Actors on strike against the advertising industry since May 1 say they've been the subject of a nationwide media blackout. The 1,300 Twin Cities members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Screen Actors Guild have received some local media coverage, noted Mark Bradley, president of the Twin Cities local. But nationally, the walkout by some 140,000 actors has been virtually ignored.
In Los Angeles, where entertainment is a huge industry, "there's been nothing on the front page since the first of May," said Bradley. Why? It may have something to do with the fact that many major media outlets are owned by the same companies that are being struck, he said. The actors are calling on the advertising industry to provide fair pay for commercials that air on cable television, to pay actors for work that appears on the Internet and to set up a better system for tracking the number of times a commercial airs.
Negotiations for the nationwide contract between AFTRA/SAG and advertisers are scheduled to resume Sept. 13, Bradley said. "Until then, we'll keep up the pressure." The unions' tactics include "flying picket squads" that disrupt the shooting of commercials with non-union actors.
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Actors on strike against the advertising industry since May 1 say they’ve been the subject of a nationwide media blackout. The 1,300 Twin Cities members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Screen Actors Guild have received some local media coverage, noted Mark Bradley, president of the Twin Cities local. But nationally, the walkout by some 140,000 actors has been virtually ignored.
In Los Angeles, where entertainment is a huge industry, “there’s been nothing on the front page since the first of May,” said Bradley. Why? It may have something to do with the fact that many major media outlets are owned by the same companies that are being struck, he said. The actors are calling on the advertising industry to provide fair pay for commercials that air on cable television, to pay actors for work that appears on the Internet and to set up a better system for tracking the number of times a commercial airs.
Negotiations for the nationwide contract between AFTRA/SAG and advertisers are scheduled to resume Sept. 13, Bradley said. “Until then, we’ll keep up the pressure.” The unions’ tactics include “flying picket squads” that disrupt the shooting of commercials with non-union actors.