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 ]
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HarperCollins Addresses Stalled Union Negotiations, Union Responds

In an open letter to agents and authors, CEO Brian Murray wrote that he feels "we owe you a response" and wanted to "share some additional background" about the state of the company's negotiations with its unionized employees. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-12-06 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Politics and Prose employees moved to unionize—then the store owners hired an anti-union law firm.

DCist reports that workers at DC’s indie bookstore Politics and Prose have decided to unionize, joining a growing list of bookstores (and other workplaces) that have unionized this year. If they do unionize, they’ll become the only bookstore in DC with a unionized workforce. But Politics and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-12-17 16:47:07 UTC ]
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New York Times to Fire 21 Union Employees Starting Today, Union Says

The New York Times will fire 21 union employees starting today, according to the union, exceeding the total number of job cuts the newspaper publisher had originally said was needed to reduce costs.New York Times Co. had accepted the buyout applications of 57 union employees and almost 30... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2014-12-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Anatomy of a non-scandal: the defence of Allison Pearson reveals how ‘free speech’ has been weaponised | Jane Martinson

The Telegraph journalist sent a deeply offensive and inaccurate tweet. Yet she has won the support of a swath of newspapers, an ex-PM – and Elon MuskThe Allison Pearson saga is nothing if not a morality tale about the modern media. Among its many learnings are that calling a group of people of... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-11-20 08:50:32 UTC ]
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HarperCollins to allow tech firms to use its books to train AI models

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[ The Guardian | 2024-11-19 16:24:59 UTC ]
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Sweden's Nuanxed Promises Fast, Accurate AI Book Translations

Nuanxed is a publishing service that combines the use of AI translation tools with human editing and proofing. The company has produced more than 800 translations and worked with publishers ranging from Blackstone to HarperCollins. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-11-19 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Agents, Authors Question HarperCollins AI Deal

HarperCollins has become the first Big Five publisher to strike an AI licensing deal, which authors and agents appear to be approaching with caution, skepticism, and a measure of hope. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-11-19 05:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins is selling their authors’ work to AI tech.

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[ Literrary Hub | 2024-11-18 13:36:53 UTC ]
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Unionized Bookstore Workers Hold Pre-Holiday Rally at B&N Flagship

The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union organized a rally outside the Barnes & Noble flagship store in New York City’s Union Square on November 14 in an effort to push the company into resolving disagreement on wages and reaching a contract with workers by the end of the year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-11-15 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Ayad Akhtar Wants Writers to Reckon with AI

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[ The Millions | 2024-11-14 13:00:00 UTC ]
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Inside Dow Jones’s AI governance strategy, with Ingrid Verschuren

During the Digiday Publishing Summit Europe, Dow Jones’s evp of data and AI detailed the role that the publisher’s AI steering committee plays in its use of generative AI technologies. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2024-11-05 05:01:00 UTC ]
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Dutch publisher to use AI to translate ‘limited number of books’ into English

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[ The Guardian | 2024-11-04 17:43:58 UTC ]
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Amazon reportedly bumped back its AI-powered Alexa to next year

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[ Engadget | 2024-11-01 21:50:42 UTC ]
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'AI is a crap poet': Margaret Atwood isn't worried about artificial intelligence

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RFR falls 90 days behind on mortgage at Union Square tower

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Anthropic’s new Claude AI model can use a PC ‘the way people do’

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Publishers Sign Petition Condemning ‘Theft’ by AI Companies

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'Blade Runner 2049' producers sue Elon Musk over AI image

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Penguin Random House Moves to Prohibit AI Companies From Using Its Books

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