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CBS News Writers May Join Walkout Come Monday
The CBS News staffers represented by the Writers Guild of America East are expected to join the picket line on Monday. The union members, who include news and promo writers, graphic artists and a few producers at the network, have been working without a contract for more then two years. But now that their union counterparts on the entertainment side have walked off the job in their dispute with the studios over payment for digital distribution, the CBS News employees are feeling emboldened to walk. "The betting is it will happen on Monday," says one CBS News insider. "They have the solidarity and the power of the West Coast."
The WGA East members are expected to favor a strike when they vote on Thursday. The network's public stance has been that its prepared for a strike and that it will "continue to produce quality news programs for our viewers." The WGAE has rejected the networks' proposal, which featured a two-tiered system that would pay writers for national programs a higher rate than those who write for local shows. CBS is also refusing to make any pay increase retroactive to the expiration date of the last contract. — Reporting by Stephen Battaglio
More strike coverage:
• Indie Film Producers: Hey, We're Not the Bad Guys!
• TV Bloggers Go Dark in Support of WGA Members
• Soap Scribes Ponder Return to Work
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Nov 13, 2007 6:20 PM
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I am continually amazed by the inadequacy of the language skills exhibited by writers working full-time in the print news media. I should know. I used to work in it myself and have seen a steady decline in the abilities of those some would have called my "colleagues."
In the present instance, writer Stephen Battaglio can't seem to distinguish between the word "then," which he used incorrectly, and "than," which he failed to use correctly in the sentence, "The union members, who include news and promo writers, graphic artists and a few producers at the network, have been working without a contract for more then two years." The same error is made in the second paragraph of the story in the sentence, "The WGAE has rejected the networks' proposal for a two-tiered pay system that will pay writers for national programs a higher rate then local shows."
If this blog entry had been posted by some random person I had no right to expect possessed a decent education or believe was employed in the news industry, I would have ignored the grammatical error, grating though it would be under any circumstances. However, that was not the case. I was so utterly distracted by the mistake that I found it difficult to dismiss while taking in the substance of the post itself. This should never be the case in journalism. NEVER. Both the writer and the editor were sloppy in performing their jobs.
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Nov 14, 2007 1:48 AM
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I agree Mac. I am pretty sure I learned the difference between then and than in first grade. It is really unacceptable. Is no one proof reading these? It is rather embarrassing for a fully grown man not to know the difference.
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Nov 14, 2007 2:44 PM
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