A 24-hour strike at The New York Times, a historic demonstration in which more than 1,100 employees are expected to participate, began Thursday at midnight, after management and the union representing staffers failed to reach an agreement for a new contract after more than a year and a half of negotiating.
Journalists perform labor and landlords don't. At least argue in good faith here.
It's also worth pointing out that these journalists don't have any real editorial control. Giving them more power in the workplace is a step toward changing that. You're getting angry at the workers for doing their job and collecting a paycheck instead of the guys who tell them what to write.
I don't expect the media class to be the vanguard but I also don't see any reason why we shouldn't lend them critical support in their struggle against their own oppressive class dynamics. It doesn't have to be a black-and-white sort of issue.
I don’t expect the media class to be the vanguard but I also don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t lend them critical support in their struggle against their own oppressive class dynamics.
When newsrooms unionize their content almost always shifts leftwards (see: The Onion) but some bitter assholes here want to act like that's a bad thing.
Exactly, the worst case scenario is nothing changes. There's literally nothing to lose by supporting the strike. They're not going to turn the NYT into an even more reactionary propaganda outlet by unionizing.
You make good points. I have trouble rooting for anything involving the NYT, but a union strike does also prevent them from publishing conservative traah for a while.
WaPo unionized in the 1930s and is an open shop; its union is famously weak. CNN isn't unionized as far as I know, but I'd definitely argue The Guardian US' beat reporting is more left now than it was in 2015.
You want a more recent example, look at the Chicago Tribune. Big difference in its editorial line from before and after it unionized in 2018. Hell, it pissed off John Kass so much that he quit. That alone moved the needle left on that paper.
Like these are still liberal institutions and I'm not expecting NYT reporters to start suddenly calling for a PPW, but goddamn. At least with a union reporters don't get fired for publicly expressing solidarity with like striking warehouse workers. I got canned once for doing just that.
Journalists perform labor and landlords don't. At least argue in good faith here.
It's also worth pointing out that these journalists don't have any real editorial control. Giving them more power in the workplace is a step toward changing that. You're getting angry at the workers for doing their job and collecting a paycheck instead of the guys who tell them what to write.
I don't expect the media class to be the vanguard but I also don't see any reason why we shouldn't lend them critical support in their struggle against their own oppressive class dynamics. It doesn't have to be a black-and-white sort of issue.
When newsrooms unionize their content almost always shifts leftwards (see: The Onion) but some bitter assholes here want to act like that's a bad thing.
Exactly, the worst case scenario is nothing changes. There's literally nothing to lose by supporting the strike. They're not going to turn the NYT into an even more reactionary propaganda outlet by unionizing.
Now I am holding my breath waiting for this exact thing to happen
NYT fires entire writing staff and replaces them with even more ghoulish ones
You make good points. I have trouble rooting for anything involving the NYT, but a union strike does also prevent them from publishing conservative traah for a while.
The Onion isn't a news source lmao. Do you have example of any actual news outlets like WaPo, CNN, The Guardian, etc. going leftwards?
WaPo unionized in the 1930s and is an open shop; its union is famously weak. CNN isn't unionized as far as I know, but I'd definitely argue The Guardian US' beat reporting is more left now than it was in 2015.
You want a more recent example, look at the Chicago Tribune. Big difference in its editorial line from before and after it unionized in 2018. Hell, it pissed off John Kass so much that he quit. That alone moved the needle left on that paper.
Like these are still liberal institutions and I'm not expecting NYT reporters to start suddenly calling for a PPW, but goddamn. At least with a union reporters don't get fired for publicly expressing solidarity with like striking warehouse workers. I got canned once for doing just that.