Our Mission

We, the producers of the Midwest Digital Optimization Team (DOT), are unionizing. We are often assigned more work than an advanced producer can handle, placed in a new company structure with limited guidance and have had all sense of agency and control stripped from us.

Digital producers are involved with almost every story you see. We manage social media feeds, craft headlines and stories, and maintain the pages you see on websites across the Midwest.

Over the course of the pandemic, when we worked all hours of the day and night, Gannett thanked us by restructuring digital production and separating us from our newsrooms. 

Some of us were “invited” to reapply for jobs we had held for years. Some of us were furloughed, and those who were lowest paid, far below market value, didn’t receive resources to pick up the increased workload. None of us were given the support we needed from the company during an international health crisis. 

Instead of working with just one newsroom, we now manage 26 news sites across Illinois, Kentucky and Indiana. Gannett significantly increased our workloads but did not give staff across-the-board raises or any sense of job security. Gannett has ignored our concerns and done little to address the unrealistic expectations placed on producers.

We want to build a better and more stable future for our team. Our members shouldn’t be working multiple jobs to support ourselves. We should be focused on the critical work we do connecting our communities with the vital news they need. We are unionizing to fight for increased transparency, pay equity and job protections. 

By recognizing our union now and beginning negotiations in good faith, Gannett can demonstrate that the company respects and values us. 

If Gannett refuses to do so, we will vote, and we will win. 

Signed, 

Rosalind Bowling

Lincoln Wright

Jenny Porter Tilley

Channing King

Maria Leontaras

Brittney Jackson

Evan Frank

Mallory Merda

Rob Peeters

A.M.D

Chris Sim