Santa Barbara Newsroom - COMMENTARY: Same Newsroom, New Medium

We plan to continue to deliver daily news to the Web site and a television newscast every other week while we look for other work -- and until we are reinstated to our jobs at the Santa Barbara News-Press.

We think this show enhances our efforts to inform area residents about the important issues facing the Santa Barbara region. As always, telling interesting stories and educating the public is our primary mission.

We said it in April on the day this site launched, and we'll say it again: We hope to keep this site (and now this TV program) going until we are reinstated at the News-Press, where we were illegally fired for trying to negotiate our working conditions with News-Press owner Wendy McCaw. We pledge to bring you fair and honest reporting that is enterprising, intelligent and up-to-date.

Don't expect our new show to be perfect. We hope you will bear with us as we work out the kinks. As always, please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

We would like to thank our sponsors, the Graphic Communications Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, for helping us set up this Web site and TV show. We in the News-Press newsroom voted 33-6 last fall to join the Teamsters in hopes of restoring journalistic integrity to the paper through a fair employment contract.

We faced a challenge from McCaw, and although a judge has ruled that our union won the election fair and square, we are still waiting for contract negotiations to begin. We are also waiting for the federal government to prosecute the News-Press for our illegal terminations. The National Labor Relations Board last week set a hearing to begin on Aug. 14 in Santa Barbara.

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to our dedicated television studio crew members. We couldn't do this without their hard work and expert input. Many, many thanks to all of these volunteers for their willingness to stick with this and make it happen.

In addition, we are grateful to the thousands of supporters who have cancelled their News-Press subscriptions, and attended our public events. We will continue to ask for your support. Also, we thank those advertisers who have stopped doing business with McCaw until she obeys the law.

Last but not least, a big thanks to viewers like you who have sent in badly needed donations. We expect to win our case, but McCaw can drag it out through appeals.

Santa Barbara Newsroom will air on Channel 17, the community's public access station, Thursdays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 9 a.m. and 10:30 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m., Mondays at 11 a.m. and Tuesdays at 8 a.m.

We hope you tune in.

By Santa Barbara Newsroom
Friday, June 08 2007
We cleared a big hurdle this week at Santa Barbara Newsroom, launching the first installment of our public access television news show. Broadcast journalism is a challenging new world for most of us, a group of reporters accustomed to working our beats outside the gaze of a camera. Stepping beyond the relative anonymity of a newspaper byline is not an easy proposition, but we think it's worth it. By no means are we pretending to be broadcast journalists. We are not. But we do want to give you a show that you will find informational and educational. Truth be told, there's still a large population of Santa Barbara County residents unwilling or unable to venture online for its news. We expect to reach an ever-expanding audience through this program, which we plan to make available online here after it airs on the Santa Barbara Channels every other week on Channel 17. We plan to continue to deliver daily news to the Web site and a television newscast every other week while we look for other work -- and until we are reinstated to our jobs at the Santa Barbara News-Press. We think this show enhances our efforts to inform area residents about the important issues facing the Santa Barbara region. As always, telling interesting stories and educating the public is our primary mission. We said it in April on the day this site launched, and we'll say it again: We hope to keep this site (and now this TV program) going until we are reinstated at the News-Press, where we were illegally fired for trying to negotiate our working conditions with News-Press owner Wendy McCaw. We pledge to bring you fair and honest reporting that is enterprising, intelligent and up-to-date. Don't expect our new show to be perfect. We hope you will bear with us as we work out the kinks. As always, please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it We would like to thank our sponsors, the Graphic Communications Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, for helping us set up this Web site and TV show. We in the News-Press newsroom voted 33-6 last fall to join the Teamsters in hopes of restoring journalistic integrity to the paper through a fair employment contract. We faced a challenge from McCaw, and although a judge has ruled that our union won the election fair and square, we are still waiting for contract negotiations to begin. We are also waiting for the federal government to prosecute the News-Press for our illegal terminations. The National Labor Relations Board last week set a hearing to begin on Aug. 14 in Santa Barbara. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to our dedicated television studio crew members. We couldn't do this without their hard work and expert input. Many, many thanks to all of these volunteers for their willingness to stick with this and make it happen. In addition, we are grateful to the thousands of supporters who have cancelled their News-Press subscriptions, and attended our public events. We will continue to ask for your support. Also, we thank those advertisers who have stopped doing business with McCaw until she obeys the law. Last but not least, a big thanks to viewers like you who have sent in badly needed donations. We expect to win our case, but McCaw can drag it out through appeals. Santa Barbara Newsroom will air on Channel 17, the community's public access station, Thursdays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 9 a.m. and 10:30 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m., Mondays at 11 a.m. and Tuesdays at 8 a.m. We hope you tune in.