Gawker Media, Overlord of such sites as Jezebel, Deadspin, Gizmodo, i09, and 1990's Geo Metro Convertible look-alike Jalopnik, vote to destroy the online news media as we know it, by potentially joining a UNION TODAY.
Gawker Media, one of the most successful online media companies on the Internet is voting today on whether or not to join the Writers Guild of America-East, which describes itself as "..a labor union of thousands of professionals who are the primary creators of what is seen or heard on television and film in the U.S., as well as the writers of a growing portion of original digital media content." Yes, its true, most of the content you consume via media is produced by a unionized workforce, also know as socialists, or at minimum socialist sympathizers (maybe even a few anarchists who knows), and Gawker wants to join in the fun.
And who wouldn't, first off its a Guild, which is cool as hell, but more importantly WGA-East represents award winning writers who have helped develop screenplays for films such as 12 Years a Slave, Dallas Buyers Club, Django Unchained, Moonrise Kingdom and countless others. If that doesn't solidify WGA-East's street cred, then maybe you've heard of TV series like True Detective, Breaking Bad, Orange is the New Black, and yes....you know it....Game of Thrones.
The implications are vast and wide...and huge...because the 108 odd full-time employees who will decide today whether or not to have WGA-East collectively bargain on their behalf, signals that so called "New-Media" is all grown up now. According to Capital New York, Gawker brought in $6.7 million in pure unadulterated profit in 2014 on $45 million of revenue. Thats nothing to balk at, but it may look like small potatoes if Managing Editor and CEO Nick Denton who personally owns just under 50% of the estimated $250 million Gawker empire, gets his way. "Yes, we are in growth mode—though that ambition will always be subordinated," he added. "Editorial independence, and the soul of the organization, comes first."
And part of that soul seems to include the opportunity for a unionized workforce. Denton has publicly stated that he supports his journalists right to free association and has taken a surprisingly non-confrontational stance during the whole process. This will undoubtedly set the stage for other major online media companies to be unionized, and will create opportunities for direct comparison in the way they respond (I'm talking to you VICE) if lets say, they attempted a union-busting campaign.
"Journalists have a strong anarcho-syndicalist tradition. Content creators on the web have the same trait. Gawker Editorial is run like a worker's collective. That seems to be the natural order of things," Nick DentonThe voting started online today at 8am Eastern time and will run all the way until midnight tonight. At which point the the votes will be tallied, with a majority vote signaling that WGA-East and the journalists, site editors, and other bargaining unit employees can begin the real work, which is negotiating a contract. Just remember the little people when your at the union meeting with Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness, and Nic Pizzolatto, and Louis C.K.