The Federal Trade Commission is close to banning noncompete contracts.Those are the legal documents that media companies, especially local TV stations, force journalists to sign that keep them from working for competing stations, sometimes for up to a year. These contracts are not just for high-profile anchors, but also for producers, multi-media journalists and reporters who earn $30,000 to $50,000 a year and want to make more dough without moving to another town.The FTC says about 30 million Americans are covered by noncompete contracts. California and Oklahoma already ban such contracts, and Maryland and Oregon do not allow them for lower-paid workers. Florida allows them to be stringently enforced.
Origen: The days of journalists being forced to sign noncompete contracts may soon end – Poynter
