John Carroll recognizes a unified voice when he hears one

Today's NYT's Media Equation column shines it's spotlight on last week's Grazergate (nicknamed by LAObserved.com), about the recent ethics-inspired events resulting in the cancellation of Sunday's LAT Current op-ed section — no doubt precipitated by the uproar from LAT newsroom folks concerned about the paper's credibility. Read it if you choose, but what struck us is former LAT editor John Carroll's contribution:

"It is a nonunion paper in which labor has taken ownership of the place," he said. "They have played an important role in building it, and they don't want to see it damaged."

Carroll has experience with union papers: He's the former editor of the Baltimore Sun and the Lexington (KY) Herald, both represented by The Newspaper Guild - CWA. So he knows that Guild members have a long history of joining together to speak with one voice — not just on common concerns such as wages, benefits and working conditions, to name a few — but on the journalistic ethics and values they hold sacred.

After all, the credibility and success of the papers they work for matter to them too.