[Big Media? Or the antidote to it?] Out here in LA, you can't miss the news that the Writer's Guild of America is on the verge of striking. I'm getting pretty into the drama--reading blogs like Artful Writer (kinda middle ground) and the newly launched United Hollywood (pro-union), for example. Full disclosure: The central reason I'm living every minute of this (or at least, a few minutes out of every hour) is because my girlfriend Molly works for the Writer's Guild. So I understandably have a side in this one. Not that you can blame me: I'm a writer too, and though I've never tried writing scripts for television or film, I've seen many of the vicissitudes of the journalism world from the inside, and know just how hard it can be for writers to make it in this parallel sphere. I've been relatively lucky, to be sure--but even I've dealt with my share of nonsense from some publications (and no, I am not planning to name names). Suffice it to say that there are just so many things about the structure of writing, and particularly freelance writing, that allow writers to be disadvantaged or just screwed. Start with the lack of health insurance and the unpredictability of paycheck arrivals, and just take it from there. And so while I haven't mastered all the complexities of the current battle between Hollywood writers and producers--a lot turns upon how much writers are compensated for DVD sales and Internet downloads, see here for a lucid explanation--I certainly know what side I'm on: That of the little guy. After all, I don't think the big media companies are exactly hurting. Union supporter Jonathan Tasini helpfully provides the figures:
Time Warner: Revenues--$44 billion Profit--$6.53 billion CEO Richard Parsons' 2006 pay: $12. 95 million. Five-year pay haul: $45.36 million. Stock options value: $14.2 million (at April 2007 prices)
Disney:Revenues--$35 billion Profit--$4.34 billion CEO Robert Iger's 2006 pay: $29.93 million plus $8.8 million stock options
News Corp.:Revenues--$26.74 billion Profit--$3.34 billion Boss Rupert Murdoch's 2006 pay: $25.91 million. Five-year pay haul: $86.42 million. Stock: since he owns the company, his stock is worth $8.7 billion
CBS:Revenues--$14.32 billion Profit--$1.66 billion CEO Leslie Moonves 2006 pay: $24.86 million. Five-year pay haul: $63.43 million. Stock options: $30 million. So if the screenwriters do indeed go on strike, I am not going to be too worried about these poor companies. Here's a question, though: Suppose you're not a screenwriter yourself. Suppose you're just a humble blogger or blog reader. If/when the Guild goes on strike, you can't exactly stop work and go hold a sign on the picket lines in order to support them. So what else can we do to show solidarity? I mean, should we stop watching television and going to new movies, and instead start renting old classics like Citizen Kane? Would that help the writers? And had we better avoid DVDs, since screenwriters complain they're not getting adequate royalties on DVD sales? And what about Internet downloads? Cease and desist? Should we start exclusively YouTubing? These are questions that I'd definitely like some better answers to. I'm all about solidarity, but it would help if someone told me how to be solid.
