Black & White & Red All Over

My Google desktop widget thing has turned up yet another gem, this article on how late night hosts put together their nightly monologues. I was pretty surprised to hear about how this is a common practice - with Jimmy and Conan being the exceptions. In part because of the writers strike last year, I felt that the Writers Guild of America had a strangehold on all things writerly in TV land. And while the article does say that it does go against the union, it admits that it's difficult to enforce. The other thing that doesn't exactly gel is that I'm pretty aware how tough it is to make it in comedy and how rare being a staff writer for any of this shows may be...so...if those on staff aren't pulling their weight and they have to go to the freelancers - why not just can those staff writers? Oh, right - union rules! It's a toughie.

Things like this are tough in my life, too. Not that I am a comedian [I think that's fairly evident, although I do crack myself up on a consistent basis - I have no shame in admitting that I do laugh @ my own jokes] - but I am attempting to make a go of it in an industry [media/communications] that has fewer and fewer staffers and more freelancers. The thing of it is - I feel for the freelancers - especially the dude in the story who says that he's given up on ever getting a staff writer job @ a prominent late night show. I get that. The freelancing is giving people who very likely would not have an outlet to not only be paid, but to get some recognition that they can use and move forward with. So, that's good right? Well, yes and no. It might mean that shows will hire less paid, permanent employees and that freelancers will never have job security and suitable financial compensation. So, it's kinda a lose-lose.

In journalism and related fields the trend towards hiring exclusively freelancers to write for magazines and even newspapers has been spreading over recent years. Suffice to say, I'm not the type of gal that can sustain herself on freelance work. I lack the hustle in my bustle to do that type of work. I would not find it to be liberating and endlessly creative - I'd rather sacrifice those aspects for a steady paycheque. Strangely, I would think that a lot of creative types feel the same way - that we have a bit of the shrinking violent in us when it comes to shameless self-promotion. Which, I would guess is why so many creative types end up doing work that is not very creative at all - it's just easier that way. But still, I think this practice stinks! And yes, I know that newspapers and magazines are having all sorts of financial woes these days - but I firmly believe that if you hire good people @ a decent wage and provide some element of security - that they will produce good, reliable work. I know I'm a big naive dork, but I think that companies and their workers can both grow together...I don't think that this happens when organizations are tossing out scraps to talented people who are scrabbling along - eager for any form of acceptance. And everything and everyone suffers as a result.