United Hollywood Is Now Moderating Comments

From their site:

We're moderating comments now because we are getting legitimately spammed. Dissenting opinions are not being deleted.

This appears to have just started.  

The problem here is that moderating comments is a slippery slope; we'll never know for sure what has been deleted.  When does a strongly dissenting opinion cross the line into spam?  

In general, I disagree with much of the spin I see on the UH front page; but I also genuinely respect the publishers of the blog.  I give them the benefit of the doubt for now, but I still think this is a terrible step backwards.

We'll see if dissenting comments will continue to be heard.

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In a related issue, Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood has also been moderating discussion.  

My last two comments were never posted there, and anyone who reads my posts regularly knows that while my opinion differs from that of the WGA hardliners, I am not confrontational and try to keep all the comments civilized.

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Christmas Eve Update:  Comment postings have really slowed, and the last few front page stories do not appear to have comments enabled at all (though, at this point, I'm chalking this up to the UH guys wanting to spend Christmas with friends and family instead of moderating their blog).

There was one post from commenter "DP" which appears to have been editorially deleted, but he reposted and UH allowed it in its entirety. 

The moderating is something to keep an eye on.  It's their blog, they can do whatever they want.  But as UH has grown in importance, I think it's important that we make sure we all understand where they stand in terms of comments.  

If UnitedHollywood want to limit comments to pro-strike rhetoric (and there's no indication that this is happening), they have the right and they don't need me or anyone else to tell them so.

But should they indeed change their stance, it would behoove those of us with dissenting voices to ensure that others understand that UH (in that case) would not represent the whole of Hollywood.

Indeed, it was my strong reaction to their original slogan, "We're all on the same page" and the constant early mantra that the Writers somehow had all of us workerbees behind the strike that caused me to start DividedHollywood in the first place.  As UnitedHollywood has been an open and valuable forum, my postings to my own blog (ie, here) have been minimal, as my concerns are actually better heard on their forum.  Hopefully -- and I have no current reason to doubt otherwise -- it will continue to be.

Now I, too, am taking a break for Christmas.  I hope everyone can put the current troubles aside for a day or two and truly have a very Merry Christmas.

WGA Denies Waivers to Golden Globes / Oscars

The WGA has denied a request from the Golden Globes to allow guild writers to work on the show.  WGA has also denied a re-use request from the Academy for its upcoming Oscars telecast and has said that if the Academy requests a waiver, they too will be denied.

We have to wonder -- what's the point?  In this time of financial and creative turmoil, would waivers to two shows honoring the achievements of the past year's entertainment REALLY undermine what the guild is trying to do??

Honestly, wouldn't more good than harm come from allowing writers to work on these two telecasts?

This latest move merely demonstrates further the ultra-militant stance taken by the current Guild leadership.  To dig in your heels to this extreme is further proof that Verrone and gang are out of touch with reality and completely lost in their own power.

I still believe that a compromise may still be reached between the WGA and the AMPTP in the next few months.

But I also believe, quite seriously, that if things break down completely; if, 6 months from now, this strike is still bitterly ongoing; if a real fissure occurs both within and outside of the WGA;

Then we may look back at this rally, at this day when the WGA symbolically turned its back on celebrations of our talents and livelihoods; 

And we will remember it as the day when it all went wrong, when the Writers went too far.

You may accuse me of overreacting, but I really can't believe that the Guild took this action -- that they didn't see the underlying symbolism in what they were doing.

It's a slap in the face. Not to the AMPTP -- they don't care. But to working Hollywood.

Not 8, Not 9, But 12! New Posts on UH - None Note WGA Waivers Coming

The WGA Negotiating Committee sent a letter to Membership yesterday informing them that tomorrow (Monday) they would announce that some shows would receive Waivers which would allow them to restart production immediately.

This is something we have argued for since the AMPTP most recently walked out of the negotiating room. When we post such comments on UnitedHollywood, however, we're labelled as AMPTP plants. So is Patrick Verrone an AMPTP plant as well??

To make matters more puzzling, UnitedHollywood has posted a slew of new front page stories - 8, actually -- since the email went out (and was subsequently posted on Nikke Finke's Deadline Hollywood), but none of these stories mention this latest development.

This action by the WGA is the only reasonable approach to the Strike Disaster now that it is clear that AMPTP will not talk until a DGA deal is complete (or until WGA submit a deal that only concerns itself with new media).

Why has the unofficial mouthpiece of the WGA not made any mention of this action? We are generally big fans of the site, but to ignore the most significant news of the past week is to do a disservice to the many people who go to UH first and foremost for their strike news. It is also proof positive that no one should be getting their news from only one source.

Here is an excerpt from the WGA letter:

We want to do everything in our power to move negotiations forward and end this devastating strike. We have therefore decided to reach out to major AMPTP companies and begin to negotiate with them individually. As you may know, bargaining on a multi-employer basis through the AMPTP is an option for the WGA, not a legal requirement. Each signatory employer is required to bargain with us individually if we make a legal demand that it do so.

Note, too, the spin of the letter. They're calling this "negotiate with them individually;" the reality is (and we'll get confirmation tomorrow) that they will be giving waivers to The Late Show With David Letterman (independently produced by Worldwide Pants) and several other shows.

Note: no sooner do we post this, than UH puts up another post. It's now 9 posts since the announcement, yet no mention...

Checking back in -- 10 posts now on the front page of UnitedHollywood since the announcement. Still no front page mention of the news. (10:45am)

Update at 3:30pm on Sunday -- there are now 12 new posts on UH since this story broke, including a video interview with Letterman's writers, and still NO MENTION OF THIS DEVELOPMENT. What is going on over there???

FINAL UPDATE - 15 Minutes after I posted this question on one of the UH Posts, there was finally a front page article about it.  My guess now is that it simply got lost in the shuffle.  UH is run by volunteers, I believe.  It still serves as an example of why everyone should read multiple sources for their news and editorials.