In my latest Spot-on column, I take a look at the Writer’s Guild strike and the role that writer play in today’s entertainment and information environment. I ask the question: Do Writers Still Matter?
Just this week, while listening to an NPR report, the host and reporter were discussing how the strike might affect upcoming awards shows and they joked about whether anyone wrote the banter for American Idol. Well, of course, that show and other reality programming employs writers. Reality programming is not covered by the Guild (an outstanding issue of contention), but content doesn’t happen by accident. Patrick Goldstein’s column in the L.A. Times this week makes it clear that the studios are playing incredible hardball. They’re big companies and they can last a long time, while writers can only go so long without working. Or eating.
I understand that this is a confusing time. The whole media industry is shifting wildly. Revenue is shifting wildly. People are running scared. But it’s clear that the Internet will play a huge role in how people get movies and TV shows in the future and I can think of no reason why writers should not be compensated for their efforts. I watched 30 Rock last night and they promoted this campaign online for American Express featuring Kenneth the page. I wondered if — as with so much other content of this type, such as The Office webisodes — the network asked the show writers to create the scripts without being paid, because this online content was “promotional.”
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Hey, kids, let’s all just pitch in make this Internet thing work and we’ll worry about compensating you at some undetermined date in the far future.
Keep up on details of the strike at the United Hollywood blog.
Tags: Writer’s Guild, strike, WGA, Hollywood