Friday, October 23, 2009

Star-Telegram to cut costs by getting opinion writers who write for free

Star-Telegram has found a novel way to cut costs: don't pay editorial writers. Check out this notice appearing on the S-T editorial page:

The Star-Telegram is looking for 13 aspiring opinion writers who want to share their thoughts on local issues for the 2010 Community Columnist Panel...

You won't be paid, but your wit and wisdom on issues affecting the lives of North Texas residents will be enjoyed by Monday readers in print and online.


Hat tip: email
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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Sac Bee is looking for "citizen journalists" for its Opinion page too. It's the new-age way of getting stories for free. The so-called journalist gets the ego massaged and the paper gets a free ride on salary.

Anonymous said...

We do that too and call it something 'important sounding' within our community. We are getting what we paid for though.

Unknown said...

This sounds like a great idea. Lets roll it out company wide. If we quit paying the opinion Journalists maybe we can keep more actual reporters.

Anonymous said...

I agree. Why pay clueless editorial writers when the public can write clueless editorials for free? No brainer.

Anonymous said...

This has been going on since 2004 and is pretty common at op-ed pages around the country. Very few people who write guest commentaries are paid for them anymore. What they're doing is basically an expanded letter to the editor, and it's only a few times a year -- not exactly a staff position.

Anonymous said...

These would be "bloggers." God knows we have enough of those. I don't need to buy a paper to read someone not getting paid.

Anonymous said...

Not getting paid is how newspapers operate these days. They can't afford to pay people - even their own employees. With pros the product isn't worth a cent.