Some small publications can make a recovery, thanks to feisty journalists who believe in local newspapers.
In 2018 my newspaper died. Well, actually, the emaciated carcass of the Austin American Statesman still had a feeble pulse. But its journalistic voice and soul were gone, stripped out by the notorious financial predators of Gannett, the huge media conglomerate that had recently bought the paper.
Happily, though, the Statesman has made a near-miraculous recovery, thanks to a small band of feisty journalists who believe in local newspapers. They fought Gannett bosses tenaciously, gaining a voice by forming a union, striking and finally compelling the giant to sign a union contract. Victory!
Uh … not yet. Just months later, Gannett sold the newspaper to Hearst, another massive media conglomerate. This new relationship started well, but soon turned sour when Hearst honchos abruptly refused to honor the paper’s contract with the union. Then they began firing employees and jacking around with the newsroom’s healthcare and retirement benefits. Adding pettiness to greed, Hearst honchos even refused to let Statesman journalists take a holiday that corporate managers get. What the hell?
Bear in mind that Hearst is a phenomenally profitable, $13-billion-a-year, multi-media behemoth. It’s CEO, Steven Swartz, pockets millions of dollars a year and lives in luxury. Also, Austin is a booming media market worth gazillions to Hearst! No need to be so pathetically mingy.
So, the hardy members of the Austin News Guild are back doing what working people do — organizing and mobilizing for a little more justice. “We’re no strangers to the petty tactics of corporate elites,” they say, so the guild is relaunching its grassroots campaign to battle the bastards, fight for fairness, and protect local news. To track progress, go to: AustinNewsGuild.org.
Trumpsters Say America’s History Is What They Say It Is
Has your family visited any of America’s phenomenal national parks or historical sites this summer? What treasures they are!
Also, visits to these jewels are enriched by the deeply knowledgeable Park Service staff. And, of course, there’s the extra-special bonus that the President Donald Trump regime has added to our public parks this year: Political censorship.
With Trump issuing his dizzying blizzard of right-wing executive orders, you might’ve missed the one in March commanding the Park Service to scrutinize all of its public exhibits, signs, websites, videos and other materials. Why? To flag and delete any scrap of information that Trump’s right-wing cultural cops consider to be “negative” historical content about America or its “heroic” leaders.
Sure enough, the Interior Department’s political overseers promptly compelled staff at the Park Service’s 433 locations to go on a witch hunt for ideological impurity. In particular, any suggestion that racism, oppression, autocracy and violence have been common features of the American experience has been decreed verboten. And, to assure a thorough cleansing of history, MAGA groups have been invited to go to historic sites and tag items they don’t like. Trump operatives say that by mid-September, they will have removed, deleted, or — get this — physically covered up the inconvenient truths of our people’s history.
They’re like one-year-olds who think if they cover their eyes, we can’t see them. Well, peek-a-boo! A rebellious coalition called “Save Our Signs” is asking grassroots people to take photos and videos of Park Service exhibits before they’re hidden away. Then, SOS will display samples of the banned material online so We the People can see the inanity of Trump’s 1984ish Newspeak censorship. Link to SOS at jimhightower.com/SaveOurSigns.
Twice elected Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Hightower is a modern-day Johnny Appleseed, spreading the message of progressive populism all across the American grassroots.
He broadcasts daily radio commentaries that are carried in more than 150 commercial and public stations and on the web.
