Unionized staffers at New York Daily News approved a vote of no confidence against the newspaper’s executive editor, Andrew Julien, on Tuesday as cost-cutting measures continue to gut resources.
The union has been engaged in a bitter dispute with management as the newspaper’s owner Alden Global Capital has directed consistent staffing cuts while circulation and revenue dwindle.
The vote of no confidence — signed by 46 members, or nearly 87% of the union — was sent to Julien on Tuesday and noted that the current situation at the newspaper is “unsustainable.”
“What this vote of no confidence means is that our coworkers are feeling burned and are angry about it,” chair of the Daily News Union Ellen Moynihan said in a statement. “We want the public to know that despite numerous requests, Julien refuses to face us while allowing the Daily News to be spread impossibly thin, weakening the News and allowing Alden Global Capital to leech profits at the expense of our hard work.”
“We don’t feel like he has our back,” Moynihan added.
According to the union, since the spring of 2022, 32 people have departed the organization, with only 16 being replaced. The Guild-represented staff now totals 53 members.
The union argues that Julien has been a passive leader, only holding one newsroom-wide staff meeting since taking on the role three years ago, and watching “Alden’s extraction of cash from the storied 105-year-old newspaper.”
Additionally, the union points to the sale of an Alden-owned printing plant for at least $90 million, which somehow resulted in further cuts for the newspaper.
“The relentless cuts have made it all but impossible to cover a city of 9 million people,” the union writes in the vote of no confidence. “Stories are getting missed, overlooked, ignored.”
The union concluded that “We will continue to invest all that we can in the New York Daily News,” demanding that leadership do the same.
Daily News has been fighting with management for months, walking off the job in January for the first time in three decades while attempting to negotiate a first contract.
The newspaper, which was founded in 1919, was at one point one of the largest newspapers in the country by circulation, but recent ownership changes and staffing cuts have stunted the outlet’s success. In 2021, the newspaper was acquired by Alden, an investment firm that has purchased hundreds of outlets across the country, gaining a reputation for hollowing out newsrooms.
An Alden spokesperson did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
