. pic.twitter.com/lKRNrBsltU
— Alexis Johnson (@alexisjreports) May 31, 2020
Soon after, management at the paper barred Johnson from protest-related coverage. She told MSNBC’s Joy Reid that although the paper made no claim that she was taken off of the story because of her race, a white reporter who was similarly warned about a social media post he sent wasn’t then taken off of protest-related coverage. “In fact, he covered the protest the following day,” Johnson said.
The newspaper guild called Johnson’s social media post “a benign tweet” and ridiculed management’s logic as “absurd and specious.” The guild’s president, Michael Fuoco, and chairman Jonathan Silver, who are both longtime reporters at the paper, met with newly appointed Managing Editor Karen Kane and two other managers Wednesday to demand they reinstate Johnson to protest-related coverage, but they refused. “We filed a grievance alleging they violated our contract by disciplining Alexis without just cause,” the newspaper guild said. “That grievance, one of many filed over the past three years, is pending.”
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