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August 29, 2007: the changing face of newspapers, part 16
Thanks to former PWAC President Gordon Graham for finding this article and passing it on:
An article in Wired magazine online continues the ongoing examination of the newspaper business's slow and steady decline from prominence as a medium. Not a new story, of course, but what's different here is the analysis of how one Ohio newspaper has managed to stay alive and to prosper by evolving to meet the new realities. Along the way, there is some very interesting information about net-hot topics such as "citizen journalism."
For example:
Linda Parker has a memo for professional journalists: Contrary to the fear rippling through newsrooms, citizens don't want your job. They don't want to interview obscure officials to write boring stories about arcane changes in local zoning laws. As online communities editor, Parker should know. A GetPublished! button features prominently on many Enquirer Web pages, and the submissions land in Parker's queue. They almost never resemble anything commonly considered journalism.
"It used to read, 'Be a Citizen Journalist,'" Parker says. "And no one ever clicked on it. Then we called it 'Neighbor to Neighbor,' and still nothing. For some reason, 'Get Published' was the magic phrase." Parker, a cheerful woman in her mid-fifties, will pore over several dozen submissions from readers today. These will range from a local custom-car builder trumpeting his upcoming appearance on the BET show Spring Bling to an emotional notice about a play being staged to raise funds for a fifth-grader's bone marrow transplant. Contributors submit to one of 233 neighborhood Web sites, each aimed at a town or community in the Cincinnati area. Parker approves the submission ("I almost never reject one," she says), scans it for "the F-word," and posts it to the site. "A few years ago, these would have come across the transom as press releases and been ignored."
August 21, 2007: a changing relationship
In an interesting posting on a Californian media blog, freelance writer TJ Sullivan discusses how the general North American media shift from staffers to freelancers has done two things -- made publishers more insistent on owning everything a freelancer writes for them, and eroded the key relationship between writers and their editors.
Check the link above for the full article -- and here are a couple of highlights:
"As publications have slashed their staff sizes in an effort to improve profits, some have continued to publish the work of their former employees by re-engaging them as freelancers. The practice has allowed publications to realize significant financial savings because, of course, the work of an independent contractor costs nothing in terms of benefits, workers comp insurance, liability insurance, vacation time, sick time, etc... The difference, however, is that those publications must now secure copyrights to the journalist's material, and therein lies the rub."
"...what is a journalist to make of the editor who presents an unfavorable contract without so much as a wink, or single word of warning? Surely the editor knows the nature of the contents, particularly in situations where the legalese of an agreement could expose the journalist's entire family to financial ruin."
August 10, 2007: Globe columnist sees doom for Canadian magazine writing
There's been much talk on the interwaves about Russell Smith's latest Globe column in which he predicts the end of the world as we know it, magazine-writing wise. Web subscribers to the Globe can see the article on their site. For others, here is a brief quotation:
It is now impossible for all but a very few magazine writers to make a living as a freelancer. Even if you're at the very peak of popularity, and you get one of these big features a month, you're going to be working awfully hard and you're going to be making between $1,500 and $5,000 a month, which means at peak capacity you're still earning less than $60,000 a year - not poverty, certainly, but harder as you get older, and certainly not commensurate with the education required to do such a job. Which is why our most successful magazine writers get teaching jobs.
This isn't entirely the fault of stingy magazine editors, of course. They would love to pay more, but many of their magazines are on the verge of non-existence because not enough people are buying them, and not enough people are buying them because of the Internet. (Internet magazines are hardly more profitable, though, since the advertisers' money is divided among so many small outlets.) I have no solution to this. Sorry for the bad news, but when I am asked to come to speak to a journalism class on how to become a successful freelance writer, I am going to have to say, "Don't." (I'll still do it, though - for $200.)
Comments and suggestions for Mr. Smith's next job can be sent to him via the Globe's letters section.
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