EVERETT—Reporters working for The Everett Daily Herald, the oldest still-functioning Snohomish County-based newspaper, have hit their limit after new management slashed half of its newsroom last summer while continuing to pay less than a livable wage and expecting unrealistic story quotas from its staff.
Now the Everett NewsGuild, a unionized group of Everett Herald Reporters, are calling on the public’s support to write letters to the media outlet’s new ownership, Carpenter Media Group, urging them for higher pay and more lenient quotas – which the union says incentivizes “stenography over real journalism.”
The Everett Herald staff unionized after an unanimous decision in 2022. After Carpenter Media’s layoffs the union went on strike for two days.
Herald staff writers originally wrote a story about the strike but the article was immediately removed from publication by management, suppressing the public’s access to information.
Carpenter Media owns more than 100 papers in the U.S. and has a reputation of laying off newsroom staff after acquiring various media outlets. The company recently acquired nearly a dozen Oregon publications under Pamplin Media group, the largest media company in the Portland metro area, before beginning similar layoffs over the summer.
According to the NewsGuild, Carpenter Media Group’s latest proposed wage minimum was set at $20.50 per hour – or about $42,640 a year – which falls well below the MIT living wage calculations of $61,500 for a single person with no kids living in Snohomish County.
The demands of the Everett NewsGuild are for fair wages, no connection between wages and quotas, a renegotiated time-off and paid sick leave system, severance packages in the event of potential future layoffs, and protections from contracting work out to non-union members. There are currently seven Herald employees represented by the Everett NewsGuild.
“Tying wages to ridiculous story quotas punishes journalists for failing to meet arbitrary requirements. Harsh quotas incentivize stenography over real journalism. Herald readers want meaningful coverage, not bylines at any cost,” the union wrote in a press release issued Friday.
The union announced on Friday, December 6, that it will be rejecting this proposal while asking supporters to submit letters to the editor to the Herald before its next bargaining session on Wednesday, December 11.
Since the Daily Herald lost half of its newsroom last summer staff has been reduced to only two Editors, four full-time Reporters, and one Photographer in addition to its sports and opinion staff. Still, Reporters are expected to meet the same demanding quotas as before, the union says, with Reporters either writing two to three stories a day or risk losing a promised $1 an hour raise.
“This would essentially spam the front page of the Herald website with worthless content while good stories go untold,” said Jordan Hansen, a Herald reporter and Everett NewsGuild member. “Management has little respect for the work its newsroom actually does and this only serves to drive that point home. I question how this stands alongside ethical journalism and I’m not sure it can.”
Back in June Hansen criticized the Herald’s new ownership as having “insane and evil” business practices.
The Everett Herald, founded in 1901, is the longest still-standing newspaper focused on Snohomish County news. It falls within the umbrella of Sound Publishing which owns and operates 43 total media outlets in Washington and Alaska.
“Quality local journalism is more important than ever as the number of news outlets across Washington continues to shrink. The state has lost 20% of its newspapers since 2004, according to a 2022 report from the League of Women Voters of Washington. Sen. Maria Cantwell’s office reported in 2020 that Washington newsrooms lost 67% of their workers from 2005 to 2020, a higher share than the 59% loss nationally,” the Everett NewsGuild wrote in a press release Friday.
In 2024, analysts and economists have pointed to a trend of journalist layoffs, and post-COVID flux combined with social media’s dominant market share have given the news industry overall a reputational sense of riskiness. But where individuals see uncertainty, corporations may see opportunity.
Supporters can send letters to letters@herald.com.
What happened to the Herald’s debt and its workers’ pensions?
When the daily Herald was acquired by Carpenter Media Group court documents indicate that the family owners of Black Press walked away debt-free despite owing approximately $6 million (Canadian) for one or more loans by undisclosed parties represented by Canso Investment Counsel and Deans Knight, the Seattle Post Alley first reported.
As part of that deal Canso and Deans forgave the $6 million loan in exchange for the ownership of Black Press properties as well as assuming all other outstanding debts. Canso issued a new loan of about $11.5 million (Canadian) to cover legal and other expenses incurred during the weeks it took to finalize the deal. In total the deal totaled slightly under $13 million U.S. dollars.
Carpenter Media is a minority partner of Canso and was agreed to be the operator and public facing owner of the Herald.
Black Press had about a $45 million pension obligation at the time of the deal which has since been wiped clean with Black Press paying only $2 million to the federal agency now responsible for the pension fund, the Post Alley reported. That the pension was a major reason why Black Press sought creditor protection and needed to sell.
In January Black Press’ Hawaii subsidiary was hit by a ransomware attack that also contributed to the rising cost of the deal. The cyber attack, court documents state, impacted HP Hawaii’s ability to issue invoices to advertisers and subscribers adversely affecting the media outlet’s cashflow of about $200,000 per day.
The effects of this cyber-attack, which is estimated to have cost between $300,000 and $750,000 USD are among the $11.5 million (Canadian) bridge loan by Canso.
About the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild
The Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild (TNG-CWA Local #37082) represents more than 250 workers in Washington, Idaho and Alaska, united in the belief that strong jobs preserve strong journalism in the Northwest. Find more at pnwguild.org.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
