Bloggers Unionizing?
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.
Who are a group of independent bloggers going to collectively bargain with? Who does a blogger work for? Who is going to pay for health insurance? Some bloggers here and there have contracts with, or actually work for, certain media outlets but typically those are isolated incidents. How can you collectively bargain when only a few people in your union actually work for someone else?
Besides, blogging is a medium that is heavy on supply and relatively short on demand. Everyone and their mother has a blog these days, but not everyone actually has an audience of readers. If some blogger tries to run up rates on an advertiser or a media outlet through collective bargaining that media outlet/advertiser is just going to find another blogger.
These people would be better off forming some sort of trade association. Something that promotes professionalism, like Media Bloggers (which I’ve been a member of for years now). I’d be in favor or something like that. Not only could such an organization promote certain standards of accuracy and professionalism in blogging, it could also provide bloggers with some benefits such as a legal fund (paid for by membership dues) available for bloggers who get sued by businesses or politicians hoping to shut them up (happens a lot).
But a union? I think that’d just hurt the bloggers who are members by driving away advertisers and potential employers. Much as unions for autoworkers and such drive away manufacturing jobs by artificially increasing the price of labor.
