Producing the most news in Boston has come at a cost after WHDH 7 lost its NBC affiliation on January 1.
Producing the most news in Boston has come at a cost after WHDH 7 lost its NBC affiliation on January 1.
The station went from producing 8.5 hours of news during the week, to producing 12 hours per day. Although the station has been adding staff, much of it has been replacements for those who have recently left. In the past 18 months, 11 on-air talent have left WHDH alone - many additional behind the scenes staffers have left as well.
Since January 1, WHDH has covered at least three breaking news events with expanded coverage - a winter snowstorm; the airport shooting in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; and the Presidential Inauguration. With the special coverage and the expanded newscasts, news crews have been required to work six day work weeks and double shifts.
The station does give comp days for a sixth day of work, but there is no additional compensation for having to work a double shift.
WHDH SAG-AFTRA union representatives Byron Barnett, Victoria Warren, and Tim Caputo (all reporters at the station) recently sat down with news director Linda Miele to address the issues and sent the following email to all on-air talent at the station.
NOTICE TO ALL WHDH SAG-AFTRA MEMBERS
Hello Fellow SAG-AFTRAns,
The three of us have started meeting monthly with Linda and Carol to discuss issues in the newsroom. Here's a brief summary of some of the things we talked about on Thursday.
Linda acknowledged she's running everyone ragged and promised to scale down the double shifts and six-day work weeks after the Super Bowl...major snowstorms notwithstanding of course. She said she knows the newsroom cannot continue to operate at this pace. What's interesting about this is that we were going to ask her about this, but she brought it up without any prompting from us.
Linda said she will be hiring three more reporters and is very close to hiring one of them. She said she will also replace Cheryl Fiandaca.
We brought up field anchoring issues and Linda seemed receptive to things like heaters and tents for anchor teams who are stuck outside for long periods of time. But she didn't seem to have any answers about getting food and bathroom breaks. We'll continue talking.
Linda would like all crews to learn how to use CNN Newssource in the field to download video.
Linda appreciates the good response from reporters using "storynotes" at the end of their shifts.
Linda says our ratings continue to be great.
Our next meeting is scheduled for February 16th. Feel free to suggest issues for us to bring up.
Sincerely,
Your SAG-AFTRA Shop Stewards, Byron, Victoria and Tim
