Less Than a Penny for Your Thoughts

It’s been decades since I dealt with a publication that paid for articles. Even though I was not crazy about dealing with a then-editor of the Providence Journal, at least they paid and they paid the industry rate that freelancers earned at that time. The Palm Beach Post didn’t pay me for an article I wrote about gun violence and added a complaint involving the article’s conclusion about the National Rifle Association, and that final paragraph was excised from the final piece. The “best” issue related to nonpayment was in connection with an article on a specific issue related to the Kent State massacre of May 4, 1970, which I wrote at the suggestion or behest of an editor at the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The forensic sound analysis of a student’s recording at the time of the massacre was what that article explored. It took months to complete the article, which involved interviews and lots of preparation in the way of sources. As an anniversary of the massacre approached, and the editor I interacted with about the article failed to respond to my then-latest edit of the piece, I dumped that article down into the online political site at which I had contributed for years, also without pay.

The conclusion is that many publications don’t pay for the work of the writer or journalist. In other words, we’re expected to write to inform and perhaps for our health, the latter not being a reason at all. In my opinion, the Internet has accelerated that change with writers certain to need a day job to stay afloat.

Adding insult to the injury of not paying for the labor of writers is when publications tout the large, in my estimation, donations that come their way. How insulting it is to write repeatedly for a publication, have that publication tout large donations, and not receive the proverbial 25¢.

At least writing on my own on Substack, I can keep some measure of dignity.