Seattle Times Union members picket outside the newspaper’s offices, demanding guarantees that AI will not replace newsroom jobs. Contract talks remain stalled over wages and AI use: the company agrees to bar AI from interviewing people or writing articles, but has not extended protections to other newsroom roles, including photojournalists and copy editors. The Seattle Times says it does not publish AI-produced news stories, and CEO Alan Fisco says negotiations over AI language will continue.
The Seattle Times staff was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist in the breaking news category for its coverage of historic flooding across Western Washington in late 2025. The finalist recognition is for the newspaper’s reporting on the December floods.
The Seattle Times is a rare metropolitan daily that remains under fifth-generation family ownership. Its family owners bought out McClatchy’s minority stake in 2024. The paper has roughly 107,000 digital subscribers, and philanthropy funds some newsroom beats.
