The CEO of Vox Media, if he’s checking his mentions today, will be reading about some dissatisfaction in the ranks. Vox.com senior correspondent for criminal justice, guns and drug issues German Lopez started things off:
.@Bankoff: I love working at Vox. But when I started, I made just $30,000 a year in DC (a pretty expensive city). I don’t want anyone at Vox Media to go through that again. It’s time the company agree to a fair contract with @vox_union.
— German Lopez (@germanrlopez) June 5, 2019
Vox immigration reporter Dara Lind followed that up this way:
.@Bankoff I took a big pay cut to come to Vox on the promise that my $40K salary would be raised once I was more trained in journalism. Instead I worked as hard as anyone (mostly autodidactically) to help build a website for a year and a half on $40-44K. https://t.co/vE5ItCVNzY
— Dara Lind (@DLind) June 5, 2019
I love Vox and I hate putting y'all on blast. But what I would hate more would be leaving the company without knowing for sure it's a place that would never do that again. We need a contract with fair minimums, now.
— Dara Lind (@DLind) June 5, 2019
I really should have included dates here. To those who don't know, I started at Vox in 2014, and the time I'm describing here was 2014-15.
— Dara Lind (@DLind) June 5, 2019
Since this tweet appears to have been picked up by people who don't know things, I should point out that Vox Media is the company we're negotiating with, and Ezra Klein (cofounder but no longer EIC of Vox Media website Vox dot com) has nothing to do with the labor negotiations.
— Dara Lind (@DLind) June 5, 2019
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Senior politics reporter Jane Coaston took things in a slightly different direction:
.@bankoff A fun thing I have learned recently is that I am one of four black senior writers in all of @voxmediainc.
— Jane Coaston (@cjane87) June 5, 2019
.@bankoff This could mean one of two things. Either there are just four qualified black senior writers in the whole of America (which seems highly unlikely!) or offering hilariously low pay to hard-working journalists is not a terrific recruiting strategy.
— Jane Coaston (@cjane87) June 5, 2019
.@Bankoff The @vox_union is fighting for a fair contract that means workers in every location, from DC to remote employees, can make a fair — and competitive — wage, one that will attract even more terrific people to this company.
— Jane Coaston (@cjane87) June 5, 2019
Maybe they should ask Bernie Sanders to stop focusing on corporations like McDonald’s and Walmart and instead start constantly lecturing Vox Media about what they pay some employees. #PassThePopcorn
LOL
I, for one, want all outlets to unionize.
Nothing makes websites go under faster than the workers unionizing. https://t.co/DKi7rjxdvC
— RBe (@RBPundit) June 5, 2019
A lot of questions packed in here, not the least of which is whether Vox generates enough revenue to pay its employees a livable wage.
It certainly doesn't cry as many sad tears for its own people as it does for all the other poor downtrodden of the world. https://t.co/A2pKBIVpg0
— Scott Greenfield (@ScottGreenfield) June 5, 2019
I am a little surprised they make this little.
Didn't NBC value Vox at $1 billion when they made the last cash infusion?
Maybe I'm missing key parts of the business of media, but it seems like a terrible business to be in. https://t.co/aeK07E22gV— PoliMath (@politicalmath) June 5, 2019
"Feel bad for me because I decided to take a big paycut to go to a far left activist website." https://t.co/AD49oxR8cm
— zach bleiler (@ZachBli) June 5, 2019
Comcast pumped at least $600M into Vox. One of its founders, Matthew Yglesias, lives in a 7-figure condo. A search of the site for "living wage" returns 8,268 results. https://t.co/8oZfvELA4S
— Dodd (@Amuk3) June 5, 2019
"A conservative is a liberal who's been mugged." Vox founders are about to finally learn about capitalism. https://t.co/VIx4pSlaNL
— Cuffy (@CuffyMeh) June 5, 2019
Except that they might not realize it.
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