Cap Times News Guild

Big congratulations to three journalists at The Capital Times who have been awarded fellowships to pursue ambitious specialty projects this year!

These fellowships provide dedicated time and resources to dive deeper into important stories, strengthen reporting expertise and bring new insights to our community. It's a testament to the talent, curiosity and commitment our reporters bring to journalism every day.

As a union, we're proud to celebrate these achievements and proud to advocate for the pay, benefits, job security and working conditions that help talented journalists build long-term careers at the Cap Times. Strong local journalism depends on retaining skilled reporters, and our union will help make that possible.

We can't wait to see what comes from these projects. Please join us in congratulating Erin Gretzinger and Becky Jacobs for receiving a fellowship from the Education Writers Association, and Erin McGroarty for being named a National Fellow with the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism.

As many folks know, we won voluntary recognition a few weeks ago! We had 100% support from our reporters to unionize.

As we work on the next steps of our union effort, we wanted to highlight some of the press we did so you can hear directly from reporters why we chose to unionize:

LABOR RADIO (our segment begins around the 3:00 minute mark): https://open.spotify.com/episode/4aDjPwskcU2ddwTLTz2ZUi

City Cast Madison (our interview with host Bianca Martin opens the show): https://open.spotify.com/episode/2wWPOknkOAuPpf2IcC21He

Wisconsin Examiner, when we announced our union: https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2026/05/06/organizers-say-cap-times-union-campaign-aligns-with-news-outlets-progressive-heritage/

Wisconsin Examiner, when our union was recognized: https://wisconsinexaminer.com/briefs/cap-times-management-agrees-to-recognize-newsroom-union/

Madison 365: https://madison365.com/cap-times-reporters-vote-to-unionize/

Isthmus: https://isthmus.com/news/news/cap-times-reporters-form-union/

In a press release announcing voluntary recognition by The Capital Times, we included quotes from our reporters asking them how they're feeling and what they're proud of.

Here's insights from Erin McGroarty, our health and policy reporter, reflecting on the hard work our team of reporters put into this effort and the incredible support we got from our community and readers:

Hi all! We're thrilled to announce that our union has been voluntarily recognized!

We can't wait for the next step of this union effort. We look forward to working with management to bargain and develop a contract that helps push forward our newsroom and supports the future of independent journalism today and beyond.

Our state government reporter Olivia Herken is unionizing because she's seen the impact a union can have!

She believes unions strengthen local journalism and support the mission of the Cap Times' progressive legacy!

You can still sign our petition to encourage leaders to support voluntary recognition! The link is in our bio!

Investigative reporter is unionizing to safeguard the future of local journalism!
Learn more about our union effort by scrolling through our feed or checking out our petition for voluntary recognition from leaders! The link is in our bio!

If you'd like to support our union, please sign our petition! We believe that in-depth, accountability journalism that serves the community starts by building that same accountability within!

Our petition asks leaders to voluntarily recognize the union — you can learn more at the link below.

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/voluntarily-recognize-the-capital-times-newsguild?source=direct_link&utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGnTWAFlKZwPpAj-5FmLyE6Uib7xbprdqDdwpvOcv_c34h-5NFwLh-y3MsBBcc_aem_OlVrxCHdrBBdjK0DM_SyEA

Voluntarily Recognize The Capital Times NewsGuild!!! On April 30, reporters at the Cap Times announced we have formed our union and are seeking voluntary recognition from newspaper management. The Cap Times NewsGuild includes all of the news organization’s reporters, making up the entirety of union eligible workers on staff. Our union believes that ...

On Thursday, the reporters of The Capital Times newsroom are thrilled to announce the launch of our union: Cap Times News Guild.

We’re working to preserve the independent, forward-thinking legacy that the Cap Times has maintained in Madison for over 100 years. We firmly believe that we must be a part of newsroom decisions so we can keep delivering the in-depth and accountability journalism the Cap Times hangs its reputation on.

With 100% of reporter support, we delivered our mission statement to newsroom leaders this morning and asked for voluntary recognition.

In a time of immense uncertainty in the news industry, we believe this is the right time to organize.

Please tell management you support our union through signing the petition below!

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/voluntarily-recognize-the-capital-times-newsguild?source=direct_link&utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGnTWAFlKZwPpAj-5FmLyE6Uib7xbprdqDdwpvOcv_c34h-5NFwLh-y3MsBBcc_aem_OlVrxCHdrBBdjK0DM_SyEA

Voluntarily Recognize The Capital Times NewsGuild!!! On April 30, reporters at the Cap Times announced we have formed our union and are seeking voluntary recognition from newspaper management. The Cap Times NewsGuild includes all of the news organization’s reporters, making up the entirety of union eligible workers on staff. Our union believes that ...