Arianna Huffington responds to lawsuit
In a post on her own site, Arianna Huffington takes time out from “aggregating adorable kitten videos” to discuss the $105 million lawsuit that Jonathan Tasini is pursuing against the Huffington Post and AOL on behalf of 9,000 unpaid HuffPo writers. Huffington’s tone is entirely dismissive: “First, let’s look at the merits of the case,” […]
A misguided tactic with its heart in the right place
Writer and trade unionist Jonathan Tasini has fought and won battles on behalf of freelance journalists in the past. But his lawsuit against Arianna Huffington and AOL, launched yesterday, seems as likely to alienate current supporters of unpaid Huffington Post bloggers as it does to get more people on their side. Tasini is asking for […]
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.
Freelance court interpreters take action (updated)
In most cases, if a journalist makes an error, the consequences are little more than embarrassment and a correction. But court interpreters go to work knowing that their mistakes could send someone an innocent person to jail or set a guilty defendent free. It’s a high-pressure role, and a group of freelance court interpreters in […]
Newspaper Guild-CWA advocating on behalf of unpaid HuffPo writers
Poynter.org has posted a press release from the Newspaper Guild-CWA in which it asks writers who contribute work to the Huffington Post for free to cease doing so until the company agrees to start compensating them. The Guild’s request follows the Huffington’s Post‘s recent $350 million buyout by AOL, and it’s not the first call […]
Update: Editors respond to VIDA stats on female writers
Recent stats from VIDA that showed how few women are getting their work published in literary magazines and journals had us and many others asking questions but coming up with few answers. Now, we hear from the people who decide what makes it into those publications. Elissa Strauss at The Sisterhood blog sent letters to […]
Union representing Globe staff files grievance
As reported previously, editors at the Globe and Mail asked staff—and freelancers, though it’s not clear how many—not to write for Toronto Life and Chatelaine, claiming that they are competing publications (though we suspect it may have more to do with this). Now a rep from SONG, the union that represents Globe staff, has confirmed […]
WaPo gets excited about aggregating news, but who’s getting paid?
The Washington Post Co. has reportedly invested between $5 and $10 million in developing Trove, a free personalized aggregation service that will collect news from 10,000 sources online. WaPo’s senior vice president and chief digital officer, Vijay Ravindran, says it “probably won’t save journalism on its own, but it’s a start.”
New Globe and Mail policy affects freelancers
John Stackhouse, executive editor at the Globe and Mail, has reportedly told Globe staffers they can no longer freelance for Toronto Life and Chatelaine because the magazines are now considered “competitors.” What’s more, the same policy applies may soon apply to freelancers who contribute to the paper, most of whom don’t earn enough from the Globe to […]
