Media consultant Alan D. Mutter has a worthwhile read on his blog, Reflections of a Newsosaur, about why writers and journalists should stop giving away their content for next-to-nothing. Mutter, perhaps ironically, then gives away a servicey template (right) that freelance writers can use to calculate fees.
On the broader issue of sourcing content, he writes:
Quality journalism takes training, time and tenacity. Although it’s easy to fill space with words, pictures and videos that are produced quickly and on the cheap, down-and-dirty “journalism” is the intellectual equivalent of empty calories.
The more empty calories you consume, the unhealthier you get. It won’t be good for our democracy – let alone our self-esteem as journalists – if we attempt to nourish vital local, state and national conversations with the journalistic equivalent of Ding Dongs and McNuggets.
Of course, he’s absolutely right to stick up for journalists who are exploited by publishers that want good content without having to pay for it.
Anyone who works outside the horizon of journalism or content-creation would probably be shocked to learn that the media industry has digressed into one that works this way. But it’s a sobering reality. Fortunately, few publishers enjoy any success at all when hitting writers with this idea hustle.
Instead of trying to exploit content creators, successful publishers will find a way to align incentives if they’re not in a position to pay a decent rate for meaningful content. For example, publishers can encourage content submissions from external sources – and wade through the inevitable flood of e-mail from PR firms trying to drum up exposure for their clients.
Most of those story pitches will be crap. But maybe one in twenty will be worth running with. A good editor can then sort through those ideas fairly quickly and extract good content that’s being funded through other means, with corporations footing the bill for good writers or the PR firms that employ them.
Here, the editing process as well as being transparent about potentially conflicting interests become the most important aspects of presenting the content. Regardless, the content isn’t “free” just because the publisher isn’t paying for it.
