Digest 8/23/2021

Dissension and factionalism? In media? Who would have thought?, and more.

by | August 23, 2021

THE DIGITAL MEDIA UNION DRIVE IS STUMBLING

Last week, I spoke to Sara David, who hopes to prevent the Writers Guild of America East from permanently halting any future organizing with digital media outlets. In our interview David spoke about the sentiments of people like The Wire creator David Simon, who believes the growing percentage of digital media workers in the WGAE will suck resources from the screenwriters who were the original members of the Guild — no, he can’t point to any examples, but what if. Then, incoming WGAE president Michael Winship said the quiet part out loud:

“Our original generosity has been rewarded with dissension and factionalism from our digital members,” he wrote in a statement sent to members via email that was then shared all over Twitter. “Although they have scant knowledge of our history and very little to no experience or skills in the way our union operates for the benefit of our film and television writers, it has become clear they wish to take it over for their own purposes and to the detriment of our core membership.”

I was a member of the WGAE when I worked at Refinery29 over a year ago, and was heavily involved in organizing the workplace. This statement from my former Guild is aggressive, divisive, and most of all, not true. In fact, as David told me last week, contracts negotiated by digital workers have had direct impacts on the working conditions of those in screenwriting.

“We’re winning precedent-setting contracts that have a ripple effect,” she says. “The VICE union contract won the first contract with protections for gender pronouns. I was told that since then, every contract at the Writer’s Guild of America East has that language. That is a palpable, everyday win that’s helping our most marginalized workers immediately. And it was so easy. I was so proud to be part of that contribution.” 

A brief overview of the WGAE contracts shows that respect for gender identities is part of the WGAE Minimum Basic Agreement for 2020, and pronouns are specifically mentioned in contracts for places like VICE Media, The Huffington Post, Slate, Vox and Vox Entertainment, and The Ringer podcast.  

I can’t help but draw parallels between the betrayal of the WGAE against their own members, and that of Nathan J. Robinson against the Current Affairs staffers. Last week, the staffers announced that after attempting to formalize a more equitable org structure under their self-proclaimed socialist boss, they were essentially fired or urged to resign, with Robinson admitting that he did not want to cede leadership power to that of a co-op. Robinson disputes that narrative in his own statement — which was then disputed by a member of the editorial board — but does confirm that he wished to remain at the helm of the publication as leader. 

Solidarity should not be contingent upon those at the top still having the most power. Progressive, socialist thinking means solidarity for all. 

SPEAKING OF, HERE ARE SOME POORLY-AGED NATHAN J. ROBINSON TWEETS:

THE MOST INTERESTING PART OF THAT GAWKER ARTICLE…

…other than the fact that it doesn’t mention that BDG already tried and failed to relaunch Gawker in 2019, is this tidbit dropped by the profile’s writer and Old Gawker employee, Choire Sicha:

“In a fit of capitalist chaos, as one of the company’s very minor shareholder creditors, I simply kept receiving random checks from the bankruptcy, which by the end amounted to $222,971.15.”

This ruffled some feathers online, given that many early Gawker employees could have used a quarter of a million dollars over time. After speaking to one early Gawker employee, it appears no one can quite agree on who was offered shares and why. The more confusing part, the employee points out, is how a company in enough financial trouble to declare bankruptcy was able to pay out a quarter of a million dollars to “minor” shareholders. 

“To me, reading between the lines here,” the employee says, “The buried lede is that [Nick] Denton walked with many millions.”

COMINGS AND GOINGS

— Lilly Milman has joined Metro Corp Media as Managing Editor of Creative Services, where she will be working on sponsored content for Boston Magazine and Philly Mag.

— Shawn McCreesh is leaving The New York Times after four years to join New York Mag as features writer. Joanna Nikas is also joining The Cut as deputy style editor and Melissa León is joining Vulture as movies editor.

— Tracy Connor was promoted to The Daily Beast editor in chief.

— Angela Chen is joining Wired as senior editor of the ideas section. 

— Sara Luterman has joined The 19th as caregiving reporter. 

— Sarah Madaus is filling the role of Self’s commerce writer. 

— Marc Bain is leaving Quartz and joining Business Of Fashion as a tech correspondent in September. 

EVERYTHING ELSE

— The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal worked with the Qatari government to evacuate Afghan employees and their families out of Kabul following the Taliban takeover, though the overall effort to secure the safety of journalists in Afghanistan is still ongoing. 

— NewsGuild’s dues increase was approved by an overwhelming 1246-to-559 vote — a tenuous fight in which high-profile staffers at places like the New York Times spoke out against the increase, prompting ire from their lesser-paid colleagues.

— Reply All is sorry for accidentally advertising the Army. 

— Facebook Bulletin announced a slew of local news writers joining the platform, coming from places like Jacksonville, Florida to Pamlico County, North Carolina and a Spanish-language newsletter in Texas. 

— Knewz is trying to pull a Gawker, getting a second chance after it was sold to Dylan Howard, owner of tabloid-heavy Empire Media Group, Inc. Given that I’ve never read a single Knewz story, and neither have my friends, I don’t know if Knewz nostalgia will really be enough to carry it through its next chapter á la Gawker. 

— The editorial staff of the Asbury Park Press, the Home News Tribune, and the Courier News have unionized with NewsGuild. 

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