So I’ve been reading Lisa Dempster’s recent post questioning the legitimacy of blogging, which has brought what I think is an important debate to the forefront about writing and the M word.

Lisa pointed out that the ABC’s forthcoming Book Show Blog will not pay its bloggers, despite offering flat rates for its radio reviewers. The suggestion she makes is that this helps devalue blogging even further.

I can understand that the legitimacy of blogging is questionable because blogs are rarely professional. And they don’t want to be. Of course there are a multitude of professional blogs out there, and it’s a fantastic media device and marketing tool for businesses. How do we determine whether or not an organisation can afford to pay its bloggers?

After further discussion over at Ryan Paine’s blog, it became clear that there are two different issues, as Lisa pointed out:

1) Should writers write for free?

2) Should publishers expect writers to write for free?

There’s also a third issue – as the Book Show’s blog project is clearly aimed at emerging writers, is this an issue for young writers or writers in general?

1) Should writers write for free?

In answer to the first question, writing is one of those professions where you have to really want to do it, and money isn’t an issue. But of course everyone needs to pay their rent/mortgage/board. If you don’t,  lucky you. Go stand far away from me. That being said, I think writers should write for free if they’re not established enough. You have to earn it. I learned the violin for 13 years and finished my Grade 8 exams, but up until then, I wouldn’t have asked for payment if I were to play at someone’s wedding, etc. These days, the chances of me performing free are still high, but my opportunities for a paid position have grown. I finished my Grade 8 exam 4 years ago.  Imagine if I did my AMus?

The point is, anyone in a creative field needs to slug it out for a long time. I’m still doing that now. It sucks. But it’s important. I will definitely be applying to write for The Book Show because writers should write for free…to an extent.

2) Should publishers expect writers to write for free?

This is a tricky one. As a journalism student I was bombarded weekly with amazing unpaid writing opportunities from everyone, ranging from local commercial radio stations to NGOs and from dodgy start-up online publications to Quest community newspapers. Now because I had to juggle university with a paying job, I was limited in my choices. But of course people scrambled for these opportunities. Exploitation of desperate uni students trying to fill out their resumes seems to be normal practice these days, and is waved away with the old “cutting down resources/staff” excuse.

I think (and feel free to disagree), that in the case of writing an article for someone, the publisher’s financial situation should determine whether or not you get paid. If I notice a publication (online or otherwise) is offering payment for articles, even if it’s a small amount, I tend to think a little higher of it, without being able to help it. (Not that this would stop me submitting work to an unpaid publication.) As Lisa mentioned in a comment on one of my earlier posts, paid gigs are usually accompanied by a professional editor. Now, if all online writing got a professional editor working through it, surely blogging would become more legitimate? Perhaps the lack of gatekeepers in the blogging world has reduced its legitimacy. If so, then are blogs such as The Book Show’s blog helping blogging become more professional by providing a professional editor and inhouse style guides? (A style guide with which I’m overwhelmingly familiar, thanks to 3 years of ABC tutors at UQ, by the way. I’m just saying…)

I feel very strange writing this because I know that a large portion of the bloggers who read this are book bloggers, and a lot of them are simply blogging for the fun of it, and for their love of reading. But what about the bloggers who blog for other, less noble reasons (I for example, do not hide the fact that I use this blog to gain professional merit as well…although the success of this is debatable). We actively try to present our blogs as legitimate and authoritative. (I’ve cut down my memes, if you hadn’t noticed.)

But I digress.

I guess my final opinion on this question is that publishers should NOT expect writers to write for free. Publishers should try and pay, where they can, but where this is not possible, should approach their unpaid policy status with care, so writers understand that a) this is not the norm and b) they will benefit in some way or another. Writers are sensitive folk.

And to throw a spanner in the works…

The other day James Bradley wrote an article for Meanjin, and also on his own blog, asking “why are all the best bloggers women?” Now call me crazy, and blame it on the fact that I read this only days after reading Lisa’s initial article, but could the the fact that women dominate the blogosphere possibly have anything to do with the fact that blogging is seen as less legitimate writing? Teaching and nursing are two professions that weren’t considered so low as they are now until women began to dominate the workplaces. What do you think? Is this why the legitimacy debate centres specifically around blogging, and not around web writing in general? Or is it simply the perceived lack of a gatekeeper that is normally found in traditional media?