Protect your local newspaper from corporate greed.

Help us say no to AI and clickbait content in our historic Washington and Idaho newspapers.

The Olympian has been reporting local news since 1852. 

The Idaho Statesman since 1864. 

The News Tribune since 1883. 

The Bellingham Herald since 1890. 

The Tri-City Herald since 1918. 

For over a century, these Idaho and Washington newspapers have survived the test of time. Now they need your help to protect them from corporate greed.

Support local journalists.

Who’s who?

McClatchy: A media company that owns 30 newspapers across 14 states. McClatchy was bought by New Jersey hedge fund Chatham Asset Management in 2020.

Idaho and Washington State NewsGuilds: A united group of unions from five regional McClatchy newspapers, including the Olympian, Bellingham Herald, Tacoma News Tribune, Tri-City Herald and Idaho Statesman.

We, the reporters of these five newspapers, are currently negotiating a new contract with our publisher, McClatchy Media.

Our three biggest fights are:

  • Ethical limits around the use of AI in news

  • The freedom to write hard-hitting news stories that take time, and not be punished if we don’t churn out clickbait.

  • Higher pay for workers

McClatchy Media hopes you won’t notice if it replaces human stories with AI-generated content. The company thinks you’ll happily consume clickbait over real community stories.

We are asking for your support in telling our publisher, McClatchy Media, that they are wrong. You want local journalism that matters, written by human reporters who are earning enough to live in the communities that they cover.

As we continue to bargain with the company, the Idaho and Washington State NewsGuilds will need you. 

Please subscribe to follow our fight and so we can let you know when we need your voice.

Support us.

Sign up for email updates as we continue to fight. We’ll keep you posted about our contract negotiations and let you know how you can help. We will need all the support we can get.

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    Protect your newspaper from AI

    We know you don’t want to waste your time and money reading AI-generated slop.

    But our publisher, McClatchy, wants to have the power to decide when AI will interview sources, write articles and create the stories you read. 

    We — the real, human reporters — want McClatchy to make AI ethics commitments to its readers, including:

    • Banning the use of deepfakes that impersonate reporters’ voices and images

    • Always telling readers which content is AI

    • Allowing reporters to review AI-generated material (created using their work) before publishing to find and correct mistakes

    But for months now, McClatchy has refused. They have provided us with AI guidelines, but insist on the power to change them at any time. McClatchy executives don’t want there to be consequences if the company violates them.

    Readers should be able to trust their local paper. Don’t let McClatchy give that trust away in service to the latest tech trends.

    You hate vapid clickbait articles. We, the local journalists, hate them too. We need your support to keep clickbait out of local news.

    At McClatchy, multiple reporters must meet article quotas — meaning they could face repercussions for not writing a certain number of stories.

    That kind of environment inevitably ends with stressed reporters being pushed to write a higher and higher quantity of stories instead of higher quality.

    The result? Clickbait. Churnalism. “You won’t believe what this celebrity just said about your state” type of articles.

    Our reporters have been working to expose why poorly-built homes in Caldwell are causing issues for buyers, how the Idaho Department of Labor can’t help people when employers steal their wages and what happens when Richland school board members defy state rules. 

    Those kinds of stories take time. Idahoans and Washingtonians deserve that time. When people talk to us, they should know we will put in the hours and effort to accurately represent their lives.

    Help us report the news, not write clickbait.

    Protect your newspaper from clickbait

    Support fair wages

    Every year, Idaho and Washington lose some of their best and brightest reporters.

    McClatchy continues to underpay employees, and many reporters feel they have no choice but to move to new jobs in other locations.

    As a result, important issues in your community go uncovered. When officials are hiding things, we don’t have reporters with the experience to uncover the truth.

    The Idaho and Washington State NewsGuilds are asking for your help to encourage McClatchy to raise the wages of its local reporters so they can keep serving in the communities they so desperately want to afford to call home.

    Soaring rent with little to no pay increases have only put a strain on McClatchy workers. Reporters forgo medical needs, struggle to cover unexpected car repairs and skip out on visiting family because they can’t afford a plane ticket. Simple American dreams like owning a home or starting a family feel impossible.

    Those who stay — because they are passionate about holding local power accountable and bringing vital information to neighbors — find themselves getting older with little savings.

    Every day, our reporters seek to bring you news that matters. We care about these communities because we live in them. Help us keep living in them.