New York Chapter of the National Writers Union  (UAW Local 1981)

 

NWU NY Chapter Leader

Louis Reyes Rivera spoke about

"The State of the Writer"

at a May NWY Forum.

“For the year 2008, according to recent reports, major and competitive book publishers have averaged out a cutback in book releases equal to slightly over 20% less than what they had published in 2007.

“As of March 2009, at least 120 newspapers have either folded or have drastically cut back on services and staff, and have begun relying more on posting news via the Internet than on traditional print mediums. As of May 2009, the number of dailies so affected have increased to 200 newspapers across the country. The overwhelming numbers of these near-defunct dailies are/were owned by conglomerates. The alternative small, independently-owned weekly and monthly newspapers, interestingly enough, are faring better than the dailies, as are many of the so-called small press book publishers. Why?

“This phenomenon is best understood within the context of both the depressed state of our banking system (i.e., credit availability) and huge conglomerates going bust -- i.e., the current state of our economy within which we are revisiting a 'Greater Depression' than ever before witnessed (what our grand- and great grandparents had to struggle through in order that we might be here). It is as well the result of a non-regulated capitalist economy running rampant. We all know this, or should. It's not news.

“But the question is how does this effect writers? Since conglomerates became the major owners of news and print media (books, magazines, et al), then it stands to reason that publishers will suffer the downturns that their owners bear (and we were all warned, back in 1977, of the consequences of print media owned by others with the release of The Passionate Perils of Publishing, an independently published book that fully documented how many of our publishing outlets are controlled b corporations that have nothing to do with publishing.

“When conglomerates suffer, then their philanthropy also takes a downturn (i.e., less grant money, less underwriting of the arts in general, cutbacks from those granting agencies that have served to underwrite many a poet and budding novelist).

“For freelance reporters, for book reviewers, for novelists, essayists, non-fictionists, dramatists, poets and independent publishers, all of this equals budget restraints, cutbacks in publishing and a heavier reliance on alternative methods for disseminating literature and information.

“With a federal bailout of banks, credit deficits, housing, etc., this will mean, automatically, less federal, state and city subsidizing of the arts, or worse – more selective underwriting of the arts. Please take note that even the New York Foundation for the Arts is reportedly supporting more visual artists than writers.

“Today, the New York Chapter of the National Writers Union presents the first in a series of open dialogues on the state of the writer: how to address what alternative resources there are for writers in general.

“And we present this with our own ulterior motive. We want you to join the NWU as a proper venue for collective representation.

“We believe that small, alternative publishing outlets (especially those that are staffed by writers and editors) and both professional and aspiring writers are natural allies – individually, and by themselves, they are isolated and left to their own devices. Together and in association with one another, they can develop and influence strategies that would/could make them more capable of fending for themselves and on behalf of the literature to which they contribute and produce as editors, as alternative publishers, as writers....

“Who will lobby for you? Who will assist you with those contracts? How best can writers solidify against the control and usurpation of the work of literature, given the state of the Internet and the abuse of copyrights, if not through the collective enterprise of One Voice, even while we each still remain and maintain our own unique sovereignty as writers and as alternative publishers.

“In other words, why not join the NWU?

“For the past 28 years, the NWU has distinguished itself as among those most willing to fight for writers' rights and against conglomerate abuse of those rights. Like everyone else, the National Writers Union has suffered its own setbacks, yet it has remained the trade union that offers the greatest and broadest range of possibility. Of course, this depends not only on how many join the union, but equally, how many of those who do join actually engage in helping to shape the direction of their own union. It's like voting for Senator or President. You have work to do even after you've cast your ballot.

“By joining such a union as the NWU, you bring into the picture a collective strength, the harnessing of a collective voice, and with our own insights, such associations as the NWU can help us all meet today's challenges. That's our ulterior motive. Consider the possibility as we begin this discourse.”