WGA Uses The Internet To Get The Word Out

One of the more interesting aspects of the ongoing writers strike the fact that the WGA members are using the internet to get their message out there. Way back when, workers could go on strike, picket on sidewalks and hope that the media would cover their cause enough to put some pressure on suits who are refusing to cough up whatever it is the strikers are asking for. In this day and age, the power of the internet has allowed the strikers to reach out to the viewers on their own.

I’m sure the irony of using video sharing sites like youtube to promote and explain this whole strike business is not lost on the WGA members involved in the videos. After all, digital content is one of the biggest sticking points with this strike so it’s kind of funny that they’ve decided to use that medium as a weapon/tool to communicate with the public and lash out at the studios.

The wgaamerica channel on Youtube.com currently has 25 videos uploaded, which include interviews with writers, video footage of the picketers and this video, which breaks their biggest demands down pretty nicely:



Meanwhile, other videos are popping up on youtube as well. The writers of the Daily Show put this video together:



Between the support of a large chunk of the talent in Hollywood behind the WGA added to the writers’ abilities to put together some entertaining little videos to get us to take notice of what’s going on, I’m thinking (well… hoping) that the studios are really starting to feel the pressure. Whether or not this is the case, only time will tell.