SNOHOMISH COUNTY, JULY 10: Everett Herald news staff are asking for the community’s help as they continue to negotiate a union contract with owner Carpenter Media Group (CMG).
The Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild released a press release on Tuesday, July 8, stating that CMG “won’t budge” on a $20.50 per hour base wage or requiring 2-3 bylines a day per reporter.
”This is an impossible ask— with devastating consequences,” the press release said. “Journalists at The Herald won’t be able to give important stories the time they deserve for proper coverage.”
The Everett NewsGuild and the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild are calling on Everett Herald subscribers to email Publisher Carrie Radcliff and CMG Senior VP John Carr, with a message stating that they would be willing to cancel their subscription if CMG “fails to give journalists the pay and working conditions they deserve.”
They are also asking for the community to sign their petition.
The saga began last year when Sound Publishing’s longtime parent company, British Columbia-based Black Press, sold to new ownership. CMG, now the fourth-largest media company in the country, bought the Herald along with other small newspapers in the Pacific Northwest.
Although the Everett NewsGuild had been negotiating for increased wages since its creation in 2022, things came to a head in June 2024 when CMG announced layoffs of nearly half the Herald staff.
Everett Herald employees and supporters went on strike a week later, calling on CMG to discuss reinstating jobs and fair wages.
During the strike, local officials such as Washington State Rep. Rick Larsen, Everett councilmembers Mary Fosse and Paula Rhyne, and Snohomish County Councilmember Megan Dunn, showed solidarity for Herald workers.
In an article by Janice Podsada and Andrea Brown, which was taken down and republished, CMG included this statement:
“Our responsibility to the community and our readers requires us to make difficult business decisions and then invest in and organize our team to move forward to produce a product that continues to improve and serve. Our track record in this process is good. We seek to work with the best and brightest and to pay them well. We must have a strong business with highly productive people to meet our standards, and with the help of our team and community we expect to meet them here in the days to come.”
The strike came to a conclusion when CMG and the Everett NewsGuild negotiated optional buyouts, increased severance packages and raises for the remaining staff.
The Herald newsroom now includes two news editors, five news reporters, and one photographer, along with sports and opinion staff.
Since then, the Everett NewsGuild has continued negotiations with CMG for the union’s first contract.
“The union isn’t asking for readers to cancel subscriptions today”, they said, “only if owners CMG don’t negotiate a fair contract with The NewsGuild.”
The Everett Post reached out to Everett Herald Publisher Carrie Radcliff for a comment.
Across Washington, news outlets continue to shrink. In March, Washington State University released a study on local news in Washington state, and found outlets are suffering from staffing reductions and shrinking budgets that impact the ability to produce high-quality local news.
Nearly one-third of outlets in the state are owned by national chains. The majority of locally owned and nonprofit outlets operate on minimal budgets, the study revealed, and many struggle to retain staff, especially in cases of industry consolidation.
“It takes time to produce quality journalism that is accurate and meaningful,” Herald reporter Jenna Peterson said. “Tying story quotas to wage incentives rushed, sloppy reporting and it may mean important stories go untold. Our community deserves better.”
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