Weakly flogging

[dick]

Re: Weakly flogging

>>> Are those going to be rolled back up to what they were anytime soon?<<<

Sorry, can't touch that one with a 10-foot pole. Or any other length of pole, for that matter.

[jdub]

Re: Honolulu Weakly flogging

Running any publication... any media... any business at all is "difficult in the extreme".


Oh, it's not just maligned and flogged here. You're fairly new to this group

So the publisher's job is to create something so constantly full of flaws and mistakes that the public can't resist occasionally reading it out of morbid curiosity? Yeah, they're doing that job real well!

i may be "fairly new" to this group, but i'm certainly not new to the publishing game...advertising dollars make or break a publication...so even your "occaisional" picking up of the weekly out of "morbid curiousity" validates, and indeed, continues its existence...

[lavagal]

Re: Honolulu Weakly flogging

i may be "fairly new" to this group, but i'm certainly not new to the publishing game...advertising dollars make or break a publication...so even your "occaisional" picking up of the weekly out of "morbid curiousity" validates, and indeed, continues its existence...

DAMN STRAIGHT, DUDE!

[LikaNui]

Re: Weakly flogging

Picked up today's issue out of curiosity and wondered... what the heck happened to the Mind, Body & Spirit section in the classifieds? It used to be three or 4 full pages, now down to barely 1/2 page. Did they jack the rates through the roof, or... ?

[The Lost Jackson]

Re: Weakly flogging

Picked up today's issue out of curiosity and wondered... what the heck happened to the Mind, Body & Spirit section in the classifieds? It used to be three or 4 full pages, now down to barely 1/2 page. Did they jack the rates through the roof, or... ?

Dunno about any of that -- just want to send a cheer to the paper for replacing the Callahan cartoon with Red Meat in the classifieds. Deja vu all over again though: If memory serves the Weekly ran Red Meat (one of those classicly weird alt comics) early on, then later ran Callahan (one suspects R.M. was dropped (and will be again) because the publisher didn't "get it"), then dropped Callahan (because his 'toons are soooo stoooopid), then later entered the glory days of Ken Dahl (who put Pritchett to shame with one pen tied behind his back), then refused to pay Dahl anywhere near what Pritchett made forcing him to slip off to an Oregon commune of some sort, then circled back around to Callahan (after also cutting the famous Chicago 'toon dude who's name slips my walnut-sized brain.)

Long story short: Thanks to the powers/flowers-that-be for taking a step back toward the wierd (I'm not being sarcastic -- Honolulu needs more and not less of it).

[RJC]

Re: Weakly flogging

By working for such dismal wages, you're only encouraging employers to continue paying so badly. Once you start low-balling just to get work, it's very difficult to demand higher rates. "Yeah, but didn't you work for X Publication for 10-cents a word?" they'll ask, then give the job to some clown who'll do it for 9 (who'll then go on to weep about how bad freelance wages are). In addition to being detrimental to yourself, it's detrimental to the industry as a whole.

I suppose one gets what one pays for.

Just wanted to chime in and say thanks for this. What a mind-blowing worldview. You're a better writer because you demand more money. Those of us whole toil away for less because we love it and because it's the only game in town are not only our own worst enemies, but are actually harming the financial portfolios of better paid writers around town.

Yeah, I'm associated with the Weekly. I've just browsed until now, but this kind of sanctimony is just a little too much. Sorry our low wages are hurting your market value, dick.

[dick]

Re: Weakly flogging

Just wanted to chime in and say thanks for this. What a mind-blowing worldview. You're a better writer because you demand more money. Those of us whole toil away for less because we love it and because it's the only game in town are not only our own worst enemies, but are actually harming the financial portfolios of better paid writers around town.

Yeah, I'm associated with the Weekly. I've just browsed until now, but this kind of sanctimony is just a little too much. Sorry our low wages are hurting your market value, dick.

"Sanctimony" !

Not sure what it is you found disturbing. But whatever. And last I checked the Weekly is not the "only game in town." There are many others publications in town.

What I was getting at is that accepting low wages only encourages employers to continue paying such wages. If I were to take freelance photo jobs that undercut other photogs in town I'm not only hurting my business, but hurting the other photogs in town because then people come to expect to pay such low prices. They'll think "we don't need to pay $XXX to Dick when Joe will do it for this much less." Of course Joe hopefully won't stay in business long because he'll be losing more than he'll be making.

I put a value to my work, and won't accept jobs that pay less than that. Period.

And it wasn't my intention to offend anyone.

This is some interesting reading:

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message....html?tid=8133

[Palolo Joe]

Re: Weakly flogging

Yeah, I'm associated with the Weekly.

For those who haven't figured it out yet, "RJC" appears to be Ragnar Carlson.

And from what I understand, some of the free-lance staff gets paid such crappy wages because there needs to be money available to pay the "name" editors like him.

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: Weakly flogging

For those who haven't figured it out yet, "RJC" appears to be Ragnar Carlson.

Related to Laurie Carlson, the Weekly's publisher?

[The Lost Jackson]

Re: Weakly flogging

And from what I understand, some of the free-lance staff gets paid such crappy wages because there needs to be money available to pay the "name" editors like him.

Not "some," but ALL of the freelance staff. And the need to pay the editors has been the paper's (or, more accurately, the publisher's) main excuse for years, but I just don't buy it. For one, it pits the editors against the freelancers, which is just a bad management model, but beyond that, could the paper really be in such shaky financial shape that, after 14 years, it still manages to stay afloat only by paying those that contribute the majority of its content less than minimum wage? If so, it shouldn't be in business ... or should a paper that is supposed to champion the under-represented be built on the good intentions of folks like RJC? (By the way, dude: It's good to have folks who are willing to do the hard work for the low wages, but you can't fault others for needing to be paid a living wage for their talents--Dick's comments didn't strike me as sanctimonius (even if I'm having trouble spelling it) ... perhaps unrealistic given the way most Hawaii publishers value freelance writers, but not sanctimon...mony...monious? Maybe if I learned to spel more good I'd make more money though.)

[LikaNui]

Re: Weakly flogging

And from what I understand, some of the free-lance staff gets paid such crappy wages because there needs to be money available to pay the "name" editors like him.

Well, all things are relative. That may be what they've been told, but anyone who thinks that even the top editors at the Weakly are making good bucks needs to have another think. They're earning chump change.

[RJC]

Re: Weakly flogging

Sorry to jump in all loaded for bear, but I was pretty shocked by dick's framing of the payscale issue and felt it deserved a response. And yes, I did find the "you get what you pay for" bit a little, well, the s-word.

as to "name" editors and relatives of LVC, I am neither.

[Rudy Tuesday]

Re: Weakly flogging

Sorry to jump in all loaded for bear, but I was pretty shocked by dick's framing of the payscale issue and felt it deserved a response. And yes, I did find the "you get what you pay for" bit a little, well, the s-word.

as to "name" editors and relatives of LVC, I am neither.

But you are Ragnar, aren't you?

[Rudy Tuesday]

Re: Weakly flogging

Those of us whole toil away for less because we love it and because it's the only game in town...

Now if Laurie could just figure out how get 'writers' and I use that term loosely to pay her to publish their work, hmmmmmmm. Afterall, isn't this the road you're going down?

[mel]

Re: Weakly flogging

This thread is closed because it is too long. The topic continues here:

http://www.hawaiithreads.com/showthread.php?p=34919