DotDash Meredith Union members after marching on management on Nov. 10 to demand a contract. Photo courtesy of @MeredithUnion.
When you’re a union rep, the last person you want to negotiate with is Anna Wintour. The Vogue editor-in-chief and chief content officer of Conde Nast is notoriously harsh. She’s a classic old-school EIC: brutal and exacting, regularly bringing staffers to tears. Merle Streep’s version of Wintour in The Devil Wears Prada is soft by comparison.
But Wintour is one of the people who unionized workers at Conde Nast are going to have to deal with. Conde Nast recently announced Nov. 1 that is will be laying off 5 percent of its workers, roughly 270 people, in an organizational restructurings that will move the company away from its gamble on turning stories from its flagship publications like Vogue and The New Yorker into Hollywood films. There will also be office consolidations across the globe and cuts to editorial and digital positions.
It's the latter that has Conde’s union worried. The fledgling guild, which was recognized by Conde Nast only a year ago, has been demanding to have a seat at the table to ensure that its roughly 360 members are treated fairly. It’s been an uphill battle. First, the union discovered that management was proposing laying of as much as 25 percent of unionized employees, which hints at targeted retaliation for unionizing. In response, over 60 people delivered a petition signed by 350 Conde staffers to CEO Roger Lynch Nov. 8 demanding clarity on the layoffs. They flooded the comments section of GQ’s Man of the Year cover announcement on Nov. 14 with pro-union messages. And on Nov. 15, staffers at Bon Appetit and Epicurious walked out of meetings to hold, what else, a protest lunch. So far, it’s all yielded little results.
Same goes for the protest by unionized staffers at DotDash Meredith. There, workers from People, Entertainment Weekly, Shape and Martha Stewart have been trying to nail down a contract with DDM for two years. A group marched to the office of Leah Wyar Romito, president of the Entertainment and Beauty & Style group, to demand a fair contract, as well as protections from AI and more flexibility in the company’s return-to-work policy. She wasn’t there, though. So, like good digital journalists, they took to social media to state their demands.
This all came on top of the DotDash Meredith union filing a complaint in October with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming that the company broke the law. The roughly 160 members alleged DDM withheld annual raises from union members, implemented a three-day-a-week return-to-office policy without union signoff, and restrained employees from talking to the media about the union’s efforts. The NLRB hasn’t ruled on the complaint yet.
Ultimately, both bargaining groups are hoping to get to the point workers at Hearst Media, home of Cosmopolitan, Esquire, and Good Housekeeping, reached back in April. At the end of April, after two years of negotiation and four years after some workers unionized, they reached a contract agreement with Hearst, though that came about only after a mass walkout of employees in March.
But that agreement, which resulted in pay transparency and fair wages, is why many New York-based media workers unionized. Media is fickle. Layoffs happen. Salaries are varied. Protections: sometimes non-existent. So small batches of workers decided to join together, though a large proportion of employees at all three big magazine houses did not. And the jury is still out on whether those who banded together will see the big gains and protections that their union brethren in Hollywood and Detroit recently received. But in a time of growing union power, it’s worth keeping an eye on media’s unions to see if they help calm the currently turbulent industry landscape, or if Ana Wintour will leave some of them crying.
Now on with the memo.
Binge Watching
OK, sure, you’re basically going to be handcuffed to your laptop for the next three weeks, desperately sprinting to finish up the semester’s work. And your eyes are going to be as glazed over as a Krispy Kreme donut from staring at screens too much, so signing up for an hour-long webinar on anything might seem soul crushing at best. But for some reason everyone decided to schedule some seriously good discussions this week, so you might as well pry your eyelids open with toothpicks and gobble up these extra learning opportunities. Here’s the rundown:
• ProPublica will be giving a free workshop on its Nonprofit Explorer tool, which features the tax records of thousands of organizations including Drake (check out this Times-Delphic story on Marty Martin’s pay 2021 bump, which started with a Nonprofit Explorer search). The webinar will be today, Monday, Nov. 27, at noon CST. Register here.
• We all know artificial intelligence will have a big impact on the 2024 election. Some companies are rushing to put safeguards around AI and require watermarks for anything posted that’s produced by artificial intelligence. But there’s a lot more to be hashed out, which is why the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law is hosting a webinar on the dangers of AI in politics. The event is Tues., Nov. 28, from 5-6 p.m. CST. Register here.
• Investigative reporting is both an art and a grind. Bloomberg’s Natalie Obiko Pearson and the Globe and Mail’s Alexandra Posadzki both know this. They’ll discuss how they chase down big stories and provide tips on cracking your own investigation Tues., Nov. 28, from 6-7 p.m. CST. The Society for Advancing Business Writing and Editing webinar is free. Register here.
• Everyone would love to receive even one of Mr. Beast’s YouTube checks. But getting some serious cash for video journalism? Well, the International News Media Association has a few tips on how you can turn your stories into a revenue stream. Again, it’s a free webinar. This one is Thurs., Nov. 30, at 9 a.m. CST. Register here.
The Rehash: Internship Rundown
• Texas A&M Program on Conflict and Development Student Media Grant Program. This year’s theme is how hospitality and tourism play into the mediation of conflict worldwide. The fellowship comes with a stipend of $5,000 to fund your travel. The registration deadline is Nov. 30. Get more details here.
• The Charleston Post & Courier is looking for summer ’24 interns. There are multiple positions open. You will have to spend the summer in South Carolina, so be prepared to sweat. Interns are paid $10 and work 37.5 hours a week. The deadline for applications is Dec. 1.
• This one is for Prof. McCoy! The Associated Press needs intern reporters. This is a 20-week opportunity. You need to be graduating either in Summer ’24 or Summer ’25 to be eligible. There are multiple positions open both domestically and internationally covering everything from politics to entertainment. Learn more here.
• Major League Baseball is looking for summer interns, including those interested in marketing, social media, content, and PR. It’s a 10-week program based out of MLB’s midtown New York offices. Pay is between $20-$23 per hour. Applications are due by Jan. 19, 2024.
• The American Farm Bureau has six summer intern spots open, including positions in communications, government affairs, and studio broadcasting. It’s a 10-week gig based in the bureau’s D.C. offices. Get more info here.
Got a snowy tale to tell?
Do you have some essential info or did you just get your first round of stories published like Forbes’ update editor like recent grad Cassidy Grubisic (MBM, ’23)? If you do, send it on over to jeff.inman@drake.edu. JMM will treat it like senior DMP and Ads major Logan Hock’s great short video of Chris Veninga (senior, DMP) and area cinematographer Bruce James Bales discussing filmmaking and tell everyone about it.
Finally, every Drake SJMC professor’s mentoring philosophy.