You read that right. The editor Stephen Hull is credited with saying “I’m proud to say that what we do is that we have 13,000 contributors in the UK, bloggers…we don’t pay them…”
Huffington Post UK has 13,000 contributors and not one of them receives a dime for their words. For a large newspaper to admit this is similar to slapping a writer in the face. It says their contributions are worthless. Except Huffington Post is making scads of money.
I just read the post written by Chuck Wendig over at terrible minds that exposed (hey everyone loves free exposure, including writers) the truth about Huffington Post. Wendig is calling for a boycott: don’t read it, don’t share its links, don’t talk about it and definitely don’t write for it.
My Personal Opinion: Writing is the only profession I know that is supposed to give freely. It’s devalued because the uneducated person things everyone can write. Every day I see writing–on Facebook, Kijiji ads, advertisements, etc.–that prove to me that not everyone can write.
Sadly, the reading level of people in North America is dropping at an alarming rate. There was a time when high school graduates had a firm grasp on writing (spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure…just the basics)–they’d never have passed if they didn’t–but now I see graduating students who can’t even write a proper sentence. Does this mean writers will be valued more? It seems the opposite is happening.
You can read the entire article by Wendig here: Scream it Until their Ears Bleed: Pay the Fucking Writers
Warning: There is mild swearing but nothing worse than you’ll hear while waiting for a bus at a busy stop (or in a high school parking lot–wait–no, it’s not that bad).
That is shocking!
I was shocked with I read about it too. Unbelievable. Thanks for visiting.
Your welcome Diane.
I think it’s a shame writers don’t get something for their efforts. It’s not all about recognition for some people, there are people who are writing to make living and to not get any payment is astonishing.
I agree. Many of us do write for free a few times, particularly at the beginning of our career to get recognition and to build up our experience, but (and this is a big but) we must eat too. We can not continue to write for free. In fact, the more we write for free, the more devalued our writing becomes. We are in this state because many writers write for free or receive very little money for their work. I want to be a full-time writer, so I must make money. I don’t want to work 40 hours a week at another job just so I can write in my spare time for free.
That is good way at looking at it. Really if its what you love it should be what pays he bills.
HI, just a note. Under your personal opinion above you wrote “…the uneducated person things everyone can write.” I believe you may have meant to write “thinks” instead.
Now you have me laughing; I should have proofread that. Thanks for pointing it out. And thanks for visiting my blog.
Great share and I’m resharing. Sheesh, why is it that writers are the most underpaid of all the creatives? We slave our writing, work to promote and publish ourselves, then put our books on free promotion, what’s wrong with this scenario?
Thanks for sharing, Debby. It is baffling why writers are taken for granted. As the years pass, I’m becoming less tolerate about this.
It reminds me of something I heard a few years ago. I think Margaret Atwood said it. The author was at banquet, sitting beside a brain surgeon. He said, “When I retire, I’m going to write a book.” The female author smiled and said, “When I retire, I think I’ll become a brain surgeon.”
Lol, I read that too, only I don’t remember it being Margaret Atwood? At any rate, it’s brilliant! Everybody thinks they can snap their fingers and write a book. 🙂
I couldn’t remember the author, but it seems to me she was a well-known author in Canada. I agree, it is brilliant. If only the statistics were available for how many people started to write a book and didn’t finish it, or even those who started and didn’t get past page 10, then we’d have concrete evidence about how difficult it is to finish a book. Easy to start, tough to finish. It’s even hard for writers; I know a few freelancers who write for magazines and newspapers who couldn’t finish writing the book they’d started, or they say, “One day I’ll write a book.” For some it took decades to finish their first book.
So true Di. And kudos to us! Kudos to the writers to do go all the way! Only a writer knows what it really takes to publish a book, let’s face it, lol. 🙂
Thanks for posting this, Diane. This subject seems to be getting lots of attention recently. Rightly so. Huffington Post is not the only one exploiting writers and artists. So does Oprah. You can check it out here:
https://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2016/02/19/shame-on-you-aolhuffington-no-more-literary-booty-calls/
Wow! I read that about Oprah. I can’t believe it. It goes with that saying, “If you can get the milk for free, why buy the cow?”
“If you can get the writing for free, why pay the writer?”
But Oprah? I’m shocked. Thank you for sharing that link. It certainly opened my eyes a little wider.
I know. I lost a little bit of respect for Oprah because of that. As if she can’t afford to pay her writers when she gives away cars and other expensive appliances to her audience.
There are other sites i.am sure where writers contribute with little to no cost. It exists more than people think. but for a big name like Huffington it is surprising. Sometimes writers appreciate the practice and recognition more I guess.
I’m sure there are other publications taking advantage of writers; I’ve been asked a few times, and I’ve weighed each one. I feel if they can pay, they should pay. Huffington Post can pay.
Sometimes I get tired of the ‘write for free’–it’s an epidemic. It sickens me to think the word is not valued, that the writer’s time is not valued. But most of the time, I ignore it; I won’t write for free, and I tell other writers to not write for free. It’s all I can do.
Thanks for visiting and for leaving a comment.
omg have re blogged.
Thank you for sharing this post. Personally, I can’t believe so many writers are giving away their material for free. It’s shocking from where I sit. It’s as though they don’t value their work, or they’ve been taught that it is not worth being paid for. It boggles my mind why writers are expected to work for free: we still have to eat. We need a warm place in winter to sleep.
But I see this elsewhere too. It’s why I stopped looking for work on eLance. I’m completely outbid by people in other countries who will commit to writing a dozen articles for cheap. $2.50 for a 500-word article is not worth my time, and my writing is worth more than that. But in countries like India, they’ll take that $2.50 US Dollar. Frankly, they can have it.
I know what you mean Diane, its a capalistic world not a fair trade one, wish it was different but I think it`s getting worse.
Reblogged this on firefly465 and commented:
omg
Did not realize this! This is not good news at all.
I agree; it is not good news for any writer. It tells the general public that we don’t need to be paid.
Hi Diane. It seems that quite a few blogs are posting on this subject today.
I regularly avoid HuffPo because it is a “libtard ragsheet” which is only good for paper training a puppy. 🙂
It’s all over Facebook. It seems every time I go on, someone else is posting about it. I think a nerve was hit. I’ve been taken to their website a few times, but I am no follower.
Thanks for visiting and for leaving a comment.
…a side note here, Diane. You post extremely interesting & helpful stuff. Five stars.
Thank you, Byron. And thanks for visiting.
Thank you Diane for sharing this.
You’re welcome, Judy. I caught sight of it yesterday but didn’t have time to write anything about it until today.
Wow. Just wow. 😦
I know. I was shocked to learn a huge company like that would not pay their writers, but I am equally stunned to know they are proud of it. Obviously the editor is not a writer. But I bet he’s being paid.
No doubt – more than he’s worth.