Half the staff means half the coverage; readers will notice
The news that Carpenter Media Group and the private equity companies who acquired The Herald plan to lay off almost half of the newsroom staff is sad, yet not surprising. Private equity has been wrecking newsrooms and other businesses all over the country. Carpenter Media Group, however, claim to be in the business of saving local journalism. Starting out with layoffs doesn’t give much credence to this claim.
I disagree with publisher Rudi Alcott and find his notion that “readers won’t notice” when newsroom staff is halved preposterous, even offensive. If Carpenter were serious about its commitment to independent local journalism, they would negotiate with the Everett News Guild instead of laying off journalists.
Fortunately, there are alternative models. Herald staffers, former and current, could start a digital community-supported news co-op. The Colorado Sun is a successful example of this model. It was started by Denver Post journalists that found themselves in a similar situation. I am certain that I am not the only local reader who would much rather read and support news coming from a cooperative of dedicated, local journalists rather than from a stripped-down newsroom owned by a news conglomerate and private equity funds.
Barbara Bengtsson
Everett
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