Federal Court Says Newspaper Has the Right to Fire Journalists -- Under the First Amendment

AlterNet / By Laura Gottesdiener

Federal Court Says Newspaper Has the Right to Fire Journalists -- Under the First Amendment
"The First Amendment affords a publisher - not a reporter - absolute authority to shape a newspaper's content," Judge writes.

December 19, 2012 |


Tuesday in California, the Federal Appeals Court ruled against a group of journalists at the Santa Barbara News-Press who had been fired for demanding editorial integrity and a union. Rather than uphold their rights both to unionize and to speak out against bad editorial practices, the federal court instead said their dismissals were protected by the publisher's First Amendment Rights to print whatever she wanted.

The dispute began in 2006, when nearly all the top journalists and editors at the Santa Barbara News-Press quit because the paper's owner and publisher Wendy McCaw was interfering in the editorial content. As Melinda Burns, one former journalist at the paper wrote in the Santa Barbara Independent about that period:

"Spring had barely turned to summer that year when Editor Jerry Roberts and four other editors resigned, citing what they said was McCaw’s unethical interference in newsgathering and reporting. A dozen reporters quit, too, including one who had been covering a neighborhood dispute over the development plans of Rob Lowe, an actor friend of McCaw’s who wanted to build a mansion on a vacant lot in Montecito. Following standard newsroom practice, the reporter reported the address of the lot. Lowe’s assistant called the paper to complain, saying Lowe was going to cancel his subscription. McCaw fired off harsh letters of reprimand to the reporter and three editors, who all eventually resigned. Those of us who chose to stay in the newsroom knew we needed a written contract to protect our job security and integrity as journalists from McCaw’s arbitrary attacks."

So, as Burns writes, the remaining journalists reached out to the Teamsters and joined the union. When McCaw refused to recognize their affiliation with the Teamsters, the newsroom held a union vote and won. Soon after, McCaw fired eight journalists (including Burns). ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/corporate-accountability-and-workplace/federal-court-says-newspaper-has-right-fire-journalists-under