Sat 2/9 @ 6PM
Late last year Plain Dealer announced plans to lay off nearly half of its unionized workforce as it transitions to a centralized production hub. Naturally, members of the Local No. 1 of the Newspaper Guild are upset about the outsourcing decision.
While ongoing negotiations take place with the Plain Dealer and their contract set to expire at the end of the month, union members are coming together with local musicians for the Plain Dealer News Guild’s “Concert for Truth,” which takes place at Sat 2/9 @ 6pm at the Beachland Ballroom.
The affair includes Alex Bevan, Rachel Brown, Michael Stanley, Austin Walkin’ Cane, Diana Chittester, Leonardo DiCosimo, Afi “I Play Bass” Scruggs, Charlie Mosbrook, Dr. Joe and the Squeeze Play Band, Colin Dussault, John Hardy, Brent Kirby and Ray Flanagan. Acting as emcee is David Spero.
CoolCleveland talked to Plain Dealer pop music critic Chuck Yarborough about the current situation, the concert and the future of print media.
CoolCleveland: Chuck, tell us about the “Concert for Truth.”
Chuck Yarborough: The simplest way to say it is, I was brainstorming. (Local No. 1 of the Newspaper Guild) asked us to think of ways we could mobilize public interest in our plight. Being the music writer for the Plain Dealer, I went, “Geez, why don’t I just call a bunch of local musicians to see if they’d be interested in doing this?” And bless their hearts, everybody I talked to said they could do it if I they didn’t have a gig. And some of them even had gigs and worked around it. Like Ray and Brent have shows. They asked to go on early so they could make it to the later gigs.
CC: What’s interesting is Cleveland was built as a union town. What kind of support are you receiving?
CY: You would think so, but the times are a changing. Maybe somebody should write a song to that effect. We have a Republican administration in Washington, a Republican governor here, and it’s been a fight for unions in the last several years. And as you’re well aware, it’s been a digital takeover. Our contract expires at the end of February. We’re told they’re going to outsource the PubHub, which is where we do the design, headlines, copyediting. When I joined the Plain Dealer in 1990, we had nearly 400 people in the Guild. Today, we have fewer than 70 and after this outsourcing if it goes through we will have about 35 people in the union.
CC: Why should the average Northeast Ohio resident be concerned about this workforce reduction?
CY: The reality of it is the institutional knowledge. You just can’t replace that. I’ve been here almost 30 years, that’s pretty much close to the average of the people who are going to be let go. They know the difference between east and west side of Cleveland. If you say Torso Murders, they know what that is. They remember (Jim) Thome at the plate, and watching (Omar) Vizquel and (Robbie) Alomar. John Petokivic is one of the most knowledgeable people about Cleveland there is. We know the town, we are a part of the town, and the town is part of us. We bleed Cleveland. Losing that kind of institutional knowledge is just a crime. And it’s going to adversely affect the product. There’s just no way it can’t. The other part of that is, I’m not going to disparage any other organization — CoolCleveland, Crain’s, Cleveland Magazine, cleveland.com — but we are all veteran journalists, and when you lose the veteran status it can’t have a positive effect. You need good people who know what they’re doing and are trained.
CC: Regarding the “Concert for Truth,” what tunes will the artists be performing?
CY: They’re going to play their own material. Nobody is doing covers. These are all local working musicians who get it. And that includes Leonard DiCosimo, who is head of the musicians union here, Local No. 4. I’m so proud of this lineup. I just think it’s fantastic. It starts with Raymond Arthur Flannagan whom we’ve known since the Tri-C High School Rock Off. Ray is nearly 30 now so that tells you how long ago that was. All the way up to Michael Stanley and Alex Bevan, two icons in Cleveland’s local music scene. Then you have Diana Chittester, an up-and-comer in the Indigo Girls kind of style of folk rock. Rachel Brown, who is probably in my mind the best singer I’ve ever heard in my life, is doing Americana. John Hardy who does country. I’m actually going to play drums with Dr. Joe and the Squeeze Play Band.
CC: Finally, how did you settle on Alex Bevan as the headliner over Michael Stanley?
CY: We’ve got Alex headlining it and that was at Michael’s request, which I think is really interesting. It says a lot about Michael. He’s such a humble guy. He said, “I’ll be there and do whatever I can, but I don’t want to be the guy.” He just wants to help and support Cleveland. For me, it’s Alex, who has pretty much been a mentor for so many Cleveland musicians going back to his days with “Skinny Little Boy” and his connection with Ken and Paul Hamann at Suma [Recording Studio] and “The Grand River Lullaby.” He just is the patriarch in my mind of the Cleveland music scene. I love Alex. He’s never turned anybody down for anything.”
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