On The Couch with Simply Kimberly

Today I am breaking the seal on my livejournal account and actually posting an entry. I created the account to be able to comment on livejournal, but I never intended to post anything. But today I am writing about the WGA strike and to help further the cause of a grassroots organization - Fans4Writers.com - by increasing its search engine rankings.



Fans4Writers began as a group of Joss Whedon fans at WHEDONesque and aims to grow to include fan of television everywhere to provide long-term support to the WGA through the duration of the writer's strike.

The fans4writers.com site represents an effort born from fans of Joss Whedon at the WHEDONesque website. As supporters of the people behind the scenes who develop and write the stories that have meant so much to so many, we wanted to do something tangible to show them that we support the Writers Guild of America strike.

Anyone who knows me for any length of time is well aware that I LOVE tv. I own 2 TiVos (a dual tuner and a single tuner). I am probably a media mogul's favorite type of viewer. I tune in each and every week to every single show I watch without fail. I also purchase DVDs and download from iTunes and Amazon.

But I am unhappy today because the studios are putting my enjoyment of tv in danger. Why? Because their unrepentant greed is not allowing them to compensate the writers for their work sold through iTunes, Amazon or on their own web sites that are supported through advertising.

Now, I can hear some of you thinking that writers are all fat cats driving around in BMWs and living in mansions. This is not true. There are some big name writers out there that collect a pretty hefty paycheck. But the average rank and file writer is in the middle class just like most of America. And I can't think of many middle class Americans that would allow their work to be sold in a marketplace and not demand compensation for those sales. That is what this strike is about.

I would also like to point you to UnitedHollywood.com. This is an unofficial blog started by a group of strike captains. Read. Be Informed. Know why your favorite shows and movies aren't getting made. If more fans unite behind the writers and don't watch reality tv, download from the internet or watch content on the network web sites this strike just might end a lot faster.



And the world needs Jack Bauer.