Have you crossed the WGA picket line?
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No images? Click here  September 20, 2023 Buenas noches, lectores del Meteor, Tomorrow marks the beginning of Hispanic/Latine Heritage Month, which also marks the month the gente explain that just because many of us fall under this invented ethnic category doesn’t mean we are of the same culture. (But we do all love platanos and that is what binds us. Don’t @ me.) In today’s newsletter we identify the scabs of the writer’s strike, put the “win” back in Wisconsin, and give you some good weekend reads. Using my ancestral name this month, Shannon Lebron Valles Melero-Ureña  FREE FUTUREToday, The Meteor was at the Ford Foundation for the inaugural Free Future summit, focusing on the global rise of gender-based violence (GBV). There was a stellar line-up of speakers on everything from the importance of how we talk about sexual assault to the rise of deadly laws in Uganda. Here are some powerful moments from the summit: “As a culture, we breed predation.” “The problem in this country is that we do not see sexual violence as a social justice issue…and it is. Anything that happens every 68 seconds is a public health crisis!” “Even me speaking on a stage like this is illegal.” “[The] Supreme Court [is] shifting away from a rights-protection mode to a rights-denial mode. And having done that, what is happening throughout the country are policies that are doing existential harm.” You can watch the entire day of programming here.  QUE ‘TA PASANDODon’t be a scab: The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has been on strike for more than 100 days. In July, they were joined by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). As in any labor strike, both groups agreed to withhold their most precious asset: their work. Actors are also not promoting any of their projects in compliance with strike rules. But on Sunday, SAG member Drew Barrymore announced that her talk show was returning, and all hell broke loose. Is this a strike violation? Is she a scab? Should writers try to get on her show? What does this say about Drew’s values? Let’s break all that down. Full disclosure: I’m a card-carrying WGA member, so if it seems like I’m angry about all this, it’s because I am. After initially supporting the strike—even refusing to host an MTV awards show in solidarity—Drew shared that her talk show will resume production because they are “in compliance” with the strike. That term, though, is misleading, especially for viewers who aren’t familiar with how the SAG and WGA function. As a SAG member, Drew herself is in fact compliant with the strike because her show is produced under what’s called the “Network Television Code,” because this specific agreement is not what SAG or the WGA are striking over. In the world of the WGA, different kinds of writers are covered under different collective bargaining agreements. For example, as a digital media writer, I operate under “workplace-specific agreements,” which means my circumstances change based on where I work. But film and television writers work under the Minimum Basic Agreement regardless of what show they’re on. Right now, the strike is concerned with that MBA. The WGA also distinguishes between film/TV writers and broadcast news writers, even though they both work for television shows. This means the writers of Succession work under the Minimum Basic Agreement, but the writers of Good Morning America work under workplace-specific agreements. GMA is a news broadcast, which requires a different skill set than writing ten episodes of prestige television. Which group can’t work right now? The latter—which includes the three television writers Drew employs. Drew isn’t the only one making a return; other talk shows like Real Time with Bill Maher and The View will be going forward without any writers at all. Make no mistake: This is still scab behavior, but distinct from Drew’s strategy. A spokesperson for CBS Media Ventures claimed that the show would return but “will not be performing any writing work covered by the WGA strike,” which leaves the door open for hiring non-striking WGA writers and pretends that’s the same thing as compliance. If you’re finding writers to replace the ones on strike, you’re absolutely crossing the picket line—full stop. Look, I get it: At this point in the strike, writers desperately need work and it’s hard to get mad at someone doing what they must to pay rent. Still, as Drew’s co-head writer Christina Konan put it in the L.A. Times: “If you feel like you’re sacrificing three writers for a crew of hundreds, I see that perspective. But then if you zoom out a little bit more, you’ll see that it isn’t about those three writers. It’s about an entire union of 11,000-plus writers.” TAMBIÉN:
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 📚POR FIN DE SEMANAOn government: What’s the latest threat to American national security? Congressional leaders developing dementia. (The Intercept) On Betty: Moira Donegan revisits the legacy and the likability of Betty Friedan. (The New Yorker) On besties with babies: Ever wonder why friendships get more complicated after someone has a kid? Us, too. (The Cut)  FOLLOW THE METEOR     Thank you for reading The Meteor! Got this from a friend? Subscribe using their unique share code or snag your own copy, sent Tuesdays and Thursdays.
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