More organizing in the new, weird media landscape

In the last century, journalists labored mightily to unionize the print media industry–along the way, turning their raffish profession into an (almost) middle class job. Then the internet was invented. Print media declined and online media rose. For the past decade, online media journalists have unionized their industry as well.

Unfortunately, tech platforms have perfected the art of sucking all the money out of old and new media alike. Oops! Tons of journalists have been laid off. Many of us, due mostly to a lack of other options, have gone independent, launching our own publications and individual newsletters. Where there once was an industry full of newsrooms owned by big companies with money, we now have an industry full of self-employed hustlers.

Despite all the technological and economic upheaval in journalism, however, one thing has not changed: Journalists need to organize if they want to protect themselves. That was a straightforward proposition when it meant forming a labor union and bargaining with a media company employer. For the sea of free-floating independent writers we have today, it’s a bit trickier. But far from impossible–and, I think, inevitable.

All of the independent journalist-hustlers today may not have legal employers, but they do have working relationships with newsletter companies, social media companies, tech platforms, and others whose policies can affect them just as much as a traditional employer’s policies affect employees. What cut of a writer’s revenues go to providers like Substack and Stripe? How do these companies create the algorithms that can make or break a creator’s ability to attract an audience? These questions are currently black boxes, decided completely by the companies themselves. If we want any input on them, we will have to organize, act in collective solidarity, and fight for a seat at the table.

Though journalism can seem like a grim career today, the good news is: It’s always been that way. It’s just that the companies and political forces stepping on our necks are always changing. The challenges we face today are no harder than what our journalistic ancestors faced 90 or 60 or 30 years ago. The solution is the same now as it was then: Organize. We will do it now, in this weird soup of a media landscape, because the only other option is to give up.