Labor Reporting and Its Critics in the CIO Years

Abstract

This monograph examines daily newspaper coverage of organized labor during the burst of union activity that began in the early 1930s. Three factors influenced labor reporting during this period: the dramatic rise of unions as a political, economic, and cultural force in the New Deal; trends in journalism, including the dominance of objectivity as an operating norm and the shift toward interpretive reporting; and journalists, their sources in labor leadership, and the emergence of the American Newspaper Guild. Union leaders were highly critical of the general circulation press and its coverage of labor issues. I argue that labor news was biased against unions, but that bias was not the result of a deliberate attempt to discredit unions. Despite prounion inclinations of some journalists, news values, news gathering routines, and newsroom practices shaped labor reporting in a way that emphasized organized labor’s role in repeatedly challenging and disrupting the status quo.

We’ve Got a Union, Now What?

“…Moreover, Glende notes, reporting about the labor movement while also a union member was seen as toeing the line between one’s own interests and politics, challenging the professional norms of objectivity and neutrality. Particularly in the years following the establishment of the American Newspaper Guild and despite challenges to the concept of objectivity and the introduction of more interpretive journalism, Glende (2020) argues that journalists tilted toward maintaining the status quo and, hence, reported critically about labor unions. Martin (2004) agrees that news media’s framing of labor is problematic.…”

Of essential workers and working from home: Journalistic discourses and the precarities of a pandemic economy

“…At the same time, it is necessary to consider journalism’s specific, complicated relationship with work and labor, including the professional precarity reporters confront. Throughout the 20th century, news reporting was often hostile to labor ( Glende, 2020 ). As Martin (2019) demonstrates, market incentives have encouraged news outlets to pursue more upscale audiences, thus pushing stories of the working class slowly off America’s news pages since the 1960s.…”

“…Throughout the 20th century, news reporting was often hostile to labor (Glende, 2020). As Martin (2019) demonstrates, market incentives have encouraged news outlets to pursue more upscale audiences, thus pushing stories of the working class slowly off America's news pages since the 1960s.…”

Union Activism and the Baseball Hall of Fame Voting Process: Labor-Management Conflict and Media Bias

“…In short, media coverage of labor relations issues largely centers on the adversarial elements of labor-management relations. Moreover, historical reviews, while lacking consensus on the antecedents of media bias, find that the union movement and high-ranking union officials have often been recipients of negative, unfair, and biased journalism (Gilpin 2020; Glende 2020; Richards 2008). Media bias against union activists may be particularly salient in contexts where there is significant labor-management conflict—such as work stoppages.…”