WGA Adds First Web-Only Station News Writers

By John Eggerton
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

In a first for the Writers Guild of America East, the union has
added Web-only content writers/producers to its roster of represented
employees.

According to the union, the stations' four web-only news staffers
at CBS' WBBM-TV Chicago voted Aug. 27 to join the guild.

WGAE has been actively reaching out to Web writers. "That is
where we think a lot of news writers are transitioning," said spokeswoman
Sherry Goldman. "As [stations] are moving more and more content online,
those are targets we are definitely going after," she said.

Web-only writers currently aren't covered by guild contracts so
WGAE has to organize essentially shop-by-shop.

WGAE represents approximately 4,000 broadcast, cable, film and
digital media writers.

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.