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New York, 11:34 AM
Sun Nov 29
12 posts in the last 24 hours
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12/29/08
12/28/08
12/28/08
12/28/08
You're not an asshole, but you sure can be an asshole with me tomorrow night by watching "The City" premiere on MTV. Prepare yourself for this.
12/28/08
12/29/08
Good for you.
12/29/08
12/28/08
12/28/08
12/23/08
We all appreciated when some higher-ups went to the mat to get us paid before some other contractors during the first financial delay or two, but (1) maybe Viacom shouldn't be messing with people's ability to pay the bills in the first place and (2) as has been pointed out, it wasn't really Viacom's money to begin with.
Shelby, GA Street Team '08 reporter
12/23/08
12/23/08
I also appreciate JohnDoe's comment refuting what the other staffer said. The other staffer conveniently forgot that our weekly stories often involved hours of travel, e-mailing, making phone calls, pestering peole, and knocking on doors to get interviews, and shooting several hours of footage--all before the hours-long editing process even began. And of course, if our submissions didn't pass muster, we had to revise them, and that took time, as well. We all worked really hard--some definitely worked harder than I did, and the quality of their work (particularly Carl Brown of California and Erica Anderson of D.C.) showed it.
And look, I don't think the work in and of itself was grueling. But it was hard work, and it was professionally and emotionally rewarding. I think most, if not all of us were glad to do it. But minimizing our work is ridiculous. Remember, too, that many of us were juggling full-time day jobs along with our MTV gigs (and some also had to deal with child care, classes, etc.)
I'm pleased with how it turned out. Ian Rowe is a class act, that's for sure.
12/23/08
I got my call from Ian Rowe last night, shortly after I checked my mail and found my long lost paycheck waiting. I agree with the comments that he didn't have to take the extra step of apologizing to each f us personally. It was a classy move, and I believe he genuinely feels bad for how this turned out. He, and many of the other people working behind the scenes on Street Team, were great from day one. No one ever blamed any of them for this screwed up policy made by the guys in charge of the money.
As for the unnamed MTV staffer who badmouthed the Street team's performance ... well, it's clear that Ian Rowe's class and decency aren't contagious up there at 1515 Broadway. The fact is, we all did the job we were contracted to do, and we expected MTV to pay us as promised. We'd have been fired if we had ignored the terms of our contracts as flagrantly as MTV has.
Certainly much of our work was a little rough, but that's what MTV wanted. Otherwise they could have used professionals. I challenge anyone who wants to argue that we didn't earn our pay to go and look for themselves: www.streetteam08.com
12/23/08
12/23/08
12/23/08
12/22/08
freelance is just another word
for starving while you get fucked.
12/22/08
12/21/08
12/21/08
12/21/08
I also knew that many folks at MTV News were working their asses off to try and get us paid. And I knew they weren't the ones holding the purse strings, and I respected and appreciated their efforts. It really was out of their control.
Having lived here, and seen the protests that happened in December '07, I can't say that I was surprised by this situation. But that doesn't mean it doesn't frustrate and disappoint me, too.
12/21/08