Insider Journalists Kind a Union

Journalists from Insider, the news site formerly called Business Insider, said Monday they formed a union and joined a wave that has swept up digital media companies.

A majority of more than 300 editors, a group of reporters, editors and video journalists, voted in support, union officials said.

Insider, which changed its name this year, was co-founded by Henry Blodget in 2007 as a business-oriented publication focusing on the technology industry. In recent years it has expanded its areas of coverage.

Axel Springer, a Berlin-based digital publisher, paid $ 343 million in 2015 for a 97 percent stake in the company and bought the remaining 3 percent in 2018. Mr. Blodget remained managing director. Insider, who has grown during the pandemic, raised the minimum annual salary for employees to $ 60,000 in February.

The Insider Union asks the company for voluntary recognition. It is represented by The NewsGuild of New York, which also represents editorial staff for the New York Times and other publications.

“I’ve seen us grow from the start-up energy of a young company to a much larger, much more formal company,” said Kim Renfro, an entertainment correspondent who has been with the Insider Union since 2014 as a natural part of that progress . “

William Antonelli, editor at Insider, said the union will focus on diversity and inclusion, pay fairness and be more transparent about how executives rate employees.

Nicholas Carlson, Insider’s global editor-in-chief, said in a statement: “The satisfaction, job security and happiness of our journalists are extremely important to us. We will fully respect every decision our newsroom ultimately makes. “

Forming a union at Insider is part of a broader industry trend after efforts were organized at BuzzFeed News, Vice, The New Yorker, and Vox Media. Last week a group of more than 650 technicians formed a union at The Times.

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