To my News 12 family:
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Miss you all!
Let me give you a quick update on the lawsuit I filed last September to protect News 12 and its employees.
Because of certain ethical rules concerning settlement negotiations I can’t tell you exactly what’s going on. But I can say this: I will not accept any settlement that would allow Altice to violate News 12’s high journalistic standards in the pursuit of ratings and profits.
I understand that in a recent staff meeting Altice execs told you that they never intended to make staff cuts this year.
If they said that, that is false.
Here are the facts:
Late last year, I was shocked to learn that Altice senior management was planning another round of layoffs.
I immediately told Charlie Stewart, Co-President and CFO of Altice USA, that any further layoffs at News 12 would seriously damage the quality of the service.
Over the next months, Altice execs discussed numerous versions of plans to fire employees and eliminate jobs. These cuts included producers, directors, anchors, reporters and photographers. In addition, it was unclear what they intended to do with unfilled positions, meaning the cuts could have gone much deeper.
I lobbied hard against all these plans.
There were many phone calls, meetings and memos. I made the point repeatedly: Innovation is necessary, but not at the expense of News 12’s tradition of journalistic quality.
I wrote several memos to Altice founder Patrick Drahi and met with him personally in New York City, asking him to head off the cuts.
In addition, I repeatedly reminded Charlie Stewart and Mike Schreiber, president of Altice USA News, that when Altice bought Cablevision the agreement Altice signed included promises to maintain staff levels and accept the business plan for five years.
We are in court because Altice failed to keep those promises.
According to the closing documents of the sale on [June, 2016], they were not to lay off employees for 5 years, and they were required to run the business according to Cablevision’s last five-year plan. When I talked to Charlie about this, his response was that the News 12 part of the agreement is “unenforceable” … meaning Altice never intended to stand by its word.
In the end Altice somewhat reduced the number of jobs they were planning to cut this year. But I told them my “number” was “zero” cuts.
I also understand that in that recent staff meeting, Altice top execs assured you that the “restructuring” is finished. I’m not sure what that means, and given Altice’s past conduct, those words are just not good enough.
In fact, Altice founder Patrick Drahi told me that in his view any company that fails to make a certain annual profit margin should cut operating costs by 10%.
I disagree. A newsroom is more than its balance sheet.
I don’t like this situation. I have nothing personally to gain from this lawsuit except a bunch of legal bills. But Altice signed a deal, and now they are breaking their promises. I’m just not good with that.
I am truly sorry for the disruption and anxiety all this has caused. You deserve so much better. I hope you agree that protecting jobs — and preserving News 12’s proud tradition of excellence — is worth fighting for.