Survey of HuffPo bloggers finds they want to be paid
In a shocking revelation, a study of Huffington Post bloggers by researchers at UC Santa Barbara’s Carsey-Wolf Center—which included analyzing 500 press clippings about AOL’s $315-million acquisition of HuffPo and a survey of HuffPo’s most frequent contributors—found that they think they deserve to be paid for their labour, which requires their time, effort, and numerous […]
A call for federal support for writers’ and arts workers’ benefits plans
In the video above, Susan Swan, novelist, journalist, and former chair of the Writers’ Union of Canada, discusses the Writers’ Coalition Benefits Program, which offers affordable drug, health, and dental care insurance to writers. The Writers’ Coalition’s latest initiative, coinciding with the federal election, is a campaign to get Ottawa to commit to provide $1 […]
Re-evaluating HuffPo’s unpaid bloggers
On his Mixed Media blog at Forbes.com, Jeff Bercovici offers a new angle to consider in the recent lawsuit that unpaid writers have brought against the Huffington Post and AOL. Bercovici starts off by acknowledging that, in terms of ad revenue, US$105 million is too high a value for the bloggers’ work, but he builds […]
Asking Arianna for change
Open letters to publications’ management are a last-ditch tactic to right wrongs and spur change—but as we’ve seen recently, they can be effective. Now, adding his voice to many others asking the Huffington Post to reconsider its approach to compensating writers, comes Bernie Lunzer, president of the Newspaper Guild-CWA, with an open letter to Arianna […]
CWG’s Derek Finkle on Nino Ricci’s letter to the Globe
We asked Derek Finkle, founder of the Canadian Writers Group, which represents independent writers, about typical compensation for freelance travel writing and whether it’s common for dailies to leave an invoice unpaid for six months, as the Globe did in Ricci’s case.
Nino Ricci gives the Globe a thrashing
In an open letter to the Globe posted on his own site, author Nino Ricci feigns concern for the paper’s financial situation while castigating them for failing to pay him for a travel story published six months ago.
German freelancers say “Ja” to minimum pay rates
Freelance journalists may be the lone wolves of the media world, but many are starting to form packs, too. Look at Germany: freelancers there are biting back against “all rights” contracts and establishing fair pay models.
Freelance class action cheques hit the mail – should we be celebrating?
Freelancers are finally seeing some cash from the Robertson copyright infringement case, but should they be celebrating?
Another freelance class action suit settled
A tentative settlement worth approximately $5.5 million was reached on behalf of freelancers with a group of publishers including the Toronto Star Newspapers and Rogers Publishing. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice will consider the tentative settlement in April. Many Canadian freelance writers have heard of Robertson v. Thomson, a 2006 decision of the Supreme Court of […]
What do you do when you’re stiffed?
A small group of freelancers recently had this experience. They were engaged by a Toronto-based publisher to provide material for some specialized periodicals. The terms of the contract were clear and unequivocal. The price and deadline were set. Payment was due 30 days after publication date. Wait a minute. After publication date, not after submission? […]
