Latest news with #SamWheeler
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
WGA Ratifies New 3-Year Contract With CBS News, Securing Key AI Protections
The Writers Guild of America East and West members at CBS News have ratified a new three-year collective bargaining agreement with the company. Per the guild, the 270-plus member unit 'overwhelmingly' approved of the deal, which includes AI protections, guaranteed raises, and improved benefits, among other provisions. More from Deadline Los Angeles Sound Stage Occupancy Declined Again In 2024 To 63% - Report L.A. Might Have Found A Local Solution To Stop Movies Being Made In Other States WGA East Slams Trump Executive Order To End Collective Bargaining For Many Federal Workers: "Assault On The Entire Labor Movement" The WGA had been prioritizing artificial intelligence in these negotiations, in an effort 'to safeguard journalism as a profession,' WGA East Executive Director Sam Wheeler told Deadline last month. Modeled after the recently ratified ABC News contract, CBS News staffers also secured protections against the technology that include advance notice from the company before it implements any new generative AI systems so that the guild can bargain over its impact on members. CBS News management has also agreed to meet semi-annually with the guild to discuss AI, which has become a fairly common provision in these contracts. Notably, any current staff who is laid off as a result of generative AI is now guaranteed 1.5x severance that they would otherwise receive. Other highlights from the contract include: 3% wage increase to all pay minimums in each year of the three-year contract, with even greater increases to pay for entry-level Desk Associates and Junior Writers of 11% to 22% in the first year Additional 2% increase to pay override for per diem employees over the life of the contract Increases to fees for performing additional work, including Acting Editor fees, Producer fees, and Network Radio fees Increased vacation in first year of employment for staff employees. Full funding for the WGA Health Plan for staff employees, with no diversion from wages Lower threshold for per diem employees to earn comp days and be eligible for parental leave and severance The CBS News bargaining unit includes newswriters, producers, promotions writer-producers, editors, graphic artists and news desk associates based in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington D.C. 'We're so proud to have fought for a strong contract that provides critical job protections to our members,' Beth Godvik, WGAE VP of Broadcast/Cable/Streaming News said in a statement Friday. 'Our members work around the clock to bring viewers across the globe the news, and we're encouraged to have a contract that reflects our value.' Best of Deadline Everything We Know About 'Nine Perfect Strangers' Season 2 So Far Everything We Know About 'Hacks' Season 4 So Far 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
WGA Ratifies New 3-Year Contract With CBS News, Securing Key AI Protections
The Writers Guild of America East and West members at CBS News have ratified a new three-year collective bargaining agreement with the company. Per the guild, the 270-plus member unit 'overwhelmingly' approved of the deal, which includes AI protections, guaranteed raises, and improved benefits, among other provisions. More from Deadline Los Angeles Sound Stage Occupancy Declined Again In 2024 To 63% - Report L.A. Might Have Found A Local Solution To Stop Movies Being Made In Other States WGA East Slams Trump Executive Order To End Collective Bargaining For Many Federal Workers: "Assault On The Entire Labor Movement" The WGA had been prioritizing artificial intelligence in these negotiations, in an effort 'to safeguard journalism as a profession,' WGA East Executive Director Sam Wheeler told Deadline last month. Modeled after the recently ratified ABC News contract, CBS News staffers also secured protections against the technology that include advance notice from the company before it implements any new generative AI systems so that the guild can bargain over its impact on members. CBS News management has also agreed to meet semi-annually with the guild to discuss AI, which has become a fairly common provision in these contracts. Notably, any current staff who is laid off as a result of generative AI is now guaranteed 1.5x severance that they would otherwise receive. Other highlights from the contract include: 3% wage increase to all pay minimums in each year of the three-year contract, with even greater increases to pay for entry-level Desk Associates and Junior Writers of 11% to 22% in the first year Additional 2% increase to pay override for per diem employees over the life of the contract Increases to fees for performing additional work, including Acting Editor fees, Producer fees, and Network Radio fees Increased vacation in first year of employment for staff employees. Full funding for the WGA Health Plan for staff employees, with no diversion from wages Lower threshold for per diem employees to earn comp days and be eligible for parental leave and severance The CBS News bargaining unit includes newswriters, producers, promotions writer-producers, editors, graphic artists and news desk associates based in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington D.C. 'We're so proud to have fought for a strong contract that provides critical job protections to our members,' Beth Godvik, WGAE VP of Broadcast/Cable/Streaming News said in a statement Friday. 'Our members work around the clock to bring viewers across the globe the news, and we're encouraged to have a contract that reflects our value.' Best of Deadline Everything We Know About 'Nine Perfect Strangers' Season 2 So Far Everything We Know About 'Hacks' Season 4 So Far 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
WGA Zeroes In On AI Protections In CBS News Contract Negotiations To 'Safeguard Journalism As A Profession'
Artificial intelligence is taking center stage in yet another set of union negotiations as the Writers Guild of America began talks this week with CBS News on a new collective bargaining agreement. The WGA represents 270 news writers, producers, promotions writer-producers, editors, graphic artists, and news desk associates at CBS News — all of whom it says are imminently threatened by the lack of journalistic protections against AI. More from Deadline WGA East Slams MSNBC's 'Mass Layoffs' As 99 Staffers Brace For Impact Amid Network Shakeup IATSE Urges Against Kennedy Center Cancellations, Citing Removal Of "Critical Opportunities" For Crew CBS Warns That FCC Action On '60 Minutes' Complaint Would Create "A Less Free World" Where Government Becomes "A Roving Censor" 'This is bigger than a question about a wage increase. This is fundamentally a question about, How is this new technology that a lot of folks have invested significant amounts of capital in going to impact an industry that is the lifeblood of our civic life?' WGA East Executive Director Sam Wheeler tells Deadline. 'We view journalists as essential workers. We view their work as absolutely critical to healthy society and healthy democracy. So given the absence of standards, certainly from the federal government, we believe that collective bargaining is the best way to address those and to safeguard journalism as a profession.' The guild is looking to the provisions in its recently ratified contract with ABC News as the foundation for its CBS News contract. Those provisions require the news organization to notify the union about any significant implementations of AI in the newsroom and protect permanent staff from losing their positions due to said AI usage. The WGA's contract with ABC News also allows staffers to decline a byline on any material created with the assistance of AI, and ensures that AI-created content is held to the same journalistic standards as any other news content. 'This contract is now the floor in terms of what we expect to see from our employers in this area,' Wheeler said. 'AI, as it exists right now, has serious problems as both a news gathering tool and a news writing tool. I mean, it plagiarizes. It spreads misinformation. It also doesn't have the judgment or experience of a human writer, doesn't have the ability to put events into context in the way a human writer can.' A CBS News staffer who spoke to Deadline on the condition of anonymity expressed that the accuracy of AI tools is a top concern, 'especially now, when the media is being scrutinized so much.' 'Who's double checking it and how do we verify the sources that the AI has pulled to put the story together?' the staffer said, adding that, as AI becomes more sophisticated, it is growing increasingly difficult to verify the accuracy of information or, more importantly, video and audio files. 'We really have to scrutinize everything that we do and to make sure that we are putting factually correct information on the air and giving it to the public.' AI has become a hot topic in labor negotiations over the past several years, especially with the WGA, which went on strike against the major Hollywood studios in 2023 in part due to their unwillingness to discuss AI protections. Ultimately, the guild won some historic provisions to serve as a baseline for future negotiations, including contractual language to define a writer as a human. However, the guild can only do so much to protect its members against AI, especially given the lack of federal regulation against the technology. So far, the unions have also been fairly unsuccessful at getting the major studios and companies to engage with the ways that AI may be negatively impacting their bottom line. 'It's worth noting that all of these tools are based on just wholesale theft of our members work,' Wheeler said, explaining that, while protections for journalists may look a bit different from those for television and film writers, they all align in the fact that most members do not own a vast majority of their work, and therefore do not have much legal recourse in terms of how its used to train AI models. It's likely that AI will remain a huge priority for collective bargaining in the coming years. So far, the unions have focused primarily on building a solid foundation for further provisions regarding AI, given that the technology is still rapidly advancing. While some newsrooms have begun to use AI, many have not. While it may not be ubiquitous in newsrooms quite yet, Wheeler says 'members view it as a really imminent threat and something that needs to be handled through collective bargaining.' Negotiations between the WGA and CBS News are expected to run through next week. Best of Deadline 'The White Lotus' Season 3 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Arrive On Max? How Jon Gries' Return To 'The White Lotus' Could Shape Season 3 Everything We Know About 'Nobody Wants This' Season 2 So Far
