So far the Writers Guild of America strike has primarily been about how writers should be compensated in a changing media environment; classic labor v. management disagreeing about how many resources there are and how to distribute them.
It is increasingly clear that the strike is also about media consolidation. In Deadline Hollywood Daily, Nikki Finke described a pre-taping Jon Stewart expressing dismay that the WGA would not cut a side deal with The Daily Show as the Guild did with The Late Show with David Letterman -
“It was apparent that Stewart was completely flummoxed by the Guild's decision and questioned the logic behind the rejection. But what the audience wasn't told, however, is that the two situations are very different: Comedy Central, a division of Viacom, owns Stewart's show, whereas Worldwide Pants owns The Late Show with David Letterman as well as the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Viacom is one of the 8 biggest members of the AMPTP which is refusing to bargain with the WGA at present.”
A union/management dispute has defined allies and opponents and the debate is contained within those boundaries.
The media ownership debate is similarly contained. Large media companies are squared off against consumer and activist groups. It’s the usual lefties versus The Man. Code Pink regularly shows up at Congressional hearings and a woman in a French Maid’s outfit calling herself a media whore attended an FCC meeting on Halloween.
If an issue is about labor v management, Democrats and labor must support workers and Republicans and managers must support business. If media consolidation is about consumers against large corporations, executives must support consolidation and liberals must oppose it.
Of course neither dispute is that simple. Republican producers support the writers and former network executives oppose media consolidation. But the initial definition of the debates makes it difficult for those voices to be heard.
The strike gives both the WGA and media consolidation foes of all stripes an opportunity expand the bounds of their disputes.
Since the financial interest and syndication rules were fully abandoned in 1995 virtually every independent television production company has been purchased by one of the half dozen or so companies that broadcast virtually everything all of us watches on TV or has been forced to close its doors. This vertical integration has decreased competition and diminished the quality of television. It is not therefore surprising that groups like the WGA and the Caucus for Television Producers, Writers & Directors (a client of Milo Public Affairs) oppose it.
Jon Stewart’s reported rant demonstrates the strike is also about media ownership. Letterman could cut a deal with the WGA because Letterman owns his show. Stewart could not cut a deal because Viacom owns his show.
The strike presents an opportunity for advocates of independence and supporters of the WGA to expand their debates, increase the numbers of their allies, and advance both of their issues.
