STOP THE PRESSES !

It will take concerted action by a lot of folks to make the Democrat and Chronicle better, and to ensure the Gannett Co. gives a fair shake to its own employees. So speak up! Tell your friends about our campaign, and Sign our petition!

In the old days, that's what they used to shout out in the newsroom when, at the last minute, they found something wrong in the paper.

These days, there's clearly something wrong at the Democrat and Chronicle. Less News. Higher costs. Fewer workers. Does that sound fair to you?

It doesn't to us.

The Democrat and Chronicle is increasingly unfair to readers, advertisers and its own workers. It may bill itself as a “community newspaper,” but our parent company is out to squeeze every penny it can out of this community.

If you’ve read the Democrat and Chronicle for even a few years, you’ve noticed: The sections are slimmer, the photos less plentiful, the stories less in-depth. The stock pages are bare-bones. Our staff is shrinking, with job after job eliminated.

It’s not fair to readers and advertisers. It's not fair to the community as a whole.

Inside the old grey building on Exchange Boulevard, we struggle daily with a shortage of resources and a lack of adequate time to flesh out stories, make the most meaningful photograph, write the best headline, create the most thoughtful graphic.

And we work in an atmosphere of uncertainty. Will jobs be cut? Will expenses be slashed -- again? Is there another benefit that Gannett could possibly find to reduce?

They’ve already gutted our pension and life insurance, cruelly denied us access to a 401(K) retirement savings plan, cancelled health care for retirees and exacted a $1,800-a-year penalty for any employee who wants to insure his or her spouse.

Our contractual minimum salaries are among the lowest of any unionized newspaper in North America.* Some actually are below the state minimum wage!

And to top it off, we’re in the midst of the longest labor dispute in Rochester. We haven’t had a new collective bargaining agreement in a dozen years.

Now, that may not mean much to you directly. But consider it a symptom – a symptom of a company’s willingness to denigrate and shortchange its workers, and a willingness to shortchange its customers, to meet the profit goal.

And while we don’t know this year’s profit goal, rest assured it’s a handsome one. Company-wide, Gannett newspapers earned 25 percent before taxes last year.** In Rochester, the margin typically is higher than that.

Those profit goals, which corporate leaders mandate be met at all costs, mean sky-high advertising rates and continuous pressure on the news operation to reduce expenses.

The result? The incredible shrinking newspaper, and millions of dollars drained out of this community each year.