WANTED: Bloggers and Reporters

Are you tired of the daily onslaught of fluff and celebrity gossip? (Shhh...neither are we entirely. But read on anyhow.) TheContributor.com, a new site created by Brooklyn-based Editor-in-Chief Tina Dupuy, is dedicated to "hard-hitting" stories that don't involve Kim Kardashian's butt and Lamar Odom's drug addiction. Seriously, they're declaring themselves the anti-Huffington Post and are "Kardashian-free." Dupuy, a syndicated columnist and former managing editor at Crooks & Liars and writer for FishbowlLA, is something of a crusader for journalists getting paid. In a recent editorial, she discussed the disastrous state of the journalism industry: "Here’s why you should care: If writing doesn’t pay journalists then special interests will. If reporting doesn’t pay writers then only the well-off will report." She pointed specifically at Washington media. "My favorite swipe at the Beltway Press is to refer to them as 'Villagers.'" she wrote. "...They all went to the same schools, know the same people and care about the same things. They get giddy about stories that don’t matter to working Americans. ...It’s Villagers gossiping about other Villagers." In 2011, she was self-syndicating her work, sending submissions out to as many as 100 editors at a pop. The Tampa Tribune bit but didn't pay -- they said they didn't have to. So Dupuy took to YouTube and shamed them into giving her $75, her asking price. "The ask was appropriate," she said in a phone interview with FishbowlDC. "If I'd asked for $1000 no one would give a sh-t, if I'd have asked $10 I'd have been seen as a mental patient. I got my 75 bucks." The site, originally called SoapBlox until Dupuy switched the name, is committed to paying people who write for and syndicate to the site through "an innovative revenue-sharing formula." In short, you write on your blog, they put it on their site and split the revenue on the landing page. The Contributor is being backed by Warecorp, a Minneapolis-based software services company committed to non-tabloid news that pays for its content. Don't be dissuaded that the editor is based in New York, D.C. writers, this could easily be you. “Like everyone else, we are tired of being pulled into stories about celebrity showdowns, meltdowns and put downs,” said Dupuy in a release. “Our mission is to amplify stories that affect our daily lives, our public policy and the welfare of our communities, all while paying content creators." “People want more information and less fluff. All the studies show this. We’re here to fill the void.” Sign up to be a contributor here.

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WANTED: Bloggers and Reporters

Betsy Rothstein

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Betsy Rothstein