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Baltimore Sun Media, a newspaper company under Tribune Publishing, wants to lay off two reporters — Lisa Rhodes and Jack Chavez.

Lisa is a dedicated caregiver to her mother and a veteran journalist with 17 years of experience that has made her a trusted figure among everyone from the highest ranking officers to young military spouses at Ft. Meade, Maryland. Jack Chavez is a single father in his third year with Baltimore Sun Media, eager to continue the work he began as a sports reporter at The Capital Gazette in Annapolis.

They work at SoundOff!, a newspaper serving the military families of Ft. Meade, which Baltimore Sun Media publishes under contract with the U.S. Army. Baltimore Sun Media claimed it lost money in 2018 on the publication and in May 2019, asked that the Army not renew the contract, letting the Sun off the hook of publishing the paper.

The Army accepted the Sun’s request.

On June 30, 2020, the SoundOff! contract will end and so will Lisa and Jack's jobs — if Baltimore Sun Media has its way.

The Chesapeake News Guild, the union that represents Lisa and Jack, asked the company to retain them. 

Not give Lisa and Jack a raise, not promote them — just keep them on staff at their current salary should they want to keep working with the company and reassign them to one of the numerous local papers that Tribune Publishing owns in Maryland, such as the Carroll County Times, Laurel Leader, or Bowie Blade-News. The company said no. 

Here's what makes it worse.

Through an information request to Baltimore Sun Media and a Freedom of Information Act request filed with the Army, Chesapeake News Guild discovered two things:

1. The Army only agreed to end the contract after a Baltimore Sun Media executive asked the government in May 2019 not to extend the contract through 2021, and instead implement a six month extension from the December 2019 expiration date.

2. The Army sent notice to Baltimore Sun Media accepting this request on Aug. 8, 2019.

Lisa and Jack — two of only eight journalists of color in our 37-member guild – found out April 2, 2020 they'd be out of a job in less than three months. They received this news in the middle of the pandemic and nine months after the Army first notified Baltimore Sun Media that the government would end the contract.

These two journalists should have the opportunity to keep their jobs, especially in this crucial moment when newsrooms across the country are simultaneously covering the coronavirus pandemic and civil rights demonstrations, while facing furloughs and lay-offs.

Please sign this petition and help us convince the company's CEO Terry Jimenez that these talented reporters should be given an opportunity to keep their jobs.