Cascade PBS workers call newsroom cut unnecessary, ask for support

Unionized journalists at Cascade PBS are protesting layoffs announced by the Seattle-based outlet this week, decrying the elimination of their online newsroom as unnecessary and launching a public pressure campaign.

Members of the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild say Cascade PBS is making the wrong choice by shutting down a local news source rather than reducing executive salaries or finding money elsewhere. The outlet is axing nine union journalists, plus nonunion editors and other staffers.

“The Newspaper Guild and its members denounce this shameful, short-sighted decision by Cascade PBS to abandon its commitment to journalism and abdicate its responsibility as a public media entity at a time when we desperately need more reporters and editors shining a light on the world, not fewer,”