Yes, I was fired. Here’s what’s missing from the viral stories.

I was fired from The Dallas Morning News. But the broader context shows this is about more than my tweet — a story I think is missing from some of the trending coverage of this situation.

The language we use, the opinions we do or don’t share as journalists and what type of deference traditional media institutions give to elected officials and people in power are all worthy conversations to be had. Still, the more significant concern for me — one that seems to be getting lost — is the messages the DallasNews Corp. is sending to its unionized workers.

I don’t speak for the Dallas News Guild, but I know the guild has filed half a dozen complaints with the National Labor Relations Board in the past few months ranging from my termination to abrupt changes to working conditions.

In February, the paper suddenly disbanded the team of Al Dia, its Spanish-language publication. Though management said it was a data-driven effort to utilize those workers and their expertise in reaching Spanish-speaking readers across departments, the decision was made without any input from those reporters. Many of them were also among the least paid workers in the newsroom.

I was fired on Valentine’s Day for breaking three company policies related to the tweet. Earlier in the day, I co-organized a picket outside the newsroom in Dallas. We called for a fair contract, fair wages, support for local journalism and for respect.

The attention around my tweet is in some ways taking away from these issues. It also highlights why a contract outlining workers’ rights is so important. In a time when local media outlets are closing and journalists are being laid off, there are very important issues being missed by that lack of coverage. That’s what people should be alarmed about.

The time wasted when publishers and newsroom management fight reporters over the fair pay and respect they deserve could be spent covering important issues.

The week I was fired, I was supposed to sit in on two local high school classes and talk with students about the importance of diverse ethnic studies classes. I was supposed to visit a private school that serves students with disabilities which could soon be a recipient of public dollars through a proposed private school choice program in Texas. I was compiling a database of what North Texas school districts stock naloxone in light of recent fentanyl overdose deaths.

When reporters aren’t supported, when they aren’t at the table to help make decisions, when they are driven out of the newsroom, we can’t tell those stories.