EVERETT, DEC. 9: Everett Herald workers are asking for support as they continue negotiating higher pay and benefits with media owner Carpenter Media Group (CMG).
The Everett NewsGuild resumed bargaining on a new contract with CMG in early November, months after the Guild went on strike. Late last month, CMG presented the guild with a new wage proposal.
The proposal includes a $1 an hour bonus for “meeting newsroom minimum standards of 2-3 bylines per day.” Management also proposed a minimum of $20.50 per hour, the Guild shared on X.
NewsGuild members are rejecting the proposal and asking for support from the local community.
“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 Guild wrote in a recent press release.
Guild members are also frustrated with the minimum wage proposal, arguing that it is not enough to live in Snohomish County. According to MIT’s living wage calculator, a single person with no children would need to earn $29.59 an hour to support themselves.
Everett voters recently approved to raise the minimum wage to $20.24, which will begin in July 2025.
Guild members are asking for support by submitting “letters to the editor” to the Herald before the next bargaining session, Wednesday, Dec. 11.
“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,” said Jordan Hansen, a Herald reporter and Everett NewsGuild member.
Over the summer, Guild members went on a two-day strike opposing CMG’s decision to lay off half the Herald’s staff. The strike came to a conclusion when CMG and the Guild negotiated optional buyouts, increased severance packages and raises for the remaining staff.
In an article by Janice Podsada and Andrea Brown, that 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 Herald newsroom now includes two news editors, four news reporters and one photographer, along with sports and opinion staff.
The Everett Herald is one of 43 media outlets in Washington and Alaska under Sound Publishing. In March, Sound Publishing’s longtime parent company, British Columbia-based Black Press, sold to new ownership after filing for Canadian creditor protection. The new ownership includes CMG and Canadian investors Canso Investment Counsel and Deans Knight Capital Management.
CMG owns more than 100 papers in the U.S. and has continued to expand with the purchase of Oregon’s largest media company Pamplin Media Group. They also laid off workers at Pamplin Media Group over the summer.
The Everett Herald is the oldest and most prominent source of news in the county, the third largest and fastest-growing county in the state.
The Everett Post has contacted Carpenter Media Group for a statement.
Journalists say goodbye to the Herald amidst layoffs, update
