Cascade PBS slashes Seattle newsroom, citing federal cuts | Entertainment

Cascade PBS is restructuring its news operation and eliminating almost 20 jobs, the Seattle-based public media organization announced Monday, citing federal budget cuts and eliciting alarm from its journalists’ union.

Formed in 2015 by the merger of KCTS 9 TV and the nonprofit news website Crosscut, Cascade PBS will continue making video programs but will “cease production of long-form written journalism,” it said in a news release.

In other words, it’s laying off its news writers and their editors.

The organization is immediately losing $3.5 million annually due to Congress’ recent defunding of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, it said.

“This unprecedented federal decision has had devastating effects on more than 300 public television and radio outlets across the country, and we’re not immune here at home,” Cascade PBS CEO Rob Dunlop said in a statement.

Recent gifts from supporters have given Cascade PBS a financial lifeline but it “cannot count on emergency donations” in the long run, Dunlop said.

“These are painful cuts to make,” he added, saying the changes will impact “our community and on the staff who’ve served this region with passion.”

Monday’s release said the cuts would affect positions in the organization’s “marketing, creative and editorial departments, representing a 12% reduction in staff.” In an interview, Dunlop said 19 existing positions would be eliminated and three new jobs would be added, with a focus on multimedia.

The Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild, which represents nonmanagerial journalists at Cascade PBS, described the losses as sweeping.

Nine of the Guild’s 22 members at Cascade PBS are being laid off, including reporters and editors, Courtney Scott, executive officer for the union, said in an emailed statement. The outlet previously laid off some reporters while adding video and podcast specialists in 2023.

“The Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild is deeply disappointed that Cascade PBS is choosing to eliminate its newsroom and lay off its reporters at a time when we need good, thoughtful journalism more than ever,” Scott said.

“We do not yet fully understand why this decision was made and we will be meeting Cascade PBS executives and management in the coming days to discuss the impact on our union members and the reasoning,” Scott added.

KCTS 9’s history dates to 1954 and Crosscut was established in 2007. Last year, the organization formed through their merger celebrated moving into a new headquarters on First Hill after leaving a prior location in Seattle Center.

At the time, Cascade PBS touted modern digital production capabilities on First Hill and extensive building improvements made possible by more than 4,000 donors in a capital campaign that raised $13.4 million. The organization had to relocate because it was losing its Seattle Center lease, Dunlop said Monday.

Monday’s news release said Cascade PBS will now focus on video programs like “Mossback’s Northwest,” “Art by Northwest” and “The Newsfeed.” “The Newsfeed” will expand from one day per week to five days, Dunlop said.

“We had to look really carefully at each area of our operation and ask ourselves where must we be successful,” he said. “We recognized that for 70 years the core of this organization has been as a PBS member station.”

At the same time, “We love our news colleagues, we love the work they’ve done,” Dunlop said. “They’ve done nothing wrong to bring this about.”