By Noah Tomko-Jones
“SAG-AFTRA union ratifies strike-ending contract with Hollywood studios,” said The Guardian.
“UAW members ratify record contracts with Big 3 automakers,” reported Reuters.
“’It’s degrading’: Starbucks workers launch strike on Red Cup Day in largest work stoppage in company history,” said ABC News.
There is something that these headlines all have in common.
It’s not just that they were all printed in 2023, amidst a year of record-breaking and history-making labor strikes across the country, although that is notable.
It’s that they were written by a group of tireless workers who too often don’t receive the same kind of representation that the workers they report on so rightfully deserve.
Although journalist unions do exist, to be sure, they are rarely brought into the conversation in the same way. For one, journalists hold something of a position of power by virtue of how we can control and disperse information. They are also expected to remain neutral on socio-political issues.
Some derision of journalist unions comes from the fact that they don’t resemble traditional manual labor unions, a misguided opinion reflected by Charles C. W. Cooke in his editorial in the National Review. I hesitate to even quote this article, but do so only to provide evidence for these smug attitudes.
“Usually, the drive to unionize cushy jobs is driven by a combination of a preference for radical chic and a broad-based resentment at having been born too late to have been a part of the moments in history that the organizers most admire,” wrote Cooke.
However, these supposedly cushy “laptop jobs” that Cooke and others love to criticize are not immune from the issues that so many other occupations have been facing.
“Two major forces have propelled the unionization wave: the industry’s financial crisis and the wave of acquisitions, wiping out thousands of jobs and clamping down on salaries,” reported Steven Greenhouse in a 2022 article for Nieman Reports. “Corporate owners like Gannett, GateHouse Media, and Alden Global Capital have sharply cut newsroom staffing and consolidated copyediting, layout, and graphics departments.”
The good news is that there are journalist unions that exist today, such as NewsGuild, the Writers Guild of America, and the IWW Freelance Journalist Union, who all work hard to make sure that media workers’ needs are represented. More importantly, these workers are becoming aware of how unions can help them.
“Overall, 16% of U.S. journalists who are employed at least part time at a news outlet say they are currently a member of a union at their organization,” according to a 2022 Pew Research Center survey. “Another 41% would join one if it were available to them.”
And if we, as journalists, want to be able to fairly and accurately report the news and have a social impact against those who have power in society—as I believe is a journalist’s duty—then having job security is a must. The truth is that journalists do not exist in a vacuum. American workers are learning every day how collective bargaining can help them keep their jobs, and I believe that journalists, whose labor is crucial to a functional democracy, should join their side.
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