CalMatters/The Markup Guild

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We're the journalists, product and development staff of CalMatters and The Markup.

CNNU Logo December 5, 2025 To the management of America’s nonprofit newsrooms: We are writing to you as the nation’s first-ever caucus of nonprofit newsroom unions, which is composed of the media workers representing journalism outlets across the country. Once again, our industry finds itself at an inflection point, facing the uncertainty of artificial intelligence. Like any new technology, AI can provide a potent new tool to assist us in our work if it is used responsibly, thoughtfully and ethically. However, we have already seen numerous failures in the implementation of AI at for-profit news outlets, where the economic incentive to use AI recklessly has at times degraded the otherwise high-caliber product our colleagues produce. From Axel Springer to Gannett, major for-profit publishers have unveiled flawed AI tools that are hallucinating false news articles or synopses, slowing down journalists’ workflows and otherwise threatening their editorial product. Nonprofit newsrooms can and must do better to uphold the mandates of our mission-driven organizations and ensure readers’ trust in our editorial product. Importantly, we are not calling for a ban on AI. Our message is simple — management must work with us to determine how to best implement this emerging technology and protect journalistic integrity. To that end, we unequivocally demand that you commit to the following guardrails around AI in current or future collective bargaining agreements and in the implementation of such contracts: ● AI is rapidly evolving and most of its uses remain to be seen. Our unions will retain the right to bargain over its future implementation. ● Management will not lay off media workers as a result of implementing AI. ● Our members will not be disciplined if we decide AI is not the best tool for a job, and our members’ usage of AI tools will not be surveilled.