Legislative Update

After the New York state legislature passed Freelance Isn’t Free in June, elected officials nationwide—and NWU’s legislative work—took a summer break. Now, heading into fall and 2023, we have several legislative campaigns going across the country, and plenty of opportunities to get involved. In New York, we’re still waiting for Governor Kathy Hochul to sign […]

Joint Statement in Response to Fight for the Future’s Letter Falsely Claiming that the Lawsuit Against Internet Archive’s Open Library Harms Public Libraries

The following organizations are deeply troubled by Fight for the Future’s letter “In Solidarity with Libraries” that a number of authors have signed. While there are principles stated in the letter with which we agree, it is highly misleading both regarding the lawsuits that publishers have filed against the Internet Archive’s Open Library and in […]

FSP Looks to the Future at Strategy Summit

New York, October 3 – Four years after Freelance Solidarity Project’s 2018 founding, members met on Sunday for an energizing summit to discuss our progress, outline 2023 strategic goals, and shape our union’s future direction.  The half-day hybrid meeting, facilitated by organizer Megan McRobert, welcomed New York City-based members in person at the new NWU […]

The Nation and the National Writers Union Reach an Agreement

This article first appeared in The Nation (September 6, 2022) The challenges freelance journalists face are no secret: payments delayed for months (sometimes failing to arrive at all), editors ghosting, while long and often uncompensated hours and isolation are all part of the job. Freelancers also pay for their own work expenses and health care […]

Authors Object to the Internet Archive’s Book Piracy

Reaffirming our longstanding objections to the Internet Archive’s distribution of  unauthorized digital copies of books in which our work has been published, the NWU has joined almost two dozen national and international organizations of writers, photographers, and visual artists in a friend of the court brief in opposition to the Internet Archive’s book-scanning and so-called […]

We Need a Law to Support Local Journalism

Northwestern University’s Medill Institute recently released,  “The State of Local News 2022: Expanding News Deserts, Growing Gaps, Emerging Models.” This report out of the institute’s Local News Initiative of has inspired a series of editorials on the crisis of local journalism in newspapers across the country. These include Katrina vanden Heuvel’s column in the Washington Post “Save […]

Media Workers Plan “Freelance Isn’t Free” Campaign for IL

Chicago, IL – July 21: Today, about 20 freelance media workers gathered for a happy hour to learn more about the Freelance Isn’t Free law. This was the first in-person event hosted in Chicago by the Freelance Solidarity Project (FSP), the Digital Media division of NWU.  Writers, editors, critics, fact-checkers, data reporters and production assistants […]

El Sindicato Nacional de Escritores condena la corrupción periodística del director de la televisora española La Sexta por influir en las elecciones presidenciales de España usando “fake news”

El Sindicato Nacional de Escritores (NWU) de EEUU condena tajantemente la manipulación informativa y la praxis antiprofesional y antidemocrática de Antonio García Ferreras, director de la cadena televisiva española La Sexta, tras la difusión en 2016 de informaciones falsas sobre el entonces candidato a la presidencia por el partido Unidas Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, semanas previas […]

We stand in solidarity with Kurdish journalists in the face of recent attacks from Erdogan regime

The National Writers Union condemns the recent arrests of 16 journalists by Turkish authorities. We are closely watching the situation as the Erdoğan government is attacking journalists, academics, political organizers and all the social opposition to keep its power. We are particularly aware that the Kurdish people face constant oppression, mass arrest, closure of their […]

PJS: The US Report Legalizes the Killing of Palestinian Journalists and Justifies Israeli Crimes Against Journalists

Ramallah, July 4th, 2022 The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) condemns the report issued by the American investigation committee, describing it very dangerous and eliminates international protection of Palestinian journalists and workers in the Palestinian territories. The PJS considers the “American experts’ report”, regarding the examination of the Israeli bullet that killed the martyr journalist Shireen […]