Oh, Patch.
We want to like you. We really do.
After all, it’s not often these days that a major corporation invests $50 million in local journalism. You’ve hired some really top-notch journalists, many of them unmoored by the business model collapse at daily newspapers. In fact, we’re not ashamed to mention that some of our best friends are Patch editors. (You should pay them better. But that’s another story.)
And even though your freelance rates would never be described as generous, they have put food on the table of many an unemployed reporter.
So when we heard you were looking to hire 8,000 bloggers in eight days, we momentarily thought, “Awesome!”
And then, “Yowch!”
Because as it turns out, hire isn’t exactly the right word. Although Patch is now recruiting an army of “fresh voices,” the fee you plan to offer is exactly — nothing.
As in, no pay. No dollars, no cents, no need to provide direct deposit information — unless your bank accepts “gratitude” deposits.
The solicitations began popping up on all your Patch sites late last week, and boy, are they depressing.
A lot of them read like your local editors were uncomfortable even writing them. Having endured our share of questionable assignments over the years, we sympathize. This one’s even worse than landing the weather story. What self-respecting journalist wants to beg people to work for free and somehow try to make it sound like a good idea?
- “Do you have concerted opinions? Do you find yourself hilarious? Do others? Do you like to share?” (‘Cause, um, our financial officers don’t!)
- “This isn’t a reporting job. It’s blogging. You write what you want to say when you want to say it,” (Seriously, because how can we impose deadlines and story counts on a bunch of volunteers?);
- “The best part about blogging on Patch is that it works around your own schedule.” (If we were to schedule you, the Department of Labor starts squawking about that whole “minimum wage” thing)
- “Patch won’t own what you post,” (Since we never bought it)
- And, “If writing isn’t your forte, we also welcome bloggers who can convey their thoughts through photos, video, cartoons, art or even audio.” (Honestly, who are we to be choosy?)
Most of the solicitations do mention that bloggers will be unpaid, and some explicitly differentiate their role from the reporting done by Patch’s professional staff members and freelancers.
Palos Patch also helpfully advises that posting on the blog “is free of charge,” in case you wondered how much you owed them for the privilege of contributing your unpaid labor. And bizarrely, Santa Cruz Patch pleads, “Give us your hungry, your poor, your blog.” (Because if you’re poor and hungry, writing for Patch won’t change that?)
Patch: Please stop it. You’re embarrassing yourself.
As our mothers taught us to say: No thank you.
We don’t write free for any company, and no self-respecting freelancer should — no matter how bad the economy is right now. Our democracy needs journalists, and journalists need to eat. And expecting soccer moms, retirees, and school kids to work free for large corporations isn’t just foolish, it contributes to a dangerous decline in our national standards.
So, here’s our counteroffer, Patch: We keep our work, you keep your gratitude, and let’s try to figure out a sustainable business model to save the industry we all love and depend on.
Need more digital money
Patch isn’t the only company attempting to take advantage of the poor economy. Lots of other established industries -such as nursing homes- are tossing employees under the bus by reducing their hours/pay, removing health insurance, & piling on additional work to already overworked employees job duties. The list goes on, but the reality of the situation is that if you are still in biz, then evidently, you must be turning a profit. And if you weren’t then you wouldn’t have a business anymore. Anyone who writes for free (such as for Patch or Huffington Post) under the promise of some kind of future payday isn’t just delusional, they’re pathetically naive. Plus they’re paving a path for the future servitude of everyone in their industry who has to work for a living.
Dear Guild Freelancers:
A while back we ran postings and ads for freelance writers. We posted on several websites, blogs and on Facebook.
Our offer is:
Freelance writer, 1099.
50/50 ad revenue split.
Got a total of… wait…. three inquires, and one f—- off. The f— off was from another website that post jobs for freelance writers.
Seems they think our model sucks.
Cool.
Asked around, got my writers and cartoonists.
We are doing just fine, thank you. Three months old and over 100k unique for last month.
Yes, we are making money.
The workman is worthy of his hire.
Clicked on Illinois and there isn’t anything posted to Chicago at all. What does that mean?
Bobzaguy, Illinois has nearly 60 Patch sites, but none in Chicago. Patch focuses on smaller towns and cities, primarily suburban. For instance, there is no San Francisco Patch, but you’ll find a Patch.com in San Bruno, Millbrae, Pacifica; Mill Valley, San Rafael, Petaluma. There’s no Patch in Richmond, but there is in El Cerrito. For Illinois, try Evanston? Oak Park?
http://chicagolampoon.blogspot.com/2011/04/aols-patch-hyperlocals-trolling-for.html
Chicago suburban Patch’s listed
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I’ve been suspicious of Patch from the get-go. I’m all for multimedia journalism, but old school papers actually pay me. Exposure does not put threads on my back. In the immortal words of a veteran stringer “I could die of exposure.” Thanks for this letter Guild. You make me proud to be a paid scribe.
I put up a spoof Patch site: Framingham, MA Patch (of news about Patch.com)
Click any state to get lawsuit information about AOL’s current and previous legal issues. This isn’t the first time they’ve been sued by unpaid workers, (among other lawsuits — like the ones by consumers, Attorney Generals, Investors, the SEC, etc).
This pretty much a repeat of the “Community Leaders” class action suit which they just settled.
Boycott should include: AOL, Patch, Huffington Post, Tech Crunch, Engadget and all other AOL properties.
To end on a positive note: AOL stock has lost 30% of its value in the past six months!
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