The Association of Independent Creative Editors (AICE) has released results from a national survey of its member companies, concluding that editorial houses on average have suffered a 20 to 25 percent decline in business due to the actors’ strike against the advertising industry.
National AICE president Jeanne Bonansinga, editor/owner of Edit Sweet, Chicago, said that the estimated percentage decrease was derived by asking survey respondents to compare business this year to the level of activity in ’99 and/or to their expectations entering the year 2000.
Not surprisingly, the strike was the prime item on the agenda for the annual general membership meeting of the AICE’s New York chapter, held last week (8/2) at the Grand Hyatt, New York. Chapter president Nitza From reported that the national average of a 20 to 25 percent loss was also reflected regionally, according to survey feedback from AICE New York members.
"It is a huge loss, especially for an industry that has already lost a lot because it is reshaping itself," observed From, who is also president of Salamandra Images, New York. "We’re dealing with the Internet and we already had problems because the advertisers are restructuring and merging. So lots of problems existed before the strike, but after the strike it has become even more difficult."
