In January, The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro curated an edition of Politico’s Playbook. He wrote a guest column and set off a stage-five meltdown at the publication. The snowflakes were triggered. Ben is a conservative who for years has expertly shredded and eviscerated multiple liberal media narratives. I guess the staff thought the front office had let the fox into the hen house. But then again, maybe not—as the publication is, you know, still around. Nothing happened, guys; just a conservative writer took over the newsletter for a day. Well, apparently, this was an unforgivable sin that’s being cited as one of the reasons behind an attempted unionization push (via Axios):
Union organizers have been conducting informational sessions with various editorial teams about the effort.
Organizers are currently trying to gather signatures for a statement to present to management in the coming weeks asking for recognition of the union.
The union drive covers employees of Politico and E&E News, an energy and environment trade publication that Politico acquired last year, according to a Politico staffer. Politico added about 65 reporters and editors via that deal. There are about 375 editorial staffers at both Politico and E&E total.
A source says the integration of E&E News has been a factor in the push to unionize. Politico's management recognizes that the acquisition — occurring during a period of remote work — presents cultural challenges, according to one source, but that the company is heavily invested in growing that business.
[…]
Sources say several factors have pushed employees to seek union support when bartering with management, including the company's handling of internal pushback against having Daily Wire editor Ben Shapiro guest host Politico's flagship newsletter product, Playbook, earlier this year.
Two staffers Axios has spoken to that do not support a unionization effort say they are skeptical of any union efforts being motivated by editorial skirmishes with leadership.
One staffer says that they support the way management handled that situation, and that management has continued to show strong leadership within the newsroom despite the recent departure of Politico's editor, Carrie Budoff Brown.
Sources say that internally, Budoff Brown was a highly regarded figure who editorial staffers trusted would look out for their best interests in disputes with management.
Another possible factor could be the desire to be more engaged in benefits discussions, as Politico is currently reviewing its leave policies as it adapts to a new hybrid work environment. The company recently said it will offer 24 weeks of paid leave for all family expansions, doubling its former policy.
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And the publication did add that COVID has caused a spike in unionization pushes at media companies. Whatever the case, Shapiro’s column being listed as a possible reason is ‘laugh or cry’ territory. It’s pure comedy that after all these months, staffers are still pissed about the guest column. Yet, having this incident fester for this long in the minds of Politico staffers—reportedly—is also a sign of mental illness.
Whatever the case, this is Politico’s circus. Let’s see what happens.
H/T Chrissy Clark.
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