Yellow Journalism and Palermo

Over the past few months our “News” papers have been refusing to report the facts relating to the strike at Palermo’s. In a series of “news” reports, the Journal Sentinel and Biz Times have first repeated the allegations of the Palermo’s employees and then repeated the denials of the Palermo spokespersons. The complaints alleged by the workers include: unsafe working conditions, poor compensation and lousy benefits, discrimination, and more recently intimidation and retaliation in response to labor’s attempt to organize.  

While the Journal Sentinel has reported these allegations, and the denials by Palermo; journalism is more than reporting claims by parties. Journalism is investigating and reporting. Palermo has paid 18,500 in fines in safety violations. There have been amputations at Palermo. These are some of the facts regarding safety and the Journal Sentinel should report them.

The Journal Sentinel should also report the facts on discrimination. Palermo is certainly aware of the number of minorities they have hired and the number of minorities they have promoted. The Journal Sentinel should have asked Palermo for the relevant statistics and reported those statistics.

The Journal Sentinel should do more than reiterate the complaints by workers of low compensation and the assurances of management that pay is competitive. Journalists ought to investigate that claim. What is the starting pay? What is the median pay? How many workers make at or near minimum wage? The public needs more than yellow journalism. The public needs to know the facts so that informed decisions can be made.