Beyond the Self-expressive Creative Worker

TLDR

Industry reports and union data reveal that rising media demand is dominated by low‑budget productions, prompting conglomerates to pressure producers to cut labor costs and demand greater workforce flexibility. The article investigates how conglomerate‑driven production trends shape the media workforce, focusing on three specific tendencies. The study finds a widening core‑peripheral worker split, identity shifts driven by technological specialization and weakened union control, and entrenched social‑economic networks that reinforce gender and ethnic labor segmentation.

Abstract

Evidence from industry reports, labor union data, and interviews with producers and union officials indicates that while the demand for media products and the number of productions continues to rise, much of the increase in demand is in low-budget features and extremely low-budget production for cable networks. In this production environment, the conglomerates are pressuring producers to reduce labor costs and produce a larger number of low-cost products. Producers are using various strategies to reduce costs, including requiring more flexibility from the production workforce with respect to the length of workdays and working conditions. This article examines how production trends, influenced by conglomerate domination of production and distribution, are affecting the media workforce. In particular I look at three tendencies. The first is a widening split between core workers and peripheral workers employed in industry projects. The second is a change in professional and craft identities as a result of technological specialization by freelancers and the loss of union control over production projects, especially at the low end of the budget spectrum. Finally, there is the persistence of `hard-wired' social and economic networks to reduce worker and employer risk. These networks foster and reinforce labor segmentation among women and men, and among ethnic groups, restricting access to job opportunities and careers.