Unions and Responsibility

I don't pretend to know every detail of the current Hollywood writers' strike, but now that it has resulted in the cancellation of a presidential debate, people might want to take a bit more notice.

Katie Couric had been looking forward to moderating next month's Democratic debate in Los Angeles, which would have briefly put the anchor at the center of the presidential campaign. But the Democratic Party pulled the plug late yesterday, citing the possibility of a strike by unionized writers at CBS News.

The Writers Guild of America this month authorized a walkout of its members at CBS, which jeopardized the planned Dec. 10 debate because the leading Democratic candidates made clear they would skip the event rather than cross a picket line.

Is this a sense of responsibility to national journalistic integrity on my part? A need for fresh entertainment options? Nothing of the sort. Come on, people.. I have three radio shows a week to do while writing at three different blogs. I need material to fill up the space. And while you may have begun to grow tired of the presidential debates, (and I believe there are only 600 or so of them left before next year's elections) this is bread and butter for those of us in the citizen's media game.

I want the writers to have a fair deal. I want the industry to make a fair profit. But I need news, people. And I need Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and the late night chat fests to be on the air with new material for me to steal from shamelessly! Let's get on the stick and get back to work, shall we?