Reporters at five newspapers in Washington and Idaho went on strike for one day this week after a year of bargaining with McClatchy over artificial intelligence guardrails and higher wages.

The union says McClatchy, which owns the papers, has refused to pay reporters enough to live in the communities they cover.

Kristine Sherred, a reporter at The News Tribune in Tacoma and chair of the Washington State News Guild, said experienced journalists are being forced to take second jobs, and some have to choose between buying food or medication.

“McClatchy has told us that they couldn't possibly spend more money on people, but we know that they're spending money on AI,” Sherred said. “We hope that the work stoppage showed that you can't have local news without real local human journalists making that news.”

McClatchy owns The News Tribune along with 29 other newspapers across 14 states. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

Sherred said AI can be useful as a tool for journalists, but McClatchy has been pushing its use to generate content or rewrite work that has already been published elsewhere.

She said the union wants McClatchy to ban deepfakes that impersonate reporters and label AI-generated content for readers.

“We have done our best to ensure that people are involved in it at every step of the way," Sherred said, "and we have guardrails for readers and guardrails for ourselves as journalists to protect our credibility.”

The next bargaining session is scheduled for June 9. Sherred said she hopes to see a better offer from McClatchy.

Source: Public News Service