Thread by @bergopolis

WGA-ATA Negotiations Sidebar II: Electric Boogaloo

In case you were wondering why there’s such a strong pro-agency bias in the reporting on the WGA-ATA negotiations...

Nearly all “scoops” reported by Deadline, Variety, and the Hollywood Reporter come from agents or managers. Agencies also buy adds on their websites and in their magazines.

They’re not about to bite the hands that feed them.

Moreover, agencies aren’t the only media conglomerates in town... they’re just the newest ones.

Penske Media Corporation owns Deadline, Variety, TVLine, Hollywood Life, IndieWire, Rolling Stone, Gold Derby, PMC Studios, among others. By putting a spotlight on the consolidation of wealth and power in the industry, one might say that we are criticizing their own endeavors.

The Hollywood Reporter is owned by Valence Media, and through its studio MRC they've partnered with UTA’s producing arm Civic Center Media. It's really the sexist of the incests.

hollywoodreporter.com/news/uta-mrc-v…

This is not to say that reporters themselves are biased. I like a lot of them, some are even friends. And a few have gone above and beyond to expose some really evil humans in this town. At the end of the day, though, it's the publishers that ultimately control the narrative.

So where does that leave writers? Where it always leaves them... to have each other’s backs when no one else will, now and always.

I know it sucks that it always feels like we're the ones risking our necks. But the industry is changing so fast and we're running out of real estate to put our foot down. If we don't use our power, we lose it. Simple as that.

It feels personal, I get that. Hell, I've been with my agents for 15 years. They've done right by me. But we're not the ones making the choice here. The choice is theirs. Will the agencies choose their clients, or their conflicts of interest?