By: Joe Strupp Newsday's top newsroom union leader is glad the paper is now out of Tribune's hands, but remained unsure how Cablevision would treat the daily that has seen cutbacks and belt-tightening for years.
Zachary Dowdy, vice president of the Newsday editorial unit of Graphic Communications International Union Local 406, also said he might have preferred if Rupert Murdoch, who had been in the running, had bought the paper.
"There was a sense that Murdoch would have been more suitable because he has run and is running newspapers," Dowdy explained. "He understands the business side as well as the editorial side. Just on experience alone, we felt we would have gotten someone we could work with."
Still, Dowdy, a criminal justice reporter, said it was premature to judge the new owners at Cablevision, whose purchase of the paper was finalized Monday. Either way, he said the paper would be better off without Tribune.
"I hope it is not run the same way Tribune ran Newsday," he told E&P, "which was a short-sided view. They cut bureaus, reduced staff. We would like someone who would invest in the paper. It would be great if they could return the paper's vision to what it used to be."
GCIU, the paper's largest union, represents 800 Newsday employees, including 275 in the newsroom. Currently it is under a contract that expires in 2010.
Dowdy stressed that the union was willing to wait and see how Cablevision responded, but noted the company's lack of past newspaper ownership: "They have no track record running newspapers," he said. "We like the deep pockets Murdoch had; it is always nice to have cash on hand."
But, Dowdy added, "it doesn?t mean we can't work with Cablevision. The fact that it is local ownership is a good thing. They are more likely to invest in a local product."
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