STRIKE COVERAGE: Obama Sides with Writers

Illinois Senator, Democratic Presidential Candidate Takes Writers Guild of America’s Side During Strike

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 11/5/2007 4:25:00 PM

Illinois Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama took the writers' side in the strike that kicked off Monday, evoking media concentration in the process.

"I stand with the writers," he said in a statement Monday afternoon. "The guild's demand is a test of whether media corporations are going to give writers a fair share of the wealth their work creates or continue concentrating profits in the hands of their executives. I urge the producers to work with the writers so that everyone can get back to work."

Writers and producers of TV shows failed to come to contract terms over a master agreement that expired Oct. 31. One of the key issues is how to compensate writers in a multiplatform world.

Obama has become outspoken in recent days on media issues, weighing in on network neutrality in an online forum and on media ownership in a statement read during a Federal Communications Commission hearing in Chicago.

For full coverage of the strike, click here.