Oh this is rich. Calling out the left-wing blog Huffington Post for ‘unprofessional and unethical practices,’ the CWA is asking writers to boycott the blog and to not cross that ‘electronic picket line.’
The Newspaper Guild is calling on unpaid writers of the Huffington Post to withhold their work in support of a strike launched by Visual Arts Source in response to the company’s practice of using unpaid labor.
The HuffPo has been called out lately for using the work of reporters and news outlets in their entirety. You know, like stealing the work of others to make it look like your own production. One step above plagiarism. And now for their use of ‘unpaid writers.’
The HuffPo has been doing this sort of stuff from the beginning. So why this action now? Well, now that AOL has purchased the Huffington Post, they suddenly have very deep pockets. The union is saying, if you want us to go away, pay us for our work.
Link: The Newspaper Guild.
Update 3/18/2011: You can’t read this story in the NYT, LAT, or Miami Herald. Not a word about it. Wazzupwidat?
Update 3/21/2011: Dan Abrams has an opinion on ‘the boycott.’ Only mention of it on the Huffington Post is a copy of a tweet.
