Bloggers – Sloggers – Slaves

16 March 2010 Categories: Online Journalism

Why bloggers get paid so little

Some years ago, before the internet, the mystique of the freelance journalist was romantic and captivating. Images of the writer with a half-burnt out cigarette in their mouth, glass of whiskey beside them, clankety typewriter and old brim-hat filed minds of people everywhere. These were emphasised by Hollywood’s depictions of journalists being sent to Tashkent or the Kazbah with all expenses paid and the best room on the ship, of course.

Most of us have seen “Sex in the City” and the whole idea of writing one small column a week and spending the rest of the time shopping is of course extremely appealing. But I think those days are over except for a very small lucky few. Hey, if you happen to get such a job, hang on to it tight. In fact, send me an email so I can be jealous about it.

Now it has come full circle where the big media companies think the internet is a great place to source stories from “citizen journalists” they don’t have to pay. It sort of makes commercial sense; reduce the number of journalists in your newsroom and wait for people to send you news via Twitter and videos from their mobile phones.
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