In January, a group of employees at High Country News set out to form a labor union, joining a growing trend at news organizations and nonprofits nationwide. Members of our staff had been collecting signatures on union cards, and on Tuesday, Jan. 9, representatives of the Denver Newspaper Guild, a branch of the Communications Workers of America, filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board. The petition asks for an election so that HCN employees in a proposed bargaining unit can vote on whether they want to be represented by the union.
HCN’s senior managers and board of directors are not taking a position on unionization. We respect employees’ right to union representation if a majority of employees in the appropriate unit wish to unionize. Whatever the outcome of the election, we will continue to support our people and work collaboratively to support HCN’s mission. We all — managers, board and staff — share the goals of continuing to improve pay and benefits, to provide job security and opportunities for advancement, and to build an organization that reflects the diversity of the amazing region we serve.
Jolly good fellows
Since the 1970s, more than 240 young people have come through HCN’s storied Intern and Fellow Program. Dozens have built successful careers in journalism, working as reporters, editors and photographers for news organizations including the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, National Geographic, The Salt Lake Tribune, The Oregonian, High Country News and a multitude of smaller, local outlets. Others have gone on to careers as educators, authors, lawyers, and leaders for organizations like The Nature Conservancy, Trout Unlimited and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition.
Now, we’re working to reimagine the program for a new generation. We’ve found, over the last few years, that a six-month internship with modest pay and no benefits was a hard ask for aspiring journalists. And we’re hearing from applicants and participants that six months isn’t as useful as it used to be for kickstarting a freelance writing career or landing a staff job.
For 2024, we’ve decided to double down on full-time, yearlong fellowships. Our fellows come to us with a little more experience than interns typically do; many have been to journalism school and have master’s degrees or a couple of years of working for a local news outlet. Fellowships pay more than internships, and we’ll provide health care and paid leave benefits. When they leave us, seasoned by good mentorship and with a strong portfolio of work in hand, they will hit the backstretch up to speed and ready for a tough job market.
In the meantime, we’ll spend some time this year exploring ways to create pathways for folks who are just starting to explore journalism as a career option: college newspaper staffers, recent graduates, folks with just a few clips to their name but a lot of gusto. That’s where you come in. We want your thoughts on what a successful internship program might look like today — one that supports interns, builds a more diverse community of experienced Western writers, and contributes to a High Country News you want to read.
Email your ideas to dearfriends@hcn.org, and consider this the start of the HCN internship listening tour.
A fond farewell
Finally, a shout-out to Mark Nydell, HCN’s customer service manager, who is departing at the end of January. Anyone who has ever called the Paonia office and gotten Mark on the line knows what a patient, warm and welcoming person he is — he and his team adore our readers, and it shows. He is also a man of principle and faith, and the very funny mind behind High Peaks Beard Company, which makes natural oils for folks of the beardy persuasion. We wish Mark a silky smooth, fresh-smelling next chapter, wherever his path takes him.
We welcome reader letters. Greg Hanscom is the executive director & publisher of High Country News. Email us at editor@hcn.org or submit a letter to the editor. See our letters to the editor policy.
