On Thursday, Sep. 10, McClatchy Media said that it would be laying off 90 (around 30%) of its unionized employees across its publications, including the Idaho Statesman, The Tacoma News Tribune, Tri-City Herald, The Olympian and the Bellingham Herald. McClatchy Media owns 17 news publications across the country. All the workers who were laid off had unionized with NewsGuild-CWA, according to AP.
According to the NewsGuild, the Idaho Statesman lost 10 of its 18 reporters, making it no longer the largest newsroom in the state. The guild said that the reporters who were laid off had reported on important issues across the state, including investigations into state employees and a local hospital.
Earlier this year, McClatchy had expressed their interest in artificial intelligence (AI) usage in the newsrooms. This took journalists by surprise and made a lot of them fear for what it meant for their jobs.
In May, many journalists at the Idaho Statesmen struck in order to protest the AI involvement in the workplace as well as what they described as unfair work practices and unfair wages, according to KTVB. KTVB also stated that a deal was made a month after this strike, including AI protections in the workplace.
NewsGuild-CWA has attributed the layoffs to the company wanting to focus more on AI rather than human workers. They also stated that these layoffs create holes in coverage across communities throughout the United States. An impacted newsroom, Tacoma News Tribune, with these layoffs will no longer having a journalist to track City Hall in Tacoma, WA.
According to The Seattle Times, a local memo to McClatchy employees revealed that revenues from newspapers had reduced by 41 percent over the past five years. On Oct. 11, these layoffs will take effect.
Kevan Mitchell can be reached at [email protected]