GMG Union protested G/O Media's decision to test AI-generated content and demanded that the company "invest in real journalism done by real journalists."
The brands concerned: Gizmodo, Kotaku, Jalopnik, Deadspin, Jezebel, The Root, The A.V. Club, The Takeout, The Onion, The Inventory, Quartz
The first step is to create content without the hurdle of hiring people.
The previous strike by the staff of those publications led to this result:
What we won:
Higher salary minimums for all positions, including $62,000 at the lowest tier in 2022 (up from $55,000), with an additional $1,000 each year for the life of the contract
Guaranteed 3% annual raises for all unit members
15 weeks parental leave
12 weeks minimum severance
Maintained our current cost-sharing cap for healthcare
WPATH-compliant, trans-inclusive healthcare
Defeated management’s proposal to give up bargaining rights over changes to healthcare mid-contract
45K diversity effort budget with audit and transparency
Goal of 40% of candidates at the hiring manager interview stage from underrepresented backgrounds
Retained right to publicly speak about working conditions, including social media escalation campaigns
Strengthened editorial independence language; management must now adhere to both G/O Media's editorial policy and the Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics
Obtained guarantees against forced relocation for current remote staff
It's no surprise that this holding wanted to retaliate.
The next step is the comments, where people like us usually come in to generate free value by commenting the articles. This job will also be taken over by the AI. A machine will discuss with itself in front of us to talk about the virtues of the product described in the article. A very normal looking conversation will in fact be a theatrics play of a text formatted ad. You will read ads. The float of comment will be interrupted by ads, or even started by them, who knows? The limit between real and fake will become more and more blurry.
The test is the adoption rate. The best retaliation is always the boycott.
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