Thread by @SacBeeGuild, We have alarming news.The owner of The Sacramento Bee is trying to [...]

We have alarming news.

The owner of The Sacramento Bee is trying to tie journalists’ pay to the number of clicks their stories get.

We’re urging the company to reconsider. Here's our letter to McClatchy’s new CEO about how this could hurt our community.

#NoPayForClicks 1/9

Pay-for-clicks encourages controversy and quantity over clarity and quality.

Our job is to cut through the noise, not add to it.

We are the Sacramento Bee Guild. We’re journalists who care about our community.

We hate click bait. So do you.
#NoPayForClicks 2/9

Journalism that serves the community takes time and care. Countless interviews. Late-night meetings. Stacks of records. The pursuit of clicks is something different.

That’s why we’re asking you to sign this petition:
http://bit.ly/nopayforclicks

#NoPayForClicks 3/9

No Pay-for-Clicks

Say no to clickbait. Say no to pay-for-clicks. Support the journalists of The Sacramento Bee.

http://bit.ly/nopayforclicks

The old journalism adage is to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”

Not to create content that gets as many clicks, whatever the cost, to hit arbitrary metrics goals based on opaque, inconsistent math. #NoPayForClicks 4/9

The proposal hurts our ability to tell diverse stories.

Growing readership in places we've underserved—repairing relationships—takes time. The Bee is working to fix this. The proposal would encourage us to ignore those stories in fear of lower page views. #NoPayForClicks 5/9

Quality news that convinces readers to subscribe is important. We want to know which stories resonate.

But tying a reporter’s value to how stories "perform" online is problematic. It cheapens our work. Often, headlines and placement are beyond our control. #NoPayForClicks 6/9

In contract bargaining, McClatchy has repeatedly failed to show how these goals are calculated. They’ve given no evidence why this proposal would make us a more sustainable local news company.

So we’re asking you to sign this petition:
http://bit.ly/nopayforclicks #NoPayForClicks 7/9

No Pay-for-Clicks

Say no to clickbait. Say no to pay-for-clicks. Support the journalists of The Sacramento Bee.

http://bit.ly/nopayforclicks

It gets worse.

McClatchy is withholding months of back pay from 2019’s contractually guaranteed raises unless we accept the pay-for-clicks proposal.

It’s leverage. But the guild is urging the company to reconsider before we meet for bargaining Nov. 13. #NoPayForClicks 8/9

McClatchy’s proposal to pay reporters for clicks is:

•Bad for reporters
•Bad for readers
•Bad for our community

We hope the company will take its proposal off the table.

Support us by signing our petition at http://bit.ly/nopayforclicks #NoPayForClicks 9/9

No Pay-for-Clicks

Say no to clickbait. Say no to pay-for-clicks. Support the journalists of The Sacramento Bee.

http://bit.ly/nopayforclicks

You can follow @SacBeeGuild.

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