Tegna's Mixed COVID Message
/TEGNA CEO Dave Lougee sent an email to the staff that said, “we are updating our policy and will require confirmation of your fully vaccinated status by Friday, August 27, if you would like to continue to follow our health and mask guidelines for fully vaccinated employees.”
So, it sounds like the Tegna employees will be required to give their vaccinated status to the company. Right?
Not exactly, Lougee’s memo goes onto say, “Providing confirmation of your vaccination status is voluntary; if you do not confirm your vaccination status, you will be required to follow TEGNA’s guidelines for not fully vaccinated employees. As a reminder, for those who are not fully vaccinated, you must wear a mask at all times when in our buildings and continue to social distance.”
So, if you don’t give your status, you will be required to wear a mask and social distance.
What if you are an Anchor and not vaccinated and you are sitting next to your vaccinated co-Anchor. Is the non-vaxed Anchor then required to wear a mask while doing the show?
If you, how do you as an Anchor that has been vaccinated feel with that person next to you, masking and shouting out the news?
What if your non-vaxed co-worker picks up and uses the coffee pot in the newsroom, will they be required to wipe it down? What about touching other equipment around the station?
It seems that Tegna and Dave Lougee want to have it both ways, but if I was worried about the health of my family and myself, I might be a bit leary of going to work.
Also, it appears that the non-vaccinated people have a couple of weeks (until August 27thth) to spread their germs before they must submit, or not submit their status.
This is the typical Tegna fence-sitting we have come to expect.
As one Tegna employee said to FTVLive, “this looks like a plan that Tegna’s lawyers drew up.”
Here’s the internal memo obtained by FTVLive from Dave Lougee: