Official News page 7

REAL LIFE NEWS: NEW TECHNOLOGY AIDS STRIKING WRITERS

by Hazed

In Hollywood, the writers are on strike, which has meant the cancellation of some TV shows and production being delayed on some films.

They have downed their pens in order to get a cut of the money the Hollywood studios are making by using the new medium of the internet - so it's ironic that they are using the net to put their side of the argument across. In previous disputes of this kind, fighting against those who own the media meant that it was hard for anybody on the other side from the studios to get their point across, but not this time. Not only are plenty of writers telling their story on blogs - after all, that's what they do, they write - but they are also posting plenty of short videos to YouTube.

And whatever you think about who has right on their side, you have to admit that the writers certainly make the best videos!

Go to You Tube and search for "writers' strike" and you'll see an enormous number of videos posted by the striking writers. There are factual ones, telling you straight what they are protesting about; spoof news reports from the Daily Show writers; satirical videos pretending to be made by the studios; out and out fantasy, like the one about the Writers Guild Police intimidating strike breakers, or the things writers are having to do to make a living now they can't get paid to write. These are all very entertaining, and I am sure there will be more.

And one thing the studios cannot do is put their own side of the story so successfully, because what they don't have... is writers! Very ironic.

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