The media industry has never been the most stable place to work; its history has been characterized by booms and busts. But rounds of mass layoffs and corporate consolidations signal a need for a structural reset. Can worker-owned cooperatives stop this race to the bottom, and empower media workers to build a resilient, revitalized, justice-oriented industry? Where do unions fit in?

In the last few years alone, the shuttering and reorganization of media companies has led to a dazzling array of new media cooperatives that center both media workers and mission. These include Defector, Hell Gate, and many more.  

Join a hybrid conversation and workshop with these cooperatives’ worker-owners, as well as organizers, educators, and advocates from the Democracy at Work Institute, CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies, Writers Guild of America East, and National Writers Union - Freelance Solidarity Project to discuss the challenges and possibilities of the coop model and envision a sustainable and just future for the media industry together.

The panel with be moderated by Rebecca Lurie, Founder of the Community and Worker Ownership Project at the CUNY School for Labor and Urban Studies and the Murphy Institute.