The National Writers Union (NWU) is pleased to announce that an agreement has been reached with The Intercept concerning a grievance by NWU member Arun Gupta. The Intercept commissioned Mr. Gupta to write an article debunking Israel’s claims of rape during the October 7 Hamas attacks that were featured in the New York Times report, “Screams Without Words.”
Mr. Gupta delivered an original report on January 9, 2024, which The Intercept killed three weeks later. Significant elements from Mr. Gupta’s article then appeared in two Intercept stories published last year without permission, credit, or compensation: “Between the Hammer and the Anvil: The Story Behind the New York Times October 7 Expose” and “Kibbutz Be’eri Rejects Story in New York Times October 7 Expose: ‘They Were Not Sexually Abused’”.
In 2019, The Intercept and a committee of NWU freelancers worked together to develop a set of principles and a grievance process for freelancers without fear of reprisals or retribution. With the backing of these principles, we were able to reach an agreement for Mr. Gupta to receive a research credit and partial payment.
While we believe that Mr. Gupta deserved a full byline on these stories, we are pleased that The Intercept took Mr. Gupta’s grievance seriously and professionally and worked with him and with us to resolve it.
NWU continues to work with a number of publications to develop best practices and principles for working with freelancers. While publications who agree to these standards will sometimes fall short, freelancers who lack employment protections can take comfort in knowing there is a process to settle disputes without worrying about being blacklisted, and knowing a publication doesn’t take their labor for granted. Join us!
