After layoffs and an AI scandal, CNET's staff is unionizing

CNET, the venerable tech site which began publication nearly 30 years ago, has become the latest digital media company whose staff have chosen to band together and demand more. The CNET Media Worker's Union (CMWU) today sent a letter to Red Ventures, the private equity concern which purchased CNET in 2020, seeking recognition of a bargaining unit of nearly 100 workers including editors, writers, and video producers. According to CMWU, a supermajority of those in the unit signed union authorization cards.Like the overwhelming majority of other organized digital publications, the workers who make up CMWU are responding in large part to an increasingly hostile financial climate in the industry. CNET has not been spared the same tumult that has led to the shuttering of Buzzfeed News and VICE's decision to file for bankruptcy: the company went through three brutal rounds of layoffs over recent months, the most recent of which stripped approximately a dozen staffers from the masthead. "We lost a lot of really great reporters," Laura Michelle Davis, an editor with CNET and organizing committee member, told Engadget.According to Davis, that sense of uncertainty led to a number of voluntary departures, but also to the surviving staff choosing to organize. Despite those cuts, according to the union's statement sent to management today, staff have continue to be "subjected to ongoing restructuring, cost-cutting austerity measures, shifting job roles and promotion freezes." CMWU has... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2023-05-16 16:13:18 UTC ]
News tagged with: #video team #sponsored content #timely manner #digital media

Other news stories related to: "After layoffs and an AI scandal, CNET's staff is unionizing"


After layoffs and an AI scandal, CNET's staff is unionizing

CNET, the venerable tech site which began publication nearly 30 years ago, has become the latest digital media company whose staff have chosen to band together and demand more. The CNET Media Worker's Union (CMWU) today sent a letter to Red Ventures, the private equity concern which purchased... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-05-16 16:13:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #digital media #timely manner #sponsored content #video team


AI labeled the ‘new, advanced form of plagiarism’ as a Wyoming reporter causes a scandal

Cody Enterprise Editor Chris Bacon said he “failed to catch” the AI copy and false quotes. A quote from Wyoming’s governor and a local prosecutor were the first things that seemed slightly off to Powell Tribune reporter CJ Baker. Then, it was some of the phrases in the stories that struck him... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2024-08-14 15:09:11 UTC ]
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Unionized Staff at B&N Flagship Store Stage Walkout

On December 22, workers at the Barnes & Noble flagship Union Square location walked off the job over what their union, the RWDSU, called "the company's failure to return on economic portions of the contract amid their highest sales season." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-01-02 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Unionized Staff at Massachusetts B&N Stage Walkout

The unionized employees of the Barnes & Noble location in Hadley, Mass., staged a walkout on August 25 to highlight concerns over understaffing after filing an Unfair Labor Practice complaint. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-28 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Layoffs Hit Comixology Staff

The e-tail giant's plans to cut 18,000 jobs has resulted in a large number of layoffs at its Comixology operation. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-01-20 05:00:00 UTC ]
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After Massive July Layoff, Callisto Media Cuts Staff Further

After a large job cut in mid-July, Callisto Media made another significant staff reduction on Monday in a move to cut costs during an uncertain economic climate. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-10-25 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Seven Seas Staff Launches Effort to Form Union

Staff at independent manga publisher Seven Seas Entertainment have announced plans to seek to form a union in affiliation with the Communications Workers of America. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-05-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Image Staff Votes to Certify Union

Staff at independent comics and graphic novel publisher Image Comics voted January 6 to certify union representation by a vote of 7-2. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-01-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Image Comics Staff Launches Effort to Unionize

In an unprecedented effort at labor organizing in the comics industry, a group of 10 staffers at Image Comics, a major independent comics publisher, have announced plans to launch a union. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-11-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Staff Union, Lifehacker EIC Rebuke G/O Media Over Firing of Travel Writer

The editor-in-chief of Lifehacker and a union representing staffers at the site each blasted parent company G/O Media on Friday over the abrupt firing of the site's travel writer—the latest in a long string of public disputes between management and staff at the one-year-old digital media... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2020-07-20 16:06:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #digital media #✊🏾 https #@gmgunion #garbage people #tiny handful #free time #awesome thread #primary motivation #jason schreier #totally avoidable #editorial direction #notable episode #public criticism #hr department #black woman


Staff Union, Lifehacker EIC Rebuke G/O Media Over Firing of Travel Writer

The editor-in-chief of Lifehacker and a union representing staffers at the site each blasted parent company G/O Media on Friday for firing the site's travel writer, Imani Bashir, without severance pay after finding that it was unable to continue employing her as a non-U.S. resident. In a... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2020-07-20 16:06:59 UTC ]
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Vox Media Announces Layoffs for 6% of Its Staff

Vox Media has confirmed what CNBC reported earlier this week, that it is indeed about to undergo a round of layoffs that will eliminate 72 positions, which accounts for 6% of its total staff of 1,200. In a letter to staff, CEO Jim Bankoff, broke the difficult news to his employees candidly,... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2020-07-16 14:53:51 UTC ]
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Strand Book Store Union Denounces New Layoffs

The Strand Book Store’s union forcefully denounced the firing of twelve booksellers who were only recently rehired after mass layoffs during the first weeks of the new coronavirus outbreak in March. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-07-13 04:00:00 UTC ]
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PRH staff offered new union agreement after months of negotiations

Penguin Random House UK has proposed a new collective agreement to London employees with the endorsement of Unite and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) following 10 months of negotiations. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Bewilderment' among staff as PRH derecognises unions

Penguin Random House has derecognised the National Union of Journalists and Unite for collective bargaining with its management. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Redundancy fears as Penguin Random House derecognises staff unions

Workers from Unite and NUJ fear move heralds industrial strife at company that publishes one in four books sold globallyPenguin Random House, the publisher of hits including The Girl on the Train, Fifty Shades of Grey and Jamie Oliver’s cookbooks, has terminated its collective agreement with... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This is the future of generative AI, according to generative AI

As part of our year-end story package, we tasked ChatGPT with writing a guest post about the future of generative AI. The prompt asked for a 1,200 word article (a number it undercut by quite a margin) that explored both the potential negative and positive outcomes of the technology. We then... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-12-28 16:00:10 UTC ]
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AI Detection Startups Say Amazon Could Flag AI Books. It Doesn't

Amazon has taken some steps to stem the tide of books written with artificial intelligence, but another solution may already exist. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2023-09-28 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Workers at Barnes & Noble in Manhattan's Union Square vote to unionize, continuing trend

Workers at the Barnes & Noble in Manhattan’s Union Square, one of the retail chain’s signature stores, have voted to unionize Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2023-06-08 00:38:28 UTC ]
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Internet man uses AI to create a children’s book in praise of AI and it is fatuous and ugly.

What the hell are we doing? All the best things are shutting down and people are out here using computers to make children’s books? Not to get too Jeff Goldblum on you, but just because you build a tool to do something doesn’t make it interesting or worthy. To wit, a product designer named... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-12-13 15:19:23 UTC ]
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