I came across an ad on Craigslist the other day. It seems a local media outlet was looking to "hire" reporters to provide copy for their internet news service. The ad said they were willing to pay $1 per article. I thought it was a typo. No one would expect someone to write articles for one dollar, would they? I mean, if you want people to work for nothing, just say so. Offering $1 is really more insulting than paying nothing, in my opinion.
Well, I'm looking for work, so I went ahead and sent in my resume. With 20 years experience in newspapers, I think I know a thing or two about newswriting. In my cover letter, I mentioned the $1 per article and said I wouldn't be interested if it wasn't a typo. The publisher responded, saying it was no typo. He really did hope to find someone willing to work for $1.
I should have let it go at that, but the idea of working for $1 just rubbed me the wrong way. I wrote back suggesting that they might as well pay nothing and let the writer at least have the satisfaction of doing volunteer work. The publisher, a greasy looking hood named Tony, went positively ape-shit. Within a couple of e-mails, he was threatening to come to my house and "whip my ass."
I decided to ignore Tony and wrote to his editor, a woman named Love oddly enough. I told her about my exchange with Tony and warned her that her boss has obvious anger issues. Within a few minutes, I had a message from Ms. Love warning that she's contact the law if I persisted in sending any further messages. Well, Ms. Love has heard the last of me. She's been warned.
Just out of curiosity, I decided to look up Tony's internet news, called MemphisStreetNews.com. On the surface, it looks like any local news outlet, with stories about crime, politics, business and Memphis sports. Upon closer examination, however, I realized that Tony is taking articles straight from the local newspaper, The Commercial Appeal, and posting them on his web site as original material. What Tony does is rearrange the paragraphs written by the paid porfessional reporters at the CA and Viola! makes them his own.
So as I see it, Tony's business plan is to recruit reporters who are willing to write for free and supplement their work with the rearranged work of professionals.
Now The Commercial Appeal is no one's idea of a great newspaper, but it does pay its reporters somewhat more than $1 per article. Just like Tony's web site, the CA relies on advertising revenues to stay in business. Unlike the CA, no one is paying to read Tony's web site.
Today I wrote to the CA publisher to point out that his paid reporters work is being appropriated by a competitor without compensation. I hope the CA's corporate attorneys pay old Tony a visit and let him know about copyright infringement. It will be interesting to see if Tony goes ape-shit with them.
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