Photojournalists Prevent Layoffs at Seattle TV Station

December 22, 2016  
By Steven Wishnia and Neal Tepel

Seattle, WA – After a year-long campaign, photojournalists at KING5-TV here ratified a contract Dec. 8 that will let the station air video from outside sources, but prevent it from reducing the number of union-news camera operators and video editors for at least three years.

IATSE Local 600 had argued that relying on amateur video would “Uberize” news and destroy professional journalistic standards, but said in a statement that the deal “guarantees professional-quality video in the midst of seminal changes in the television industry brought about by social media and smartphones.” “Rather than replacing professional journalists with amateurs, KING5 will be able to add extra content from the new world of digital video,” Local 600 business representative Dave Twedell added. Negotiations on similar issues are continuing between KING5 and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 46, which represents master control operators and maintenance technicians, and between IATSE Local 600 and KGW-TV in Portland, Oregon. Both stations are among 26 acquired by the Gannett spinoff Tegna in 2013. Read more