Everett Herald reporters deserve better. Snohomish County deserves better. Washington deserves better.
I’m saying this as someone who was born and raised in Snohomish County. I went to Northshore School District. Do Publisher Rudi Alcott and Carpenter Media even know that Northshore is one of the school districts there? Can you name a single fact about Everett and the surrounding areas other than “it’s in Washington?” Why would you think readers won’t notice if you laid off more than half of the newsroom? What kind of businesspeople think it’s a good idea to lay off some of the hardest working reporters on this side of the country? Readers will notice. Readers will unsubscribe. It will be your fault.
I live in Tacoma, but I still read the Herald to keep up with my hometown. I follow bylines; I was so excited when The Herald hired Jake Goldstein Street, for example, because his reporting on CHOP/CHAZ (do you even know what that is?) was incredible, and I assumed he’d be snapped up by The Seattle Times. I felt hometown pride. Yes, he’s still there; but I can’t even imagine the grief and weight of having to try to do your job while you’re watching the community you’ve invested so much time in be destroyed by an outside media conglomerate. Besides: Maya Tizon, Jenelle Baumbach, Caleb Hutton, etc., all bylines I follow. All reporters and editors you’ve laid off.
Shame on Alcott, and on Carpenter Media. Think about all of the journalists who care about their community that you put out on the street. I hope you realize you’re contributing to the decline of the free press and democracy.
Be better. Rehire the Herald reporters you coldly and cruelly laid off before it’s too late. Pay them a living wage. Apologize to the community.
Grace Deng
Tacoma
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