A Musing on the Writer’s Strike
The Daily Show writers on the writer’s strike:
An observation: This clip is a little rough, but remarkably entertaining, and manages to capture that Daily Show goodness.
A further observation: This clip got from the writers brains to my eyes (and now yours) completely without the aid of a producer, distributer, cable network, or giant media conglomerate.
It seems clear to me what Viacom need writers for - clearly, its overpaid CEO isn’t capable of stepping up and churning out anything that anyone would want to watch, let alone pay money for. What the writers need Viacom for… that’s less clear. Especially given that this strike is primarily over residuals for internet revenues, which the writers have proven here that they’re more than competent enough to get on their own.
Now, the last time the writers struck, Viacom (and its equivalents) were providing a critical service to anyone with talent - they were the only entity capable of distributing media to a wide audience. Now, they’re just a middle man between the talent and the audience, offering a service that’s fast being commoditized. I wonder if any of the writers will figure that out, and look to cut them out of the equation for good?
