Candidate for Council, Online Media Sector
Just a few months after I joined Slate in 2017, my colleagues held their vote on whether to unionize with the Writers Guild of America, East. I still remember how excited I was to cast my ballot in favor, a move that felt historic in the early years of digital media’s unionization drive. In the eight years since, I’ve had the privilege to help bargain a contract, advocate for Slatesters through our Labor-Management Committee, serve as shop steward, support our striking Film and Broadcast WGAE comrades on the picket line, and even assist in the effort to write and establish a Bill of Rights for the guild. Throughout this time, it’s been amazing to see our Online Media sector grow its ranks and establish much-needed solidarity among our publications and podcast groups.
In 2025, it’s clearer than ever how much this movement was needed. Our media appratuses organized in response to the executive mismanagement and economic conditions that began plunging our industries into crisis; that crisis has only been magnified as social media crumbles, managers cut costs via A.I., labor standards are purged, authority figures intimidate reporters, and the overall news ecosystem splinters. As inspiring as it has been to see digital media organize, it’s been equally depressing to attend Online Media conferences year after year and hear how many of our peers have been laid off or had their contract negotiations sabotaged by management. It’s more essential than ever to not only keep organizing and supporting our digital media comrades, but to reemphasize our still-vital role in the American republic—informing our citizenry with the truth, providing readers with a sense of stability and community, relating human stories in ways no chatbot ever could, keeping the spirit of American democracy alive. It’s long past time to draw our battle lines: to empower our workers so that they have an active voice in business decisions, to ensure that arbitrary layoffs and cost cuts are no longer the norm, to demonstrate the losses we all suffer when broadcasting hosts as well as creative and professional writers are dismissed as unimportant.
It’s a daunting but valuable task that lies ahead for the WGAE, and I would be honored to continue my efforts to strengthen the guild and its membership by serving as your representative on the council. We have many challenges to take on, but we can do it, and I’m ready to fight.
Responses to Candidate Questions
1. What do you think is the most pressing issue facing the Guild and what steps will you take to address it?
I think the most pressing issue facing the Guild is the downstream effects of rapid corporate budget-cutting. Across visual, auditory, and text-based media, C-suites have weaponized the shocks of this decade (COVID, platform changes, A.I.) as an excuse to trim labor first, ask questions never. Constant layoffs and wholesale shutdowns don’t just affect workers—they take from the Guild, as those left jobless and lacking clear openings for full-time-career reentry subsequently, and understandably, reconsider their membership. WGAE obviously has a robust rank-and-file, but the future looks grim for the traditional structures of all of our sectors; in a post-zero-interest-rate era complemented by automative tech, more creatives are bound to be drawn toward nontraditional platforms (newsletter collectives, multimedia apps, games, visual podcasts sponsored by sportsbooks). I think it’s incumbent upon the Guild to not just aggressively unionize more shops, but to establish more working groups and caucuses to explore organizing other nontraditional shops—initiatives for which I would vigorously advocate and help to spearhead as Council member.
2. WGAE is divided into three sectors: Film, Television, and Streaming; Broadcast, Cable, and Streaming News, and; Online Media. How will you work with and represent all Guild members, including those outside of your own work sector?
The challenges facing Online Media are the same challenges facing all of us; they may take different forms, but they all boil down to the overarching trend of executive mismanagement and hasty adoption of overhyped tech. I will work to ensure that the Council brainstorms solutions in a holistic manner—how does one sector’s protections against A.I. exploitation apply to another’s? What ideas can FTS, BCS, and OM representatives share with one another when it comes to shared interests, like increasing diversity within our collective ranks, or giving workers more influence over executive decisions year-round? If one sector’s members have figured out contract language for reproductive and gender-affirming care, how can those provisions translate to other sectors? How do we plan an event/rally/picket that’s inclusive and invites broader participation? Each sector has its specific needs and details, but that doesn’t mean the three cannot collaborate in the shared mission of labor empowerment, and as a Council member I will constantly ask these questions and act to strengthen the durable ties between our sectors.
3. What qualities or characteristics do you look for in a Guild leader?
I look for someone who’s confident, empathetic, thoughtful, and committed to their ideals, especially when it comes to advocating for members from underrepresented and underprivileged backgrounds. I also look for someone who knows how to organize and lead a meeting/gathering/march, but is also willing to step back—to not just suck up all the oxygen—and allow everyone else opportunities to chime in. And, most importantly, I look for someone who acts like this kind of leader for the entire Guild.
4. What do you think WGAE’s role should be in the broader labor movement?
WGAE has consistently been one of the most powerful, effective, flexible, and important American unions in the 21st century. The Guild has expanded its resources and evolved its structures to challenge the most disruptive elements of the modern age (social media, visual and audio streaming, digital surveillance, online-exclusive journalism). It’s led two of the most high-profile and consequential strikes in recent memory. It includes many influential members, the sweeping majority of whom are vocally proud of their union. In sum: WGAE is at the vanguard of effective labor action that breaks through to the public consciousness and inspires our comrades in other unions. I think this is an essential role for WGAE to continue to serve well into the future.
Endorsements
Kevin Cortez, Sara David, Cameron Faulkner, Zachary Lennon-Simon, Sie Morley, CQ Quintana, Jessica Schulberg, Whitney Wimbish
Endorse Nitish Pahwa for Council, Online Media Sector
Note: WGAW members who wish to endorse a candidate may follow the process outlined in section G.1.B of the 2025 Election Policy.
