Italian Media workers on 48 hour Strike

Lest anyone think that strike action is old-fashioned the main Italian unions for workers in print and broadcast media have called a 48 hour series of stoppages starting today.

This is the third strike in Italy by media workers this year not including the general strike of November 25th & the fifth strike in the media sector in Europe in 2005. Most recently the workers of Liberation the French left-daily protested the rescue package of their company, and earlier this year a one day stoppage at the BBC saw workers there fight lay offs and continuing privitisation.

Workers in media, have seen their sector change the most in the last century. Only 100 years ago, the idea of a journalism colleges, university studies in writing and 24 hour digital media were naturally unheard of.

But the profession was born as a byproduct of increased literacy. And as such rather like the "dismal science" of economists, it took its first faltering steps to "incorporation guild style" with the foundation of the first "journalist" trade unions in the early 1900s. The NUJ (which represents Irish and British hacks was born in 1907). Such unions built on the groups who represented the interest of writers for journals and magazines which had begun to be published during industrialisation in the late 19th century. Most late 19th century and early 20th century writers of note relied on advice on payments and copyright from such associations.

The Italian equivalent of the NUJ, the FNSI traces it roots to an 1877 association of writers and its formal creation of the trade union in 1908.

A statement from the Italian journalists on their 48hour stoppage which will they hope see "News" blacked out completely in Italy till Sunday morning.

http://www.agi.it/english/news.pl?doc=200512071404-1123-RT1-CRO-0-NF11&page=0&id=agionline-eng.oggitalia

Of course it will do no such thing, because journalism is no longer a "guilded profession", countless news sites including our own sister site indymedia italy and the left wing umbrella sherwood site of news and radio will continue to generate and report news.

Thats because we are literate now.
& thanks to the digital age, can all operate a QWERTY or AZERTY keyboard and do exactly what journalists do.

"be the media".