Media News Round-Up – Aug 5th ’22

Hi everyone, Eliz Mizon here with the Media Reform Coalition blog.

For even more media news and analysis, the latest media reform campaigns, and relevant content from around the web, visit my Power and Pop Culture newsletter.

For now, here’s your media news digest:

Upfront approach wins over rail strike critics

The RMT’s press officer John Millington has written a piece for The Journalist about the decision to put Mick Lynch in front of the cameras in a weeks-long media blitz.

Reinstate Des Freedman and Gholam Khiabany

Sign the open letter to demand reinstatement of Des Freedman and Gholam Khiabany, the head and deputy head of Goldsmiths media dept who have been suspended after writing an email to students about how the ongoing strike action could affect them.

Des Freedman is a founding member of the Media Reform Coalition.

This Week’s Media News:

As a result of negotiation with Netflix, the US Writers Guild has won $42 million in unpaid residuals for its members. 216 writers for 139 Netflix films will receive payments, as a result of a case brough by Eric Heisserer, who was owed $850k (plus $350k in interest) for his screenplay for Bird Box. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Journalists at the Mirror will vote on whether to strike this week after rejecting a 3% pay rise offer from management in response to the cost of living crisis. Reach plc bosses Jim Mullen and Simon Fuller received pay packets of £4m and £3m last year, respectively. Union members are calling on them to give up part of their salary to pay staff wages, a move made by the FT’s editor earlier in the pandemic. (Hold the Front Page)
A new Pew survey shows that 1 in 6 journalists are part of a union, and 41% said they’d join one if the option were available. (Pew Research Center)
Despite the news that parent company Thompson Reuters expects revenue to increase by 6% this year, journalists at Reuters have been offered only a 1% pay rise, and have announced a strike for the first time in 30 years. Union members also claim that management are stalling on negotiations, after 15 suggested dates were turned down. (Reuters/Poynter)
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has been ordered to pay two parents of a school shooting victim $4m in damages. (CNN)
Observer columnist Nick Cohen has been accused by multiple women of sexual harrassment and assault. His column is paused pending investigation. Journalist and presenter Lucy Siegle, the only one of the women to waive anonymity, asks in an essay If The Guardian can behave like this, how much impact has #MeToo really had? (Press Gazette/The New European)
Labor Notes journalist Jonah Furman has accused the popular NYT podcast The Daily of promoting anti-worker “propaganda” in an episode that claimed “asking for a raise is bad because it makes inflation worse. Taking a second job is good because it makes inflation better” and did not mention “corporate profiteering”. (@JonahFurman)
The French government has agreed to scrap their public television licence fee to help taxpayers with the cost of living. (The Guardian)
Following allegations of sexual misconduct and bullying by Tim Westwood during his time at BBC Radio, a barrister has been appointed to examine what the BBC knew about concerns regarding his conduct. (BBC)

See you next week!

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