This is NOT from The Onion. It's from the Associated Press via USA Today ("Bloggers consider forming labor union"):
CHICAGO — Do bloggers need their own Norma Rae?
In a move that might make some people scratch their heads, a loosely formed coalition of left-leaning bloggers are trying to band together to form a labor union they hope will help them receive health insurance, conduct collective bargaining or even set professional standards.
The effort is an extension of the blogosphere's growing power and presence, especially within the political realm, and for many, evokes memories of the early labor organization of freelance writers in the early 1980s.
Organizers hope a bloggers' labor group will not only showcase the growing professionalism of the Web-based writers, but also the importance of their roles in candidates' campaigns.
"I think people have just gotten to the point where people outside the blogosphere understand the value of what it is that we do on the progressive side," said Susie Madrak, the author of Suburban Guerilla, who is active in the union campaign. "And I think they feel a little more entitled to ask for something now."
Maybe I'm missing something, but when you want to form a union, isn't it sort of necessary that there be a mean, oppressive employer, or a group of them?
The article cites data indicating that bloggers wanting to unionize are also going to do something about what economists call "barriers to entry":
With pages focused on everything from bird watching to celebrity footwear, more than 120,000 blogs are created every day and more than 58,000 new posts are made each hour, according to data from Technorati, which tracks more than 94 million blogs worldwide.
Which leads to this thought: Maybe the diarists at DailyKos could be the first to stage a digital walkout. After all, Markos Moulitsas has gotten quite rich, and largely from their labors.
Related post is at BizzyBlog.com.
—Tom Blumer is president of a training and development company in Mason, Ohio, and is a contributing editor to NewsBusters
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
hahahaha!
August 6, 2007 - 11:48 ET by RJhahaha! That's the laugh of the day. :^>
Just when you think the left can't get any sillier....
Hopefully the liberal ones
August 6, 2007 - 18:05 ET by BDHopefully the liberal ones will price themselves out of jobs like the unionized american auto worker...
BD... Hear! Hear! I
August 6, 2007 - 18:10 ET by bigtimerBD...
Hear! Hear!
I heard about this a few days back and LMAO then.
Leave it to the leftists...silly little critters.
Um... uh.... how does one
August 6, 2007 - 11:53 ET by Warner Todd HustonUm... uh.... how does one unionize against one's self?
A Blogger is his OWN employer!
Warner,
August 6, 2007 - 12:04 ET by Dave RSo, what happens when they decide to go on strike?
Help Fred defeat everybody.
Virtual walkouts
August 6, 2007 - 13:01 ET by IamTinmanMore to the point, would anybody notice?
Healh insurance for blogging?! LMAO!!!
August 6, 2007 - 11:53 ET by Six String SpiffROTFLMAO!!! This is real? Oh my... What a pile of crap! They want to get paid fro hating on everything? Wow!
The American Revolution Continued
Actually Tom, that is
August 6, 2007 - 11:55 ET by dscottActually Tom, that is rather creative. I have always wondered why insurance companies don't simply offer a group plan for people who don't have employer sponsered health care plans like self employed people, etc but I think it has to do with State laws regulating the health insurance companies. If these people can form an association to get group health insurance, then more power to them.
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. Marcus Aurelius
already happening
August 6, 2007 - 12:14 ET by Tom BlumerThe insurance companies are already doing this through chambers of commerce and small business organizations like NASE, NFIB, etc.
That would be a more logical step for a bloggers' group: form a membership association and start offering discount health insurance, travel stuff, etc.
Well, dscott, they are not
August 6, 2007 - 13:23 ET by motherbeltWell, dscott, they are not talking about "forming an association" to get benefits. They are talking about, among other things..."collective bargaining". Excuse me? Collective bargaining in contract talks with who?
"Collective bargaining in contract talks with who?"
August 6, 2007 - 13:29 ET by misterbillElectro, the god of bandwidths. They will meet at the tombs of Tesla, Henry and Ampere and stage protests. They will wear T-shirts with pictures of Coulomb and Watts. What a grand old time they will have.
Hmmm, interesting point
August 6, 2007 - 14:20 ET by dscottHmmm, interesting point that begs the question? Are liberal bloggers being paid to put out their so called opinions and this payment is considered inadequate comensurate with their preceived importance and by whom are they paid????? Hmmmm, motherbelt, I believe you have hit upon the root of the issue, liberal bloggers are being paid which means they are engaged in propaganda not opinions. Follow the money!!!!!
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. Marcus Aurelius
"Collective bargaining in
August 6, 2007 - 14:31 ET by dabal"Collective bargaining in contract talks with who?"
The DNC. I think you hit the nail on the head.
"...isn't it sort of
August 6, 2007 - 11:58 ET by Senior Chief"...isn't it sort of necessary that there be a mean, oppressive employer, or a group of them?"
Don't worry about oppressive employer, you have pretty boy president-wanna-be John Edwards to represent you people....So beside posting lies, hatred and exagerations, who are they going to protest against or negotiate with? Maybe the leftoid blogs and the democracks for not delivering their promised lies during campaign. Reid and Pelosi are now in trouble!
Senior Chief
August 6, 2007 - 12:02 ET by Six String SpiffIt's "Demicrax". Get with the program! $-)
Yes, the I is intentional
The American Revolution Continued
Any more need proof of the
August 6, 2007 - 11:59 ET by bassndudeAny more need proof of the importance of the left leaning bloggers?? And you guys at NB need not apply. Only the left will be allowed to have health insurance and union benifits and retirement funds.
Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!
labor union
August 6, 2007 - 12:05 ET by ts88If these people can form an association to get group health insurance, then more power to them. Ok set up an association, but a labor union. PLLLEASE
Lefty liberal blogger union goons.
August 6, 2007 - 12:06 ET by Dave R"And I think they feel a little more entitled to ask for something now."
Ever seen a lib who wasn't looking for a handout?
Help Fred defeat everybody.
Their opposition is?
August 6, 2007 - 12:58 ET by general companyI suppose they think Bush is exploiting them, good grief?
Professional organizations
August 6, 2007 - 12:08 ET by Ken ShepherdProfessional organizations make sense. A union for bloggers doesn't.
And a professional organization for media bloggers (or which NB's Sheffield is a member) already exists, but that was not mentioned by the AP:
http://www.mediablog...
I welcome it!
August 6, 2007 - 12:08 ET by Matthew SheffieldI for one would love to see the bloggers working at various MSM sites and elsewhere in the leftosphere unionize and then take down their blogs in a strike against "the man."
Very appropriate
August 6, 2007 - 12:18 ET by cvgbuckeyeI would suggest that they call it the UNION of Soviet Socialist Republic. Now how appropriate is that. They already have over half of both houses of the United States legislature and 95% of the media. Thats a pretty good start, now isn't it?
Possible names for the kook union.
August 6, 2007 - 13:07 ET by Dave RHow about the International Brotherhood of BS Artists?
Or, should that be International Personhood of BS Artists?
I mean, we are talking about liberals, after all.
Help Fred defeat everybody.
If blogger unionize maybe
August 6, 2007 - 12:30 ET by AtheistRepublicanIf blogger unionize maybe we commenters should organize! We demand pay for enjoying you blog! Other groups that could unionize if bloggers can:
The Homeless
Freelance painters
Drug Dealers
Crack.. uh nevermind I don't think that language is appropriate.
Medieval Reenactors
Terrorists
Serial Killers
CEO's
Small business Owners
and.... The Unemployed!
Maybe the lib bloggers
August 6, 2007 - 12:36 ET by MightyMouthMaybe the lib bloggers should check out the Al-Qaeda union. They certainly qualify. That 401k will come in handy for their families when the blow themselves (up that is).
"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...
Unions are Poisonous
August 6, 2007 - 12:53 ET by deerjerkydaveUnions are poisonous to whatever institution they touch. I'm all for a bunch of liberal bloggers forming a union. They'll get bogged down in red tape, expenses, promises that can't be kept, etc. And when they go on strike the conservative world will be all the better for it.
Doh!
August 6, 2007 - 12:56 ET by GalvanicIn a move that might make some people scratch their heads, a loosely formed coalition of left-leaning bloggers are trying to band together to form a labor union they hope will help them receive health insurance, conduct collective bargaining or even set professional standards. . . . The effort is an extension of the blogosphere's growing power and presence, especially within the political realm, and for many, evokes memories of the early labor organization of freelance writers in the early 1980s.
My first reaction was "But why?" Then I realized that their behavior is merely emulating that of their mythical journalistic heroes, despite the fact that they are operating in a totally different medium.
The most hilarious part was regarding the setting of 'professional standards.' Hah! Now, that is funny.
UNION - - UNION - - !!!
August 6, 2007 - 12:57 ET by FastEdLet them unionize, collective bargaining, higher wages(?), lower IP costs, etc. Will they then ask to have themselves edited, as far as their language goes? What will they do when their "employer" wants them to 'tone down' their inappropriate words? Would they 'stike" because such a request were made? Seems, like everything else, they haven't thought this thing through - BUT, I like the idea, I want to see what they do to "scab" bloggers!
There is no sense in being stupid, if you can't prove it! - my dad V
Okay, now that I have quit
August 6, 2007 - 13:14 ET by Airforce_5_OOkay, now that I have quit laughing and I have wiped the tears from my eyes…
Isn’t this like a little league football team asking for a player’s union? I mean come on. How paranoid do you have to be to form this union?
No, wait, I got it! Jimmy Hoffa isn’t dead. He is a blogger some were muscling in on the internet.
Or
Maybe the Godfather will “Make them an IP they can’t refuse.”
How far left do you have to be to finally fall off the face of the earth?
The only thing you should feel when shooting insurgents is the rifle recoil.
Healthcare for liberal bloggers?
August 6, 2007 - 13:21 ET by Dad GummitAt the expense of the taxpayers, no doubt.
"If you don't read a newspaper, you are uninformed. If you do read a newspaper, you are mis-informed."-Mark Twain
"...or even set
August 6, 2007 - 16:49 ET by robert108"...or even set professional standards."
I smell a "Fairness Doctrine" for blogs; guess which way it will be biased?
One could only hope for a
August 6, 2007 - 21:23 ET by MivvisOne could only hope for a lib blogger digital walk out. I think they need a time out.
Conservative bloggers
August 6, 2007 - 21:37 ET by Clear thinkerConservative bloggers demand education grants as they form labor union.
With conservative bloggers having to spend more time working for a living it leaves them little time to blog. So one of their goals is to get the federal government to supplement their income thereby allowing more time for blogging.
All those interested in more info please log onto www.youmustbeoutofyourfrickinmind.com
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