AHHH, the old "please work for free" plea. You know the drill: We're a new publication, we need writers, but oh, we can't pay you. But it's A) going to yield great clips for you, B) going to be the Next Big Thing and you will be in on the ground floor.
We've all seen it on Craigslist, and a fellow Society of Professional Journalists member below spotted it recently on the SPJ freelancer board.
(Shameless plug coming) If you are not an SPJ member, please consider joining. We have a freelancer board where you can post your credentials and potential clients can post for writers wanted. Once, a client contacted me directly after seeing my SPJ profile and I ended up getting a lucrative 3-month gig.
Anyway, I'm posting the SPJ member's eloquent response to Exception Magazine. Based on the number of follow-ups from other SPJers in my inbox, a LOT of folks took exception to Exception...
Without wanting to speak for SPJ itself, I would note that we are the Society of PROFESSIONAL Journalists.
I am a professional journalist. That means I get paid for my work. Please don't bother me until you can treat me like a professional. In terms of quality, dedication, and commitment, you will definitely get what you pay for.
And for the other professional journalists on this list, I truly hope you will not undermine your own economic interests - or those of your fellow journalists around the world - by working for free.
Best of luck to all.
Jeff Inglis
On Tue, Nov 25, 2008 at 5:55 PM, The Exception Magazine Editor <editor@exceptionmag.com> wrote:
Dear SPJ writers:
Next month, The Exception Magazine is launching and we are looking for contributors from across America. The magazine is a nonpartisan, online news site that covers stories overlooked or ignored by traditional newspapers. I have attached our editorial guidelines so you can get a better sense of what types of stories we are looking for.
Just to be upfront: this is a "passion project" of sorts amongst people that think partisan blogs are ruining our public discourse. Unfortunately we are not funded and cannot compensate any writers at this time. I know there are a lot of scams out there like Associated Content. We can't promise anything other than exposing your work to a broad audience. So if you can't participate in any way, we totally understand. We will only email you again if you email us back.
Hope some of you are interested!
Stefan Deeran
--
Jeff Inglis
Editor - Writer - Photographer
mailto:jeff@jeffinglis.com
http://www.jeffinglis.com
Phone: +1-207-749-4502
2 comments:
Geri, That is too funny in a non-ha-ha kind of way. However, at least the guy was up-front about not being a paying gig. After my latest situation of being STIFFED by a publisher, even with my signed FOR-PAY writer's contract, I've now taken to Google-ing potential new clients, plus checking them out on azsos.gov (AZ Sec'y of State), maricopa.recorder.gov (business filings), etc.
Giving him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he's a youngster who doesn't realize that his plea could be construed as offensive to a group like SPJ; perhaps he should go for college J-school types instead of the ones who make a living at this.
This is offensive in so many ways. While I'm sure that SPJ members are too savvy to be taken in by this type of thing, I'd like to address his comment about Associated Content. What Stefan Deeran hoped to gain by defaming the company is unclear, but Associated Content is a legitimate business and is committed to honest interaction with our site users. Thank you for bringing this letter to my attention!
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