Herald owners should work with union for reporters’ fair pay

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, December 24, 2024

As a longtime loyal reader of The Herald, it’s been difficult to watch the sale of the newspaper to an out-of-state entity, the cutting of half the newsroom staff, and now the stalled negotiations with the Newsguild, all within the last year.

Starting new full time staff members at a little over minimum wage will not attract the kind of reporters we need to provide the well-researched, factual local articles we have had access to in the past. Basing pay on byline quotas is guaranteed to degrade coverage as there won’t be time for reporters to dig into the many critical issues in Snohomish County.

Newspapers and news reporting all over the country are in trouble. I don’t have the solution, but I am hoping Herald management will negotiate in good faith. There is no substitute for excellent reporters.

Nancy Johnson

Edmonds