“News, Not Slop” | NewsGuild’s Jon Schleuss on AI & the Global Press Freedom Fight

Artificial intelligence is moving fast, but union journalists are fighting back even faster.

In today’s episode of the America’s Work Force Union Podcast, host Ed "Flash" Ferenc sits down with Jon Schleuss, President of the NewsGuild-CWA, fresh off his historic election to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) executive committee in Paris. Representing journalists across 100 countries, Schleuss gives us a sobering look at global threats to press freedom—from media consolidation to algorithmic exploitation—and explains how he’s exporting the American organizing playbook to a global stage.

We dive deep into the front lines of the labor movement, including:

• The War on "AI Slop": Why outlets like Ziff Davis and Cal Matters have signed contracts protecting human journalists, while The New York Times and ProPublica continue to resist critical guardrails.
• CWA Has LA's Back: How the union is providing a financial runway ($500/week strike benefits and healthcare) to laid-off Los Angeles journalists fighting alleged anti-union discrimination as they launch an independent newsroom at ourpapernow.org.
• The Publishing House Surge: Inside the massive organizing wins drawing in over 730 workers at Hachette Books and the University of Chicago Press.

Discover more about worker power: Visit newsguild.org to learn more about the campaigns mentioned in this episode.

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