Case Study: Writers Guild of America East Strikes Back With Communications

Company: Writers Guild of America, East

Agency: Goldman Communications Group

Timeframe: November 2007- February 2008

In the Hollywood hierarchy, it has been a historical reality that very often the content creators—the writers—wield the least amount of power when it comes to protecting both their intellectual property and accrued benefits.

It’s been the provenance of much discord between the writers seeking to reap the fruits of their labor and the producers seeking to relegate them to the lowest rung on the totem pole. It came to a head on Nov. 2, 2007, when the Writers Guild of America rejected its union contract, which had just expired, and went on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The writers’ beef: no compensation for new media as provided in the union contracts with AMPTP.

To get their fair share of the new media profit pie, Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), a 4,000-member union comprised of TV, film, radio, news and new media writers located east of the Mississippi, turned to Goldman Communications Group for PR counsel leading up to and during the strike, which effectively shut down the industry.

BARGAIN HUNTING

The PR team immediately went to work analyzing the past bargaining history of the AMPTP, including business models and information on AMPTP companies and media platforms. What they found was that negotiations on new media were always contentious.

For instance, after VHS tapes were invented, the AMPTP argued that it was “new technology without a viable revenue stream,” and asked the WGA to defer compensation until the next contract. Suffice it to say that the WGA complied, but AMPTP did not follow through: They refused to renegotiate that rate in future contracts. The scenario repeated with the introduction of DVDs.

Another finding uncovered by the PR team was that in past strikes, member solidarity was weak partially because guild messaging did not convey the necessity of a strike to all writers. When some members crossed picket lines to return to work, the guild lost leverage at the bargaining table. This made it difficult for members to achieve gains in their contracts, which in turn empowered the AMPTP.

These findings emboldened both the WGAE and the Goldman Communications Group to come up with a multi-pronged communications strategy that would achieve the following:

• Ensure members understood and believed in a strike’s importance and maintained high solidarity to win a good contract;

• Position writers as part of today’s typical workforce, whose members deserve to reap the fruits of their labor, and use this positioning to generate favorable (more than 50%) public support for writers; and,

• Create pressure in as many places as possible to compel companies to negotiate a fair deal with the writers.

The target audiences were union members, industry opinion makers, media and key stakeholders that would be impacted by the strike (i.e., legislators from districts that would lose jobs if production halted).

THROWING DOWN THE GAUNTLET

Based upon the research, the agency and WGAE sought to utilize the following key tactics in their outreach:

• Timing: The writers’ best leverage was their own timetable—Oct. 31, 2007, the expiration date of their contract with the AMPTP. Waiting longer would let companies stockpile content so there would be no urgency to negotiate;

• Tagline: New media would be the primary issue in negotiations and communications. While other issues were on the table, the new contract had to include new media compensation. The team created a tagline—“If You Get Paid, We Get Paid”—that was simple, easy to understand and catchy enough for T-shirts, picket signs and media use;

• Solidarity: Member solidarity was key. Communications had to inform members that their personal, as well as industry, survival depended on their unity and commitment to a strike. All members had to be reached and engaged regularly;

• Branding: To get the message out that writers were on strike, many picket signs were not the preproduced “On Strike” signs, but poster boards of the WGAE logo with handwritten messages that writers created on site. This ensured WGAE branding appeared daily in newspapers and on newscasts, as well as on the streets of New York City; and,

• Information: Special fact sheets on the WGAE and issues pertaining to the contract were distributed to media at the pickets. Leaflets with key facts and calls to action were distributed to passersby at every picket line.

Total accessibility and transparency defined the media outreach. Writers were determined to be the best spokespeople, so all writers were available for interviews. Daily on-site media training and talking points got writers up to speed on negotiations. Non-local reporters got interviews by passing cell phones among writers at pickets. No interview was turned down.

At the same time, because many of the media outlets are owned by the conglomerates that are members of the organization the union was striking against, there was apprehension that the WGAE would be able to get fair and balanced coverage. Plus, according to Michael Winship, president of WGAE, studios and networks labored under a mistaken assumption when it came to “show runners,” a term that refers to writer/producers who oversee TV shows.

“Show runners are very hands-on—they run the shows,” says Winship. “What happened was that the studios and networks thought, ‘You guys will strike as writers but you’ll come in as management.’ But the show runners wouldn’t do that.” This further strengthened the writers’ case against the producers.

TREADING CAREFULLY

In addition to traditional media, the writers turned to social media channels like YouTube to get the their message out virally.

“Many of the innovative ways to get through to people came from [the agency team], such as videos created by writers from The Late Show with David Letterman, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report,” Winship says.

But the team had to be careful to engender public support while also managing their frustrations that production of their favorite shows had been summarily halted.

“That won’t make the public sympathetic to your point of view unless you can make them feel sympathetic [with effective messaging],” says Sherry Goldman, president of Goldman Communications Group. Winship agrees: “Initially, I was very concerned with public support. One of our big concerns was that we were going to have problems with fans of TV shows because they were stopping production. But I don’t think our support ever dropped below 60%.”

There was also the matter of disabusing the public of an entrenched notion that all of the silver-screen elite is well-paid, if not overpaid.

“The union writers are not all rich millionaires,” Goldman says. “They’re everyday working people. It’s very much gig-oriented as opposed to a nice, cushy job, which the studios wanted to paint it as.”

In this vein, the PR team took every opportunity to correct misinformation with the press. Letters to the editor and op-ed pieces were used to rectify information or balance negative articles. Comments were also posted on blogs to help spread information and show the public what a writer’s life is really like.

SEPARATE BUT EQUAL

It was also important for the WGAE to differentiate itself from its sister union on the West Coast. “We didn’t want this to be seen as a Hollywood strike,” says Goldman. “The New York/East Coast [contingent] has a big presence.”

Another tactic that defined the campaign’s PR strategy was seizing opportune moments. When TV host/comedienne Ellen DeGeneres, who began taping her show after only one day of supporting her striking writers, said she was bringing her show to New York, the WGAE immediately issued an open letter, telling her that she was not wanted in New York and would be picketed. This resulted in massive coverage, and DeGeneres canceled her production in NYC. This was seen as a major coup for writers, which enhanced their solidarity.

Feeling empowered, the writers requested that guests of TV talk shows such as The View support them and not cross picket lines. This led then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and future First Lady Michelle Obama to cancel appearances on The View and other talk shows—another publicity coup for the writers. Later, pressure from both unions forced the Democrats to cancel a planned CBS-hosted presidential debate, further elevating the writers’ position.

To spread their message far and wide, writers also worked on reaching other constituencies. A deployment of writers picketed and passed leaflets on Wall Street; they also had leadership participate in analyst calls. To reach legislators, the writers lobbied congressional leaders and met with D.C. think tanks. They also held a mock debate in Congress, in which Daily Show and Colbert Report writers acted out both sides’ positions. The debate generated media coverage, buzz in Congress and strong interest on the Internet.

THE 100 DAYS WAR

After 100 days of picketing, the strike finally ended on Feb. 13, 2008, when the writers were offered a new contract with a new media clause, giving them a percentage of the producers’ gross of new media revenues. A majority of members (93.6%) voting ratified the contract, exceeding the 51% needed and demonstrating they believed in this contract.

Although press clippings and impressions were not counted, media coverage was extensive, reaching international, national, local, print, broadcast, online, trade press and blogs. Most recognized New York-based writers and the WGAE said the Writers Guild had won the PR war due to the nontraditional tactics used during the strike.

Public support exceeded expectations. Polls showed that 60% of the public was in favor of the writers’ side during the strike, despite the fear of TV shows disappearing.

“We are a union of storytellers and creative people,” Winship says when summing up why the campaign was so effective. “We were able to take that creativity and use it to tell our own story.” PRN

CONTACTS:

Sherry Goldman, [email protected]; Michael Winship, [email protected]