Brian Bergstein and Associated Press Disrespect Freelance Writers
Some of us put out dozens of articles every week, for the mere pittance Brian Bergstein - and by permitting this thing to get into print, the Associated Press, by writers he feels he can so cavalierly dismiss as "awful to marginal." Granted, I have to agree that much of what is published on Helium and Associated Content is rather marginal - but some of the content contained within those web sites is of excellent quality, and quite as capable of capturing the reader's mind and eye as any of the dozen or so articles I read this morning produced by the Reverend Brian Bergstein from his pulpit at Associated Press.
Mr. Bergstein - have you ever, once, been in the trenches? Out here, wordslinging all day long to make a living; or, have you always been on such a lofty perch that you can look down on the rest of us who are - like it or not - making a living writing our hearts out? Mr. Bergstein - get off your high horse and try promoting your work, on your own, without the Associated Press doing it for you. I am sure you will find that taking a few micropayments is not such a bad thing after all.
Or perhaps it is the fact that the Internet is allowing so many of to compete with the likes of the Associated Press and Brian Bergstein himself that has his panties in such a bunch. The article, to me, sounds like so much sour grapes on his part, that his high-falootin' AP credentials puts himself above the rest of us slogging our way into print.
I consider myself a professional writer. I write for print publications. I write for web publications such as Associated Content as well as sell content to web sites for considerably more than I make here with the micropayments that AC offers. And AC does offer a platform to exhibit my writing - and make some money at the same time.
You owe many of us an apology, Mr. Bergstein.
Published by W Thomas Payne
25 year pro at marketing, advertising, and writing creative copy to draw the mind and the interest of the reader. Freelance journalist and photographer. Drop me a note if you have a hot news story in centr... View profile
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16 Comments
Post a CommentI used to work with Brian. He's a top-rate editor and writer who most certainly spent years "in the trenches," performing the kind of hard-knuckle fact-getting and vetting that is entirely foreign to a good many people who write exclusively for the Web without any traditional training.
It's people like Brian who help give context to the world unfolding around us. An 800-word piece every couple of days, for instance, typically means a high level of work, a solid effort at balance and at least a few minutes to think. We're better off for that kind of journalism, and the kinds of journalists who endeavor to make it.
Traditional media is failing in large part for years of resisting innovation, technology and a host of other things. Everyone deserves a chance to write, but not everyone can do it well -- the point I believe Brian was endeavoring to make. People like him, who work very hard everyday to earn decent pay while earning very little glory but oh so much criticism, are as
Nice rant, I couldn't have said it better.
Great job!!
Excellent job!! =)
You go Payne!
Well reported! I agree that there are some lousy freelancers out there but I'm also impressed by the quality of others.
Yes, yes, yes!
Very well said! As someone who was trained to write for both traditional and new media, I'm leaning towards new media because it's capable of reaching so many more people daily. I'm also considering dropping my physical newspaper subscription because they just pile up in the corners while I log on when I want to read the (instantly updated) news. I fear Mr. Bergstein may be left on the unemployment line with film development processors, etc., and would be curious to see how he would fare if he had to make his living our way.
In fairness, though, both Associated Content and Helium need to find another way to showcase their quality content. The way things stand a well-written, well-keyworded Associated Content article may perform less (and thus be less visible) than a poorly-written, well-keyworded article whose author promotes heavily. (I'm not even going to touch on Helium's ratings issues because they are too easily manipulated).
:) Super work.
Thanks for writing this article. I do agree that AC has a wide spectrum of writing talent. Grouping us all into one category and slinging insults really seems very childish. For a man of supposed repute, he should really have better things to do with his "valuable" time. It seems The Washington Post must be hard pressed for good material to print right now!