The editorial staff at MTV News announced plans to unionize with the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) on Friday.
The MTV News Unionizing Committee sent a letter to their colleagues entitled “MTV News Is Organzing,” which laid out several reasons for the need to organize. Among those reasons was legal protection for journalists under the Trump administration.
The letter also calls for MTV to offer health benefits to all editorial staff, a system of editorial transparency between writers and editors, a formal commitment to diversity in the hiring process, and established guidelines for salary and severance.