Plain Dealer Reporters Told Not To Cover Cleveland: News Guild

CLEVELAND — Following another round of layoffs last week, the Plain Dealer's 14 remaining reporters were told they can no longer report on Cuyahoga or Summit counties or on statewide issues, the News Guild said in a statement on Tuesday.

"This latest announcement comes as the newsroom has worked ceaselessly in covering this unprecedented [coronavirus] pandemic, putting aside their own personal family and financial situations to cover the news and tell the stories of health care workers and the community," the News Guild, the union representing the remaining reporters, said.

Advance Media has repeatedly said its two Cleveland media properties — the Plain Dealer and cleveland.com — will behave as two separate newsrooms that feed the same paper. This week, Plain Dealer Editor Tim Warsinskey told reporters that setup was "never going to become tenable or permanent."

"In effect, he is admitting that this decision is part of a broader move to eliminate The Plain Dealer and its staff altogether and not an attempt to provide meaningful coverage on areas the company has stopped reporting on in any depth for years," the News Guild said.

Warsinskey told Patch the goal of the new reporting alignment is to offer coverage to areas the Plain Dealer stopped covering years ago.

"The Plain Dealer shared a new reporting focus with the members of its newsroom, one that offers to bring high quality local journalism to five counties in Greater Cleveland, and the nearly 1 million people who live in them. Lake, Geauga, Portage, Medina and Lorain counties have been underserved by media in this market for years despite making up a large percentage of The Plain Dealer’s subscription base," he said in a statement.

Last week, Advance laid off 22 Plain Dealer reporters and managers, including three health reporters covering Northeast Ohio's coronavirus pandemic.

"This decision is a loss for the people of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County who care about in-depth and solutions-based reporting that Plain Dealer reporters have consistently provided in recent years and a win for public officials and others who don’t want their misdeeds uncovered," the News Guild said in a statement.

Warsinskey claims the shift in focus will improve the Plain Dealer's coverage.

"One thing that will change with The Plain Dealer’s new reporting focus on the five surrounding counties is that more readers in more of Northeast Ohio will see more stories that are meaningful to them in The Plain Dealer and on cleveland.com. This next evolution of The Plain Dealer will continue to help us improve upon how we cover the issues that matter to more people for more of our community," he said.

The News Guild's full statement is below:

*Patch Editor Chris Mosby was previously employed by Advance Media