ROBERT ALTMAN: IN THE AMERICAN GRAIN

In July 2010, I pitched a book idea: a critical examination of film director Robert Altman’s work to Reaktion Books of London. Why Reaktion? Why Altman? Reaktion publishes a Critical Lives series, which deals with cultural figures. I was interested in writing about film, so I drew up a short list of directors whose work […]

SOME THEFT IS LEGAL

Members have told us that they’ve pitched an idea for an article, and a similar article turned up under someone else’s name. They say they wrote books about teenage vampires or nerdy supervillains, and then watched other people make millions from their plot lines. They think that copyright law should protect them. In most cases, […]

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

OUR DIGITAL OUTREACH PROJECT In 2013, we identified improving internal and external digital communication as our greatest strategic need, and followed up by launching a 2-year project to upgrade our website and database. In that spirit, I’m proposing a Digital Outreach Project that will be conducted mainly through Twitter and Facebook, helping us to draw […]

Are You Covered? Healthcare Deadline is Jan. 31

For writers, finding and keeping health coverage can be a challenge. The NWU has partnered with Working America Health Care (WAHC), a collaboration of Working America and Union Plus, which are, respectively, the community affiliate and consumer benefits arm of the AFL-CIO. Visit the Working America/NWU website today to better understand your coverage options before, […]

John Ross: Journalists Should Be Rebels

Reporter and poet John Ross viewed journalism not as a profession but as a moral responsibility. In a posthumously published series of his lectures, REBEL REPORTING: John Ross Speaks to Independent Journalists, he asserts that journalists have an obligation to speak truth to power. Wisconsin NWU member Norman Stockwell co-edited this collection with journalist and […]

Evolution Magazine (January 4, 2016) A National Writers Union member has filed a grievance against Evolution magazine and its publisher, Darnell Davis. The NWU member is owed $300 for a cover story that appeared in the November 2014 edition. While Evolution’s publisher has made several commitments to pay the writer, more than a year after the article was published, […]

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‘Freelance Isn’t Free’ Bill Introduced

NEW YORK — December 7, 2015 — About 80 freelancers gathered on the City Hall steps in support of a bill introduced in the New York City Council that would protect freelancers against non-payment. The #FreelanceIsn’tfree Act would penalize clients who refuse to pay freelancers within 30 days, and would subject them to double damages, […]

NWU 2015 Highlights

NWU 2015 Highlights January 12-13: Talks in NYC with Zhejiang Provincial Writers Association, People’s Republic of China; March 8-10: NWU delegates attend UAW New York State Lobby Conference in Albany, NY; March 24-26: Our delegates participate in UAW Collective Bargaining Convention in Detroit, MI; May 1-3: NWU president attends PFUJ Conference in Karachi,Pakistan as part […]

Freelancers Break Laquan McDonald Story

  By now, almost everyone has seen at least a piece of the Chicago police video of the cold-blooded murder of 17-year-old African-American youth Laquan McDonald. He was killed by white Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke in October, 2014, but police video of the shooting was suppressed until a court ordered its November 2015 […]

Libraries in Crisis

Citizens Defending Libraries (CDL), a group dedicated to preserving and developing libraries in New York—instead of selling them off to real estate developers—held a special night of entertainment on October 10 in Brooklyn. The evening honored libraries and looked at the forces behind the crises they face. Billed as “an evening of comedy and drama,” […]