Radio Writers Guild records

1930-1958

The Radio Writers Guild (RWG) was founded in 1937, as a subordinate organization to the Authors League of America, Inc. Its purpose was to protect the literary rights of staff writers on radio shows and networks, and freelance radio writers. It was a sister guild to the Dramatists Guild, the Authors Guild, and the (later and briefly conceived) Television Writers Guild. (The Screen Writers Guild was not under the jurisdiction of the Authors League.).

The RWG made New York City its headquarters in 1937, with the Guild only overseeing the northeast coast. In 1939, when the Los Angeles radio writers split from the American Federation of Radio Artists, the radio writers created a Western Region for the RWG. Soon after, also in 1939, radio writers within Chicago created the Mid-West Region (or the Mid Region) of the RWG. Since the Guild was now a national union organization, the east coast headquarters became the national headquarters as well as the home base for the newly-created Eastern Region of the Guild. Kenneth Webb was the Guild's first president.

In 1947, the RWG conceived the Network-Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) to protect the rights of radio writers from radio networks. In 1949, the Guild created the Agency-MBA to protect the rights of radio writers from agents who worked in the radio field and from program packagers.

When television was introduced as a new medium for entertainment, there were political differences between the Screen Writers Guild, the Radio Writers Guild, and the television writers and their new guild. The developments made the Authors League restructure the guild system for all writers. As of 1954 on, there have been two writers guilds within the Authors League of America: the Dramatists Guild and the Writers Guild of America, Inc. The Writers Guild is split into two divisions: East and West. Due to the restructuring, the Radio Writers Guild ceased to exist in September, 1954.