This year has been a grim one for journalism, with layoffs at the Los Angeles Times, Time magazine, NBC News, Forbes, National Geographic, Business Insider and Sports Illustrated. Further cuts loom in…
Tag: Labor
Why is free time still so elusive?
There have been massive gains in productivity over the past century. So why are people still working so hard for so long? Output per worker increased by almost 300% between 1950 and…
With the end of the Hollywood writers and actors strikes, the creator economy is the next frontier for organized labor
Hollywood writers and actors recently proved that they could go toe-to-toe with powerful media conglomerates. After going on strike in the summer of 2023, they secured better pay, more transparency from streaming…
How did abuse get baked into the restaurant industry?
When the The New York Times and The Boston Globe recently published exposés in which employees of award-winning chef Barbara Lynch described their abusive work environments, we weren’t surprised. Anyone who has…
The exploitation of Hollywood’s writers is just another symptom of digital feudalism
The current Hollywood writers strike has drawn international attention to the plight of TV and film writers in the streaming era. Much has been made of television’s golden age, during which streaming…
Actors are demanding that Hollywood catch up with technological changes in a sequel to a 1960 strike
For the first time since 1960, actors and screenwriters are on strike at the same time. As with many of the other strikes that have rippled across the United States over the…
Reality TV show contestants are more like unpaid interns than Hollywood stars
In December 2018, John Legend joined then-newly elected U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to criticize the exploitation of congressional interns on Capitol Hill, most of whom worked for no pay. Legend’s timing was…