If it's good enough to publish, it's
good enough to pay for
Starting last week, the Globe and Mail has been trumpeting the success of its Facts & Arguments page, which is celebrating 20 years of getting contributions from all sorts of people on all sorts of subjects. But there is a flip side to this success, apparently, given that since 2008 the paper hasn't paid a dime to the people who contribute to what is inarguably one of its most popular features.
This point is made quite well by blogger, novelist and editor Jean Mills who says that while she was once thrilled to write essays, she no longer will. One of the five essays she's had published won a writing award from the Professional Writers Association of Canada.She's a member of the Guelph chapter of PWAC.
Here's a letter she wrote to the Globe, but which was not published:
The art of writing a personal essay is more difficult than readers may think. A great deal of thought, skill and awareness is required in order to create a compelling essay that transforms a self-indulgent story about, for instance, the death of a relative (or pet, or marriage) into a poignant and meaningful piece of writing. I’ve been proud to see five of my essays published on the Facts & Arguments page – but I stopped submitting my work when The Globe and Mail stopped paying F & A writers for the privilege of using their words. The Facts & Arguments essay was intended by its creator, William Thorsell, to be the “centerpiece of personal writing quite unlike anything else in the newspaper.” If the writing deserves to be published, the writer deserves to be paid.
[Thanks to Carla Luchetta at TFEW for alerting me to this]
Labels: freelancers
posted by D. B. Scott at
3:52 pm
11 Comments:
Even $100 was far too low for an essay. Can't believe writers still submit to F & A.
Anon 1
I'm so glad you brought this up. It has galled me to watch the self-congratulatory 20th anniversary celebrations knowing that the paper won't pay a penny for these essays.
I wrote one for them back when the pay was about $120 I think. It was poor, but not as much of an out-and-out insult as $0. And yet I bet they are swamped with submissions and expect writers to be thrilled if their essays get chosen for book publication too, even though that won't entail any payment either.
She should obviously make money off tee shirts.
For second, I thought this was going to be about newspaper pay models... apparently those still aren't good enough to pay for.
At its inception, F&A paid $250--I did a couple of pieces for them then, and thought it was crummy when the rate dropped to $100. But $0? Jeez.
The Globe is good fishwrap to write for if you need a few credits for your CV, but beyond that, their pay is just too low for any serious freelancer.
Another wrinkle on this is especially galling: at MagNet last year, F&A editor Lori Mazari told us that while the Globe decided to stop paying writers (ostensibly for budgetary reasons), they continue to pay the illustrators who provide the pictures to go with F&A and even pay professional actors to voice the podcasts. What's wrong with this picture? Everyone is deemed worthy of respect and pay except the writer whose work is the foundation of the entire enterprise.
Sorry, made a typo: the editor's surname is Fazari with an F, not Mazari, as I erroneously noted in my previous posting, which I didn't intend to be anonymous.
Kathe Lieber
Typo in my last comment (which I didn't intend to be anonymous): the editor's surname is Fazari with an F.I know that several PWAC members have written to the Globe about this since the 20th-anniversary hoopla, but nothing has been published (not surprisingly). Good thing there are blogs like this one.
Kathe Lieber
Glad this discussion has made it onto this blog. We've been discussing it on the PWAC members-only listserv, but it's nice to see the discussion moved to a public forum. How wonderful it would be if readers (who are not professional writers) would write the G&M and condemn its unfair no-payment policy towards F&A contributors.
I remember when F&A was a showcase for writers who had lived a compelling story and were able to make it sing. In my editing days I sometimes tracked down contributors who deserved a place in Chatelaine. But for the most part F&A no longer catches my attention. Now I know why quality has plummeted in recent years.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home