Lorraine Devon Wilke’s Comments

• May 15th, 2011 @ 5:53pm

  Huff Post boycott

  on If You Think Writing For Free Undermines Your Profession, Just Don't Do It!
  I once knew an artist who made jewelry. She sold it every which way she could: online, at art shows, in private homes, etc., but the Emerald City of opportunity was the huge world-famous flea market set up each month at one of the city's biggest sports stadiums...to get in there was a coup. You had to pay for the space, yes, but then it was your concession; you sold what you wanted, you kept your profits, you could sell or not sell but the space was yours to use as you saw fit...AND it could not be overstated how much you benefitted from the gargantuan promotional heft of that famous flea market, which reached out to thousands more people than a single artist could ever do on their own. Win/win.
  
  Welcome to the arrangement made with The Huffington Post bloggers. Like that artist, every writer who blogs at the Post benefits immensely from having a "concession stand" set up in the parking lot, so to speak, of the global brand that is the Huffington Post...and we don't even have to pay for our little spot in the lot! We are told from the get-go: this is your page, your blog; do with it what you will. Write what you like, as often or as little as you like; beyond minor editing oversight it's up to you to say what you will. There is no fee AND you get to ride on the enormous wave of publicity, exposure and audience reach that comes with being on the Huffington Post. Win/win.
  
  But these boycotting, lawsuit filing, ex-bloggers now demand that we market-destroying, scabbing, strike-busting writers who were invited to set up our personal blogs at the Post are supposed to boycott and complain and bitch about how unfair it all is because, as you point out, the investors who put up millions to make this online paper as hugely successful as it is sold it and made some money?? Really? Cuz I didn't take any risks and I wasn't promised something that wasn't delivered and I don't feel anybody owes me anything for putting my concession stand in the Huff Post parking lot. I'm damn happy to be there.
  
  If I was HIRED to write an article on an assigned topic, promised a fee, given a deadline, required to be at the editorial meeting, produced that assignment and THEN was not paid? Oh yeah...I'd be all over that. But that's not what happened. For me, for any of the bloggers, and certainly not for Cherie Turner or Jonathan Tasini (the man spear-heading the lawsuit against the Post). NO ONE who was invited to blog was promised payment beyond the exposure and free publicity being at the Post offered them. If any of us didn't agree with that arrangement we were free to refuse it. I didn't, they didn't, and to file suit because some money was made after the fact of that mutually agreed upon arrangement is ridiculous. Unethical, even...a word Ms. Turner throws around pretty freely.
  
  Beyond my page at the Huffington Post, I have a own personal blog as well - http://www.rockpapermusic.com. Sometimes the articles I run there also run on my Huffington Post page. Sometimes they're different articles. But without a doubt, the reach and awareness the Huff Post pieces are afforded is clearly well beyond that of my own blog (certainly at this point in my career!:) and I'm thrilled to be riding that wave. I was never told I'd be paid and then reneged on, I was never promised anything that was not delivered, and I have found the impact on my own ability to build an audience exponential to the heft and breadth of the Huff Post's reach immense...you might even say "priceless."
  
  To claim that the market value of writing, or the value of writers, has been diminished by the commerce (or lack of it) with unpaid bloggers is ridiculous. I am a professional writer and, believe me, when I can demand it and be paid for work, I do and I am (and being able to direct people to my Huff Post page is a tremendous boon toward that effort!). But I also have a strong desire to express myself on topics and issues that move me and, without having to pound the pavement for paying publishers to post them, I post them myself on either my blog or my Huff Post page...the empowerment of that option is yet another appreciated way in which I'm "paid" for the blogging I do.
  
  Greed is a nasty little urge that sometimes creeps into this conversation and I think it's essential that everyone who's part of the debate be very clear of their intentions. We all want to be paid for what we do, but in the burgeoning and constantly evolving world of online art+commerce, the paradigms are fluid and the formulas are still being sought; in music, in art, in photography, in film, AND in writing. And until a perfect formula has been formulated, NO ONE can tell me NOT to write for this person or that, this magazine or that, this online paper or that. Everyone who thinks they should boycott or sue or accuse others of unethical behavior or carp and complain about being devalued...you go ahead and spend your time doing that. Me...?
  
  I'm going to spend my time doing what it is I do: I write. I will take paid assignments when I can get them (and certainly if and when the Huffington Post offers me one of those, I will be delighted to accept!). I will continue to push and promote my work in the effort to get more of those in my door. I will honor and respect those who request my work and appreciate those who read and are moved by it. I will hone my craft in all the ways I know how but mostly...I will write. However, whenever, wherever, for whomever and on whatever topic I wish. And while I'm doing that, and enjoying the platforms given to me by people who appreciate my work, I will ask you to please keep your convoluted negativity off my platform...I've got a concession stand to run. You're welcome to cross your picket line to read it: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lorraine-devon-wilke/.