Watching the Writers Guild of America start strike action this week drives home just how many people are affected by emerging new media. And while we are not a union shop, thank goodness, we can’t help but feel for the writers union and their demands. “There has to be a broader understanding that we're [striking] to ensure our ability to earn a living in the future. If New Media is not part of our compensation, we'll be unable to make a living" says Matt Lazarus, strike captain. Internal Communicators feel their pain. When you add a variety of new applications to the communications strategy, you need the budget and the talent to reflect the change.
As Internal Communicators our roles have recently expanded to include the development and management of a wealth of new tools: intranets, extranets, podcasts, wikis and blogs to name a few, in addition to the traditional mix. Progress is a great thing, and new media adds a great deal to the employee dialogue. That said, you can’t take content for a newsletter and force it into an intranet portal and you can’t necessarily expect a newsletter editor to know how to create a wiki. Each unique vehicle requires targeted content to engage its audience and the people to support it.
We support our friends in LA who are merely trying to negotiate a changing landscape and ensure that budgets fairly reflect the contribution required.
Links:
Wikipedia Entry on Writers Guild of America
You Tube Piece on Writers' Demands
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