Online publication Crosscut has announced that it will be merging with public TV station KCTS 9. They are now Cascade Public Media.
Online publication Crosscut has announced that it will be merging with public TV station KCTS 9. They are now "Cascade Public Media." Stock Image/Shutterstock

'Tis the season of major local media shakeups! This morning, Crosscut editor-in-chief Greg Hanscom announced that his nonprofit online publication will be joining with public television station KCTS 9 "under the umbrella of a larger, multi-platform nonprofit that will be called Cascade Public Media."

Hanscom also promised that the merger will not precipitate layoffs. (An apparent reference to the likely layoffs involved in the proposed KUOW / KPLU acquisition*.)

"There will be no layoffs," the editor-in-chief wrote in a statement sent to media outlets today. "In fact, the merger allows us to bring several part-time staffers up to full-time and offer everyone substantially improved benefits. And we’re hopeful that in the near future, we’ll have a larger freelance budget as well."

It's worth pointing out, though, that perhaps Hanscom meant no "more" layoffs. In April, KCTS 9 gutted its production department, laying off 11 employees—including two award-winning staffers who had worked at the station for four decades—under a vision to transition from a broadcast to a digital-first newsroom.

The merger announcement also coincided with KCTS's acquisition of a website called What's Good 206 (wha?), a local online magazine created by and targeting millennials. Its website says it was created in 2011.

Read more about the merger here.

*The original version of this post referred to the KUOW/KPLU acquisition as a merger. We regret the error.