More proof that the "NEWS" is fiction? CBS "NEWS WRITERS" to go on strike.

What the hell ever happened to REPORTERS? Are these news writers part of the Writer's Guild? Do they simply consider the news just another screenplay. FIVE HUNDRED "news writers" at CBS alone! They want to strike.

HOW ABOUT YOU GO ON STRIKE UNTIL YOU'RE ALLOWED TO ACTUALLY WRITE THE TRUTH AND NOT JUST TRANSCRIBE WHITE HOUSE PRESS RELEASES!

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I wonder if some other "news" shows are going to feel the pinch. MKJ

"This is for all you noisy proles*." - Katie



* Proles = formerly known as citizens of the United States of America

:rofl:

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Wait, what's changed?

Almost every thing on TV has a writer...even the stupid informercials. Reporters do just that...report...but its writers that condense the visuals into words and condense things down so, in theory, you get the meat of the story and more stories in a newscast. They also fact check and do a lot of the dirty work in tracking down a story's merit and validity.

What they're given to write or what they write is another matter...and that content is generally suited to make their bosses happy. They're also limited to the resources they can verify...sadly in most cases it involves calling a political hack or spinner.

While the news itself isn't a screenplay, the show around it (and, yes it's a show) is...its meant to attract eyes and "entertain"...writers play a key role in the continuity.

I'd like to see more of the writers go out to support this strike as these people are next in getting screwed for the work they do and the little money they make.

If all writers are on strike and they have formed a Picket Line then any that cross the Line, any that cross are anti union strike breakers...

Peronally, I would not cross a union picket line...especially with a guild I believe is being screwed with. If the news writers decide to honor the line or go on strike, I would hope that others would join in to show some solidarity and force a quicker resolution to the strike.

Sadly, unions are so divided and endangered these days that some people are all but forced to cross a line. They can't afford to miss the paychecks...for those people, it's their own call as to cross or not.

though why he doesn't strike in solidarity who knows--whatever, I'm glad he's still around.

He's probably AFTRA and in the Newswriters guild that aren't on strike. Jon Stewart is on the bubble as are Letterman, Leno and even Colbert...they probably can and may cross the line to put the show back on the air without writers. Leno has said he's staying out of production in sympathy, but it could create a problem in a few weeks as missing paychecks are felt...then we'll see how things develop. It's a tough call...

Keith's an institution, tho--the country needs him.

We've had nothing but spin, infotainment and propaganda for nearly three decades.

We need better and more accurate news.

News is scripted. It needs to be. Otherwise, the talking heads would just sit there and babble.

500 of them at CBS alone! 500! How many people does it take to transcribe a White House press release, fer chrissake?

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500 isn't all that many.

There might actually be a lot going on in the world sometimes, and each writer works only so many hours and news happens 24/7 so you need a lot of people working.

>> the talking heads would just sit there and babble

Like Fox and Friends. :)

Some people have a desperate need for *more* writers! :)

This is the silliest post I've read in a while. How do you think events get described in written words for anchors to read on camera? Someone has to write them down.

There are reporters, stringers, writers, etc. Reporters are often the people in the field who get the news, see it happening, take the notes and qet the quotes, then their "facts" are sent in to be turned into the story which is read on air. Sometimes reporters actually write their stories, sometimes they don't. You find the post "silly" because you don't understand the difference.

What I find really galling is that, according to another poster, this 500-count of "writers" at CBS includes production staff and even graphic designers. As a graphic designer (and a writer, too, actually, but most of my income is from design), I'd be seriously bummed to find out I was being told I had to go out on strike, lose my income just before the holiday season, because writers are striking.

Don't anyone get me wrong, I'm not anti-union at all, and I fully understand what the Screen Writers Guild is doing and why. But I'm not so sure about the news writers. Putting a lot of unrelated people out of work to show solidarity when the economy and the markets are already so bad -- I dunno. I feel badly for all these people. They don't make a lot of money in the first place, and it's not like the news writers are actually striking for residuals and what is their "fair share" of the pie, as the SWG writers are doing. A lot of people will be hurt by this action, and they won't even have a voice in the whole mess.

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but I was a newspaper reporter and obviously that makes a difference.

Even if a particular reporter isn't the one writing a particular story, the fact that there are writers involved in broadcast news doesn't mean they are writing fiction. Writers are required for jobs involving news. Someone somewhere has to write the information down.

at CBS to get fired?