More Perfect Union (media organization)
{{Short description|American progressive news media organization}}
{{Other uses|A More Perfect Union (disambiguation){{!}}A More Perfect Union}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = More Perfect Union
| formation = February 2021
| logo = More_Perfect_Union_Logo.png
| type = Nonprofit
| tax_id = EIN: 85-3189807
| leader_title = Executive Director
| leader_name = Faiz Shakir
| website = {{url| https://perfectunion.us/}}
}}
More Perfect Union is a progressive non-profit news media organization founded in February 2021 by Faiz Shakir. The outlet, named after a phrase in the U.S. Constitution, specializes in video reporting and opinion coverage about the American labor movement, economic policy, and corporate accountability.{{cite news |last1=Conley |first1=Julia |title="History made!" Buffalo Starbucks workers vote to form chain's first union in U.S. |url=https://www.salon.com/2021/12/09/history-made-buffalo-starbucks-workers-vote-to-form-chains-first-union-in-us_partner/ |access-date=20 December 2021 |work=Salon |date=9 December 2021 |language=en}}
In August 2021, More Perfect Union won the Sidney Award for outstanding investigative journalism.{{Cite web|date=2021-08-11|title=More Perfect Union wins August Sidney for Agenda-Setting Coverage of Topeka Frito-Lay Strike|url=https://www.hillmanfoundation.org/sidney-awards/more-perfect-union-wins-august-sidney-agenda-setting-coverage-topeka-frito-lay-strike|access-date=2022-01-26|website=Hillman Foundation|language=en}}
Snack company strikes
In August 2021, More Perfect Union won the Sidney Award for its coverage of the Frito-Lay strike. "MPU was the first national outlet to cover the strike," the Sidney Hillman Foundation wrote in awarding the prize. "They published dispatches from the ground over a three-week period which collectively generated over 4 million views and spurred follow-on coverage by outlets such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, and NPR... After a three-week strike, Frito's Topeka plant struck an agreement to end the forced 7-day workweeks and so-called 'suicide shifts', which gave workers only 8 hours of break between shifts.{{Cite web |title=Striking To End 'Suicide Shifts,' Frito-Lay Workers Ask People To Drop The Doritos |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/07/21/1018634768/frito-lay-workers-are-in-the-third-week-of-a-strike-over-wages-and-working-condi |access-date=2024-09-22 |website=NPR}}
Also in August 2021, More Perfect Union confirmed with actor Danny DeVito that he had been stripped of his verified status on Twitter after he tweeted a message of solidarity to striking Nabisco workers: "NO CONTRACT NO SNACKS."{{Cite web|last=Smith|first=Ryan|date=2021-08-20|title=Danny DeVito gets Twitter verification back after abrupt loss of status sparks outrage|url=https://www.newsweek.com/danny-devito-twitter-verification-loss-status-outrage-reinstated-nabisco-workers-1621332|access-date=2022-01-26|website=Newsweek|language=en}} The news spread widely and contributed to DeVito and his rallying cry becoming popular labor memes.{{Cite web|last=Stevens|first=Ashlie D.|date=2021-08-31|title=No contracts, no snacks: Everything you need to know about the Nabisco strike|url=https://www.salon.com/2021/08/31/no-contracts-no-snacks-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-nabisco-strike/|access-date=2022-01-26|website=Salon|language=en}}
The Class Room
In November 2021, More Perfect Union launched an explainer series called "The Class Room". It is "aimed at providing a left-wing answer to PragerU, a YouTube titan of right-wing ideology," the New York Times reported.
More Perfect Union says it receives funding from various donors, including from George Soros' Open Society Foundations, but does not take money from labor unions.{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Ben |title=Why the Media Loves Labor Now |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/07/business/media/labor-unions-media-coverage.html |access-date=20 December 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=8 November 2021 | quote=More Perfect Union, a video-centric outlet that has a staff of 24 and backing from George Soros’s Open Society Foundation, among other donors, does not take money from labor unions, Mr. Shakir said. }}
In 2023, "The Class Room" was awarded the Hillman Prize for Opinion and Analysis.{{cite web |url=https://hillmanfoundation.org/hillman-prizes/2023-hillman-prize-opinion-journalism |title=The Class Room |date=17 April 2023 }}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://perfectunion.us/ More Perfect Union]
Category:Labor movement in the United States
Category:2021 establishments in the United States
Category:News media in the United States
Category:American news websites
Category:Internet properties established in 2021
Category:Investigative journalism