Tuesday came and went without a deal between the AMPTP and WGA, which I think was pretty much expected. Even if they came to an agreement on the new media/digital residuals, I imagine it'd still take days to work out everything else. What's important to understand here is that this is still a negotiation - no deal doesn't mean no progress on the issues.

There are unsubstantiated rumors Nikkie Finke is spreading that agreement has already been made on the principal issues, which is great if it's true, but when was the last time a rumor from a gossip blog actually turned out to be anything real? I'm not knocking blogs here, you're reading mine so I'm not completely unaware of the implied irony, but there's a reason the stuff you read is mostly gossip and commentary - we're not reporters.

Finke has been in the past, but her actions on Deadline Hollywood are anything good journalism which makes it just that much worse. I have a very hard time trusting anything I read on that site and I suggest people balance what they read here and in other places with a bit of common sense. We're not the New York Times (which really isn't any kind of example for good ethics over the past six years.)

Progress is good, let's hope it blossoms into a fair deal, but let's not forget afterwards how egregious the AMPTP's actions have been during these negotiations. We could have been to this point weeks ago if big media hadn't come out with a proposal they knew would be unacceptable at face value right out of the starting gate.

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